Meet Church Coaching Firm Ministry Architects

Ministry Architects Founder Mark DeVries

After nearly three months of discussion and discernment among Church Council members and a small advisory team, the Council recommended to the congregation on May 7 that First Baptist engage a church consulting and coaching organization, Ministry Architects. The congregation will consider and vote on their proposal at a special called business meeting on Sunday, June 4.

Ministry Architects was founded in 2002 by Mark DeVries. At that time, Mark was serving as the associate pastor for youth and their families at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Early in his ministry with First Presbyterian, Mark realized his “seventy-hour plus workweeks” were producing few visible signs of a ministry “off and running”. And he knew change was needed. The results of those changes, Mark’s unique approach to ministry, is how Ministry Architects came to be. Mark is now an internationally known author and speaker on congregational ministry in the twenty-first century.

Ministry Architects help congregations become who God is calling them to be with the proper systems and processes in place to help them execute that calling well. Their company’s core values include: groundedness, responsiveness, playfulness, climate, relationships, innovation, results, theological humility, the poor, and persistence.

Ministry Architects' process begins with a deep listening assessment that involves every individual connected to the congregation. Following the listening assessment, they write a customized blueprint for the congregation with input from key church leadership and staff. Then, they come alongside the congregation for a period of 12-18 months to make sure the work gets done.

Ministry Architects has 1000+ clients that include whole churches, children’s ministries, theological institutions, non-profits, and more and more faith-based organizations every year. You can read more about them and Mark DeVries at this website: https://ministryarchitects.com/who-we-are/.

Senior Pastor Annual Report

This is what Yahweh says:
Stand at the crossroads and look.
Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies
and walk in it and find rest for your souls.
~ Jeremiah 6:16

In January of this year, Moderator Rod Coates sent me an article published by Religion News Service about trends in church participation as the pandemic neared year three. In the article, Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University, said, “What happened in the pandemic is that all of us were huddling in the basement while a tornado was going over our heads. Now everyone has come out of the basement and everything is completely different.”

Thumma observed that during the early days of the pandemic, churches innovated because they had to for survival. Now that the crisis of the pandemic has mostly passed, churches must make long-term adaptations. He said, “The focus should be — How can we become a better church? rather than How do we re-create what we used to have?”

That article, and a subsequent conversation with Rod and Eric Mathis, prompted a question that circulated among all the FBC leaders and teams: “What are you most hoping for in 2023 for First Baptist Church?”

Pastor Eric recorded three pages of responses. Some were aspirational:

• “I hope to see a qualitative shift/transformation in the lives of FBC folk. I hope to see the Spirit moving in our congregation. Life changes.”

• “People who show up are looking for something they can't find in the Rotary or another similar club. My hope is that FBC might be trustworthy with their aspirations and their deeply felt needs.”

• “I hope for an increased longing for personal growth in terms of knowledge of God, scripture, and other areas of our Christian walk and life.”

• “I hope to see missional initiatives that lead to relationship, as well as endeavors that touch on all four of our missional pillars: justice, compassion, hospitality, and generosity.

Other responses communicated frustration:

• “It feels like we are surviving day to day. It’s apparent that we are not fulfilling our capacity for what God wants to do and is doing in our neighborhood and in our city.”

• “Our church feels rudderless right now. We are here, but don’t know where we are going or where we are expending our energy.”

• “Unless we make or create strategy and make steps to get there, we aren’t going to be the church we want to be.”

• “Our church has smart people, but we are not responding intelligently to the needs in our community and our world.”

All these responses point to a readiness, or at least a desire, at First Baptist Church for change; for institutional and congregational transformation.

And so, after nearly three months of discussion and discernment among Church Council members and a small advisory team, this year’s Annual Meeting brings with it a recommendation from the council that First Baptist engage a church consulting organization, Ministry Architects, to help us meet four objectives for the health and future of this church:

• Create a unique and clear mission, vision, values and footprint for First Baptist Church of Washington, DC, to provide the reason WHY behind all we do.

• Define the community beyond the walls of the church so that we can know, serve and engage it in FBC's mission, vision, values and footprint.

• Maintain and grow FBC's congregation size and involvement, to deepen community with one another and with God.

• Streamline FBC's governance structure, staffing plan and administrative systems to ensure efficiency, understanding, empowerment and effectiveness for decision-making and discernment now and in the future.

I am eager to discover with you where the Spirit will lead us. Friends, may First Baptist Church be known as a community rooted in Christ, empowered by the Spirit, and committed to spiritual growth, deep connection, and courageous action.

Blessings,

Pastor Julie

Finding a Home for Beauty

From Pastor Eric

What does it mean that people who love music, worship, and the arts consistently find a home and a space inside FBC's walls?

This is a question I have been asking all Spring as our congregation has hosted musicians and music groups from our community. The most recent opportunity we had to extend hospitality to musicians was last Sunday. We welcomed Sarah McIver on flute and Eliana Schenck on oboe in morning worship. In the afternoon, we welcomed Kimberly Galva and more than a dozen of her violin students for their annual Spring recital - which included Kevin, Rosemary, and Valerie Plovnick.

When I expressed my appreciation to one of our guest musicians her response was, "I should be thanking you for allowing me to play here. This is an amazing space, and this congregation has been so kind to me this morning." After the violin recital Kimberly said, "What a wonderful opportunity for my students to hear themselves play in this space, and to know there are churches that still value not only music but all of the arts." Their words of gratitude echo what I've heard from other musicians who have been in our space this Spring - from the brass players at Easter and the Mariachi band on Palm Sunday to guest organists to Runnymede Singers who rehearse here weekly to the Bucknell University A Cappella Choir to the DC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

What does it mean that people who love music, worship, and the arts consistently find a home and a space inside FBC's walls?

