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John Schmidt
Biography and Ministry Accomplishments

On June 20, 2003, the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) of Central Presbyterian Church called John Edward Schmidt, from the First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, to fulfill the role of Senior Pastor. The PNC is unanimous and confident that this call is the result of God's hand at work in John's life, and in the life of Central. The committee believes, without reservation, that John has been particularly shaped and gifted by God to equip the staff and laity at Central for release into powerful ministry. We also believe that Central has been prepared in a special way by God for John's ministry amongst us.

John Schmidt and Family

John will be preaching at Central on July 13, 2003 at all three services. All active members are encouraged to be present at the congregational meeting to begin five minutes after the close of the third service (approximately 1:00PM) on July 13th. At the meeting active members will vote on whether to approve the recommendation of the PNC to call John Schmidt as Senior Pastor. The results will be announced. (voting details)

Biographical Information

Family

Married, to wife Debbie, for 27 years. John and Debbie have two children. Sarah (23) is studying at Regents Seminary in Vancouver and Jonathan (20) is in his second year at LSU.

Education
  • Graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976.
  • Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Seminary received in 1979.
  • Currently 2/3 of the way through Doctor of Ministry program at Gordon-Conwell, studying in the area "Advancing the Church", which focuses on leadership development, ecclesiology, and managing transition and conflict.
Work Experience

The table below compares John's background and experience with the job description prepared by the PNC.

From the Church Information Form John Schmidt's Background and Experience
Relationship with Jesus:
First and foremost, a candidate must have a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and display evidence of the Holy Spirit through desires, goals, attitudes, and past accomplishments.		 John came to Christ when he was a college student at LSU, through the ministry of Campus Crusade. He felt the call to ministry and has been involved in full time ministry ever since. John's life and ministry demonstrates a deep commitment to Christ and a passion to make Christ known.
Preaching the Word of God:
This is an ordained individual with a strong biblical foundation and knowledge, who possesses a passion for preaching the Word of God.		 Throughout his ministry, John has used his preaching and teaching gifts to open the Word of God for many different audiences. From speaking at Regional Conferences while working with InterVarsity, preaching in Japanese as a missionary in Japan, to preaching roughly 12 times at year at FPCBR, God has used John's passion for preaching and teaching in a variety of settings.
Commitment to prayer:
For a candidate to fulfill all desired, prayer must be strongly valued and practiced.		 When John came to First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge there was only one well established prayer meeting, staff did not pray together, nor did Session. God led him to others who shared the burden for a deeper commitment to prayer and through their combined efforts 7 new prayer ministries have begun, including Wall of Prayer, which engages 100 people in prayer weekly, a monthly Renewal Prayer meeting, and weekly Session Prayer. Staff and Session also pray regularly.
Possesses the gift of leadership:
This candidate will possess the gift of leadership. This leader will help Session to refine a progressing vision for Central Presbyterian Church, be an effective communicator of the vision, and have the ability to motivate others to achieve the vision.		 In correspondence with the PNC, John wrote, "Perhaps the biggest influence that I have had on this congregation has been the design, adoption, and implementation of a congregation wide mission study. The study, which is almost completed, will result in a Beliefs, Vision, and Values statement that will set the boundaries for a freer, more permission giving environment for ministry...My role was to define the need, "sell" the study to staff and Session, envision the possible payoffs, design the preliminary process, and then, with the Mission Study Task Force, finalize and implement the study."
Provide spiritual leadership:
Implementing our mission will require a combination of imagination and orderliness, to create new ideas, to plan their implementation, and to motivate members toward participation.		 On the college campus and in regular church life a significant portion of John's time has been spent recruiting and training Christians to minister actively in their immediate environment. Areas of focus have included training in inductive Bible study skills, small group leadership, communication skills, planning and evaluation, and friendship evangelism. He has also designed and implemented special training sessions for church officers. In each area of ministry in which John has been involved, he has often had the role of helping to cast new visions of how ministry can develop and improve.
Plan and lead worship services:
Three weekly services, each with a different style and different focus groups will require a flexible preaching approach and collaboration with worship teams.		 First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge also has three weekly services, each with a different style and different focus groups. Whoever is preaching a given week, preaches at all three services. John has worked closely with each of the worship teams. John has expresses a passion for traditional, contemplative, and contemporary worship.
Develop and train lay leadership for a growing congregation:
Since the CIF was created, Session has reorganized, the MET has been created and ministry teams have been created. The goal was to emphasize the "priesthood of all believers" and to create a permission-giving environment for lay ministry.

A proven background in equipping others according to their giftedness and resulting in laity driven ministry is vital.

 First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge is well into a process of replacing a number of traditional committees with ministry teams. Ministry teams are loosely structured, natural groupings of people who share a commitment to active ministry in their area of responsibility. The Mission Committee, Young Adult Ministry Team, Adult Christian Ed Ministry Team, Women's Ministry, Worship Committee, and Children's Ministry have all moved to the Ministry Team model since John's arrival at FPC. John has had the role of defining the problems caused by the committee structure, proposing solutions, modeling the new patterns, selling staff and Session leaders on the model, and troubleshooting its gradual implementation.

John writes, "We are all called by God to serve, we are all gifted, and we are all able to approach God freely as His children. I see the pastor's role as encouraging, supporting, challenging and providing needed help to all who follow Christ, so that they will fulfill the roles and ministries God has called them to. There is no healthy church without a balanced, healthy focus on lay ministry."
Serve as Head of Staff:
Provide direction and training for a professional staff of approximately six and an office staff of three. Assume the leadership role in co-laboring with one (or, in time, two associate pastor(s).		 John is the Senior Associate of a staff team of 3 Associate Pastors, 6 additional program staff, and 12 support staff. A number of those staff report to him year round, and when the head pastor is away, he handles the leadership of the whole staff and Session, and does most of the preaching. These periods of senior leadership have been for up to 2 months at a time.
Provide for pastoral care and congregational counseling:
Develop and lead a team of train, dedicated people who are wise counselors and compassionate ministers.		 When John came to First Presbyterian there was a dormant Stephen Ministry. John received Stephen Leader Training, and he began to train new classes of Stephen Ministers, as well as recruit, and supervise new Stephen Leaders. The Stephen Ministry continues to perform well at the church. First Presbyterian has also opened its doors to a team of Christian counselors who work out of the church. They provide another level of support for those in need.
Develop specific strategies for specific opportunities:
We are located in a stable neighborhood with increasing ethnic diversity and are close to several colleges and universities. This calls for a substantial effort to find ways to reach college age people, to respond to ethnic diversity, and to impact the community. We want to develop ways to be a neighborhood church as well as a regional church.

This candidate will be concerned with social issues and be intentionally outward focused, possessing the heart of an evangelist.

 John demonstrates creativity in adapting models of ministry within different cultural contexts. For example, in Japan, he developed a program titled The Way of Jesus, a spiritual renewal weekend, based on the Walk to Emmaus model that was done bilingually in cooperation with a team of North American and Japanese colleagues. It focused on basic spiritual disciplines, such as devotional life, Bible study, and involvement in active service. John adapted the Emmaus model, developed a way for using it in a bi-lingual environment, recruited and trained the multi-lingual leadership teams, produced brochures and materials, and led the team in evaluation and follow-up.

He worked with multicultural and multiethnic campus groups while serving with InterVarsity, worked in Japan under Japanese leadership and Japanese colleagues, and has also led the congregation of First Presbyterian in establishing a relationship with a local African American church. This has involved a Gospel Concert, their worship team leading in First Presbyterian's services, mutual visits to worship services, and connecting lay members with their ministry for continued involvement.

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