As we approach the congregational meeting the leadership team has received some thoughtful questions and comments that we feel need to be addressed. We appreciate those who have raised these questions because there may be others with the same questions. We want everyone to have a full and complete understanding of our intentions.
Some have expressed a concern that the wording used in regards the term of office for elders is unclear. They believe it could be interpreted to limit elders to serving only six (6) years total. Respectfully, that would be a misinterpretation of the restriction. It clearly states “consecutive terms”. No limit is placed on the number of terms, only on the number consecutive terms.
It is the leadership team’s responsibility to recruit and nominate elders, if they did not want a person to serve, for whatever reason, they simply would not nominate that person. They would also not allow any individual to improperly use this restriction against anyone else. The provision is quite clear as written. It prevents an elder from serving more than two (2) consecutive terms. It does not limit the number of non-consecutive terms in anyway.
Another question was asked about staggering the terms of elders. This is a good idea and will occur without any added provisions. If approved, those elected next year will be one (1) year staggered from the current elders. Each year, as new elders are added, their terms will be staggered as well. In six (6) years, only the two (2) current elders would be prevented from serving another consecutive term. After a year off, they could be elected again to serve.
In regards to the addition of the positions of Treasurer and Financial Secretary to the constitution and by-laws, there have been some questions. First, it must be understood that the current constitution and by-laws contains NO PROVISIONS regarding how the church finances must be handled. The leadership, under the ministry team structure, created the Stewardship team as a means of handling the finances. When using the team approach to managing the finances proved to be ineffective, the leadership instituted the Treasurer and Financial Secretary positions. This change has successfully improved our financial management and accountability. This is why the leadership team decided to include this significant change in the constitution and by-laws.
Finally, the question was asked about how these recommended changes were developed. In the past, we have put together a team of people to review the constitution and by-laws for changes. That was not done in this situation because we were only making a few changes, and most are minor changes. We are planning however in the coming year to put together a team of individuals to totally review of the constitution and by-laws. If you would be interested in serving on such a team, please contact one of the members of the leadership team.
Friday, August 28, 2009
State of the Church
The past year has been one of the most significant years in the history of Crossroads Christian Church. The congregation has undergone many changes. Some were intentional, while others were forced upon us by circumstances. However we have weathered the difficulties and God has proven faithful throughout.
Leadership Changes
We began the year electing two (2) new elders to the leadership team. Since that time, the two (2) currently serving elders have stepped down for personal reasons. This has left us with only the two (2) new elders remaining. Leading a congregation is not an easy task, even under the best of circumstances. These men have done a tremendous job of leading the congregation and dealing with difficult situations that were not of their own making.
Fresh leadership has given us a fresh perspective and a renewed focus on our mission and vision. The congregation is growing and reaching our community. We are adding new members and seeing visitors coming nearly every week. There is a new positive attitude that pervades our services and ministries.
We have discovered that we need to work on long-term leadership development and continuity. To that end, the leadership team is recommending a change in the church Constitution that increases the term an elder serves to three (3) years, but limits them to only two (2) consecutive terms. After serving six (6) consecutive years, an individual would have to “sit out” for, at least, a year before returning to the leadership. Our intention is to keep the leadership fresh and prevent burnout.
Economic Challenges
We are all well aware of the economic condition of the greater Lafayette community. While not as bad off as other areas in the nation, we have been impacted financially. The downturn in the economy could not have come at a worse time for the church. With our increased mortgage payment of our recent building expansion and the decision to increase our staff by another full-time position, we were forced to deal with some weakness in our financial structure.
The restructuring was difficult. However your generosity and support have allowed us to fully and successfully implement our new stewardship strategy. We are now in the best financial condition we have ever been in, systemically. We have a spending structure that is tied directly to our weekly offerings. We have established financial priorities, and debt reduction is one of them.
This is not to say that we have all the funding we need. We still have some members out of work and have lost others because of relocation to seek employment. Since July 1st, our offerings have not met our budget target, which means we will not have the resources for discretionary spending. I am still optimistic because July is traditionally a lower month for offerings.
Additional Staff
Beginning in September, Dave Nance will serve as an unpaid associate minister intern. I have agreed to mentor Dave in a study of ministry that will eventually lead to his being ordained to the preaching ministry. The program will combine study and practical experience in all related ministry areas. He is already leading our new young adult ministry, “The Bridge.”
