My Religious Institution - Essay Example

Introduction: I belong to the Faith Baptist Church, Greenville, in South Carolina. This religious which began in a very small and humble way in 1896 has now grown to be the town’s leading Baptist churches. The church was started initially in the form a club started by teenagers of the Poe Mill Village who wanted to spread the word of God in the community. It was named Club 3:16 and was named after the passage John 3:16 in the bible. The club grew in membership as there was a tremendous interest even among grownups in the mission for which it was formed. It was later converted to the status of a church was called Poe Mill Mission. Initially it was affiliated to the Boulevard Baptist Church who also funded the first owned premises and building for the church. The church took its present name in 1967. During the first half of the 1970s the church faced financial problems and there were even discussions of closing the church. But a pastor named John Vaughn agreed to build up membership again. He was able to increase its membership from forty five to above hundred with a period of three years. He also became the chief pastor of the church. Soon, it became impossible to accommodate all the members and some of them had to stand outside when attending mass and other functions. In 1978, a tragedy in the Vaughn family in the form a fire turned blessing for the church. The burns received by the couple’s daughter and the tremendous resilience shown by the family soon created a lot of public attention and sympathy. Membership increased to more than nine hundred within two years. In 1994 the congregation bought a two acre tract of land and built a larger church that is now seen today. The church now has approximately 1200 members. This paper answers six questions related to different areas faith, belief and administration and are answered one by one below. 1. Incorporation and constitution: It is interesting to note that the US Constitution has rightly allowed religion to be free in the country. It means that no religious institution needs to be incorporated (or have a constitution) as a legal entity under statute. Those who exercise the option can do so voluntarily even though this option has certain legal implication that has both advantages and disadvantages. This clause was included in the First Amendment of the US Constitution when Thomas Jefferson was president of the country and was based upon a sentence he wrote. The clause is referred to as the wall of separation. The first part of this beautifully worded sentence is given here to show the respect shown by law towards the church, believers, and god. “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship.” (Jafferson 2007). The Faith Baptist Church has both articles of incorporation and a church constitution. The church became independent of the Boulevard Baptist Church and was incorporated in 1975. The constitution as expected of a religious Christian organization is based on the teachings in the bible. The following two sentences in the constitution is testimony to the fact. “This Constitution is neither a substitute for nor a supplement to the Word of God. It is simply a systematic review of the doctrines and their application to practical matters as taught by the Faith Baptist Church of Greenville, South Carolina.” (Constitution of Faith Babtist Church: Preamble, 1). It appears that there is no set format for articles and constitution among Baptist congregations in the country. The interview with the chief pastor of the church also failed to throw light on the matter as the reverend was also unsure of the fact. But a comparison of constitutions of different Baptist churches shows that the clasues are similar though the wordings are very different. For example, the preamble of the constitution of the First Baptist Church, also in South Carolina says that it has been formed to preserve and protect the principles of their faith and also to preserve the freedom or liberty of individual church members. The Faith Baptist Church preamble (as given above) also in effect says the same thing even though it is more elaborate and worded differently. Article II of the First Baptist Church given the name of the Church while it has already been included in the preamble in the case of my church. Article II gives the Church covenant in case of Faith Baptist Church while that part is included in Article III of First Baptist Church. So it can be concluded that even though the content is more or less similar, the clauses are different in many respects. 2. Calling and ordination: There are many pastors whom I find very dedicated and whose actions and deeds are admirable. But for the purpose of the study, three such people from the church are selected. The man I admire most is none other than Dr John C Vaughn, the person who rescued the church from sure closure during the early 1970s and now serves as the Pastor Emeritus of Faith Baptist Church. To receive a calling is no simple matter and may involve feelings of doubt, exhilaration, helplessness, and promise which may last for several years. For Rev John, the feeling the god needed him came during his years as a soldier in Korea and Thailand. A compassionate man by nature, he was saddened by war and wanted to have a hand in helping humanity rather than destroy it. His became convinced that god had indeed called and accepted Him in the home of a missionary in Thailand during 1975. He became ordained soon after that. Another person whom I admire is the Rev John’s son Joe who is the pastor in charge of youth affairs. This is because he had his call at a very young age, no doubt influenced by his father and mother. He had also gone through a tragedy when a fire destroyed their home and caused very serious third degree burns on his