Elder Nomination and Vetting Process

Church family, we're in our final year of the first three years of having a plurality of elders. January 2023 saw us begin with Marsh Lyall, Steve Melton, and Vince Adams. Lay elders serve a three year term and, if willing, can serve an additional three year term. At the conclusion of 2025, Marsh Lyall elected not to serve a second term. Steve Melton has elected to serve a second term. And we lost Vince Adams earlier this year.


In January 2024, WBC affirmed Steve Robinson and Gary Buffaloe as lay elders. Steve has one year left on his first term. Gary has elected to step away from his elder responsibilities to move with his family to Lake Lure, NC for Lindsey to work at a Christian Camp. In January 2025, WBC affirmed Tam Hutchinson as a lay elder. He has two years remaining on his term.


The elder nomination and vetting process is important for the life and health of WBC. Elders take this responsibility seriously and have made inquiries and nominations of several men in the life of WBC. We also have accepted nominations from church members. The two nominees that we have so far in the fall of 2025 are Dustin Deal and Bruce Nisley. When a candidate is nominated, we have an informal conversation to see if the candidate "aspires to the office of elder" (1 Tim. 3:1). If the candidate says, "No," then the process stops there. If the candidate says, "Yes," then we follow the vetting process. The candidate receives a detailed doctrinal and character questionnaire. When the questionnaire is completed, the elders review the answers and set up an interview. The interview is aimed at discerning the following qualifications for the candidate:  character (above reproach), competency (ability to function as an elder), and chemistry (understanding of and fit with church leadership structure). Before an elder candidate can be presented to the church for a vote, the current body of elders is required to be unanimous. This is the only vote where we as elders demand unanimity. In other words, the vetting and presenting process for elders is quite intensive and very similar to that of a pastor or minister candidate for WBC.


WBC, by organization and structure, is elder-led and congregational-governed. This means that the elders are responsible for setting the direction of the church through shepherding, preaching, teaching, caring, leading, and serving. However, final decisions for WBC, such as budget votes, non-budgeted expenditures, staff positions, and deacon/elder voting, are still brought before the congregation. The way WBC has voted on these items changed minimally, if at all, in our addition of elders in the life of the church. When candidates Dustin Deal (Nov. 9) and Bruce Nisley (Nov. 30) are presented for a vote (secret ballot), church members are responsible to vote. Elders are not appointed by the elders but voted on by the congregation.


At the bottom of this post, we will link to the testimonies that Dustin and Bruce have shared. Dustin is no stranger to WBC. He's been at WBC almost since his teenage years and has served as a Sunday school teacher, discipleship group leader, deacon, and staff member. Bruce is not as well known, and I would encourage you to listen to his testimony following the link below. I think Dustin's service at WBC speaks for itself, but let me highlight a few reasons why the elders unanimously present Bruce as a candidate.


In the late summer, we approached Bobby Parsons (longtime church member, deacon, and church leader) about the role of elder. He politely declined but indicated that he knew someone who would make a good candidate. Bobby proceeded to nominate Bruce Nisley. In keeping with our policy, we followed the exact same vetting process for Bruce that we followed for Dustin (and each previous lay elder candidate). While we understand Bruce has been at our church for only about 3 years, he brings a theological and ministry perspective that we believe will be a great asset to WBC. In a previous church, he served 3 terms (9 years) as a lay elder overseeing the missions of the church. Currently, he is a co-teacher in Pat's Sunday School Class. As an employee for Samaritan's Purse (SP), Bruce also brings a connection with a growing membership at WBC. Having SP located in N. Wilkesboro has brought many new faces and members to WBC. Having a lay elder who understands the dynamics of working for SP and navigating the travel components of that job, we believe, will be a great asset for the members of WBC who are also employees at SP.


While Bruce will have some travel coming up in early November, he will lead the confession and prayer time on November 23. If you would like to set up a time for a conversation to get to know Bruce about this elder nomination, please reach out to the church office or message Pastor Chris or Pastor Tad. We will be happy to create a connection for you. In all these things, please continue praying for your church leaders (elders, deacons, staff). Pray for other candidates in the elder consideration process. Pray for the nominated deacons and the deacon vote coming up next month.


