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Newsletter of First Baptist Church of CastrovilleOctober 2016

Constitution & Bylaws•

René, Sabrina Maciel leaving•

Deacon Nominations

Oct 9 (Sun) – Lord’s Supper.Oct 10 (Mon) – Columbus Day.

Office closed. Oct 13 (Thur) – Prime Timers

Lunch at Bill Miller, 11:30am. Oct 16 (Sun) – Church Council

after 2nd Service. Special Business Meeting to adopt Restated Certificate of For-mation, 3:30pm, followed by Regular Business Meeting.

Oct 17 (Mon) – Distribution to Homeless, Leave church at 8:30am.

Oct 20 (Thur) – Food Truck, 10am. Volunteers needed at 8:30am.

Oct 21 (Fri) – Family Movie Night. “Ice Age: Collision Course,” 7pm, Worship Center. FREE.

Oct 23 (Sun) – René Maciel will preach, followed by a lun-cheon honoring René and Sabrina.

Oct 29 (Sat) – Fall Festival, 2-5pm, FREE.

Oct 30 (Sun) – Breakfast Fellow-ship replaces Sunday School. Deacon nominations. Fifth Sunday Singing.

Nov 6 (Sun) – Time Change. Fall Back and get more sleep!

Certificate of Formation/Constitution/BylawsLegal documents ready for approval

OCTOBER

A committee has been meeting since September 2014 to re-view and update our constitution and bylaws, which had not been changed since 2004.

After researching other churches’ documents and getting input from people in the congregation, the constitution and bylaws were presented to the pastor and deacons for review. After their review, the church engaged John Litzler, a lawyer who specializes in church law, to review them and make suggestions. He met with the deacons and the Bylaws Committee chair in late July.

The proposed document was distributed at the September business meeting and copies are available at the Welcome Center, in the Education Building and in the church office. If you would like a copy of the current bylaws and a cross-out version that shows

New portable baptistry was used on Sept. 25 and will be used again on Oct. 16.

Based On BUA NEWS RELEASE René Maciel, president of Baptist University of the Américas since

2007, has announced his resignation to accept the position of Commu-nity Life Pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodway near Waco, Texas, effective Oct. 16. He will begin there in November.

Maciel also serves as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, also known as Texas Baptists, and will preside over the annual convention from Nov. 13-15 in Waco. He represents two million members in 5,300 churches. He also serves as Associate Minister at First Baptist Church of Castroville. Maciel was Interim Pastor at FBCC between the pastorates of Jim Heiligman and Joel Warren. (Continued on Page 2)

René & Sabrina Maciel leavingCastroville to serve in Woodway

CONNECTIONS

By Ginger Carnes, Chair, Bylaws Committee

ANNUAL FALL FESTIVALSaturday • Oct 29 • 2-5 pm

FREE FUN & CANDY Donate candy at church

(Continued on Page 3)

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(Continued from Page 1)Pastor Joel reacted: “He has the heart of a pastor.”BUA offers five bachelor’s degrees and one asso-

ciate degree with an emphasis on preparing students to be Christian ministers in their religious careers as well as in secular careers.

During his tenure at BUA, he led a move from eight outdated buildings at 8019 S. Pan Am Expressway to a renovated medical office building on Barlite Boule-vard this fall.

Van Christian of Comanche, Texas, Chair of BUA’s Board of Trustees which will meet soon to start the presidential search process, said, “The Board of Trustees is obviously saddened to receive President Maciel’s resignation; however, we also understand the significance of God’s call on his life. We are confident that just as God has prepared him for this change, He has also prepared someone to become the new presi-dent of BUA.

“Just as Joshua succeeded Moses in leading the Hebrew people into the promised land, we believe God already has a new leader selected to lead the BUA family into the new era inhabiting our new home. We are excited about the search for that person and confident that God will lead us to the person He has already prepared for the role.

“We are incredibly grateful for President Maciel and his leadership which has brought BUA to its cur-rent position, which we consider to be the best in its rich history. The Trustees wish all God’s best on René and Sabrina as they begin this new position of God’s plan in their lives,” Christian added.

