Central

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Executive Committee Minutes  |  Treasurer's Report |  Roll of Ministers

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274th Annual Session of the Central Conference of OFWB

Thursday, November 7th, 2024

The 243th Annual Session of the Central Conference of Original Free Will Baptists convened at Daniel’s Chapel Original Free Will Baptist Church on Thursday, November 7th at 9:00 am.

The 274th Annual Session was officially called to order by the Reverend Dale Belvin.

The welcome and invocation by the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Moderator

The congregation joined in a time of worship in song.

The Reverend Josh Preskitt, Pastor of Daniel’s Chapel OFWB Church, greeted all in attendance on behalf of the host church.

The Reverend Dale Belvin, clerk, conducted the roll call of ministers:

40 Central Conference Ministers were Present

9 were excused

13 were absent

Visting ministers and ministry directors were recognized at this time as well.

The Reverend Belvin conducted the roll call of churches

31 of 41 churches were present.

The Reverend Mark Hobbs, moderator appointed the following temporary committees:

Parliamentarian:  Rev. Dr. David Hines

Resolutions:  Rev. Doug Skinner (Chair), Rev. Josh Hobgood, Rev. Caleb Hines

Nominating:  Rev. Ronnie Hobgood (Chair), Rev. Gavig Daniels, Rev. Jonathan Whitford

The Clerk’s report was given by the Reverend Dale Belvin.  A motion was made to forego the reading of the minutes of the Central Conference Executive Committee since they are in written form and to approve the minutes as presented.  The motion was seconded and adopted.

The Treasurer’s Report and the 2024-2025 Budget was presented to the conference by the Reverend Michael Bryan.  By motion, the report and budget were adopted.

The Board of Ordination report was given by the Reverend Gary Bailey.  The board met elevent times this year.  

Three ministers were licensed this year.

Kadison Beaver

Blake Bryan

Trenton Loomis

Two minister were removed from the list of Ordained Minister in the Central Conference

Jeff Toler

Craig Hanson

By motion the report was adopted.

The Reverend Hobbs extended a time of greeting to our new Central Conference ministers. 

The Reverend Mark Hobbs presented a report for information from the Minister Care Committee.  This report was received as information.

There was no old business to be addressed by the conference.

During our session for new business the following motion was made

Motion made that we rescind the motion to approve the revision of the Articles of Faith approved at last year’s conference until the Doctrine of Satan is removed from the Articles of Faith.  Motion was seconded.

Rev. Hobbs read the current doctrine of Satan in the most recent revised Articles of Faith.

Discussion was had on the motion.  It was noted that the revised Articles of Faith were approved at the last convention.  For this to move forward in any way, we would need to make a motion at the Convention for there to be another revision, including this article.

The effect of the motion would be a petition from the Central Conference to open the Articles of Faith to revision again.

The conference voted and the motion failed

The Reverend Ronnie Hobgood presented the Nominating Committee Report.  The report was accepted.  Motion made to close nominations and elect those nominated to office.  The motion was seconded and adopted.

The Reverend Carlton Oakley, assistant clerk, recognized ministers for their years of service and gave out certificates of recognition to the following individuals.

10 years of service—Reverend Keith Gardner

20 years of service— Reverend John Hill

25 years of service— Reverend Tony Glass 

30 years of service— Reverend Jack Weathersby

45 years of service— Reverend Philip Wood

45 years of service— Reverend Dr. David Hines

The Reverend Phillip Boykin, assistant moderator, lead the offertory prayer.

The congregation joined in worship by singing while the offering was received.

At this time a short break was taken.

The Morning Worship Service began with the congregation joining in singing.

Mr. Blake Bryan read Luke 14-25-33 and lead in prayer.

A special music selection was provided by Reverend Dr. David Hines and Reverend Johnny Sullivan.

The Reverend Mark Hobbs introduced the keynote speaker, the Reverend Michael Bryan.

The Reverend Michael Bryan gave the keynote address focusing on the theme of our God being a “Mighty God” using 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 for the text.

