FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF NORFOLK MISSIONS MINISTRY TEAM Policies and Procedures

Revised: 11/14/2013
Signed ___________________________ Chairman
Dan Naumann

Date: ______________ Date: ______________

Signed _______________________________ Vice-chairman

Jimmy Bruff

I.

Purpose Statement To follow Christs command found in Matthew 28:19-20 and to adhere to the core values of First Baptist Church of Norfolk (FBCN). This goal will lead us to enlarging the Kingdom of God through evangelism and church planting. Mission of Missions Ministry Team (MMT) A. It is the vision and goal of FBCN and the Missions Ministry Team to fulfill the Great Commission and our churchs mission statement. Therefore, we view mission study, support, prayer and direct mission involvement as a major ministry and focus of our church and individual members. The call, development and sending out of our own members as mission volunteers and/or career missionaries are a First Baptist Norfolk priority. B. Scriptural basis for mission: The bible clearly identifies God as a sending God: He sent Abraham (Gen. 12), He sent Joseph (Gen. 45), He sent Moses (Ex. 3), He sent the prophets, and He sent his Son, Jesus. Jesus said in John. 20:21, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. (NIV) Jesus commissioned His disciples (which includes us) to go into all the world to proclaim the gospel. Acts 1:8 --- Matt. 28:18-20 --- Matt. 9:37, 38 --- Luke 24:45-47 --- Psalm 96 MMT A. Strategy 1. To work with the Senior Pastor and Vocational Missions Ministers in establishing an overarching missions strategy for FBCN. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. To set a goal for our World Mission offering each year in harmony with the pastor and staff and then aggressively promote that offering. To prayerfully and intelligently prepare an annual mission budget. To encourage our congregation to actively pray specifically for missions. To inform our members of short and long-term volunteer mission opportunities available through our denomination. To provide mission trips involving volunteers from the staff and congregation.

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To encourage and educate the congregation in the area of local, state, national and world missions. To serve as a liaison between the church and its related missionaries, organizations and those who receive direct support from First Baptist Norfolk. To give the church a clear sense and understanding of our mission strategy and direction.

Membership 1. Size (see article IX of constitution) a. Voting Members. Nine as required by church constitution. b. Ex-officio Members (Non-voting). The number of non-voting (ex-officio) members shall be as necessary to provide sufficient persons to carry out the work of the MMT but shall not exceed nine (9) ex-officio members. 2. Selection (see article IX, Section 1, paragraph B) Before the beginning of each calendar year, the Nominating Ministry Team shall solicit and receive from the Senior Pastor, Vocational staff, Church Officers, and Ministry Teams, recommendations to fill all Ministry Team, Church Officer, and Church Council vacancies. A church-wide solicitation of volunteers interested in serving may be undertaken and will be coordinated with the Church Council and vocational staff. The Nominating Ministry Team shall by unanimous vote select nominees for vacancies and submit its report to the Church Council. Upon approval, the Church Council shall present the list of nominees to the church membership at least two weeks before the election. 3. Term of Service (see article IX, Section 3, paragraph A) Ministry Team members may complete a maximum of two (2) regular terms of two (2) years each. A one- (1) year waiting period must then be observed before eligibility for additional terms. Persons completing a partial term of more than one year may be re-elected to one additional two- (2) year term, after which a one- (1) year waiting period will be required. Persons completing a partial term of less than one year may be re-elected for a maximum two terms of two years each. A one- (1) year waiting period must then be observed before eligibility for additional terms. 4. Responsibilities a. Must attend all regular and special meetings. If attendance is not possible, the member shall contact the ministry team secretary, chairperson or staff representative and inform him/her of inability to attend. Failure to attend 3 consecutive meetings or at least 8 meetings within 12 months will require the member to resign from the committee to allow someone else to assume an active membership.

