1. Church Conference Preparation Workshop Skylands District Monday, August 3, 2015

2. The purpose of a meeting is not to report on what has already been done, but to focus on what will be happening moving forward.

3. Clustered Church Conference Schedule Morning Schedule Afternoon Schedule 9:00 a.m.Group 1 Individual Business Session2:00 p.m. 9:30 a.m.Worship/Fellowship for Group 1 and 22:45 p.m. 10:30 a.m.Workshops for Groups 1 and 23:45 p.m. 12:00 noonGroup 2 Individual Business Session5:15 p.m. Group 1 is free to leave 12:30 p.m.Adjourn for the day6:00 p.m.

4. Individual Church Conference Schedule Sample Sunday Morning Evening Schedule 9:00 a.m. SPRC or other Small Group Conversation 6:30 p.m. 10:00 a.m. Worship – A Celebration of Ministry 7:30 p.m. 11:00 a.m.Business of the Church Conference7:50 p.m. 11:30 a.m. Thriving in the new mission field 8:15 p.m. Equipping and improving ministry the coming year 12:00 noonAdjourn for the day9:00 p.m.

5. Expectations in Preparation for Church Conference All paperwork needs to be completed and submitted electronically – forms from last year can be updated and submitted. Work will be done ahead of time: - Nominations completed and submitted -Compensation report for 2016 will be recommended by SPRC and approved by Church Council prior to submission -Audit for 2014 (due June 1 st ) will be submitted if not previously done (if already submitted, no need to resubmit) -Reports from Lay Servants will be completed and signed prior to submission -Pastor’s and Church Profiles (SPRC) will be updated and submitted with other paperwork – pastors who have submitted profile for one on ones need not resubmit -Required forms and reports not printed for book still need to be submitted

6. Expectations in Preparation for Church Conference, continued Ministerial Candidates seeking Church Conference approval for the first time must be voted on with a paper ballot. Please be prepared for this ahead of time. Any additional recommendations or resolutions for adoption at the church conference must be submitted, in full written form, with other reports. Most financial reports are not required to be printed for distribution. You are free to do so, however, it is the assumption that these reports have been readily available to your church leadership, and therefore need not be duplicated again. All forms that need signatures can be signed ahead of time, scanned and submitted as a PDF. If signatures are not available by the time of submission, submit the form without signatures and have a completed form with signatures at the church conference. No form should be signed at the conference itself! Once your church conference has been held, the work of the conference should be complete. The pastor is the administrative officer for the congregation – pastors are accountable for the completion of requirements for church conference

7. The Role and Function of a Circuit Elder for Church Conferences Circuit Elders will be presiding at the business sections of each church conference. They will receive their packet of reports from the district office (reports are not to be submitted to them directly) Reports will have been reviewed by the Administrative Assistant in the office and by the District Superintendent. In clustered Church Conferences, the DS will not preside at any one conference, but will rotate among the churches. Circuit Elders are not supervisors, and therefore do not have the authority to be in conversation with the Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee around effectiveness or appointment issues. Circuit Elders only sign reports that say “presiding elder” on them. If a report calls for a DS signature, only the DS can sign (after consultation with the Circuit Elder that the item has been approved) Circuit Elders may be involved in workshop leadership at the Clustered Church Conference Additional Elders may be asked to preside at business sessions.

8. Workshops At clustered Church Conferences, the workshops are an opportunity to bring resourcing closer to the local church. Three to five different workshops will be offered, and each grouping will have a different set of workshops. The purpose of workshops is: Resource closer to the local church geared to the specific context of an area Engage persons from churches in a designated area of learning together and from one another Provide opportunities for learning and inspiration for laity A list of all workshops will be published in early September for all churches so that persons are free to attend workshop sessions that are interesting or relevant to them. In churches with individual church conferences, the DS will work collaboratively with the pastor to use the conference time for creative conversation and/or learning.

9. Worship (note: there is no order of worship being done this year) At churches with individual church conferences, The pastor(s) is/are responsible for planning a worship experience that celebrates the ministry of the congregation and a vision for the future. Worship should be something that inspires and lifts up the ministry of the church. It need not be complicated or intricate (sometimes less is more), but should reflect the church and community. You may include the celebration of communion if you wish. Please send an order of worship to the DS prior to the conference if you have something in particular you want him to do in the service. At clustered conferences, DS and Circuit Elders will be taking primary responsibility for planning worship, clergy and laity from the cluster will have significant leadership. Each church in encouraged to send 3 to 5 pictures to the district office (skylands@gnjumc.org) to be used in our celebration of ministry.skylands@gnjumc.org Holy Communion may be celebrated, depending on cluster’s thoughts around this.

10. Business Session Agenda Approval of Minutes (#1) Nominations and Lay Leadership (#2) Lay Servant/CLM Approvals (#7 & 8) Candidacy Approvals Clergy Compensation (#3) Housing Exclusion (#3 – Line 11) Audit Report Trustees Report (#4) Membership Items (#5) Additional Resolutions (#10) Setting of Goals for 2016

11. Other Reports: Required Directory of Officials (#11) Clergy Housing Exclusion (#12) Parsonage Evaluation (#13) Treasurer’s Report YTD (#14) Church Profile (#15) Pastor’s Profile (#16) Other Reports: As Needed Lay Servant Reports (#7) CLM Reports (#8) Deacon’s Report (#9)

14. Nominations and Lay Leadership Report Church Council Chair Frank Asbury Council Vice-ChairTommy Coke TreasurerBarb Heck SecretaryWilly Otterbein Finance Chair Sue Wesley Worship Chair Jake Albright Missions Chair Hank Appenzeller Evangelism Chair Annie H. Shaw Chair – Strategic Planning CommitteeChuck Wesley Lay Member to Annual Conference Marge Matthews Lay LeaderRich Whatcoat President, Board of TrusteesRich Allen SPRC ChairMaud Jensen Staff Parish Relations Committee 2016 20172018 Anna Oliver Maud JensenGeorge Whitfield Fred GwynneWill RogersDonna Reed Rosa ParksBart StarrWalter Reed etc.

20. Senior Pastors and any appointed associates should submit a narrative report to the Church Conference

21. Parsonage: 1.Report on parsonage is to be completed by the chair or representative of SPRC and Trustees in consultation with the pastoral family. 2.Written report needs to be completed and submitted with other paperwork. 3.Walk through with the Superintendent will be done upon request of pastor, congregation, or DS after submission of the report Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee 1.Meetings are not a requirement of the Discipline. Will do them upon request of committee, pastor, or DS. 2.Prior to meeting, agenda items should be discussed with the committee so as to bring focus and meaning to the meeting. 3.Meetings for churches engaged with clustered church conferences will be held at another time that is worked out with the DS and committee. 4.By Discipline, only a District Superintendent can meet in this closed door session with the SPRC. Circuit Elders are not permitted to do these meetings.

22. Additional Option Meetings can be set up for other areas such as strategic planning, stewardship, evangelism, mission, church council, etc. These can be at other points in the year. Some may engage Circuit Elders or conference connectional ministries staff if this is best for the need. This will be negotiated with the DS. Process for setting up another meeting Complete a DS consultation form, indicating the area of focus, potential agenda, steps that have been taken thus far. Pastors or committee chairs can request (but only with knowledge of the pastor) a meeting. It is recommended that a gathering include no more than 12 lay persons. Meetings will be approximately 60 – 75 minutes in length. Pastors in churches where there will be individual church conferences can request a different group other than SPRC. This meeting will be for one hour prior to the Church Conference.