Grace and Peace,

Dr. Hefner

 

ELDER CANDIDATES: DUSTIN DEAL & BRUCE NISLEY

Thank You for Pastor Appreciation

By Chris Hefner • October 30, 2025
Church family, thank you for your generosity for pastor appreciation month. Our pastoral staff and leaders feel loved and blessed! One of the best things you can do for your church leaders is to participate in the life of the church in two specific ways. First, thank you for joining our mission to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating. Second, thank you for participating in the life of the church through votes and nominations (elders, deacons, and Member Meetings). We’ve linked a blog post for you with the two elder testimonies for Dustin Deal and Bruce Nisley . The post also details the vetting and interview process for elder candidates. Please be prayerful this season with upcoming elder votes (Nov. 9, Dustin Deal, and Nov. 30, Bruce Nisley), Member Meeting (Nov. 16), deacon ballots due (Dec. 7), and 2026 church budget vote (Dec. 7). Grace and Peace, Dr. Hefner

Family

By Chris Hefner • October 23, 2025
Church family, What a great picnic on Sunday! It was so good to see so many of you share a meal with us last night. I’m so grateful for deacons and staff putting our mission into action by serving yesterday. Being a part of a church family carries privileges and responsibilities, joys and struggles. On Sunday, we worshiped loudly and joyously, baptized an 8 year old, had another 8 year old pray to receive Jesus, and celebrated a meal together at our picnic. We also had the memorial service for a longtime church member, Roy Phillips, who has struggled with severe health issues for a number of years. In our congregation yesterday, many are fighting health challenges, walking with family through the valley of the shadow of death, and grieving.  Paul wrote in Romans 12:15 that we are to “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” Thank you WBC for being a “family,” where we laugh, worship, celebrate, share, serve, cry, suffer, struggle, and mourn together. This is part of what it means to be the body of Christ, his family. Grace and Peace, Dr. Hefner

Church Picnic | Sunday, October, 19

By Chris Hefner • October 15, 2025
Church family, We’re looking forward to the church picnic on Sunday, October 19! We meet at the Watson Stage at Wilkes Community College from 5 to 7 pm. The picnic is a great time to visit with one another, meet new people, and talk with deacons and elders. Bring your favorite foods to share and enjoy time with your church family. One of my favorite things about WBC is the number of people living out our mission of leading our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus by serving. It takes a small army of servants/leaders to make Sunday mornings and mid-week ministries happen. And for our picnic, pay attention to how many people are serving, sharing, and making the event happen. WBC, we ought to be exceedingly grateful to our staff, deacons, and elders who serve our congregation. Hope to see you on Sunday for worship and then for the picnic! Grace and peace, Pastor Chris

Introducing Elder Candidate Dustin Deal

By Chris Hefner • October 9, 2025
Church Family, Thank you for your participation in leadership decisions at WBC. You should have received by mail the deacon nomination forms. Please prayerfully consider who you should nominate to be a deacon. We want to introduce you to a candidate for elder, Dustin Deal. Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner ELDER CANDIDATE Dustin Deal came to Christ as a young child and began attending the youth group at Wilkesboro Baptist Church in middle school at the invitation of many of his closest friends. He became a member at the age of 16 in June of 2001. He is married to his high-school sweetheart, Whitney Deal, and they have three daughters: Glory Maeve, Mercer, and Ruthie. The Deals lived and worked away from Wilkes after college before finding their way back home (and back to WBC) in 2012. Dustin was a praise team volunteer for many years before joining our staff on a part-time basis as Minister of Music. He served in that role from January 2022-September 2024. Additionally, he served on the Pastor Search Committee (2014-2015), as a Deacon (ordained in 2015), and as an adult Sunday School teacher. Currently, Dustin is active teaching High School Sunday school and still participates in the worship team. On Friday mornings, you can find him at Cagney’s in a discipleship great group. He holds a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree from NC State University and co-owns an insurance agency in Wilkesboro with his sister. He is a lifelong musician and music lover, an avid reader, a student of God's word, and loves life and adventures with his wife and three daughters. Dustin will be sharing during the adult Bible study window on Wednesday night, October 15. He will lead in the confession and prayer time on Sunday morning, October 19. At both of those opportunities, Dustin will be available for questions you may have. The church will vote on Dustin Deal for the role of Elder on Sunday morning November 9.

Who Can You Lead?