The congregation joined in response to the message by singing “I Surrender All”.

The Memorial Committee gave the Memorial Committee report.  Dr. Charles Russell (Pastor) and Loraine Russell (Pastor’s wife), both of Hugo Church passed during the last year.

A prayer of benediction concluded the time of worship.

The report of the Credentials Committee was given by the Reverend Dale Belvin.

Preregistered Totals for the Conference

Churches 26

Ordained Ministers 34

Licensed Ministers 1

Delegates 35

Totals in attendance for the Conference

Ordained Ministers 41

Provisional Ministers 2

Licensed Ministers 1

Delegates 37

Visitors 4

Total 85

The report of the Credentials Committee was adopted by motion.

The Resolutions Committee report was given by the Reverend Doug Skinner.

1. Whereas Daniels Chapel OFWB Church has extended its hospitality and kindness to this the 274th meeting of the Central Conference, be it resolved that we give them a rising vote of thanks for hosting this conference.  Resolution was adopted.

2. Whereas we the Central Conference has seen the need to close some of our sister churches and other congregations have grown smaller, be it resolved that we give ourselves to renewed efforts to bring the lost to Christ.  Resolution was adopted.

3. Whereas Saturday, November,11th, is nationally recognized as Veterans’ Day, be it resolved that we the Central Conference give our veterans a rising vote of thanks for their service to our nation.  Resolution was adopted.

4. Whereas Israel, God’s chosen people, are being attacked by the enemies of God, be it resolved that we the Central Conference stand behind Israel and support the nation with prayer.  Resolution was adopted.

The Reverend Mark Hobbs opened the floor for any other business to be brought before the Central Conference.  There was none at this time.

It was announced that the offering received by the conference today was $573.16

Reports were given from Denominational and Ancillary ministries:

The Convention of Original Free Will Baptists—Reverend Ricky Warren

Children’s Home—Mr. Gary Lee

Christian Education—Mrs. Gail Heath

University of Mount Olive—Reverend Ronnie Hobgood

FWB Press—Reverend Stephen Prescott

OFWB International—Reverend Phillip Boykin

East Carolina University and Pitt Community College Student Ministry—Reverend Mike Rowell

Retirement Homes—Reverend Keith Phillips

OFWB Youth Ministry:  Youth Transition Taskforce—Reverend Caled Hines

A motion was adopted to adjourn and leave all other business to the executive committee.

A Benediction was offered by Reverend Mark Hobbs.

Lunch followed the conclusion of the conference.

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Central Conference Executive Committee Minutes

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

LaGrange First Original Free Will Baptist Church

July 8th, 2024, 9:30 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at La Grange First Original Free Will Baptist Church.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Phillip Boykin, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Carlton Oakley, and Reverend Dale Belvin

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and Reverend Belvin said a prayer.

The minutes of the last meeting of Central Conference were distributed to those present and each had an opportunity to offer any feedback.  They were approved as presented.

Discussion was had in reference to planning for our upcoming meeting of the Central Conference.  Discussion began with some observations and lessons learned from our last meeting.

·      Need to work on registration—need a better pre-registration and registration process for the day of the conference as well.

·      Need to have better communication with the Free Will Baptist Press for mailers and for our information booklet.

Discussion proceeded to our next meeting of the Central Conference.  The date of the conference meeting will be November 7th.  It will be held at Daniel’s Chapel Original Free Will Baptist Church.  A couple notes were made for further discussion and planning

·      Need information for mailers ready and submitted to the Free Will Baptist Press by September 15th.

·      The same deadline was set for our information booklet.

·      Need to do a roll call of ministers.

Reverend Hobbs brought to our attention the work of the Free Will Baptist Ministerial Association and the way that it benefits our Central Conference ministers.  He shared that the association has established an endowment with the North Carolina Foundation for Christian Ministries that will help fund that Minister’s Conference for the future.

Reverend Philip Boykin made a motion to donate $5,000.00 to the Ministerial Association’s endowment.  Motion was seconded passed.

