A Growing Church & A Growing Staff

There is a moment in the life of a growing church when the question stops being can we afford to hire? and starts being can we afford not to? We have reached that moment.

Over the past few years, First Baptist Kenova has grown in ways that are genuinely encouraging. Our average weekly attendance is now around 450, and that number reflects real people who have been added to our fellowship and need to be cared for. That kind of growth is a gift from God, and we do not take it lightly. But growth brings responsibility, and one of the most important responsibilities a church has is making sure its members are genuinely known and cared for by their pastors.

Here is the honest reality: we have not had a full pastoral staff since before COVID. The disruptions of those years affected staffing at churches everywhere, and FBCK was no exception. We have been leaning hard on a smaller team than a congregation our size actually needs.

Churches that run in the 350 to 500 attendance range typically need four or more pastoral leaders to sustain the kind of shepherding, teaching, and leadership development that healthy church life requires. We currently have three full-time ministry staff. That gap is not a criticism of anyone. It is simply a description of where we are and what we need.

The Associate Pastor we are working to call will strengthen our capacity in several specific ways. He will provide pastoral oversight for our worship ministry, developing the leaders within it and helping ensure that everything we do on Sunday morning is shaped by a genuinely pastoral vision. He will join the preaching rotation and share the teaching load. He will sit with our shepherds, participate in elder decisions, and carry a portion of the pastoral care that our congregation needs. And over time, he will help us build the kind of discipleship culture that produces future leaders from within our own membership.

This is not an ambitious expansion. It is a restoration of something we lost, and a commitment to shepherd this congregation with the care it deserves.

And that is exactly why we need your prayers. Calling a pastor is not a hiring decision. It is a spiritual one, and we want to get it right. Please pray that God would make the right man clear to us, that he would prepare that man's heart before he ever walks through our doors, and that our congregation would receive him well when the time comes. Pray for wisdom for the shepherds as we lead this process, and pray that what God is building here would be built on more than good intentions. We are trusting him with this, and we are grateful to be trusting him together with you.