b. Stay knowledgeable of current missions through reading current literature on missions (i.e. the Commission and OnMission Magazines, which will be ordered for each team member). c. Should maintain an active prayer life, with an emphasis on mission needs. d. Should be active in promoting mission activities, World Mission offering and mission trips in their Bible study class and with other members of the church. e. Should be knowledgeable concerning FBCN missions budget, missionaries and mission causes the church directly supports, and S.B.C. missionaries. f. Should give prayerful consideration to all mission scholarship requests from members. 5. Meetings a. Regular meetings are held once a month at an agreed date and time in area designated prior to the meeting. b. Additional meetings may be called at the discretion of the chairman. 6. Executive Committee a. In order to reduce the time required for MMT meetings and to reduce the number of unscheduled meetings, an Executive Committee shall be appointed to take action or study and prepare reports and recommendations to the MMT of matters which are: 1. To be voted on by the MMT. 2. To provide information needed by the MMT. 3. To execute actions directed by the MMT. b. The Executive Committee shall be comprised of the following individuals: Chairman Vice-chairman Secretary At large person (1) IV. Financial Policy A. Preparation of Budget - The responsibility of the missions budget preparation lies with the Minister of Missions. MMT will review prior to budget submission to Church Council. B. Guidelines for eligibility to receive financial assistance on a monthly basis from FBCN missions budget (not the 945 account): 1. Individuals receiving financial assistance from FBCN shall be active members of FBCN or shall have been active members of FBCN prior to going into the missionary field. 2. The project or field of work supported by FBCN must be sponsored by a Southern Baptist organization. Non-affiliated organizations shall be dealt with 3

on an individual basis by the MMT. The Senior Pastor shall grant final approval. 3. Financial assistance will be granted primarily to organizations or individuals that are involved in evangelical work. (Evangelical work is defined as those activities undertaken by FBCN members to spread the Word of God without the granting of financial assistance to those being ministered.) Assistance to organizations and individuals involved in welfare, charity, social services or other activities where evangelism is a secondary and lightly discussed subject, will be supported only after recommendation by the Senior Pastor and subsequent approval by the MMT. All grants expire at the end of the calendar year and are to be renewed on an individual basis as voted on by the MMT and approved by the Senior Pastor. The review of all grants is to be conducted on a yearly basis prior to establishment of new yearly budgets. The review and approval by the MMT shall be conducted no later than September 30 and the proposed budget is to be submitted to the Senior Pastor. Immediately after approval by the Senior Pastor the grant recipients and those organizations or individuals that have been discontinued or adjusted shall be notified in writing by the MMT chairman. Organizations and individuals that receive financial support from FBCN shall be notified in writing of the requirement to provide written description of their mission or activity and financial accountability of funds received by all donors. Financial grants to SBC missionaries are not for personal or family use. It is to be used to purchase those items that will support and enhance their ministry, such as bibles, audio and videotapes, religious literature, etc. Missionaries shall be required to provide periodic reports on expenditure of these funds. C. Missions Support for Students and Other FBCN Members (from the 945 account) As a further method of developing prospective missionaries and in order to facilitate hands on mission involvement, First Baptist Norfolk members are encouraged to take advantage of short-term opportunities through all affiliated Southern Baptist agencies and other evangelical mission groups and agencies. The MMT will endeavor to make such opportunities known to the church and provide partial financial support to qualified members who are accepted for these projects. 1. Special mission project requests from Southern Baptist churches, denominational boards (such as International Mission Board and North American Mission Board), agencies and state conventions will receive preference. 2. All individuals must fill out the Missions Activity Scholarship Application form. The MMT will evaluate each of these based on the following criteria: a. Active First Baptist church members will receive preference b. The need and the ability of the individual

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c. The worthiness of the mission project itself (does it accomplish our mission objectives?) d. Persons considering a career in missions 3. Resources are limited. (First Baptist Norfolk receives numerous requests for mission support each year) While the church would like to fulfill all the legitimate requests, they are approved depending on the availability of resources at the time the request is made and worthiness of the project as determined by the MMT. 4. Interview Process After the application is received, the MMT may request a personal interview before granting support. A detailed report and evaluation at the end of the persons mission experience is required. Interviews will cover such topics as: a. Background and salvation experience b. Acceptance by an approved mission group or agency c. Financial support d. Reasons for desiring to apply for this project e. Abilities, spiritual gifts, interests f. Ministry/church experience g. Involvement in First Baptist Norfolk activities and programs 5. Amount of Grant The amount of the grant to be provided to qualified individuals shall be as follows: a. Three (3) distinct types of grants or assistance are to be considered for service of less than six (6) months duration. i) Grants for requests involving mission trips sponsored by Southern Baptist affiliated agencies. (As in C.1. above) A grant of 1/3 of the estimated cost of the trip, with a maximum of $500 per participant is to be considered. Participants are expected to raise sufficient funds to support their mission trip without further financial assistance from FBCN. The funding for these activities is to be drawn from the Mission Projects fund, account 945. ii) Grants for requests involving mission trips sponsored by our church (FBCN).

