Dear Fellowship Family,
The staff and the elders would like to thank you for your patience and prayers during these last few months as we have been seeking the Lord and his plans for FBC. Your kindness and support have been essential in this process. While there is still more that we are working on, we do have some updates that we are eager to share with you!
Some of the questions we have continually brought before the Lord have been:
- How do we best support the Siegel Campus?
- How do we provide greater consistency in our worship gatherings at both campuses?
- What does staff leadership look like in this season?
- How do we best deploy our staff, based on our needs and their gifts and abilities, in support of the mission of the church?
As we have prayed and worked through these questions it became clear that making some staff adjustments regarding roles and responsibilities will move us forward as a church. We believe this is the Lord’s leading and we are grateful to him for his kind provisions of clarity!
The planned adjustments to our staff will be as follows:
- Matt Angell will move into the role of Lead Pastor
- Kevin Perry will move into the role of Teaching Pastor
- Jeff Patton will move into the role of Men’s Pastor
- Chad Vinson will move into the role of Siegel Campus Pastor
- Rob Bloss will have a title change to Executive Pastor
- Melissa Riggs’ role as Children’s Pastor remains unchanged
- Sammy Rios’ role as Student Pastor remains unchanged
Matt and Kevin will form the primary preaching team at both campuses. They will preach on a rotation, so when one is preaching at Blackman, the other will be preaching at Siegel. We will still benefit from the preaching of Jeff, Chad, Rob, and Phil as they will jump into the rotation as needed.
Jeff has been serving as Men’s Pastor for the last 5 years on top of his role as Teaching Pastor. This change will allow him to give additional energy to men’s ministry and take advantage of pastoral opportunities that exist in that area while also carrying responsibilities on the elder team and preaching seasonally and in substitution.
Chad will be the primary shepherd and community builder at the Siegel Campus. While he will not carry the regular preaching responsibilities of the campus, he will be the consistent onsite pastor, providing much needed pastoral care and leadership to the new campus.
Rob’s title will change to Executive Pastor to reflect a refinement in his job description. He will continue serving as the church’s operational leader, reporting to the Lead Pastor to help turn vision into action through leadership over areas such as staff, strategy, finances, facilities, technology, communications, and organizational health. This role brings together executive leadership and pastoral ministry, while allowing Rob to continue serving our body through preaching from time to time.
Please be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the page featuring one of our elders, Austin Henderson and the five staff above talking about the upcoming changes and how they have seen the Lord work in this process.
We are still working on exactly what this will look like, but Community Groups will continue to be a priority and will be overseen and supported by our pastoral team.
A search to fill two staff roles, Women’s Pastor and Worship Arts Pastor, will begin shortly. Please be praying for those the Lord will bring to fill those very important roles. If you or someone you know would like more information on either position, please email us at .
We have one additional update to share with you. Our long time Elder Phil Herndon will be rotating off the team due to work requirements that necessitate a lot of travel which will prevent him from being able to attend to elder responsibilities. Phil has been a member of our Elder Team for over 20 years and has been an instrumental part of helping shepherd and care for our body. Phil is a man of integrity and has given generously to our body from the depths of his wisdom and care. He and Shelia remain committed to our Siegel campus and Phil will remain active with occasional Sunday morning preaching. The Elder team wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude for Phil’s partnership in the gospel and the work of our local body. We fully support and embrace this changing season of life for the Herndon family, and we pray God’s great blessings over them.
We are sharing these upcoming changes now, even though some will take time to implement. As we begin the process of hiring a new Worship Arts Pastor, Kevin’s leadership in that area remains essential. We will communicate updates on staff roles and timelines as they become clear. While this may not answer every question, we want to keep you informed with what we know at this stage.
We humbly ask for your continued prayers for wisdom and guidance, and we invite you into conversation with our elders or staff around any questions or concerns you may have.
We believe these changes will allow our body to thrive and provide needed leadership in key areas. Additionally, we believe this is a positive step in pursuit of a healthy and thriving church body who is mission minded. We are encouraged by the Lord's leading and for His kind provisions including a capable and gifted staff team. At the same time, we are continuing to work through helpful updates to policies, procedures, and greater clarity around our mission and vision.
This is an important chapter in the story of our church, and we are grateful for the Lord’s kindness and guidance as we walk forward together. Our desire is to continue serving you faithfully, communicating clearly, and seeking the good of our whole church body in this season. The staff and elders are available to hear from you and to answer questions. You can reach any of us directly or by emailing the elder team at
In his service and yours,
The Fellowship Bible Church Elder Team