sister. She miraculously survived. The resplendence shown by the family and the resulting surge in membership made Joe feel that his duty was to serve god. He was guided by his father in the process of receiving the call. He was accepted without much difficulty and duly completed the technical formalities connected with ordination. The third person whom I know only as Rev Robert (not a part of Faith Baptist Church) came from a very different profession when compared to the two others mentioned above. He was a businessman and had a business degree. Even though his father also was a preacher, he did not intend on following his footsteps until he began successfully operating the business his father had built up. He was a fun loving party going man who had his share of light relationships with girls. A chance attendance at mass made him realize that there was more to his life than making money. He still continued in business for four more years, but the thought of being god’s servant never left him. But the thought of leaving a business that he had successfully built was holding him back. One day he realized that Christ’s disciples had willingly left their professions and jobs and had gone with him to spread the message of god. They had done so when Christ called them to go along with him. He did not hesitate any further and knew that his calling had come. He became an ordained priest on June 25th, 2000. 3. Interview with three ministers: Each Baptist Church has its own posts like Pastor and Head of Staff, Children’s Pastor, Student Ministries Pastor, Executive Pastor, Youth Pastor, Music Minister and Worship Pastor, Director of Music etc. These staffs may be pastors. Here the three interviewees are pastors as well as staffs. Those three people are, the Rev. John Monroe - Pastor and Head of staff, the Rev. Dr. Tim Fisher - Minister of music, and Rev Joe Vaughn who is charge of Youth affairs. The Rev John Monroe holds a masters degree in accounting. Head of Staff is a highly responsible post. Major duties of the Head of Staff are communicate and coordinate all other ministries. He must be a carrier of Jesus Christ’s messages to others through his preaching and by his life. He should have a leadership quality. He always tries to proclaim and celebrate messages from Jesus. His basic polices are love, peace and justice. Coordination of all other ministries is the major problem faced by Rev Monroe. All ministries are works based on the messages from Bible. All ministries central point is Jesus Christ. Everyone tries to spread his messages through their service and life. Rev Dr Tom Fisher joined the church in 1999 and is the author of several books on music. He is an arranger and also a producer of music in the church and has developed many choirs including children’s choirs, men’s choirs, a bass choir and an orchestra. Time is his major problem because he has to conduct, compose, and arrange the music which involves all the groups mentioned above. Occasional problems also arise due to absenteeism (due to genuine reasons) by members when a choir is scheduled to play. He has to find alternatives to cover the missing musician which can be very challenging. A little has already been mentioned about Rev Joe Vaughn who became a pastor at a very young age. He is in charge of youth affairs and enjoys his responsibilities and challenges very much. The youth have so much energy that sometimes it is difficult to make them sit for long periods in religious classes and discourses. He is also worried about issues like teenage pregnancies and irresponsible behavior among youngsters. Correcting this trend according to him is a challenging tasks and require the cooperation of parents, teachers and religious institutions. He feels that much can be done by the church especially by taking the initiative and talking with parents and teachers. 4. Interview with the most recently added minister: The most recent addition to the staff at Faith Baptist Church was the chief pastor Rev Dr John Monroe. He has joined the church only during January 2009. As mentioned earlier he holds a masters degree in accounting. It was during his studies that he felt the need to serve god and soon became a pastor in 1985. He subsequently changed his masters from accounting to pastoral studies which was more in line with his calling. He also holds a PhD in religious education. His previous post before joining Faith Baptist church was as senior pastor at the Providence Baptist Church, Riverview in Florida. Rev Dr Monroe said that the process of joining Faith Baptist Church was smooth and without any hassles. He had been an admirer of Rev John C Vaughn and had heard of his tragedy and also the way he built up the church to its current strength of nearly 1200 members. When the vacancy for chief pastor came up in Faith Baptist became known, he immediately applied for the post. “The senior pastor and associates shall be generally recognized Baptist ministers who believe, without reservation, the creed, covenant, and standing resolutions of this church.” (Constitution of Faith Babtist Church: Calling or Dismissing the Senior Pastor and Associates, 4). There was no doubt in the members of the church that Dr Monroe would be qualified to fill the post. The procedure for acceptance as chief pastor at the church is as follows. There is a permanent pulpit committee in Faith Baptist Church who is responsible for the dismissal and filling up the post of senior pastor. The pulpit committee is made up of pastors and highly religious persons from among the many deacons of the church. In case of dismissal there should a vote of eighty percent for dismissal by members of the committee. This committee should present the name of the congregation one at a time. Only if a proposal is found unacceptable by the congregation shall another name be proposed. According to Rev Dr Monroe, his name was the first one that was proposed and approved by the congregation. He says that he has enjoyed his work as pastor in charge in the previous place. He adds that Faith Baptist offers the same pleasure and enjoyment. But being a larger congregation, Rev Dr Monroe feels that he has more responsibilities in his current post than his previous one. He also says that he enjoys the company and advice of Rev Dr John C Vaughn. He is married to Susan and the couple has seven children. 