Goals for the Future
Our primary goal will be to continue pursuing our mission and our vision by intentionally reaching out to the lost in our community. We have identified some key areas that need attention this coming year:
1. Add more elders to the leadership team through the recruiting and mentoring of qualified men in the congregation this year.
2. Reestablish our commitment to building a quality, growing small group ministry that connects members in authentic community.
3. Create a team of members to review the entire Constitution and By-laws and make recommendations on possible changes to be considered by the leadership and the congregation.
4. Develop a strategy for discipleship development that involves specific outcomes in terms of knowledge and behaviors.
5. Maintain vigilant adherence to present stewardship, worship, and ministry strategies.
As always, the leadership team is open to your suggestions, constructive criticism, and especially your prayers. God continues to bless our congregation because we remain faithful to His purpose for the Church.
Leadership Changes
We began the year electing two (2) new elders to the leadership team. Since that time, the two (2) currently serving elders have stepped down for personal reasons. This has left us with only the two (2) new elders remaining. Leading a congregation is not an easy task, even under the best of circumstances. These men have done a tremendous job of leading the congregation and dealing with difficult situations that were not of their own making.
Fresh leadership has given us a fresh perspective and a renewed focus on our mission and vision. The congregation is growing and reaching our community. We are adding new members and seeing visitors coming nearly every week. There is a new positive attitude that pervades our services and ministries.
We have discovered that we need to work on long-term leadership development and continuity. To that end, the leadership team is recommending a change in the church Constitution that increases the term an elder serves to three (3) years, but limits them to only two (2) consecutive terms. After serving six (6) consecutive years, an individual would have to “sit out” for, at least, a year before returning to the leadership. Our intention is to keep the leadership fresh and prevent burnout.
Economic Challenges
We are all well aware of the economic condition of the greater Lafayette community. While not as bad off as other areas in the nation, we have been impacted financially. The downturn in the economy could not have come at a worse time for the church. With our increased mortgage payment of our recent building expansion and the decision to increase our staff by another full-time position, we were forced to deal with some weakness in our financial structure.
The restructuring was difficult. However your generosity and support have allowed us to fully and successfully implement our new stewardship strategy. We are now in the best financial condition we have ever been in, systemically. We have a spending structure that is tied directly to our weekly offerings. We have established financial priorities, and debt reduction is one of them.
This is not to say that we have all the funding we need. We still have some members out of work and have lost others because of relocation to seek employment. Since July 1st, our offerings have not met our budget target, which means we will not have the resources for discretionary spending. I am still optimistic because July is traditionally a lower month for offerings.
Additional Staff
Beginning in September, Dave Nance will serve as an unpaid associate minister intern. I have agreed to mentor Dave in a study of ministry that will eventually lead to his being ordained to the preaching ministry. The program will combine study and practical experience in all related ministry areas. He is already leading our new young adult ministry, “The Bridge.”
Goals for the Future
Our primary goal will be to continue pursuing our mission and our vision by intentionally reaching out to the lost in our community. We have identified some key areas that need attention this coming year:
1. Add more elders to the leadership team through the recruiting and mentoring of qualified men in the congregation this year.
2. Reestablish our commitment to building a quality, growing small group ministry that connects members in authentic community.
3. Create a team of members to review the entire Constitution and By-laws and make recommendations on possible changes to be considered by the leadership and the congregation.
4. Develop a strategy for discipleship development that involves specific outcomes in terms of knowledge and behaviors.
5. Maintain vigilant adherence to present stewardship, worship, and ministry strategies.
As always, the leadership team is open to your suggestions, constructive criticism, and especially your prayers. God continues to bless our congregation because we remain faithful to His purpose for the Church.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
August 30th - Congregational Meeting
On Sunday, August 30th, we will be having our annual congregational meeting. A lot has transpired since last year’s meeting. We have lost some folks and we have gained some folks. All in all though, we are doing well as a church. In the meeting, we will be considering some changes to our Constitution and By-laws, as well as approved leaders and coaches for the coming year. The changes range from a simple change in terminology to a more significant change in the office of elder. It is important that you understand why these are being recommended for your consideration.
