Updates From the Search Committee

Welcome to the Pastoral Search Committee congregation update page.  The purpose of this page is to establish regular communications by updating the congregation at least monthly on the search committee’s progress.  Due to the sensitive nature of the search process, the search committee must maintain confidentiality.  Consequently, the committee will not disclose some information until the appropriate time.  Releasing (or leaking) this information prematurely could have devastating consequences for the candidate or the church.

Deacon Richard Stokley

PASTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

October 2023       

  • The 3 Final Pastoral Candidates are Preaching their 2nd Sunday Morning Worship service with OLBC.
  • Congregation evaluation forms are available in the Northax for members to evaluate the candidates for their personal reference.  These forms are NOT submitted to the search committee. 
  • An amendment to the church constitution to allow absentee ballot voting was approved.  
    • If you need to request an absentee ballot, call 757-893-2710.
    • The absentee ballot and a flyer will be mailed to the requestor with details on the process and mailing instructions.
    • All completed absentee ballots must be received at the P.O. Box identified on the flyer instructions by Friday, November 10, 2023.
    • In-person voting will be held on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. during a called church meeting.
  • Please contact the church office to obtain your member ID/envelope number as this will be needed to vote.  
  • Feel free to email the search committee if you have questions. OGBCNorfolkSearchCommittee@gmail.com.

 

September 2023       

  • The search committee narrowed the Pastoral Applicant pool to 3 Candidates
  • The 3 Final Pastoral Candidates are:
    • Pastor Carlton Ashby
    • Pastor Joseph Glover
    • Pastor Dr. Melvin Cotton
  • Each Candidate will be introduced to the OGBC congregation by a member of the search committee
  • Each Candidate will preach 2 Sunday morning worship services, and teach 1 Wednesday evening bible study class.  
  • Each Candidate will also lead Communion services during one of their Sunday preaching engagements.  
  • The schedule for each Candidates speaking engagement is listed below:
    • Pastor Joseph Glover
    • Pastor Carlton Ashby
      • Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023 (including Communion)
      • Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 
      • Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023 
    • Pastor Dr. Melvin Cotton
      • Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023
      • Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023
      • Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023 (including Communion)
  • The search committee will begin developing the voting process that will occur at a church meeting in November.  

August 2023       

  • The search committee continues working through the process to narrow our selection to three Candidates.  We appreciate your prayers as we work through this process.

July 2023       

  • The search committee is still undergoing in-person interviews with applicants who were scheduled for July.  
  • Applicant sermons and teachings are being reviewed by the search committee.

June 2023       

  • After two rounds of prescreening, the search committee narrowed the pastoral applicant pool to 8 applicants. 
  • The 8 applicants will undergo an in-person, face-to-face interview with the committee that is scheduled in June. 
  • The search committee will evaluate the applicants during their in-person interview using an objective scoring tool. 
  • The top 3 APPLICANTS will be elevated to the level of pastoral CANDIDATES.
  • Candidates will progress to the next phase of the search process. 
  • In the spirit of transparency and keeping the congregation informed, the search committee will offer monthly updates via a church huddle/meeting on the 1st Sunday after church service.  We will continue to provide the same information here on the church website as well as the monthly church newsletter.  

May 2023       

  • The search committee completed Round 2 Applicant Prescreening via a Virtual Panel Interview with each of the 16 applicants using Zoom.
  • The Committee panel interview with the applicant served to get to know the applicant better by understanding their theological background and ascertaining their pastoral opinions and philosophical views related to such topics as preaching style, communication style, leadership style,  membership pastoral care, marriage, sexuality, community involvement, church covenant, etc.
  • Each committee member evaluated applicants during the interview using an evaluation tool. The Committee will meet and review the evaluations.  Top applicants will progress to the next phase of the interview/search process.   

March 2023 – April 2023      

  • From March 14-April 25, the search committee will conduct Round 2 Applicant Prescreening via a Virtual Panel Interview with each of the 16 applicants using Zoom.
  • The goal is to narrow the applicant pool to 3 qualified Candidates.

