Welcome to the landing page of FBC's Refocus efforts! We hope this will help you get familiar with Refocus, why we're doing it, what it will look like, and what the next steps at FBC will be. If you have any questions, you can send them to Pastor Scott.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us

A commitment to pray for FBC at 3:20pm each day!

Mission Statement - Love God, Invest in People

The Greatest Commandments and the Great Commission give us our mission statement.
 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” -- Matthew 22:37-40 (CSB)

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -- Matthew 28:18-20 (CSB)

Strategy

We believe the Bible and are committed to teaching and preaching the Bible without apology.

We also believe that we need a "culture of invitation" where people are, with their regular rhythms of life, inviting people to church or to groups or to activities or to ministries with them.

We also believe that it's important for us to engage in missions to the Nations (far away) and to our Neighbors (near to us).

We believe that nothing we do is possible apart from a lifestyle of prayer, not just corporately but individually.

We also believe that groups are relational glue. Without these relationships being formed, it's easy to slip through the cracks. But with relationships holding us together, we'll be able to shoulder life's burdens together.

Finally, we believe it's imperative for us to embrace the next generation. It's not just our children & students, but anyone who comes after us​.

Pathways

Membership Pathway

This is the process that someone would take as they become a part of our FBC church family. From the first visit, we'd follow up with those guests to connect them to our ministry leaders. If they have children or students, we'd get them in touch with those ministries. We also want to connect them to a Small Group for relationships. The key time for a guest making the transition to membership is the Prospective Member Breakfast with the pastor to talk about the church and make those connections. From there it's affirming membership and assimilating into a ministry and a group to be part of.

Serving Pathway

The Serving Pathway helps us to place people in ministries to exercise their spiritual gifts and bless the church. The key is identifying a member's SHAPE (Spiritual Gifts, History, Ability, Experiences, and Personality). From there we'd want to connect them to a ministry leader who needs volunteer help. Because we want to make sure people are serving where they can flourish, there's a "trial period" where they can shadow & observe and "dip their toes in the water." After that, we'd plug them into a rotation and encourage them to bring someone else to join them in serving!

Discipleship Pathway

Being a disciple means following Jesus. And the Pathway is a circle for a reason: our walk with God is always going to bring someone else along.

When someone becomes a Christian, we believe it's important to connect them with a mentor to walk alongside them. That mentor can be a couple or a single person.

The Personal Spiritual Disciplines are an important part of what it means to follow Jesus, these are the ways we exercise our faith. They include things like Bible reading, worship, fasting, prayer, and fellowship.

Getting connected into a group is intentionally here because our spiritual growth is rarely something that happens alone. We need one another in Small Groups, Sunday Nights Together, and other groups (men's & women's ministry).

Finally, growing in our discipleship journey means living on mission to the Nations and our Neighbors.

Leadership Pathway

Stepping into leadership at FBC happens along three major lines:

1. Teaching - These would be teachers in our Small Groups or other small group situations. The best identifiers of potential teachers are current teachers. Ideally, a teacher is looking to invest in someone else who could be a potential teacher. Potential teachers would go through a Q&A with the pastor for doctrinal/theological alignment, and then would be placed in a  group setting.

2. Deacons - Deacons are our spiritual servant leaders who are called out from among the church body. They are formally nominated through a process of the church members recommending names. But the key to identifying potential Deacons is to look at people who are already serving in smaller ways.

3. Committees & Teams - Committees at FBC administrate and carry a lot of the formal leadership and ministry load. Again, the best sources for potential members on our formal leadership teams are people already serving. But also we look for people who are consistently attending and serving.