From Michael Stetzer, Congregational Council President
The primary focus of the congregational council at the November 14 meeting was a review of Prince of Peace’s continuing resolutions, which have not been updated since 2011.
Our current continuing resolutions describe a committee structure based on six areas of congregational life:
- Service and advocacy
- Worship
- Community Life
- Property
- Education
- Stewardship
In our old structure, each of these congregational life areas had several committees. Each of these areas was to be to represented on the congregation council by a member elected to represent that area. Last year we changed our bylaws to remove that requirement and instead elect members to serve “at large”.
With the change in bylaws, our continuing resolutions need to be updated to describe how our committees and teams really function. Another goal is to add clarity to their roles and responsibilities.
The council began exploring how we might regroup our committees and teams and set guidelines for how they function. For each of the committees defined in our continuing resolutions, and for teams that have been created that are not described in the resolutions, we plan to define:
- Scope of responsibility
- Leadership selection/appointment
- Member selection/appointment
- Operating rules (Robert’s etc.)
- Spending authority
- Communication/reporting process
The council also plans to review the continuing resolutions regarding congregational representatives. By asking the following questions:
· Which are still relevant to our mission and vision?
· Which do we have the capacity to sustain?
· What is the appointment process?
· How should reporting and communication be handled?
The work of revising the continuing resolutions will continue through the next few weeks. Although these changes do not require a vote of the congregation, your review and input are needed. Please contact any member of the council with your ideas.