New Church Council is Formed
Membership:
Pastors: Jim
and Bonnie Parr Philipson Past Lay Leader: Hal Salwasser
Present Lay Leader (also functions as chair): Rick Schroff Lay Leader Elect:
Elizabeth Nielsen
Secretary: Anne
Foltz Lay Member to Annual Conference: Brooke Collison
Trustees Expertise:
Class of 2013:
Jill Mackey-Feist Class of 2014:
Dave Straub Class of 2015:
Terry Bolin
Finance/Stewardship Expertise:
Class of 2013:
Jan Walker Class of 2014:
Cindy Dahl Class of 2015:
Julie Christianson
SPRC/Human Resources Expertise:
Class of 2013:
Sherri Willard-Argyres Class of 2014:
Jim Swinyard Class of 2015:
Nita Phillips
Motion approved by Church Conference 1.21.13: As of February 1, 2013, this new church council
in accord with the single board governance model will be the corporate body for
First United Methodist Church of Corvallis.
The Present Lay Leader/Chair will serve as the President; the Past Lay
Leader/Chair shall serve as Vice-President and the Secretary as Secretary.
Single Board
Governance Model – First UMC Corvallis
Draft 01.18.13
This is a draft for discussion but it seeks to lay out the decisions that must be made and where they might be made. The goal is to move day to day decisions from the Church Council to teams. The teams will function much more loosely than the old committees. They will be smaller and have more authority to make quick decisions after email discussion. The system is designed so that these teams are accountable to the pastors and not the Church Council.
The Church
Council will be elected by the Church Conference after hearing the
recommendations of the Committee on Nominations and Leadership Development. The
Church Conference may authorize the Church Council to fill vacancies during the
year after hearing the recommendation of the Committee on Nominations and
Leadership Development.
Committee on Nominations and
Leadership Development: (N.& L.D.)
The Discipline requires that there
be a Committee on Nominations and Leadership
Development (¶258.1). The committee
is to be composed of not more than 9 persons elected by the Church Conference to
3-year terms (divided in 3 classes), plus the lay leader and pastor. A pastor (Rev.
Bonnie) shall be the chair of this committee.
Responsibilities
include:
·
Recommending to the Church Conference a
potential list of members of the Church Council, the Nominations Committee, and
the Corvallis United Methodist Foundation.
·
Recruiting other key leadership positions for
some of the ministry teams as is helpful.
·
Establishing a regular process for encouraging
members to discern their areas of passion for ministry or Spiritual Gifts and
helping those people connect with or form ministry teams within the church.
·
Identifying and providing training opportunities
for future leaders in the church.
Church Council:
The Council
consists of 13 elected officers including the following disciplinary offices:
The Lay Leader who is Council Chair,
A Lay Member of Annual Conference,
3 persons representing the interests
of the care for the church’s property, formerly Trustees *
3 persons representing the interests
of Finance and Stewardship, formerly the Finance Committee* 3 persons representing human resource issues, formerly SPRC*
Plus the following:
The past Lay Leader (Shall function
as Vice-Chair)
A person who will become Council Chair
and Lay Leader in the next year.
The Pastors
A Secretary with voice and vote.
Other positions as needed and
included by Charge Conference Action. .
*members in these groups shall be
elected to 3-year terms, each in one class.
- The Church Council will be the Corporate Body of
the Congregation. Its chair shall be the president of the corporation. The
Church Council is responsible (and has authority) to keep the entire
ministry of the congregation focused on the mission.
- Its chief function shall be to work with the
congregation to establish a guiding vision for the mission of the church.
It will then translate the vision into measurable strategies and over-all
goals for accomplishing the vision.
- It will be responsible for planning for and allocating
the resources (financial, personnel and facilities) to accomplish the
vision.
- It will be responsible for setting the policies,
ethical standards and adequate processes to set the boundaries for
ministry in and by the church.
- It will evaluate the progress of the church in
accomplishing the vision and hold the pastors and the congregation
accountable to the vision and report regularly to the congregation.
