A Note from Scott Corwin

On Sunday 1. November, IBCB met in a church family meeting to discuss and vote on a recommendation to increase the 26082009309responsibilities, hours, and pay for Jürgen Ferrary, our Pastor/Outreach and Evangelism.  After an extended discussion the church voted 64% (yes) to 36% (no) in favor of the recommendation.

In response to a question from the floor, I mistakenly applied a 75% requirement for passing a recommendation of this type and announced to the church that the recommendation DID NOT PASS.  In reality, our constitution requires only a simple majority though in ALL matters we seek to arrive at God-inspired consensus.

I approached the Ministry Council with the problem and we discussed the issue, asked questions of procedure and law, talked about our opinions, and shared our concerns.  After a two and a half hour meeting on Sunday 8. November, the Ministry Council arrived at an agreed upon unanimous consensus on the following:

  • The simple majority requirement applies in this case and the church vote achieved consensus
  • The recommendation to increase Jürgen’s responsibilities, hours, and pay passes.
  • Jürgen will start with his new responsibilities in Jan 2016
  • For the sake of unity in our church we agreed to
  • Wholeheartedly support Jürgen as our Associate Pastor
  • Address concerns of communication and accountability
  • Work together in love for the good of God’s Kingdom

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask any of the following Ministry Council members who participated in this past week’s discussion:  Scott Corwin, Jeff Magiera, Klaus Ziegler, Faith Mwalubunju, Kasub Wibawa, Heide John, Piet Conradie, Thorsten John, Rejane Conradie, Kim Bleck, Ayanna Edwards, Charity Ekenobaye, Mathias Lehmann, and Laurie Corwin.

For the sake of our church and for the sake of God’s Kingdom, I ask that now we submit to one another in love and move forward hand-in-hand toward God’s purpose for our church.

 

Our Team

Leaders Council: leadership@ibcberlin.org

“Spiritual Oversight & Strategic Initiative”

  • Scott Corwin, Lead Pastor:  scott(at)ibcberlin.org  0176 4923 8658
  • Jürgen Ferrary, Pastor Outreach & Evangelismjuergen(at)ibcberlin.org  0160 9490 6405
  • Jeff Magiera, Gemeindeleiter: leadership@ibcberlin.org
  • Klaus Ziegler, Emeritus

Deacons Council: deacons@ibcberlin.org

“Pastoral Care & Practical Ministry”

  • Lucas Ebert, Praise Team
  • Faith Mwalubunju, Prayer Team
  • Kasub Wibawa, Ordinance Team

Ministry Council

“Coordinate & Calendar  Ministry”

  • Ayanna Edwards, Kids Team
  • Charity Ekenobaye, Hosts Team

Staff Relations Committee

  • Kim Bleck
  • Rejane Conradie
  • Thorsten John

Finance Committee

  • Piet Conradie
  • Heide John, Treasurer

Associate Pastor: Information Sheet / FAQ

This coming Sunday 1. November, IBCB will meet as a church family to consider a variety of business matters including a recommendation logo_on_light_image_onlyregarding our associate pastor position.

Associate Pastor Recommendation:  The leaders council and the Staff Relations Committee in conversation with the deacons and the ministry council recommend that the church increase Jürgen’s hours & pay, rename his position to “Associate Pastor of Outreach and Evangelism” with the goal of expanding his impact in the area of “reaching” (evangelism) and “onboarding” (assimilation) as described in the job description (see separate document).

Why an Associate Pastor of Outreach & Evangelism?  Over the past three years, IBCB has been charting a course toward what we believe to be God’s future for us as a church using the Natural Church Development survey, the ReFresh project, and most recently the Higher ‘n Higher consultation.  In each of these studies, the church has identified two areas of needed growth – reaching people (nonbelievers and believers) and connecting people to our church.  It is our conviction as leaders that these two areas are strategic to our health as a church and to our faithfulness to God’s will for our church.

An Associate Pastor focusing on these areas of need will have an overseers responsibility for recruiting, equipping, and coordinating our energies of reaching, bringing, welcoming, and incorporating people into the life of our church.  The goal is to strengthen our outreach to believers looking for a church home (i.e. web, publications, marketing, etc.) and our non-believing family/friends (i.e. evangelism training and bridging events).  The goal is to improve our ministry to guests and newcomers as they are integrated into small groups.

Why Jürgen?  Currently Jürgen serves as “Pastor/Outreach and Evangelism.”  He was interviewed by a search committee and appointed by church vote to serve in this capacity as a 450€ employee of the church.  He has made many important contributions to our church life.  In addition to the tasks required of him, as a volunteer he has contributed significantly to some of the things more clearly stated in the updated job description.  His talents and abilities are in the stated areas of need:  evangelism, event planning, marketing, connecting people, etc.

Current Proposed
Pastor/Outreach and Evangelism Associate Pastor of Outreach and Evangelism
Lead the church to start a second worship service Continue to lead the church to support our second worship service
Champion local outreach and evangelism through teaching and training Continue to champion local outreach and evangelism through teaching, training, outreach events, fellowship events, and promotional materials.
Support pastoral preaching and teaching ministry of the church Continue without any expanded responsibilities
Connecting new people to our church – guests, invitees, new people, et al – through a process of welcome and integration

What is the role of Associate Pastor?  The Associate Pastor will continue to be a part of the leadership team – currently Scott, Jeff, and Jürgen – to help shape the strategic initiative and spiritual oversight of the church.  The Lead Pastor (Scott) supervises the work of and administrates the review of the Associate Pastor.  Like each staff member the Associate Pastor has an annual review along with recommended personal development growth goals.  The Associate Pastor does not automatically become the Lead Pastor should that position be vacated.

What about other important needs?  In our conversations as a church over the past few months, we’ve identified some additional important unmet needs including:  administration, secretary, communication, caring, age-group ministries, and more.  Some of these important needs can be met by improving some of our existing structures.  For example, we are talking about ways to strengthen our Deacon Council ministry of care and our Ministry Council communication.  Some of these needs can be addressed by a 450 Euro job secretary who will take on some of the administrative/secretarial needs.    Having an associate pastor with more hours and increased responsibility allows Scott to share some of the administrative oversight and gives Scott the opportunity to focus more attention on his leadership, caring, and equipping roles.

Season of Prayer and Fasting

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