Below is a proposed simple structure to fulfil our mission of helping people find and follow Jesus. While compared to how we started, this may seem complicated, it is just a matter of ensuring that we have a transparent, accountable and effective approach to whatever is ahead for us as a church.
Items to note:
- Retaining Marcello and Brad on the board retains both our connection with the past and the trust our church has in them.
- Separating the board from the elders prevents our church from promoting elders based primarily on corporate skills rather than spiritual leadership.
- A smaller eldership encourages the focus to be on the to-be-formed ministry teams rather than centralised titles and authority.
- While the board, elders and deacons have their unique responsibilities, having a Leadership Team as our primary gathering of leaders (quarterly, monthly, whatever we decide) brings those who are "doing the work [ministry]" in our church with those who are responsible for the long-term spiritual health of the church.
Board: Legal, Financial Responsibility
Current: Brad, Marcello, Dan
Future: Brad, Marcello, Dan Harding, Paul Lanham, Dan Hill
Elders: Spiritual Authority
Dan Harding, Paul Lanham, Dan Hill
Deacons: Ministry Responsibility
It may be helpful to call this a "ministry team" :)
Future: Brad, Marcello, ....maybe you!
Leadership Team: Broad
A broad group made up of all Elders and Deacons (Ministry Team).
Some people get excited about structure! Others get nervous! Please be assured this seems to be the minimum structure necessary to provide maximum effectiveness for the season ahead.
The great news is that we are flexible and can always adapt as needed.