This question brings me back to the work of sociologist Robert Wuthnow who said a desire to see the arts employed fully in the life of the church represents a profound cultural shift. The shift is a move toward a complete integration of the senses into our daily lives, as well as our spiritual lives.

As we open our doors to musicians and artists in the community, we create opportunities for their work to connect with the work of the Divine. We also create opportunities for our own spiritual lives to be enriched and expanded by the majesty, mystery, and beautiful holiness of God - things which should be, but are not always, most attractive to us. Maybe this is why Saint Augustine said, “My God and my glory, for this reason I say a hymn of praise to you and offer praise to the One who offered sacrifice for me. For the beautiful objects designed by artists’ souls and realized by skilled hands come from that beauty which is higher than souls; after that beauty my soul sighs day and night.”

What does it mean that YOU have found a home and space inside FBC's walls, which happen to be full of music, worship, and the arts?

Pastor Eric

New Organist - Sean Burns

Welcoming Sean Burns

Following a national search led by Pastor Eric and a small advisory team comprised of Lilia Abron, Sarah Hodges-Austin, Aurelio Dominguez, Diane Gardner, Dennis Lambert, and Rosemary Plovnick, we are pleased to announce that Sean Burns has accepted the call to serve as our new organist. His first Sunday on the organ bench will be Sunday, June 4.

Sean is a Philadelphia-area native who relocated to Washington, DC in 2021. He is a recent graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, will be sitting for the bar exam this summer and pursuing a legal career in the DC area.

When asked what drew him to apply for the organist position, Sean said, "After spending my time as a law student working as a substitute organist, I attended an organ recital at First Baptist and was both immediately struck by the sheer scope of the instrument and reminded of how much I love having a regular place to play on Sundays. I resolved to start looking for positions after the new year, and as fate would have it, the very first posting I saw was the position at First Baptist."

Sean completed formal organ study at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ in 2016, where he studied with Alan Morrison and earned a Master of Music in Organ Performance. Before moving to DC, he served as the principal organist first at Corpus Christi Church and later at Abington Presbyterian Church, both in suburban Philadelphia.

Beyond the walls of the church, Sean has used his extensive love and knowledge of opera to serve as an accompanist for young singers who are either pursuing upper-level studies or who are at the forefront of a professional career. At the academic level, Sean has worked with voice students at Westminster as well as Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. Professionally, he worked at Sarasota Opera House in Florida along with the summer programs CoOPERAtive in Princeton, NJ and Canto in Louisville, Kentucky.

As he looks to begin his tenure at First Baptist, Sean said he is most excited about two things: the opportunity to get to know the people of First Baptist better, and the chance to add to First Baptist’s creative, thoughtful, and extensive use of music in worship. Welcome, Sean!

From Moderator Rod: Spending Plan, Nominations to be voted on at June 4 Meeting

First Baptist will gather this Sunday, May 7, for FBC’s Annual Meeting, which marks the beginning of a new program year. We will hear about many of the highlights from the prior year, talk about hopes for the next, and have some fun between the reports.

Two items of business every year at the Annual Meeting—approval of the spending plan for the coming year and the election of church officers and other lay leaders—will be voted on in a called congregational meeting on June 4, and for a worthy reason:

In last week’s Update, FBC Clerk and Communications Director Christi Harlan reported on the Church Council’s plan to recommend at the Annual Meeting that FBC employ a consulting firm, Ministry Architects, to help First Baptist meet four primary objectives for the health and future of our church.

Because the congregation needs time for prayer and discernment before voting on the consultant recommendation, and since the church’s decision will affect the 2023-2024 spending plan, I am calling a special congregational meeting for June 4 to vote on retaining Ministry Architects and on the annual spending plan. The congregation also will be asked to vote on nominations for church officers and other lay leaders at that meeting.

I look forward to seeing you at that special meeting in June, but first at our Annual Meeting and celebration of the past year with food, fellowship, and fun this Sunday, May 7.

Roderick Coates

Moderator

Spring Forum | Jeff Chu | Sunday, May 21

Save the date for Spring Forum! Sunday, May 21 with guest Jeff Chu. Jeff is a self-described writer, reporter, and editor. He is currently an editor-at-large for Travel+Leisure, teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church, and a Ph.D. student in theology at the University of Stellenbosch. Jeff is an ordinand in the Reformed Church in America (RCA), and lives with his husband and dog, Fozzie, in Michigan. His work at Princeton Theological Seminary's Farminary, a 21-acre experiment in sustainable agriculture that doubles as the world’s best classroom, he learned about the story of life, death, and new life that God has written into creation.

Here is the schedule for Sunday, May 21.

9:15 am | Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall

9:30 am | Spring Forum, presented by Jeff

11:00 am | Worship with Jeff Chu preaching the sermon “Witnesses” based on Psalm 68:4-10, 19-20, Acts 1:6-11, and Luke 24:46-53.

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Get to know Jeff Chu

2022
Jeff Chu on Kate Bowler’s podcast, Everything Happens. In this episode, Kate and Jeff discuss: 

• Navigating certainty and doubt when ambiguity is so uncomfortable

• Why great resumes sometimes mask lives of pain

• How Jeff has discovered grace for himself and his family (and others who many have different versions of faithfulness)

Click on the Image below to Listen

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2022
Jeff Chu on Evolving Faith, Not Being Defined by Your Title, and Experiencing Healing

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2013
Listen to Jeff tell his story as he discusses his first book, "Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America".

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2013
Author and journalist Jeff Chu joins Ray Suarez to talk about his personal journey coming to terms with being Christian and gay. In his book, "Does Jesus Really Love Me?", Chu discusses the choices made by gay Christians trying to reconcile their lives, identities and faith.