The first change is simply substituting the word “coordinator” for the current term we use of “coach.” This is more than just a cosmetic change. Our ministry team structure relies upon men and women to serve as deacons and deaconesses over specific areas of ministry. Originally, we chose the word “coach” because it was descriptive of what we thought their work would entail. However, we have discovered that the role is more coordinating existing ministries than coaching individuals in a specific ministry.
To that end we wanted to make this change to bring some consistency to our ministry structure. When a person is in charge of a specific ministry or event, they are called a “director.” For example, we have a VBS director. Their responsibility is solely for Vacation Bible School. We also have a nursery director whose responsibility is specifically over the nursery ministry. What is needed is not someone to coach them, but an individual to coordinate their ministries with all the other children’s ministries at Crossroads. This is why we want to make the change. A coordinator will coordinate similar ministries for greater effectiveness.
Another change we have proposed is the addition of the two (2) newly created positions of Treasurer and Financial Secretary. This division of labor has worked as planned in providing better financial accountability while not overburdening a single individual. These are positions that are vital to our new stewardship strategy. We want them to continue to be a part our congregational structure.
The final change proposed is to the length of time an elder serves. In the past, elders have been elected for single-year terms, and could be elected continuously with no limit. Given the importance of the eldership to the future success of the church, we decided that we wanted to increase the length of time they serve, but limit each elder to six (6) years of continuous service. They then would have to sit out for one (1) year before being elected again.
There are several reasons for this change. The first is that it creates consistency in the eldership. Single-year terms open up the possibility of several new elders coming on board at one time without enough seasoned elders to support them. With the three (3) year term, you would have only a few elders being elected each year. This would prevent any radical shifts in leadership.
The second reason is that by having a mandatory "sabbatical," we prevent elders from getting burnout and out of touch with members of the congregation. Oftentimes, leadership can only see the church from a leadership perspective. By taking time away from leadership, an elder can often get a fresh perspective and return better able to serve.
These changes are designed to help make Crossroads a better church. They will not be the last changes, however. As we go forward, I am sure there will be other ideas for improving our structure, as well.
The first change is simply substituting the word “coordinator” for the current term we use of “coach.” This is more than just a cosmetic change. Our ministry team structure relies upon men and women to serve as deacons and deaconesses over specific areas of ministry. Originally, we chose the word “coach” because it was descriptive of what we thought their work would entail. However, we have discovered that the role is more coordinating existing ministries than coaching individuals in a specific ministry.
To that end we wanted to make this change to bring some consistency to our ministry structure. When a person is in charge of a specific ministry or event, they are called a “director.” For example, we have a VBS director. Their responsibility is solely for Vacation Bible School. We also have a nursery director whose responsibility is specifically over the nursery ministry. What is needed is not someone to coach them, but an individual to coordinate their ministries with all the other children’s ministries at Crossroads. This is why we want to make the change. A coordinator will coordinate similar ministries for greater effectiveness.
Another change we have proposed is the addition of the two (2) newly created positions of Treasurer and Financial Secretary. This division of labor has worked as planned in providing better financial accountability while not overburdening a single individual. These are positions that are vital to our new stewardship strategy. We want them to continue to be a part our congregational structure.
The final change proposed is to the length of time an elder serves. In the past, elders have been elected for single-year terms, and could be elected continuously with no limit. Given the importance of the eldership to the future success of the church, we decided that we wanted to increase the length of time they serve, but limit each elder to six (6) years of continuous service. They then would have to sit out for one (1) year before being elected again.
There are several reasons for this change. The first is that it creates consistency in the eldership. Single-year terms open up the possibility of several new elders coming on board at one time without enough seasoned elders to support them. With the three (3) year term, you would have only a few elders being elected each year. This would prevent any radical shifts in leadership.
The second reason is that by having a mandatory "sabbatical," we prevent elders from getting burnout and out of touch with members of the congregation. Oftentimes, leadership can only see the church from a leadership perspective. By taking time away from leadership, an elder can often get a fresh perspective and return better able to serve.
These changes are designed to help make Crossroads a better church. They will not be the last changes, however. As we go forward, I am sure there will be other ideas for improving our structure, as well.
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