The New Community Church - Andy Swart, pastor
Covenant of Partnership
to be voted for recommendation at General Business Meeting on Sunday, April 20, 2008, 6:00 p.m.
Believing that God in his wisdom and providence has led us by his Spirit to partner together as an older established church and a newer developing church, we, the First Baptist Church of Fayetteville and The New Community Church of Northwest Arkansas, do hereby joyfully enter into covenant with one another under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Vision and Core Values
The vision for The New Community Church was born in the heart of Pastor Andy Swart. It grows out of Paul’s Spirit-inspired words in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Simply stated, the vision for The New Community Church is to be a new community in Christ that helps believers and unbelievers alike to come to understand and live a transformed, regenerate life—to embrace what it truly means to be a new creation. Strong Bible teaching and application and dynamic worship encounters with God are primary channels by which this vision shall be expressed and experienced.
Supporting this vision are three underlying core values that will be the means for accomplishing it:
- Reaching up in worship and faith. (Matt. 22:37; Heb. 11:6)
- Reaching in through family ministry and transformational community groups. (Col. 3:16)
- Reaching out through evangelism and compassionate ministry to the community and the world. (Matt. 4:19; Matt. 5:7)
We, the people of First Baptist Church and The New Community Church, affirm this vision and these core values and confess them to be a God-given blueprint for the planting and building up of a new church. Furthermore, we mutually affirm Andy Swart as the pastor whom God has called to lead in communicating and fulfilling these truths in the life of this new congregation of believers in Christ.
Nature of the Partnership
This partnership shall be for a period of three years from the date it is initiated by vote of both congregations, and both reserve the right to withdraw from the partnership at any time. The primary goals of the partnership are encouragement, equipping, and enabling. To attain these goals, First Baptist Church will offer support and assistance to The New Community Church in areas of administration, finances, leadership training, prayer, and other needs that may become evident. The pastor of The New Community Church shall consult with and report to the pastor and/or the Evangelism & Missions Committee of First Baptist Church at least monthly in order to provide open channels of communication, and the FBC Evangelism & Missions Committee shall report to the First Baptist congregation at least quarterly on the progress of the partnership. The pastors of both congregations shall cooperatively develop a working agreement that will establish in writing (1) a mutual understanding of the lines of authority and accountability between them, (2) their expectations of one another, and (3) their plan to meet regularly for relationship building, mentoring, planning, prayer, encouragement, and evaluation. No financial commitments shall be made by First Baptist Church to The New Community Church except for funds that are made available through the adopted budget of FBC or gifts that are designated for that purpose.
Membership and Autonomy
The membership of The New Community Church shall be held in trust by First Baptist Church for the duration of this partnership. The New Community Church shall have authority to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and to receive and dismiss members, and The New Community Church agrees to abide by the policies of First Baptist Church and the generally accepted practices of Southern Baptist churches in these matters. First Baptist Church recognizes The New Community Church as a properly constituted and autonomous Baptist congregation in all matters not specifically agreed to in this Covenant.
Southern Baptist Identity and Support
As a recipient of Southern Baptist cooperative mission funds, The New Community Church acknowledges its spiritual and ethical responsibility to support Southern Baptist missions and ministries. Therefore, The New Community Church pledges to support the Cooperative Program and a local Baptist association monthly through its budget and to give its people opportunities to contribute to special or seasonal mission offerings. Additionally, The New Community Church affirms its intent to be recognized as a cooperating Southern Baptist church and a participating member of a local Baptist association that is geographically appropriate once its permanent location is established.
The New Community Church further acknowledges the importance of its doctrinal identity as a Southern Baptist church. Therefore, the congregation joyfully and wholeheartedly affirms the Bible as its standard for faith and practice and the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as a statement of its confessional beliefs in what the Bible teaches.
Selection of Pastor/Church Planter
Both First Baptist Church and The New Community Church affirm Andy Swart as the pastor to lead this new church plant. However, in the event that a vacancy occurs in the office while this Covenant is in effect, a search committee of five persons, including two from First Baptist Church and three from The New Community Church, shall be formed to secure a candidate. In addition, the pastor of First Baptist Church or a staff member he designates shall serve ex officio with the search committee, and there will be appropriate consultation with the associational missionary and the Mission Ministries Team of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. The chosen candidate must be approved by two-thirds vote of both congregations to be issued a call.
Termination of the Partnership
The partnership shall begin upon the approval of this document by both congregations and shall continue for a period of three years. However, the intent of the partnership is to assist The New Community Church in becoming an independent and self-sustaining church as quickly as possible. If at any time The New Community Church feels this point has been reached, they may petition First Baptist Church for a release from this covenant agreement. A service of commitment and renewal shall be scheduled, at which the two congregations may mutually celebrate what God has accomplished and The New Community Church shall take on the full responsibilities and privileges of a self-sustaining and self-governing church.
If during the period of this partnership either congregation determines that continuing the relationship is not in their best interest, that congregation may withdraw from it. Such action will immediately terminate the partnership and cancel the provisions of this Covenant. Both congregations pledge that this action will not take place without careful consideration and consultation with the missions leadership of the association and state convention.
This Covenant of Partnership is hereby established by approval of both First Baptist Church of Fayetteville and The New Community Church of Northwest Arkansas and is attested to by the signatures affixed below.
Douglas Falknor, Pastor First Baptist Church
Andy Swart, Pastor The New Community Church
Date Approved Date Approved
Addendum
While respecting the right and the wisdom of local churches partnering together, the Washington Madison Baptist Association and the Arkansas Baptist State Convention join as secondary partners with First Baptist Church of Fayetteville and The New Community Church of Northwest Arkansas in the covenant relationship. Our commitment to the primary partners is to provide within the framework of our policies and guidelines encouragement, assistance, financial and material resources, counsel, and prayer support. We affirm the vision upon which the partnership is built, the spirit in which it is undertaken, the terms of the agreement as expressed in this covenant, and the commitment of both pastors and congregations to the planting of new churches as a significant strategy for missions and evangelism.
We, as representatives of these denominational entities, attest to our commitment to this partnership by the signatures affixed below.
Harry Black, Associational Missionary Washington Madison Baptist Association
Gary D. Fulton, Church Planter Strategist Arkansas Baptist State Convention |
Andy Swart is the son of Rev. & Mrs. Jeff Swart, and his father has been a prominent leader in the Baptist Missionary Association. He completed high school in Conway, Arkansas, attended the University of Central Arkansas on football scholarship, and received a BA in Religion from the BMA Theological Seminary in Jacksonville, Texas.
As a seminarian Andy served part-time with the collegiate ministry of Green Acres Baptist Church of Tyler, a leading SBC church in East Texas. He later served for two years as Youth Minister at First Baptist Church in Hondo, Texas.
Andy’s wife Carman is from Bentonville, Arkansas, and they were married during Andy’s ministry in Hondo. In 2006 the couple moved to Northwest Arkansas to allow Carman to complete her education at the University of Arkansas, where she has now received her bachelors degree and will graduate with a Master of Arts in Teaching this May. She will begin work this August as a Springdale elementary school teacher.
Upon moving to NWA, Andy served for nine months as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cave Springs before resigning to lay the groundwork for a new SBC church plant. For several months he focused on raising short-term support and developing the leadership nucleus of the church. The New Community Church began Sunday worship services in February of this year, meeting in Bellview Elementary School in Rogers. Attendance at their services so far has ranged from the 30s to the 60s.
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