I've spent part of this week preparing for our congregation's first board meeting of the new year. Often, this process takes more time and more communication than I remember from year to year.
Our congregation has a good tradition of official and unofficial term limits, so that most positions have new people in them every few years. In general, I support this practice. On one level, I want to prevent anyone from ever becoming so entrenched in a single church leadership role -- whether by personal desire or popular acclaim -- that they cannot do anything else and no one else can assume that role. On another level, I think that these term limits are a way of practicing sabbath. Not only do we allow people to rest from certain responsibilities every so often -- even if they are quite gifted at them -- but we also celebrate that God has blessed the congregation with multiple people who can assume responsibilities in ways that bless others and enrich our shared Christian ministry.
Such regular transition means that there are a lot of things for people to learn when they assume new offices and the new church board meets for the first time. This week, I've spent time with a couple of incoming officers answering questions and making sure that we will accomplish the things we need to accomplish at the first meeting, including some annual tasks prescribed by our by-laws for the first meeting of each year. In the process of these questions and answers, I've learned a couple of things too, which in itself shows the value of involving new people from time to time. They bring new questions and perspectives, which often bring growth for the entire congregation and its ministry.
That said, I'm always struck by how little the congregations I've served do at the first meeting to orient new board members. (For me, that meeting has always occurred in January, but I know that some congregations transition leadership at other times of the calendar year.) Given that so many people remain on the board from year to year, even if they are assuming different responsibilities, I think that there is a presumption that everyone already knows what is going on.
Even more, I think that our board meetings follow many other church practices -- we assume that new people will just pay attention and figure out what's going on. "Church by osmosis," if you will.
I think that many congregations, my current one included, try hard to explain the main responsibilities of the office to the new officer. This rarely extends, though, to explaining exactly what the board does as a group... and what the congregation is relying on the board to do. Little attention is given to explaining how the board does its work either.
This year, after talking to our new board chair, we will try something different. I'm going to briefly explain what it means to serve on a board of directors to make sure that everyone is aware of the primary responsibilities. I'm going to remind people what powers the board has and how we try to use those powers faithfully. I also will talk about the happy tradition in our congregation, which has long been to work mostly by consensus, but trusting people to voice their concerns and questions freely.
I don't quite know how everyone will take it. At the very least, they'll probably humor me as the pastor. Then again, who knows? Someone may ask a new question that causes us to all find an answer that we hadn't known, and we'll all leave knowing a little bit more about what it means to be the member of a church board.
Our congregation has a good tradition of official and unofficial term limits, so that most positions have new people in them every few years. In general, I support this practice. On one level, I want to prevent anyone from ever becoming so entrenched in a single church leadership role -- whether by personal desire or popular acclaim -- that they cannot do anything else and no one else can assume that role. On another level, I think that these term limits are a way of practicing sabbath. Not only do we allow people to rest from certain responsibilities every so often -- even if they are quite gifted at them -- but we also celebrate that God has blessed the congregation with multiple people who can assume responsibilities in ways that bless others and enrich our shared Christian ministry.
Such regular transition means that there are a lot of things for people to learn when they assume new offices and the new church board meets for the first time. This week, I've spent time with a couple of incoming officers answering questions and making sure that we will accomplish the things we need to accomplish at the first meeting, including some annual tasks prescribed by our by-laws for the first meeting of each year. In the process of these questions and answers, I've learned a couple of things too, which in itself shows the value of involving new people from time to time. They bring new questions and perspectives, which often bring growth for the entire congregation and its ministry.
That said, I'm always struck by how little the congregations I've served do at the first meeting to orient new board members. (For me, that meeting has always occurred in January, but I know that some congregations transition leadership at other times of the calendar year.) Given that so many people remain on the board from year to year, even if they are assuming different responsibilities, I think that there is a presumption that everyone already knows what is going on.
Even more, I think that our board meetings follow many other church practices -- we assume that new people will just pay attention and figure out what's going on. "Church by osmosis," if you will.
I think that many congregations, my current one included, try hard to explain the main responsibilities of the office to the new officer. This rarely extends, though, to explaining exactly what the board does as a group... and what the congregation is relying on the board to do. Little attention is given to explaining how the board does its work either.
This year, after talking to our new board chair, we will try something different. I'm going to briefly explain what it means to serve on a board of directors to make sure that everyone is aware of the primary responsibilities. I'm going to remind people what powers the board has and how we try to use those powers faithfully. I also will talk about the happy tradition in our congregation, which has long been to work mostly by consensus, but trusting people to voice their concerns and questions freely.
I don't quite know how everyone will take it. At the very least, they'll probably humor me as the pastor. Then again, who knows? Someone may ask a new question that causes us to all find an answer that we hadn't known, and we'll all leave knowing a little bit more about what it means to be the member of a church board.
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