FTF Why Now Position Paper

FTF_Fact_Sheet_-_contractor_engagement

Meriwether & Associates Introductory Letter

Meriwether and Associates Addendum

FTF Case Studies

The 152nd Annual Business Meeting Report

by Anita Peebles

On Sunday, January 23, 83 members and 7 non-members attended the 152nd Annual Meeting of Seattle First Baptist Church utilizing the Zoom platform. Newly-elected President Megan Walker led an informative session on Zoom functions. Volunteer of the Year Awards went to Beth Reis, Outreach Steward, and Karen Carlos, convener of Brave Space conversations for white-identifying people. Also recognized for Volunteer of the Year were Joyce Phillips and Jim Segaar, who formed the Program Office for the Long-Range Plan and helped the six task forces communicate with each other and keep the church updated on progress.

Much gratitude was given for the work of the six task forces throughout 2021. Their dedication and collaboration led this church forward to follow through on the Long-Range Plan work from 2020. Thank you, all who served this congregation on a task force.

Church business included adopting revised and amended bylaws, receiving the financial reports, approving plans for the utilization of Dr. Rod Romney Legacy Fund monies, and electing a new leadership body, now called the Council of Ministries.

Annual Meeting Documents

Printed copies are available from the church office.

2021 SFBC Annual Report

SFBC Proposed Bylaws

SFBC Bylaws Amendments

2022 Proposed Budget

Council of Ministries Candidates and Terms for 2022

A Word from the Anti-Racism Task Force

Pastoral Transition Proposal [pdf]

AGREEMENT FOR COLLABORATION BETWEEN SENIOR MINISTRY AND SMALL GROUP MINISTRY

Preface

• Given both task forces propose to serve the SFBC community by advancing the value of helping members be seen, heard, acknowledged and supported;
• And given both seek to advance spiritual growth and development across the lifespan;
• And given both seek to do this through an anti-racism framework which maximizes the welcome of BIPOC members and friends and the inclusivity of BIPOC members in leadership;
• And given both include support of pastors through the identification of pastoral care needs;
• And given the call to stewardship of SFBC resources in meeting such goals, we agree to the
  following:

1. Each task force will continue with the plan to request one pastor to provide oversight to their ministry. (Ideally, the same pastor would provide oversight of both.)
2. Each task force will continue with the plan for a volunteer advisory body.
3. The task forces will share a full-time paid Administrative Coordinator, who will work with both advisory bodies and oversight pastor(s) to ensure program development and success.
4. The task forces could also share a Companis Volunteer and seminary or other interns, under the supervision of the coordinator, but decisions about that can be left to the Administrative Coordinator and the advisory groups in the future.
5. The Caring Community part of the Senior Ministry proposal will fall under the umbrella of the Small Group Ministry as an ongoing group like the Hospitality Volunteers. The details of this, too, can be left to the Administrative Coordinator and advisory groups to hash out.

PASTORAL TRANSITION

The Pastoral Transitions Task Force is working fast this month and next to make up for lost ground over the summer. We are researching and interviewing and drafting things all at the same time to make a pace that will complete this work. Currently the group is interviewing pastors and academics who have worked on co-pastor models and researching current best practices on these models. We are also drafting a job description that will be modified to fit the model recommendation. The group has had continued conversation with the Anti Racism Task Force to further unpack the harm that was done from this task force during a springtime congregational meeting. The Pastoral Transitions Task Force stated that it supports pursuing a BIPOC pastor and that it should be done in alignment with the congregation’s anti-racism initiatives and that the church needs to develop ways to support existing and future BIPOC pastors and staff in the church as it grows into anti-racism work.

GOVERNANCE

The Task Force met through the summer and is now meeting weekly in an effort to complete work on rewriting the Bylaws. A new streamlined governance model has been proposed to the Diaconate. All of the group’s work will be discussed with the congregation at the upcoming Open Forum in November. Any changes to the bylaws must be approved by the Congregation. The Task Force plans to present their work for approval at the Annual Meeting in January.

FACILITIES

Gearing up after our August sabbath break and following the timeline we received at our July meeting with the program office. We are working on being able to “tell the church’s story” both to the congregation and outside entities we enlist for help. We will meet on Oct 12 with Alex Rolluda (contact of Danny’s) of Rolluda architects (many BIPOC projects) and our next meetng on Oct. 26 will highlight a discussion with Meriwether Advisors, who worked with the parking commitee pre-pandemic to connect us with ACC. On Oct 8 Gary Davis gave a short
update to the congregation.