Participants on FBCN sponsored trips shall commit to a deposit of $500 (international trips) or $150 (domestic trips). Participants are required to send letters requesting prayer and/or financial support to raise the balance of the anticipated expenses. The MMT is confident that through prayer of the trip members and the faithful support of their prayer and financial partners the Lord (Jehovah Jireh) will provide the balance of funds for each trip participant. The funding for these activities is to be drawn from the 945 missions fund and designated donations.

Preferential consideration shall be given to qualified applicants who have not participated on previous mission trips. iii) Grants for requests involving mission trips sponsored by other than Southern Baptist supported agencies.

These requests will be considered by the MMT with a possible monetary grant not to exceed $250 per trip. b. Two (2) distinct types of grants or assistance are to be considered for service of six (6) months or longer duration. Each type of support will be from the 945 account and must be reapproved annually if the duration of mission service is for more than 12 months. i) Grants for requests involving mission service sponsored by Souther Baptist affiliated agencies. (As in C.1. above) FBCN will provide to the mission sending organization support of $100 per month. Grants for requests involving mission service sponsored by other than Southern Baptist supported agencies. FBCN will provide to the mission sending organization support of $50 per month. 6. Additional Guidelines for First Baptist Church Norfolk Sponsored Mission Journeys. a. All trips must have a minimum of 90 days of advance planning, unless authorized by the Senior Pastor or Missions Pastor. b. All fundraising letters must be in the missions office at least 60 days prior to teams departure. Participants who fail to meet this requirement will be responsible for all expenses not raised through their deposit and fundraising. c. Participants who did not meet deposit and letter requirements must pay all balances at least 14 days prior to teams departure. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved in advance by the Missions Pastor, d. Team participants who were not fully funded on their previous First Baptist church Norfolk mission journey would covenant to pay any remaining balance between expenses and fundraising before going on their next mission journey. This policy change takes place for 2014. e. Team leaders and Missions Pastor must agree on team size, depending on the need on the mission filed. Every effort should be made to limit team sizes to 10 or less. f. If more than two members, from one family, desire to go on a specific mission journey, they must be approved by Missions Pastor (with MMT notification) and must also guarantee the full cost of the trip for all additional family members. g. Team Leaders should be encouraged to send out fundraising letters (25) or pay the deposit for that specific journey.

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Fundraising Assistance with support Process When an FBCN member is participating in a mission endeavor through an agency that does not process donations from individuals, FBCN will receive donations for that mission cause and forward the donation to the non-profit agency. Designated Giving a. Our church recommends that members contribute their tithe and offerings directly through our unified church budget. b. The 945 account is a special account set up for the purpose of receiving monetary gifts (these should be above ones tithe) to facilitate special First Baptist mission projects. These projects must first receive approval by the MMT before monies can be accredited to the account. Persons desiring to give money to specific mission causes or persons going on a mission trip should contact the Minister of Missions to review our policy in keeping with strict I.R.S. regulations.

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Special Projects The Senior Pastor and Missions Ministry Team must approve all church sponsored mission projects.

V.

Revisions Guidelines This written policy shall be reviewed, revised and re-evaluated as warranted by the changing needs of our church. The MMT should evaluate and determine if this document is still relevant to our present needs on a yearly basis. Amending Procedures The MMT shall abide by the procedures in this manual to conduct normal business. We realize that God cannot be confined to a policies and procedures manual. We recognize, in awe, that Gods hand laid out the heavens and the earth (Isa. 48:13) and He now sustains them (Col. 1:16-17). His eternal power and divine nature are seen by everyone, everywhere (Rom. 1:20). Therefore, in the course of church business, we may need to deviate from this manual to move in a direction of obedience to the leading of our Heavenly Father. In order to deviate from the policies and procedures as set forth in this manual, 75% (3/4) of Missions Ministry Team members must vote in the affirmative.

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