Monday December 4th @ 6pm, we’ll have an important Church Conference vote about whether or not to streamline our church’s leadership structure. The two most important benefits to making this change would be:
1) to reduce the number of people required to fill administrative leadership positions, which will free up more of our members to focus on the hands-on work of ministry.
2) to facilitate better and more strategic administrative decisions by ensuring that there is one group of leaders around the same table with the same information rather than multiple groups with overlapping responsibilities.
To be clear, streamlining our administrative leadership structure does not directly affect any particular ministry or program. The new Leadership Board would be responsible for decisions at the level of policies, budget, and general oversight. They will facilitate conversations around the long range vision and goals of the church and won’t engage in day to day planning or implementation of specific activities.
On Sunday, November 19th, we held a final town hall dedicated to sharing the final resolution of the Leadership Task Force and responding to any questions or concerns raised by the congregation. Below you’ll find links to the resolution and supporting documents that were shared at the town hall. We took a straw poll to gauge the interest and concerns of the congregation in this process. The results were as follows:
- 42 respondents indicated that they support the resolution with no reservations.
- 5 respondents indicated that they see the merits, but have some reservations
- No one indicated that they think it is a bad idea or that they would likely vote against it.
Of the 5 responses indicating some level of reservation, 3 chose to specify a concern. Each concern is worth addressing here.
1) “The proof is in the pudding” - it is certainly true that none of our discussions or reasons surrounding the change will matter unless the actual structure and leadership are successful in making good decisions for the sake of our church's future. I strongly encourage you to pay attention to what the new leadership board does, consider coming to the meetings (all of which are open to the congregation unless the board is talking about legal or staff matters), and offer your feedback along the way (about both whether the new structure is working well and the particular decisions being made).
2) “Reduction of opportunities to serve” - it is again absolutely true that there will be less opportunities to serve and lead in an administrative capacity compared to the current structure. For the change to be successful, it will be vital that we develop a multitude of other opportunities for leadership so that everyone still has a place to serve. The goal will never be to reduce opportunities to plug in; we hope instead to shift the balance toward more hands-on and life-giving ministry opportunities and away from administrative responsibilities. If anything, we desire to create many more opportunities to share in the work of our common mission.
3) “A diverse board becoming ‘stacked’” - a diverse set of representatives is both a Book of Discipline requirement and a vital component of effective leadership. A church conference vote on the composition of the board will take place annually. Please hold us accountable to ensure that the board never becomes stacked in any direction other than finding the best people to lead us all toward the goals and vision that we set together.
Finally, you can read the resolution that will be voted on here (this document is the only matter up for a formal vote at our called Church Conference meeting). You can also read the Leadership Covenant here, which outlines the commitment we’re asking for the Leadership Board to make in the new model. And you can read the Initial Guiding Principles here, which outlines how the Board will go about its work and is intended to be updated by the board over time.
Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions prior to the church conference vote. You can email me (jeremy@fumcbeaumont.org) or reach out to another member of the task force listed below. I pray that no matter how the vote turns out, we will take significant strides in the year ahead toward laying a solid foundation for our future!
Task Force Members - Hank Hamilton, Gail Wilson, Tootsie Crutchfield, Gina Crenshaw, Neil Early, Cheryl Charlton, and Marianne Kondo