Since the last meeting of this committee, Reverend Hobbs has been contacted by three separate churches seeking guidance for various situations.

• Saratoga Church was able to address their situation with no further involvement of the Central Conference.

• Daniel’s Chapel Church

  • A member of this church reached out to Reverend Hobbs and Reverend Gary Bailey from the Board of Ordination seeking guidance on how to address a situation of disagreement with the pastor.

  • After multiple times of contact, this member submitted a signed letter with charges made against Reverend Josh Preskitt.

  • The primary issue of concern was rather the church was the “final authority” or was a new level of church governance (Elders) intended to take precedence over the congregation’s role in making decisions.

  • Reverend Belvin would be the point of contact with Reverend Preskitt.

    • Ask for them to pause institution of new church governance until a meeting can be arranged with the Central Conference Executive Committee

    • Ask for a copy of current church by-laws of Daniel’s Chapel Church

    • Reverend Belvin will make report to the Executive Committee the results of his conversation with Reverend Preskitt via email.

  • Congregation the “final authority”

• Marlboro Church

  • Guidance on dealing with some conflict between church and Pastor.

This meeting was followed by a joint meeting of the Central Conference Executive Committee and the Central Conference Board of Ordination.  The church concerns at Daniel’s Chapel Church and Marlboro Church were discussed in this meeting.

The date of the next meeting would be set after reaching out to Reverend Preskitt.

The meeting was closer in prayer.

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

Free Will Baptist Press Building

July 17th, 2024, 9:30 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at the Free Will Baptist Press Building in Ayden, NC.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Phillip Boykin, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Tom Malin, Reverend Carlton Oakley, and Reverend Dale Belvin.

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer.

The purpose of this meeting was to meet with Reverend Josh Preskitt and discuss the present issue with Daniel’s Chapel Church.

The main issue deals with congregational authority.  After discussion with Reverend Preskitt he made it clear that the congregation was the final authority in church matters.

Reverend Hobbs is going to verbally inform Reverend Dustin Bannister, chair of the Board of Ordination of our finding in a phone call.

A letter will be drafted to go to the complainant by the clerk. The executive committee will review prior to transmission.

The next meeting of the committee will be July 23rd at 9:00 am at La Grange First Church.  The agenda for the next meeting is the conference, nominations, finances, and reviewing the letter.

Meeting was dismissed with prayer.

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

LaGrange First Original Free Will Baptist Church

July 24th, 2024, 9:00 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at LaGrange First OFWB Church.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Phillip Boykin, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Tom Malin, Reverend Carlton Oakley, and Reverend Dale Belvin.

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer.

Minutes of prior two minutes were approved.

Proposed 2025 budget was made to be approved at the next meeting of the annual conference.  Central Conference budget goes from November 1, 2024, to October 31, 2025.

Reverend Tom Malin gave the financial report.  This report was accepted.

Budget was proposed for the next fiscal year

Approval was given for letters to be sent to Mrs. Harwood and Rev. Preskitt summarizing the actions of the Central Conference Executive Committee in regard to the decision to take no further action. 

Further discussion was had about uses of Piney Grove Church funds

·      $10,000 to start and endowed scholarship at the University of Mount Olive.

·      $20,000 to the North Carolina Foundation for Christian Ministries to establish an endowed scholarship—we will be establishing the criteria for distribution of this money.  It was recommended that we meet with Ricky Warren for more information on setting this up.

·      $5,000 Original Free Will Baptist Minister’s Association Endowment to educate our ministers with the North Carolina Foundation for Christian Ministries.

Item to consider—how do we need to address churches that will not pay dues, ministers that will not pay dues, and churches that will not follow the rules of the denomination and conference.  This is an item that will continue to be discussed by this committee in the near future.

We are going to set up a meeting with Church Planting and Renewal to discuss the East Carolina University and Pitt Community College Student Ministry.   We are going to invite Rev. Mike Rowell and anyone working with him for a meeting after January 1, 2025.

