The ByLaws Passed - What Happens Next?

For the past eight years Valley Bible Church has been working to write new bylaws to incorporate the role of elders into the leadership structure of the church. Who will be elders? How will we identify them? What will be their role? How will they relate to the other leaders at Valley? The new bylaws that answer those questions were approved for a two year trial by a vote with over 90% support at our Annual Congregational Meeting on Friday, March 12.

Another term the Bible uses for elders is "overseers" so we are looking to identify men who will serve in that role for Valley. Elders will "oversee" the doctrine, discipline and direction of the church. They will function to hold the Senior Pastor and all the ministries accountable and will themselves be accountable to the congregation.

The current deacon board has been charged with the task of presenting the names of those who will serve as the first elders. An initial group of men has been approached to consider whether or not the Lord is calling them to serve in this very important role. There will be an application process along with interviews to determine the desire and the fitness to lead and oversee the life and ministries here at Valley. The main passages from the Bible detailing qualifications for an elder are 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We urge each of you who are a part of Valley Bible Church either as an official member or as someone who attends regularly to become familiar with these qualifications and then support this process by prayer for the Deacons and for those who will be considered and introduced as elders.

When the initial elders are approved, at least two more members of the congregation will be appointed on a temporary transition team to guide the process to its full implementation. Some of the first tasks to be completed will be to appoint the directors of various ministries, to write a document called "Guiding Principles," and to review the current ministries to see how they fulfill the purpose of Valley Bible Church. All of this is designed to facilitate "being and making disciples of Jesus Christ" here in our communities, the Connecticut Valley and to the ends of the earth. In everything we do we want to have that goal to help people to come to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord and to help them grow as faithful followers of Jesus, not just attendees or members of Valley.

One of the other ways we explain what we do is by the terms "Gather, Grow and Go." We Gather as followers of Jesus to Grow as disciples of Jesus to be equipped to Go as servants of Jesus to bring the message of Jesus to everyone in our world. We do this all to the glory of God with the Gospel of Jesus as our foundation.

We believe we are entering an exciting new phase of growth and ministry here at Valley. We invite every person reading this to join us. Pray for the leaders. Pray for the process. Pray for the impact on others. Pray for the glory of God!