Paul Sands, lead pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodway, said, “We couldn’t be more excited to have René joining the staff at First Woodway. As the BUA community knows so well, René brings a wealth of experience, strong leadership, and infectious enthusi-asm to everything he does. He will help First Woodway strengthen its outreach to the Waco community and beyond.

“From my conversations with René, I can tell you that his love for the staff, students, and supporters of BUA is undiminished. He has already suggested ways that First Woodway could forge a closer partnership with BUA as it prepares students for leadership in our state and region. René’s visionary leadership at BUA has impressed people throughout Texas. We are thrilled to have him join us at First Woodway,” Sands said.

Prior to joining BUA, Maciel was the assistant dean at Truett Seminary in Waco. He also served at New Mexico Baptist Children’s Home in Portales, N.M. and Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.

René’s message to FBCC

We are both very excited and anxious as God calls us to a brand new work.

I cannot tell you or describe to you what FBC-Castroville has meant to me and Sabrina. God has used this place to train me, to mold me, to expand me and my thoughts of His Kingdom work. God has used you and this church to prepare me for this new call in my life.

I will always be indebted to you as you have allowed me to serve as a volunteer youth minister, worship leader, SS teacher, and interim pastor. Thank you for the fruits of the Spirit that I have seen in you. We have felt and experienced the body of Christ and and His love and we know that God is going to do great things through FBC-Castroville.

I will start this new role in November and will be back and forth in October. I hope you will keep us in your prayers through this transi-tion and please know that I love you and “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Blessings! René

René & Sabrina blessed FBCC

René & Sabrina Maciel served in many ways since joining FBCC in 2009. Sabrina has served on the Finance Committee and taught in the Children’s Department. René has been a youth minister; worship music leader; taught many small groups, including an early morning Thursday group at Sammy’s; and kept the church on a growth and out-reach tragectory, including breaking ground and beginning construction of the Worship Center.

Dear Church Family, Yesterday (Sept. 28),

I submitted my letter of resignation as President of Baptist University of the Americas. It is with faith that I am listening to God call to me once again. For some time, God has been speaking to Sabrina and I about serving the body of Christ. I love the church and my passion to serve the church has grown and now I realize that it was God who was speaking and drawing me to this new calling.

I am leaving to go and serve as a senior lead-ership pastor with the title of Community Life Pastor at FBC-Woodway in the Waco area. This position will allow me to lead in discipleship, di-rect leadership training and connect the church to the community and the community to the church, and preach.

Photo by TIffiny McDowell Photography

René will preach at both services on Oct. 23 at the invitation of Pastor Joel.

You are invited to a luncheon in the Fellowship Hall after the second service to honor René and Sabrina and wish them well in their new ministry at FBC-Woodway. You are welcome to bring a card with a message from your family.

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Welcome To OurNew Members

in August & September

Emily BreitenAlexandra CurielDiana DunhamNatalee FillerDavid Graham

Karissa JenkinsNicolás Lopez Merino

Christian & Ethan NaukamKerry & Hannah Shaw

Scott, Melanie & Allison SostarichJanna ThompsonMatthew Waechter

Moliere Ward III

what was changed, send an email to gcarnes2@satx.rr.com. and she will send them to you.

The discussion and vote will occur at a Spe-cial Meeting that will be announced with at least one week’s notice and is set for Sunday after-noon, Nov. 6. The lawyer will be present to an-swer questions.

Why are we making changes?The Articles of Incorporation, which now are

called the Certificate of Formation, created a “board” that was interpretted by a Castroville law-yer to be able to make decisions for the church, which they did. The new document clearly states that the trustees only can sign documents after the church has approved the action.

The Bylaws were outdated in several areas.Some of the changes include:• Adding a section about marriage being

between a man and a woman.• Requiring an external review of the finan-

cial records every three years.• Making it clear that the Church Council is

the administrative body of the church and designating its membership.

• Moving some administrative items to an Administrative Manual rather than putting them in the bylaws.

• Deleting sections about a Corporate Board of Trustees.

• Making it clear that the Deacons are re-sponsible for filling the pulpit after a Pas-tor resigns and recommending an Interim Pastor.