- Elections – Shall elect a Church Treasurer and
Finance Secretary to annual terms.
Upon recommendation of the Committee on
Nominations and Leadership Development
may elect people to fill offices and
Council positions which become vacant during the
year as authorized by the Church
Conference.
Other tasks assigned to the Council
formerly fulfilled by the Trustees, Finance Committee and
SPRC.
SPRC:
- Conduct an annual evaluation of the clergy.
- Make the annual recommendation on appointment
- Consult with the bishop and District
Superintendent when changes of appointment are made.
- Recommend the clergy compensation to the Church
Conference
- Recommend candidates for ministry to the Church
Conference for approval to be sent to the District Committee on Ministry.
- Interpret the work of the pastors to the
congregation.
Trustees: (These tasks may be delegated
to a Property Ministry Team)
·
Supervision:
They are responsible for the supervision, oversight, care and maintenance of the
real property of the church and all property and equipment acquired by any
organization connected to the church. This shall include proper care of the
church’s legal records and regular inventory of its property.
·
Insurance:
review annually the adequacy of all insurance policies of the church.
·
Contracts:
review annually all contracts for ongoing use of the church and whatever
contracts for maintenance of the facilities or equipment become necessary.
- They are responsible for receiving or refusing all
bequests, trusts, and trust funds or other gifts the church may receive.
·
Parsonage:
monitor the church’s parsonage funds (Invested by the Foundation) and any need
for a parsonage.
·
Accessibility: Has
an annual accessibility audit been completed? (Paragraph 2532.6)
·
Building Use: Has
the final responsibility for the use of the church by outside groups (except in
the area of worship). Such use must be consistent with the Social Principles of
the UMC (paragraph 160-166).
·
Annual Report to the Charge or Church Conference Shall make an annual report
using the forms provided by the General Church
·
Sale
·
Gifts- May
refuse gifts to the church in situations where it is deemed wise.
Finance: (These tasks may be
delegated to a Finance Ministry Team)
·
Planning: creating
the annual budget for income and expenses. Developing
strategies for the long-term financial health of the church.
·
Stewardship: Develop
a year round approach to stewardship education and conduct any annual
stewardship drive or other fund raising as necessary.
·
Accounting:
maintaining account balances, and records for all income and expense
transactions.
·
Policies and Procedures: creation, execution, and monitoring of all church
financial policies and procedures.
·
Audit: providing
for an annual audit of the church books and accounts.
·
Reporting:
providing regular information to the congregation and committees on the status
of the church’s financial activities and to the members and supporters of the
church on the status of their individual pledges and gifts.
Nominations:
- After hearing the recommendation of the
Committee on Nominations and Leadership Development may elect people to fill
offices which become vacant during the year as authorized by the Church
Conference.
The Church Council is accountable[1] to
the mission (it is God’s Church), to the standards of conduct for its members
(such as participation in meetings, worship, giving and so on) and to the
congregation (through their annual election). Meetings are open to all members
except when dealing with matters which require confidentiality. Minutes for
meetings will be posted.
Corvallis
Administer
all Endowment Funds under its supervision and seek to raise awareness in the
congregation of the value of bequest and trust giving to the church’s
endowment. Actively seek gifts for the Endowment Funds. The Foundation operates
according to its bylaws and policies. It shall report quarterly to the Church
Council and annually to the Church Conference.
The Personnel Ministry Team (Decision: Shall be accountable to pastor – Rev.
Bonnie)
Team Leader will be chosen
by the pastor in consultation with the Committee on N.&L.D. and is
accountable to the pastor. (This person may or may not be a member of the
Church Council.) This person will select
the members of their team.
Shall fulfill the following
responsibilities and others assigned by the Church Council:
·
Shall be
responsible for supporting the paid staff through a liaison and providing
evaluations of the staff.
·
Shall make
recommendations on hiring and firing paid staff members to the pastor who will
make the decisions on hiring and firing staff. (Rev. Bonnie)
·
Set Personnel Policies
and the Safe Sanctuary Policies.
