Single-Board Leadership StructureProposal from Hamline Church United Methodist

Fall 2015

Committee on Lay Leadership and Nominations

Why are we here?

To explore the single-board or simplified structure

Our present structure…

Church Council (Ad Board)

Trustees

Staff Pastor Parish Relations

Finance

Lay Leadership (Nominations)

Committees/Teams—Worship, Missions, UMW, Spiritual Formation etc.

Church Council/Pastor (22+ members)

Mission and Ministry Teams

Worship

Dining Hall

Membership & Outreach

Spiritual Formation

Social Justice & Missions

Hamline Women/UMW

Ministry of Memory (History)

Bread Oven

Finance

(10)Trustees (10)

Staff Parish Relations

Committee (9)

Committee on Lay Leadership

and Nominations

Staff

Church Council is the primary administrative bodyAll other teams report to Church CouncilOwnership and communication can be unclear and ineffectiveAs the church has grown, competing demands have grownHCUM members are stretched to attend more meetings and read/respond to more emails to stay up to speed

What can be unified…

Church Council (Ad Board)

Trustees

Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC)

Finance

Nominations and Leadership Development

Committees/Teams—Worship, Missions, UMW, Spiritual Formation etc.

What would that look like?

The new entity could be called the Church Council

There would officially still be the four committees, each with their own chair, but they would share a common membership (13-15 people) and meet at the same time.

Membership

Membership: 13-15 people Council Chair/Lay Leader Council Vice Chair/Lay Leader Elect 3 SPRC (one serving as Chair) 3 Trustees (one serving as Chair) 3 Finance (one serving as Chair) Lay Member of Annual Conference Secretary At-Large Member Sr. Pastor

Church Council details

3‐year terms of service, staggered classes of 4-5 members each

First class will include 4 members elected to 1‐year terms, 4 to 2‐year, and 4 to 3‐year

Elected by the Charge Conference, proposed by Nominations Committee

How’s it work?

Council chair and pastor set the agenda in consultation with the chairs of the other committees.

When the agenda is the purview of a certain committee, like SPRC, its chair opens the meeting, deals with the agenda and closes that part of the meeting.

Committees can have task groups under them. For example the Trustees, could have a building & grounds team. Finance, could have stewardship and audit.

Church Council

Nominations Pastor

Staff

Ministry Team

Staff

Ministry Team

Staff

Ministry Team

Staff

Ministry Team

What its role would be…

Carry out the duties of the unified committees

Focus of the Church Council is on governance

It wouldn’t be… Managing ministries Supervising staff Hearing ministry reports Micro managing

How do the parts of the church relate in the new structure?

Hamline Church:

Mission & Core Values

Congregation (mission & ministry)

Church Council

Pastor

Staff

ACCOUNTABILITY LEADERSHIP

Members = Role is ministering

Staff (paid & unpaid) = Role is managing

Pastor = Role is leading

Church Council = Role is governance

All games have rules or boundaries

Ministering within the boundaries

Mission, Vision, and Values

Budget

Policies and Procedures

Goals

Governance includes…

Focusing the church on its mission, vision, and values

--Making sure all ministries, staff, building utilization, budget, and calendar are aligned to the above

Setting needed policies & procedures

Setting the budget and providing financial oversight

Setting strategic goals

Holding the pastor accountable to the management of the above

Communication is Key

Annual All Church Meeting: State of the church, goals, officer elections

Occasional “town hall” meetings or other “listening” processes to obtain insight and input from the congregational

Minutes and agenda are published

Pastor’s responsibility

Supervising those managing the ministries (paid and unpaid servants) Monitoring the setting and achievement of goals Making sure goals align with the mission, vision, & values Making sure ministry respects their budgets, policies and

procedures

Pastor makes sure…

Each ministry understands and embraces its part in the overall mission of the church

Ministries are not necessarily competing with or limiting one another

Gaps in ministry are addressed

Mutual support and synergy are built between all the ministries of the congregation

Communicates the vision and direction

The pastor leads a Mission & Ministry Core Team, made up of ministry representatives, to accomplish this.

Managers—Paid & Unpaid Staff

Oversee those doing the ministry—recruit, train, and reward them

Report to the pastor

Monitor their budgets

Set and implement goals that are aligned with the mission, vision, and values

Share the stories of their ministry’s results; makes sure communication is flowing between the church & ministry

Members = Freed for Ministry

Members are disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world

Purpose of members is to do ministry.

Every member fulfills the vows: Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, Witness

Ministries of members may be within or outside of “church” work!

Ministry Teams Bread Oven, Ministry of Memory, Reconciling Ministries, Social

Justice & Outreach, Member Care, Membership and Outreach, Dining Hall, Loaves and Fishes, Hamline Women/UMW, etc.

What’s attractive about this?

Frees people to be in ministry instead of sitting on committees

Empowers people for ministry instead of micromanaging them

Helps the church to focus vision, mission and values

It expedites/streamlines decision making

Ministry/Mission Teams

There may be as many ministry teams as there are ministries. A ministry may be a regular, ongoing program (such as a weekly worship service or the youth group), an annual event (like the Dining Hall or family retreat), or even a single major event (a one-time mission trip).

Every ministry will have a ministry team. Ministry teams may be any size, depending on the demands of the ministry they are carrying out and each ministry team will have a ministry team leader.

Staff members support and resource the work of ministry teams.

Ministry Core Team

A Ministry Core Team consisting of ministry team leaders (or their chosen representative) will convene two - four times per year to coordinate ministry (scheduling, building use, communications, ensure ministries are not unnecessarily competing with or limiting one another) so that ministry teams are mutually supportive and well aligned with the mission of the congregation as a whole.

Is it Disciplinary?

The Discipline first allowed such a structure in 1996

This way of structuring your church has been vetted by annual conferences across the US

A decision to go to a new structure will require Charge/Church Conference action, our District Supt will preside at a Church Conference on Wednesday, Nov 4th 7pm

Timeline Town Hall (October 18 2015)

Perfection (October/November 2015): Congregational leadership may amend the proposed structure to address concerns if that seems advisable. Another town hall meeting may be held if necessary. Sign off from District Superintendent.

All-Church Conference (Wednesday, November 4 7pm): Following approval of the proposed structure by the District Superintendent, the District Superintendent will call an All-Church Conference to consider the adoption of the new structure. No amendments will be allowed at this meeting. The congregation may debate the proposal, but it must vote up or down on the proposal as presented by church leadership. Pending outcome of the vote, an additional vote will be taken to elect the leadership slate for 2016 at the Annual Church Conference on Tuesday, November 17th.

Implementation (January 1, 2016): The new model is in place and the newly elected leadership team begins their terms.