5. Ministry related expense policies and procedures: The Faith Baptist Church has well laid out policies and procedures for handling both income and expenditure. The policies and procedures with regard to ministry related expenses are given here. According to the constitutions of the church, extreme restraint must be exercised in expenditure and investment because it involves the property of god. The church will under no circumstance borrow money if finance can be obtained through offerings of the members and other charitable organizations. The logic is that borrowings involve the additional expenditure of interest. Since the money belongs to god, all steps must be taken to see that it is not spent unnecessarily. The church is authorized to accept any offerings that do not violate the will of god. The church also does not authorize any profit from sale of tickets and the like if it is against the teachings in the bible. Borrowing can be resorted to if all other means or raising income has been exhausted and finance is still required to complete a project or meet expenses. Faith Baptist also has a special policy regarding depreciating assets because depreciation is shown as an expense in the income and expenditure statement. A study has to be conducted and it has to be established that the revenue from the asset is more than the value of depreciation. Otherwise, the financing has to be raised through ways that does not involve expenses like interest. With regard to the day to day expenses and projects of the church and the ministries, the following steps will be taken. The treasurer shall present an annual budget to the church based on the requirements of the individual ministries of the church. This budget has to be approved by the pastors and the congregation before it can be accepted. Expenses for meeting the expenses of the Hidden Treasure Christian School for handicapped children should be raised with the business manager, budget committee, and congressional business meetings. Money to meet expenses can also be raised by other means that include donations, gifts, and establishment of scholarships. The accounts of the church shall be audited by a qualified certified public accountant before being passed as proper and correct. 6. Interview with a recently moved staff member: Valerie Jones works as an assistant to Rev Joe Vaughn in the Youth Affairs department of Faith Baptist Church. She had just been appointed to the post by Rev Dr John Monroe who has the legal and religious authority to appoint and remove staff members. Valerie had completed her masters in social work and feels a strong urge to help and serve fellow human beings. Her first post had been as an assistant to Rev Dr Monroe when he was serving as pastor of First Baptist Church. He had been impressed by her faith, devotion and sincerity to her work. Valerie had also confided to the reverend her urge to help humanity and when he was posted to Faith Baptist Church, had asked her to apply for a post there also. He had also strongly recommended her to the outgoing pastor of Faith Baptist Church who had appointed her before being relieved of the post. Rev Dr Monroe in fact joined the church after Valerie had been appointed as assistant to Rev Joe Vaughn. Like Dr Monroe she too had heard of and admired the senior Vaughn and wanted to work in close association with him. But since he was not actively involved in the day to day activities of the church, the next best option was to work with his son. Her special area of interest is to educate young people about the dangers of addiction to substances like alcohol and drugs. She had seen the problems caused by such addiction among close family members and the trauma faced by other relatives of such addicted persons. She strongly feels that educating youngsters early can help a lot in not falling prey to addiction later in life. She has now the job that fulfills her likes with Faith Baptist Church and is enthusiastic about her job there. Her transition was extremely smooth because of the recommendation she received from her Rev Dr Monroe. She had to undergo an interview with the outgoing pastor of the church and also Rev Joe before the appointment was approved. That was the only procedure that she had to undergo before being appointed. It is her belief that she had been able to transfer her belief during the interview and that was the main reason why she got appointed without any hassles. She enjoys her challenging and sometimes frustrating work immensely. She also takes time to attend to the handicapped children studying in the Hidden Treasure Christian School. Bibliography Constitution of Faith Babtist Church: Calling or Dismissing the Senior Pastor and Associates. [On-line]. accessed 06 February 2009; Available from http://www.fbctaylors.org/images/stories/resources/churchconstitutionweb.pdf; Internet. Constitution of Faith Babtist Church: Preamble. [On-line]. accessed 06 February 2009; Available from http://www.fbctaylors.org/images/stories/resources/churchconstitutionweb.pdf; Internet. Jefferson, Thomas. 2007. Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Letter. [On-line]. US Constitution Online, accessed 06 February 2009; Available from http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html; Internet. Read More