·
Insure compliance
with the Safe Sanctuary Policies.
·
Aid the Council
as directed in evaluating paid staff resources and work with the pastor on
writing the job descriptions for the paid staff.
·
As directed by
the Council may make recommendations on staff salaries.
·
Prepare the
Church’s Annual Profile for the Church Conference.
·
Recruit and
provide care for candidates for ministry.
The Property Ministry Team (Accountable to---either pastor or the Council??)
Team Leader
will be chosen by the pastors in consultation with the Committee on N.&L.D.
and be accountable to the pastor/Council. (This person may or may not be a member of the
Church Council.) This person will select
their team members.
Shall be responsible for any of the tasks listed
under the Trustee section of the Church Council which may be delegated to it
such as:
·
Supervision:
They are responsible for the supervision, oversight, care and maintenance of
the real property of the church and all property and equipment acquired by any
organization connected to the church. This shall include proper care of the
church’s legal records and regular inventory of its property.
·
Insurance:
review annually the adequacy of all insurance policies of the church.
·
Contracts:
review annually all contracts for ongoing use of the church and whatever
contracts for maintenance of the facilities or equipment become necessary.
- They are responsible for receiving or refusing
all bequests, trusts, and trust funds or other gifts the church may
receive.
·
Parsonage:
monitor the church’s parsonage funds (Invested by the Foundation) and any need
for a parsonage.
·
Accessibility: Has
an annual accessibility audit been completed? (Paragraph 2532.6)
·
Building Use: Has
the final responsibility for the use of the church by outside groups (except in
the area of worship). Such use must be consistent with the Social Principles of
the UMC (paragraph 160-166).
·
Annual Report to the Charge or Church Conference Shall make an annual report
using the forms provided by the General Church
·
Sale
.
The Finance Ministry Team
Team Leader
will be chosen by the pastors in consultation with the Committee on N.&L.D.
and be accountable to the pastor (Rev. Jim). (This person may or may not be a member of the
Church Council.) This person will select
their team members.
Shall be responsible for any of the tasks
listed under the Finance section of the Church
Council which may be delegated to it such
as:
·
Planning: creating
the annual budget for income and expenses. Developing
strategies for the long-term financial health of the church.
·
Stewardship: Develop
a year round approach to stewardship education. oversee fund raising as
necessary. Select a Stewardship Team Leader who will recruit a team and
organize any annual stewardship drive.
·
Accounting:
maintaining account balances, and records for all income and expense
transactions.
·
Policies and Procedures: creation, execution, and monitoring of all church
financial policies and procedures.
·
Audit: providing
for an annual audit of the church books and accounts.
·
Reporting:
providing regular information to the congregation and committees on the status
of the church’s financial activities and to the members and supporters of the
church on the status of their individual pledges and gifts.
The Memorials Ministry Team
The Team Leader
will chosen by the pastors and be accountable to the pastor (Rev. Jim).
This person
will select their team. It shall insure that Memorials are properly recorded
and acknowledged. Shall in consultation with the pastors develop a list of
potential projects and decide which shall be funded from which memorials.
Program Ministry Teams
Programs of
the church which minster to the church and the community are carried out by
ministry teams which may be formed for short or long-term work.
- Each team should have a Team
Leader(s). These team leaders will be accountable to the pastors or to
staff members designated by the pastors.
- Teams may be formed at anytime by
completing a Program/Ministry Proposal From
and receiving approval from a pastor.
- Each ministry team ought to
have a clear idea of how their work fits into the current vision of the
church and the strategies and goals the Church Council is pursuing.
- Each ministry team ought to
establish a few measurable goals in relation to the vision.
- Teams should coordinate their
work through the pastor or staff person assigned to them.
- All building use should be
scheduled through the church office.
[1]
“Accountability” is an important word in this document. It designates the lines
of responsibility and authority.
Accountability establishes lines for reporting when necessary, for
support and information, for a final decision if necessary, for evaluation and
for the selection of leaders and their removal.
