Final Transition Update: Introducing Justin Moser, Senior Pastor

We are excited to announce the calling of Rev. Justin Moser as the new senior pastor of First Baptist Waynesboro!

After nine months of intense prayer, discernment, resumes, phones calls, Zoom meetings, interviews, reference checks, and more prayer, our pastor search committee unanimously presented Justin as the candidate for senior pastor. Justin spent the weekend answering questions from the congregation in two Q&A sessions, and then led in worship on Sunday, November 26th. In a vote following worship on Sunday, the congregation overwhelmingly affirmed Justin's call to be our next senior pastor. 

We ask that you be in prayer for Pastor Justin and his family, Ellie, Micah, and Lewis, as they prepare to say goodbye to their church family and their community over the next several weeks. Justin will wrap up his time at his current church, FBC Saint Simons Island, GA, at the end of December and then he and his family will transition to Waynesboro after the first of the year. There are still a few details to work out when it comes to his first Sunday with us, but we will keep you updated as those are finalized. 

We give thanks for the ways that God has guided our church, our search committee, and Justin through this process. We look forward to this next chapter in the life of our church as we continue to do, love, and walk like Christ in this world. 

Finally, we say thank you to the pastor search committee and their families, who have given so much of their time and energy to this process over the last nine months: Susan Shiflet (chair), Tom Woodworth (vice-chair), Libby Allen, Laurie Landes, Ed Morse, Seth Price, Devin Roller, Cheryl Rosberg, and Jeremy Rowe. 

There are exciting days ahead, and we are glad that we get to experience them together!

Transition Update #10: Call Weekend Schedule Released

As was shared on Sunday, November 5th, the Pastor Search Committee has issued a call to a candidate to be our next senior pastor.

Call weekend is November 25th and 26th. We hope you will make plans to join us that weekend for a chance to meet the candidate and his family. A schedule of events is listed below.

Saturday, November 25:

9:00am- Candidate meets with Church Council
9:30: Q&A Session with Candidate in Fellowship Hall

Sunday, November 26:

9:00am- Q&A Session with Candidate in Fellowship Hall
10:30am- Candidate leads in worship
11:30ish- Special Called Business Meeting for vote on candidate

We appreciate your continued prayers for our church and the candidate as we prepare to welcome him and his family to FBW the weekend of November 25 and 26.

Transition Update #9

The Pastor Search Committee is excited to announce that after reading resumes, listening the sermons, and doing many rounds of interviews, we have issued a call to our top candidate. We feel is the one to lead FBC in the future. He has accepted our call and we are anxious for you to meet him and his family.

We will have a call weekend on November 25th and 26th. A schedule for the weekend will be published soon. At this time you will have the opportunity to meet him and hear him preach. After worship there will be a called business meeting where we will vote to make him our next Pastor.

This weekend is right after Thanksgiving, and we know many of you will be traveling. We urge you to enjoy this holiday with your family, but plan to be back for Saturday or Sunday for this important weekend.

The Pastor Search Committee want to thank you for the trust you have given us and your patience through this process. We couldn’t be more excited, and we look forward to sharing that excitement with you on November 25th and 26th.

Transition Update #8

On Sunday, September 17, Susan Shiflet reported on the progress of the Pastor Search committee. Our first meeting as a group was February 21. We have met regularly for over seven months totaling over 90 hours. This does not include the many hours individual committee members have spent listening to sermons and reading resumes. As you remember, we partnered with The Center for Healthy Churches on a consultant basis to walk this journey with us. Through the process, we established goals for our committee and looked to future goals for the leadership of our church for the next decade.

We have received candidate recommendations from the Center for the Healthy Churches, BGAV, CBF, as well as individuals in the larger Baptist world. We have reviewed a group of highly qualified candidates and have begun to narrow our selection. We have done phone and zoom interviews with all candidates, and our next step is a face-to-face interview with our top candidates. Confidentiality is very important to our committee as well as the candidates.

We know this seems like a long process, and many of you have approached us with questions. I can truly say we are making good progress. Your Pastor Search Committee wants the very best person to lead our church in the future, and this takes time. We appreciate your trust and we continue to ask for your prayers and patience.

Transition Update #7:

As you may know, at the February Business Meeting, the congregation approved the engagement of Center for Healthy Churches to assist in our search for a new senior pastor.  The Pastor Search Committee has completed the training provided by CHC, and we have now drafted a Covenant that will be upheld by all members of the Committee.  We would like to share our Covenant with you, and ask that you continue to pray for us as we continue the journey to call a new pastor.

Transition Update #6: Pastor Search Committee Announced

Dear FBW Family,

It is with great excitement that we share this latest update in our transition process. Please see the update below submitted by Carla Thomas, chair of the Nominating Committee. 

On behalf of the Nominating Committee, I would like to share some information with you regarding the Pastoral Search Committee and how we got to this moment. This evening at the business meeting, we presented the following information which was put to a vote and passed.