By Chris Hefner • October 1, 2025
Church Family, Thank you for your participation in our mission to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. As a follow u p to our recent series, reflect on where you are on your own mission journey. Which step are you on? Worship? Learn? Serve? Replicate? Pick up a bookmark at church that highlights the 8 Journey Outcomes that articulate our mission and our mission steps. Ask yourself, “Who can I lead to take the next step in following Jesus?” Pray and prepare for this our annual mission offering this Sunday October 5. 100% of everything given will go to mission partners. Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner

September Member Meeting Recap

By Chris Hefner • September 25, 2025
Church Family, Thank you for your regular participation in the life of the church. We had a fruitful Member Meeting last night where we gave ministry updates and addressed church business. The church approved the following three motions. We approved up to $8500 to replace the two projectors in the fellowship hall, moving around $76,900 from 2024 surplus funds to the WBC Vision Fund (current/future planning), and the 6 th Amended and Revised Bylaws. We’re finishing up our sermon series: “Follow Jesus: Living a Life that Lasts” with a specific opportunity to apply this sermon series. Would you plan to invite friends, family, neighbors to church during the months of October and November. Our sermon series will be “Reject or Receive: Why Some Believe and Why Some Don’t.” Specifically, we will warn those who don’t have faith and invite those here to receive God’s offer of salvation. Let me share a public thank you to our office staff. Barbara Adams and Betsy McNeil do so much to support the mission of our church. Barbara added the financial administrative work last year and is doing an excellent job in all aspects of her job. Her temperament and grace in serving our church family are indispensable. Last year, we added Betsy McNeil in our communications department. She’s responsible for a lot of things, but her creative work on designs and media have elevated our communication strategies. She did the design for the Journey Outcomes bookmark we passed out on Sunday. When you see Barbara and Betsy, give them a thank you for the way they serve our church and help fulfill our mission of leading our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner

We Serve to Follow Jesus

By Chris Hefner • September 23, 2025
We Serve to Follow Jesus

Learning to Follow Jesus

By Chris Hefner • September 19, 2025
Learning to Follow Jesus

Responding With The Gospel

By Chris Hefner • September 19, 2025
Church Family, Last Wednesday afternoon, conservative, Christian spokesperson Charlie Kirk was assassinated. The political divisiveness in our country continues to escalate. Churches all across the country saw an increased attendance (ours also) in response to the events of last week. Just a quick glance at the news or social media has kept the events of last week in the forefront of our minds. It would be good to remember a few things. First, Christians are going to always be (have always been) marginalized, persecuted, attacked, and martyred. The USA, with its claim to religious freedom, has been an exception. But with the growing political and ideological divisions in our country, we should not be surprised by events like we’ve witnessed (school shootings, murders, escalating violence, with some focused on Christians). Second, followers of Jesus should respond through lament, confession, and gospel witness. We should lament and pray for awakening and revival. We should look within at the condition of our own hearts and confess our sins. The basic condition of the Christian heart should recognize his or her own spiritual bankruptcy (Mt. 5:3) and confession that we need God’s mercy (Luke 18:13). We should respond to our neighbors, in our own country, and the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The brokenness and sin that divides our country can only be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. For more on last week’s event follow this link . Grace and Peace this week, Dr. Hefner

Following Jesus Begins with Worship

By Chris Hefner • September 9, 2025
Church family, following Jesus begins with worship. The culmination of our journey as followers of Jesus will be worship in God’s presence in heaven. This means that it is biblically untenable for a Christian to live life without worshiping Jesus. You might be a Christian and not worship Jesus; that is possible. But you cannot be following Jesus and not worship Jesus. Thank you for gathering with us this past week in corporate worship. If you weren’t able to make it, I would encourage you to watch the sermon online this week. The first step in our mission of leading our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus is worship. The two journey outcomes for worship are: 1) Say or sing praise to God daily from Scripture and in prayer. 2). Engage intentionally in gathered worship. (Gather weekly, sing joyfully, listen attentively, take notes, give generously). Let me encourage you to put a few things on your personal or family calendar. First, I would suggest that you put Sunday AM worship on your calendar. If it’s important enough to be on your calendar, it will be a good regular reminder to gather with fellow believers. Second, please put September 21 at 5:30 on your calendar for our 5th Member Meeting of the year. We have several items for the members to address. Grace and Peace, Dr. Hefner