In this season at FAC, as we await the appointment of a new Senior Pastor, we take heart knowing that we worship and serve a sovereign God. He already knows the outcome, but in His merciful love, he draws us close through faithfulness. This process of waiting on God’s timing is not always easy due to the feelings we associate with uncertainty, combined with the reflexive nature of our flesh. Thankfully, as we read in 2 Timothy 1:7, God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. As the Pastor Search Team continues on this journey, we are incorporating prayer and fasting to help fix our eyes above and strengthen our relationship with Him so we may be used for His glory. We are inviting the congregation to join us in prayer and fasting as you are led. Below, you will find details on our prayer and fasting schedule as well as updates on our search process.

INVITATION TO PRAYER:

• We are inviting the congregation to come along with us in prayer: Almighty God, we look to You because You are the One who we depend on to give us help when we need it. Our church is coming before You with hearts and minds ready to hear from You regarding the pastor You have prepared to lead us into the future. May You continue to keep our search team strong and united in Christ as You guide them in their decision-making. We thank You that the future of our church is in Your hands. Amen
• Pastor Search Prayer Guide 
• Join us in prayer and fasting for the following dates: May 10–11 and May 17–18
• If you would like to learn more about the purpose and value of fasting, we encourage you to review the Elder's Comments on Fasting.
• The Pastoral Search Ministry Team continues serving under the charter and direction of the Elder Board.
• The team has received approximately 60 applications for the Senior Pastor role and is encouraged by the interest.
• The congregation is invited to prayerfully share the Pastor Profile with anyone the Lord places on your heart to invite to apply.
• Applications are being reviewed prayerfully in the order received. Prior to any interviews, the candidate must be vetted through the CM&A.
• The team’s role is to prayerfully discern and recommend candidates for the elders’ consideration; the final hiring decision rests with the Elder Board.
• Updates will continue to be shared monthly, with periodic communication during Sunday services.

Handouts of the Q3 Financial Report are now available at the welcome tables in the Worship Center atrium, sharing both attendance trends and our income/expense actuals vs. budget. We are thankful to God for the Engage Campaign and the matching gift received, which has reduced our debt by $1.2M.

Please continue to pray over our offering that we may be good stewards with God's provision and that our offerings would glorify and honor Him in worship.

Also, please continue to pray for the inspections and permits that are required to finalize the sale of property on our northwest corner (the autoparts store location).  

As noted during the announcements during our worship service on April 29th, we are excited to announce that Fellowship Alliance Chapel and Ferfeldt Investments LLC have entered into a purchase agreement for the sale of the property on the northwest corner of Church Road and Medford-Mt. Holly Road (the Autoparts Store location). Final sale of the property is contingent upon the buyer's property inspection review and securing permits and approvals from Medford Township. The time until final closing of the sale could be several months to a year away, but we are thankful to God for providing in this way additional funds that will be used to further reduce our debt.

As the new structure of the Elder Board is in place, we have identified Elders who will serve as officers of the Board as follows:

• Vice-Chairman*: Dave Gutekunst
• Secretary: Andy Hall
• Treasurer: Bob Burch
  *In accordance with the CMA Constitution, Article XI, “The Senior Pastor shall be Chairman or, at his request, the Governing Board may elect an elder as Chairman from its membership. We will hold the position of Elder Board Chairman open until our new Senior Pastor has joined us. The Vice Chairman will lead the Elder Board until that time.

    
We seek congregational affirmation of these appointments. A link is provided below for members of our congregation to provide that affirmation. The affirmation period will open on Sunday, March 22nd, and will close on Sunday, April 12th. 

It is with heartfelt love and gratitude that we wish Miguel Lemming and Chuck Pederson well as they completed five-year terms as FAC Elders on March 3rd, and are moving on to serve the Lord in other areas of mission and ministry. In their role as shepherds, Chuck and Miguel supported our FAC family with affection, commitment, and grace imbued by the Holy Spirit, and have been steady, wise, and energetic brothers in Christ.

As the new structure of the Elder Board is in place, we have identified Elders who will serve as officers of the Board as follows:

• Vice-Chairman*: Dave Gutekunst
• Secretary: Andy Hall
• Treasurer: Bob Burch
  *In accordance with the CMA Constitution, Article XI, “The Senior Pastor shall be Chairman or, at his request, the Governing Board may elect an elder as Chairman from its membership. We will hold the position of Elder Board Chairman open until our new Senior Pastor has joined us. The Vice Chairman will lead the Elder Board until that time.

    
We seek congregational affirmation of these appointments. A link will be provided on the FAC website for members of our congregation to provide that affirmation.       

The affirmation period will open on Sunday, March 22nd, and will close on Sunday, April 12th.

We continue to request prayer for the Pastor Search Team and the work they are doing. A specific announcement will be made in the near future advising of an intentional time of prayer and fasting as we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this process.

In this season at FAC, we continue to be in awe of God's character and are grateful for the redemptive path He has set before us and fortified with His Word.

Isaiah 43:19 proclaims, "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

God has taught us much this year and with softened hearts, we commit our trust and hope in Jesus to be our foundation at FAC. It is with faithfulness that we submit the Senior Pastor search process to Him and seek the Holy Spirit for navigation.

The elders are working closely with the Pastor Search Team to conduct this process in faith. We will use this platform to provide regular updates while inviting you to pray with us along the way. Please reach out to searchteam@myfac.org with any questions. Thank you for walking with us in this season. May God be glorified as we serve Him at FAC!

The Pastor Search Team has provided the following update on the status of the search process:

Hello, Fellowship Alliance Chapel church family. The elder board is starting a new approach for bringing updates to our church family that avoids detracting from our Sunday morning worship time. This will be the place where we can share updates of the work of the elder board.  

So with that, here are the updates of this past month:

• Our three new elders, Jay Appleton, Bob Burch, and Sajay Mathew, have officially started their terms of service. We are thankful to God for their faithfulness in answering the call to service and are joyful to have them on board.
• Praise God! Orchard Alliance has approved our application to refinance the loan on our building, which will reduce our monthly payments by more than 20%. Helping to secure the loan was the result of the Engage campaign, with pledges of almost $1,900,000. Thank you, church, for your generosity and prayerful consideration of support. 
• Handouts of the Q2 Finance Report are now available at the welcome tables in the Worship Center atrium, sharing both attendance trends and our income/expense actuals vs. budget. Please continue to pray over the offering that we may be good stewards with God’s provision and blessing.
• The Elder Board completed our Theological vision and provided it to the pastor search team as they now prepare to post the opening for our Senior Pastor position. The search team has been meeting and praying weekly for the past two months in preparation and discernment, and we are grateful for their dedicated service in listening for God’s direction in calling our next Senior Pastor. The search team will be providing progress updates here as part of future elder updates.
• We are also grateful for Pastors Marty, Glenn, and Erik, as they will continue to fulfill the interim preaching responsibilities as a team until a new Senior Pastor is found. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would bless their words in sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• The Elder Board is excited to share that Pastor Eddie Jurimas and Pastor Chris Rose have started the journey toward ordination with our denomination, the Christian & Missionary Alliance. This is a two-to-three-year process of study and examination that requires a time commitment beyond their full-time jobs. Please keep them in prayer and give them words of encouragement and support if you see them. Going forward, the elders will provide these updates monthly if not more frequently. As always, please email with any questions you have at Elders@myfac.org and watch this spot for future updates. Thank you, and may God bless each of you.

 
The FAC Elders