The process started with each of you - you attended listening sessions, participated in the survey and prayed for those on the Transition Team as they prepared and presented the profile for our church. Then you provided names, 69 separate names to be exact, with a total of 198 nominations.

A few additional statistics: of those 69 nominees:

• 37 are women, 32 men;

• 22 prefer a contemporary style of worship, while 47 prefer a more traditional style of worship;

• the age breakdown of those nominated is as follows:

  • 34 and under- 4 individuals

  • 35-44- 6 individuals

  • 45-54- 8 individuals

  • 55-64- 9 individuals

  • 65-74- 25 individuals

  • 75 and above- 15 individuals

  • and 2 individuals that the church records didn't provide us the information to know which age group that they fall into.

And again, you prayed over those nominated. The Nominating Committee came alongside you and prayed over these names. We sought some guidance from a variety of resources, reviewed the church profile and survey results ourselves and compiled the above referenced statistics to put together our list of nominees. The diversity of this group was important to us and we spent time reviewing the statistics to ensure that all of the areas important to you were represented: worship style, age, gender and previous search committee experience.

Those that rose to the top were chosen based on the resounding number of times they were nominated. They were then provided with a cover letter from the nominating committee, the profile and the survey results created by the Transition Team and the request to pray for wisdom and discernment in seeking God's call over them for such an important responsibility. You should know that all of them took time to review, pray and ask questions.

At this time, the Nominating Committee is confident that the team nominated by you, selected by our committee, and accepted by each of the nominees will be a strong and dedicated team. It is with great joy and confidence that these individuals will represent the congregation well and aide us in finding a new pastor that takes us into the future.

The Pastoral Search Committee will be made up of: Libby Allen, Laurie Landes, Ed Morse, Seth Price, Devin Roller, Cheryl Rosberg, Jeremy Rowe, Susan Shiflet as the Chair, and Tom Woodworth as the Vice-Chair. As we move forward, the Nominating Committee asks that each of you continue to be in prayer for our Search Committee as well as for the person (and their family) that God is already preparing to be our next pastor.

Respectfully submitted by the Nominating Committee
Debbie Boling, Chris Furr, Mike Hartzler, Mary Kane, Katherine Megginson, Alan Melton, and Carla Thomas (Chair)

Transition Update #5: Nominations now open for Pastor Search Committee

Now that we have approved the profiles created by the Transition Team, we are ready to move to the next phase of the senior pastor transition. The FBW Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations for individuals to serve on the Pastor Search Committee. 

How do I make my nomination? 
There are two ways you can submit names for nomination:
1- Email Carla Thomas, nominating committee chair. She will collect names and share them with the nominating committee.
2- Fill out the paper nomination form, which will be found in your bulletin over the next two Sundays. You can place the form in the offering plate or drop it off in the church office during office hours. We will pass along any paper nomination forms to the Nominating Committee. 

Who can I nominate? 
Any active member is eligible to be nominated. Self-nominations will also be accepted. 

When is the deadline to submit nominations?
Nominations will be accepted until Sunday, January 15th. 

What if I have questions? 
Any questions can be directed to the FBW Nominating Committee (names listed below). 

We ask for you to keep the nominating committee in your prayers as they work together to discern who are the best individuals to serve on this search committee. 

We hope to see you on Sunday as we celebrate Epiphany! 

The FBW Nominating Committee,
Carla Thomas, chair
Debbie Boling
Chris Furr
Mike Hartzler
Mary Kane
Katherine Megginson
Alan Melton

Transition Update #4: Church Profile now available

Your transition team has been hard at work putting together the pastor, congregation, and community profiles over the last few weeks. The pastor and congregational profiles are based on feedback and comments from the congregation during our listening sessions in October. 

This Sunday (December 18) immediately following worship, we will have a called business meeting in the Sanctuary. One of the items on the agenda will be vote and approve this profile. This profile will be vital to the work of the pastor search committee and to our search process.

We hope that you will take some time to look these profiles over before Sunday and bring any questions or feedback that you have to the meeting. We will have a limited number of printed copies of this profile available for those who may not have email. You can click the button below to find a copy of the profile attached.

If you are not able to attend the meeting in person or if you prefer to submit your feedback in writing, you may email any comments or questions to the transition team at transition@fbcwboro.org or reply to this email.

The transition team has been meeting weekly (and sometimes twice weekly) since September and have been listening to the Spirit's guidance and to the congregation as we prepare to begin the search for our next senior pastor. We are grateful for your participation in our listening sessions and ask that you continue to pray for our church during this time of transition. 

We hope to see you on Sunday. 

- The FBW Transition Team
Laurie Landes, chair
Misti Furr
Rick Kane
Seth Price
Jeremy Rowe
Jim White
Tom Woodworth