ANTI-RACISM

Summary

Our task force is down one member. Lupe Carlos left SFBC because of continued racist comments made in his presence. This was a blow to our committee, and we spent much time in September processing this loss. The ARTF decided we would work on process for SFBC to follow when racist acts or comments are made and cause harm to church members. We also reviewed work of Governance TF and planned a meeting with Pastoral Transition TF for October 3, 2021.

Next Steps

Meet with Pastoral Transition TF. Work on a process to follow when racist comments or acts are made. Recommend a statement on equity at SFBC.

Budget needs

None, other than the continued contract with Pastor Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko

Road blocks/issues

No process to follow when hurtful racist comments are made. Need for a consultant to work with congregation and leaders on privilege and racism at SFBC.

Long Range Planning Task-Force-Report-for-October-2021 (pdf)

Read the Short Version by CLICKING HERE.

Read the Full Version by CLICKING HERE.

After eight months of hard work, the Senior Task Force presents a Draft Proposal for an Older Adult Ministry, “The Caring Community,” to be incorporated as one of the SFBC ministries. We want to address going deeper in faith, being present to each other and to continue exploring what it means to follow the way of Jesus Christ, engaging in community and creating a sense of belonging for our older members of SFBC. The following three items are the goals set forth that we wanted to address for this vital church membership.

1. Address an agreed need for the continued spiritual formation of older adults, exploring anti-racism and other expressions of our faith and offer opportunities for continued learning and application of our faith.

2. Form a Congregational Care Program to be administered by a Volunteer Coordinator in conjunction with the pastoral staff. Selected, trained and supported volunteer church members would form a team to be in touch with aging members who have temporary or permanent needs to be addressed by a caring community. This will foster a sense of belonging among our congregational members who are unable to regularly attend church.

3. We would like to recruit older members to have a voice in leadership. We as a church will benefit from the great wisdom, experience, vitality and compassion of our older population and it will foster a sense of belonging.

A forum to ask questions and discuss the proposal will take place after worship on Sunday, September 26. It will be in the Parlor, and live-streamed. A light lunch will be served. You can also submit comments and questions via email to: .

Some questions to consider:

· What types of events would you like to see as part of this ministry?

· How often should events for older members be offered?

Submitted by the Senior Ministry Task Force

Darla O’Brian, Carole Cornell, Merletta Roberts, Atit Marmer, Judy Scott, Pastor Tim Phillips

In recent weeks the Long-Range Planning Program Office put together a schedule that shows the work of all the task forces, plus other efforts such as the interim pastoral search. 

Here are some highlights of what we learned while putting together the schedule.

The Small Group and Senior Ministries Task Forces are nearing completion of their work. An open forum is scheduled after worship on Sunday, September 26 to give the congregation a chance to learn more about their recommendations and provide input. More information about both proposals will be available later in August on the church website. Articles in the weekly email and the September Spire will also provide overviews. Both groups plan to present their recommendations to the Diaconate in October.

The Anti-Racism Task Force continues to consult with other task forces. They also are hosting the Brave Space discussions for people who identify as Caucasian, as well as gatherings for BIPOC members of our community. Because our anti-racism work is likely to take a number of years, the task force recommends that a more permanent group be formed during 2022 to take this important work forward.

Church leadership is asking the Governance Task Force to focus on recommending a new governance model for SFBC before completing its edit of the bylaws. The governance model recommendation is needed soon so that recruitment of next year’s leaders can begin. The task force plans to complete its edit of the bylaws by the end of 2021. An open forum to gather input from the congregation is scheduled for Sunday, November 14 after worship. Bylaws changes are subject to approval of the Congregation at the Annual Meeting in January.

The Facilities Task Force continues to research various options for our buildings going forward. A significant amount of work remains to be completed. The task force plans to have open forums with the congregation in 2022 before presenting any recommendations.

The Pastoral Transition Task Force has regrouped, and currently is favoring a co-pastor model for SFBC in the future. This idea is in line with the findings of the Long-Range Planning team, which gathered input from more than 120 members of our community last year. The task force continues its work to finalize this recommendation and provide input to future pastoral job descriptions.

• Key Ministries will be discussed with the Diaconate later this month. We’ve made some additions to the list below.
• All task forces are hard at work. The February status report is here.

Long Range Planning Update February 2021 [pdf]