February 2023      

  • The search committee prescreened all 37 applicants using the selection criteria from the Pastor Job profile, the church constitution and bylaws, and the congregation questionnaire.
  • Sixteen (16) applicants remain after round 1 prescreening
  • The interview process began, which included the following:
    • Recommendation to revise the current Church Constitution and Bylaws as it pertains to the pastor.  This ensures the search committee’s evaluation of the applicant during the interview process aligns with the Church’s Constitution and Bylaws.
    • Identification of how the committee will perform the interviews
      • Prescreening Round 2-Virtual Panel Interview with the applicants via Zoom
    • Identification of interview questions
    • Identification of interview dates
    • Scheduling of interviews
    • Creating a search committee Zoom account

January 2023      

  • The search committee is scheduled to complete the application and resume review of all 37 pastoral applicants by 2/1/2023.
  • After the review is complete, qualified applicants will be identified.
  • The search committee will begin the interview “process” starting in February 2023.

December 2022      

  • The search committee received 37 Pastoral Applicant applications and or resumes.
  • The committee is currently undergoing a pre-screening process for each applicant using the information informed by the Pastor’s Job Description and the Congregation questionnaire.
  • After the prescreening process is complete (which will take some time to pre-screen all candidates thoroughly), the qualified pastoral applicants will be notified to begin the interviewing process.
  • The search committee asks for your continued prayers and fasting during this time of transition.

November 2022      

  • The posting for the OGBC Pastor position is posted on selected social media and Baptist Convention sites.
  • The Pastor Search Committee will receive applicant applications and resumes until November 30, 2022
  • If you know of a Pastor who is interested in applying for the position, please refer them to the Pastor Search Committee page on our church website.

October 2022      

  • The Church Profile is finalized.
  • Advertising Process: Several advertising platforms were considered (Baptist Convention’s/Associations, search engines, social media, and OGBC Website).  The committee considered the expense associated with some of these platforms and voted on the following:
    • The Baptist General Convention of VA (Baptist Association)
    • Indeed.com (search engine)
    • Facebook and YouTube (social media) Stream flyer announcements before Sunday service and Wednesday bible study
    • OGBC Website
  • Application Process: In partnership with the media ministry, a pastor search committee landing page was created on the OGBC Website.  The church profile, along with the job description and instructions for applying, are accessible on the new landing page configured especially for potential candidates.  The application form and the dedicated search committee email address are provided on this page.  The goal is to begin advertising to start receiving candidate applications and resumes by mid to late October 2022.
  • Updates from the Pastoral Search Committee: To uphold the committee’s promise to keep the congregation informed of the committee’s progress, the committee agreed to create a search committee congregation update landing page on the OGBC Website.  This page provides monthly updates on the committee’s progress.

September 2022      

  • The Pastor’s Job Description, informed by the feedback from the Congregation Questionnaire, was finalized. 
  •  Began work on the church profile.  
  •  The committee created three subcommittees to work on different tasks simultaneously and report at the committee meetings.  These subcommittees include 1) Church Profile, 2) Advertising Process, and 3) Application process.

 

August 2022

  • The Congregation Questionnaire was made available to congregants with a completion date on or before August 21, 2022.    
  • Began work on the Pastor Job Description.

 

July 2022   

  • The church congregation voted to have four additional congregation members on the Pastoral search committee.
  • The new members include Judy Brown, Ricky White, Ruth Reid, and Phillip Hawkins.    
  • The Congregation Questionnaire was created to get congregate feedback to inform the Pastor’s Job Description.

 

June 2022   

  • The Pastor search committee was created with seven core members:  Members included three Deacons (Deacon Stokley, Deacon Bell, and Deacon Pope), two Trustees (Tim Johnson, Richard Hillian), and two congregation members (Emerald Brown and Glendale Folan).