The Senior Pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church, Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Jr. has announced his plans to retire on January 31, 2019. If the church completes the process earlier, his retirement date could be as early as September 30, 2018. During the transition process, the Senior Pastor, J. Alfred Smith, Jr., and the Assistant Pastor, Dr. Jacqueline Thompson, will continue in their respective roles, as Allen Temple Baptist Church strives to attain the stated mission of the church in accordance with God's will.

For the month of January 2018, the transition process will include vetting of the 62 pulpit search committee nominations and launching the Church Assessment/Prospective Pastor Survey.

Each of the 62 search committee nominees will be contacted and vetted by a 9 panel advisory board sub-committee. The vetting criteria will be governed by our Church Constitution, and Covenant. We anticipate that we will be able to complete this process in the month of January. The advisory board sub-committee will make a recommendation to the advisory board for the fully vetted 15 member pulpit search committee. Once reviewed and approved by the advisory board, the 15 member search committee panel will be submitted to the church for ratification. This is tentatively scheduled for the annual church meeting in February 2018.

The Church Assessment and Prospective Pastor Survey is up and running on the Pastoral Transition web-page and will run from 1/7/18 - 2/28/18. This confidential survey is for church members only and will contain questions and input opportunities in regard to Pastoral preferred requirements. As a member of Allen Temple, you are able to go to the Pastoral Transition web-page, click on the Pastoral Survey Link, it will ask for your Allen Temple Community email and password, and the survey page will appear for your completion. If you have not created a membership account you can do so by following the steps on the help page. We will also provide a handout on how to register online at the church information desk. Hard copies of the survey will be made available upon request and for members without computer access. Completed hard-copy surveys can be returned to the reception box in the sanctuary.

As a church of faith and professed believers, we lean on the Scriptures "when they say, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those that love him". 1 Cor 2: 9-11 NLT.

Peace and Blessings,
Deacon Ted Carter
ATBC Deacon Ministry, Chair