Discussion of the next meeting of the Central Conference was held.

Meeting was adjourned with prayer.

Next Meeting will be August 13th, 2024 at LaGrange First Church.

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

Free Will Baptist Press Building

August 13th, 2024, 9:00 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at LaGrange First Church in LaGrange, NC.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Phillip Boykin, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Tom Malin, and Reverend Carlton Oakley.

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer.

Reverend Malin won’t be at conference because he expects to be in isolation (from medical

treatment); he needs to get paperwork at bank to give assistant treasurer access to checking

account signed.

Reverend Malin will be contacting the Foundation for Christian Ministries and the University of Mount Olive to begin the processes of establishing the two endowments that have been approved by the Central Conference Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee voted to give $2500 to Free Will Baptist Press Foundation to start up the an application to put out denominational news.  This application will replace Community magazine which goes out of print after the November/December edition.

Discussion was had of possible recommendations of officers to the Nominating Committee

The next meeting of the committee will be August 27th at 9:00 am at Free Will Baptist Press Building.

Meeting was dismissed with prayer.

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

Free Will Baptist Press Building

August 27th, 2024, 9:00 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at the Free Will Baptist Press Building in Ayden, NC.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Phillip Boykin, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Tom Malin, and Reverend Carlton Oakley.

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer.

September 15, 2024 is going to be the deadline for mailing letters to clerks and ministers.

More discussion was had about the details of the Conference.

Discussion was on recording of Executive Committee minutes for the Conference.

The next meeting of the committee will be September 16th at 9:00 am at Free Will Baptist Press Building.

Meeting was dismissed with prayer.

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

Free Will Baptist Press Building

September 16th, 2024, 9:00 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at the Free Will Baptist Press Building in Ayden, NC.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Phillip Boykin, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Tom Malin, Reverend Carlton Oakley and Reverend Dale Belvin.

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer.

An update was given on the status of the Peace Church property and the ministry work currently taking place by House of Restoration.  Church Planting and Renewal will continue to rent the church building from the Central Conference.  House of Restoration is an OFWB church plant ministering to the Hispanic community.

The Central Conference received a check from the closing out of Peace Church from Church Planting and Renewal for $12,867.72.

A motion was made that these funds be set aside as designated funds to cover any future expenses on this property.  Motion was seconded and passed.

A motion was made to give Reverend. Tom Malin $2000 to help cover medical expenses at this time.  Rev. Malin has faithfully served as our treasurer for many years and provided services that far outweigh this sum.  We believe that the conference can afford to offer this gift of love to him in his time of need.

The Moderator, Assistant Moderator, and Ordaining Conference Chair met with Marlboro Church and answered questions.  Later, we were informed that provisionally ordained minister, Jeff Toler has resigned as their Pastor.

The next meeting of the committee will be October 7th at 9:00 am at Daniel’s Chapel OFWB Church for the primary purpose of making final preparations for this year’s meeting of the Central Conference.

Meeting was dismissed with prayer.

Central Conference Executive Committee Meeting

Daniel’s Chapel OFWB Church

October 7th, 2024, 9:00 am.

The Executive Committee of the Central Conference met at Daniel’s Chapel OFWB Church in Wilson, NC.  Those present were the Reverend Mark Hobbs, Reverend Michael Bryan, Reverend Carlton Oakley and Reverend Dale Belvin.

Reverend Hobbs opened the meeting with a devotion and prayer.

We went through the documents that needed to be contained in the report book for the upcoming conference:

         Order of Service

         Conference Minutes

         Seniority Role

         Treasurer’s Report

         Church Growth Report

         Continuing Education Report

         Clergy Care Report

Nominating Committee Report

We did a walkthrough of the church and made plans for where we would set up for the conference meeting.

A motion was made to send $3000.00 to Cragmont to be used by the ministry as they see fit to help with recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene on campus and in the community.  Motion passed.

Meeting was dismissed with prayer.

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Central Conference Treasurer's Report