• Allowing an ordained deacon who joins FBCC to be activated after one year of membership with approval of the Pastor, Deacons and church body.

• Provides that any amendments must be presented a month before they are dis-cussed and approved.

Committee members are Ginger Carnes, Chair; Beverly Callaway, Bobbie Franke, and Justin Russell.

The committee’s next assignment will be to update the current Administrative Manual. They will be contacting various staff members and committees to create or update policies and pro-cedures.

Legal documents available(Continued from Page 1)

What a terrific turn-out for the Signature Dish cook-off on Sept. 11! If you missed the announcement, Kay-te Pace's King Ranch Casserole won the main entreé division and Helen Reagan’s Banana Cake Pudding won the dessert division.

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For a trial period through the end of 2016, Church Council and the Business Meeting are being combined on the third Sunday of the month. Church Council will meet after the second service with the Business Meet-ing beginning at 3:30 p.m. Church Council will discuss items for the following month’s meeting. This begins on Oct. 16.

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Because we have rented bounce houses with wa-ter slides for years, the church voted to purchase one that will be used for church events. The organization that uses it is responsible for the set-up and take-down of the equipment. It is not available for personal use of church members.

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A New Members’ Orientation Class is scheduled after the second service on Nov. 13. Lunch will be served and childcare is available. Those who should attend will receive a letter or email from the office.

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The church picnic has been postponed until March 2017.

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October 30

The Children’s Ministry has instituted two special ministries during Children’s Church.

The early service is a music ministry with word-for-word scrip-ture led by young adults Matthew Waechter and Allison Sostarich. Our children will learn scripture through hand motion videos to help engage in worship and help them memorize the verses.

This fall it will include prac-ticing for the Christmas cantata directed by Patricia Becker and Karen Johnson. Their first perfor-mance will be at the Fifth Sunday

This newsletter is the leadership’s way to keep you “in the loop.” To sub-mit items, send to gcarnes2@satx.rr.com. Deadline is the Sunday after the monthly Business Meeting. It is sent via email and is available on the What’s Happening tab of the church website. Printed copies are available at the Wel-come Center in the Worship Center foyer.Mailing address: First Baptist Church-Castroville, 1408 Alsace, P.O. Box 1056, Castroville, TX 78009Phone: 830-538-3220Email: fbccastroville@sbcglobal.netWebsite: www.fbccastroville.comFacebook: First Baptist Church of Castroville

FIRST BAPTISMS IN NEW WORSHIP CENTER

Pastor Joel Warren celebrates the symbolic new life as Christian Naukum is among seven baptized in the new portable baptistry. Another baptism service is slated for Oct. 16.

Children tackle music, puppets, good school workSinging at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30.

The late service has a puppet ministry for fifth and sixth graders who will present shows inside and outside the church, such as at daycares and nursing homes. They are led by Angel Hoover and Lindsay Carnes and meet in the 3rd-4th grade classroom. The children will be assigned their own puppets to take home to practice their skits.

We now have the nursery open for first and second services with a consistent staff member

every Sunday to help your baby feel comfortable.

We would like to welcome our newest staff member, Lindsay Collins, to the Children’s ministry team. She has been serving for some time in our children’s minis-try. Lindsay is in our toddler room, the Kangaroo’s.

As a special incentive, your child can win prizes from the trea-sure box for their school grades. Take a picture of those progress reports and report cards to win prizes for Straight A’s, Straight B’s, and A’s and B’s. Even kindergart-eners earn prizes for E’s and S’s!

If you would like to volunteer with the Children’s Ministry, please contact Interim Children’s Minister Debra McDonel at 830-212-1703..

You also can provide snacks! You can leave them at the Chil-dren’s Information Desk in the Worship Center or during the week at the Children’s Ministry office.

DEACON NOMINATIONS

During both services, church members will receive ballots to provide up to five nominations for Deacon.

Please read the article in the September “Connec-tions” newsletter for details about qualifications.

FIFTH SUNDAY SINGING

Anyone desiring to par-ticipate in this popular event at 6 p.m. where individuals and groups share their sing-ing talents should contact Andy Carnes at acarnes2@satx.rr.com or 210-392-7150 to get on the program.