Dear Island Pond Family,
On Sunday, January 15, we will be holding our quarterly business meeting after the service. I am excited to let you all know that the members will have the opportunity to vote on making Adam Houston our first lay pastor.
Last year the congregation voted to make some changes in the constitution that created the position of “lay pastor.” This is someone who serves as a pastor at the church on a volunteer basis (as opposed to being employed and paid by the church, like me). Other churches that have this position will often use the word “elder.”
What does this mean for Island Pond? Currently, the way our constitution is set up, a lay pastor will have the same duties that are assigned to the deacons at Island Pond. Like deacons, the lay pastors will oversee families in the church, be part of the church council in making decisions and providing leadership, and working in a Ministry Action Team (MAT). So right now there will not be a big difference between the lay pastor and deacons.
Over the next couple of years, we will continue making some adjustments to our constitution that will slowly separate the rolls of deacons and lay pastors. In the New Testament, the pastors/elders focused on the spiritual leadership of the church while the deacons oversaw other church duties. In our church that would involve the fellowship meals, building maintenance, aspects of outreach, and caring for those in need. We are not there yet, but that is the direction we are headed.
I will continue to keep you in the loop on the changes. We are intentionally making this slow so that there will not be any dramatic changes in the leadership structure. More changes will be proposed at the January 15 meeting, so if you are a member of the church, I encourage you to attend.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions. Just email the office at Info@IslandPondBC.com.
Praying for God to do great things at Island Pond in 2023.
Pastor Kyle