Fall 2013 Leader Orientation

Feedback from Pender’s ministry and committee leaders  I don’t know who to report to  I don’t know what is expected of me  I don’t know what I am authorized to do  I don’t know how we make decisions at Pender  I don’t know where to get help! 2 Why are we here? Jesus equipped His disciples…We need to equip our leaders!

Agenda Welcome & Prayer Vision, Mission, and Core Spiritual Objectives Church Structure & Roles of Council, Cluster, & Ministry Decision Model & the role of prayer in Pender leadership Planning Model Budget Planning and Execution Do’s and Don’ts of Communications Next Steps Closing Prayer 3 What’s the plan for today?

Vision, Mission, and Core Spiritual Objectives 4

Pender United Methodist Church will be a tree of life in the community rooted in God’s living Word with branches growing and moving by the Spirit and spreading the love of Jesus for all.

Make disciples for Jesus Christ

 Know God: Foster understanding of GOD as Lord & Savior and support personal intimate relationships with HIM  Love God and others: Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, and spirit. Love others as yourself  Grow in God: Assist all people in experiencing GOD and expanding their personal relationships with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  Serve God: Serve GOD through worship, prayers, presence, gifts, and service to ourselves and others.  Share God: Proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to others through our actions and words.

Church Structure 8

 The UMC provides services to local churches  Local churches are governed by “The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church  Local churches support the UMC organization 9 What does it mean to be a UMC? The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a connectional church

 Prayer  The Holy Spirit  The Bible  The Book of Discipline  Pender’s Strategy

 Executive body of the local church  Connecting link between Pender and the Virginia Conference  Has general oversight of the Church Council  Meets annually (or more often if needed)  Elects the officers of the church  Governing body of the local church.  Sets policy for Pender  Has oversight of all standing committees and ministry areas  Charged with the administration of the church's organizational and temporal life Charge Conference Church Council

12 How is Pender organized ?

A cluster is a group of ministries that  Share common goals and objectives  Are managed by a leader and assistant leader to facilitate coordination, communication, and resource provisioning

ClusterPurposeObjectiveLife Task Share GodOutreach Communicating God’s word through mission and ministry Our witness Serve GodService Demonstrating God’s love through service Our work Know GodWorship Celebrating God’s presence through worship Our worship Grow in God Discipleship Educating God’s people through discipleship Our walk Love GodFellowship Caring for God’s family through prayer and fellowship. Our relationships

 Achieving the overarching responsibilities and mission of the respective committee or cluster  Forging and implementing a strategy to achieve the mission  Facilitating communication ◦ Within the committee or cluster and with other committees or clusters ◦ Between Pender UMC members and the committee or cluster ◦ Between Church Council and the committee or cluster members  Ensuring the committee or cluster is resourced with appropriately skilled volunteers  Overseeing the preparation of budget submissions and the execution of expenditures per the approved budget

Decision Making 16

Prayer and consensus model  All decisions are preceded by a short time of prayer  Approval requires either unanimity or unity ◦ Unanimity: Unanimous belief that an affirmative decision is God’s will ◦ Unity: The person or persons dissenting is/are comfortable with the discernment of the group  When unanimity or unity is not achieved, the decision is delayed for prayer It is strongly recommended that ALL clusters and committees adopt the prayer and consensus model!

Any number of members present and voting at any duly announced meeting constitutes a quorum for the vote Per the Book of Discipline

 Compensation of the Pastor and any other staff appointed by the UMC Conference Bishop  Election of the following leadership positions ◦ Chairperson of church council ◦ Committee on Lay Leadership ◦ SPRC members and chairperson ◦ Finance committee members and chairperson ◦ Lay member of the annual conference ◦ Lay leader(s) ◦ Church conference recording secretary

Church Council must approve  Any changes to the church wide budget  Any policy changes  Decisions that impact other clusters or committees Clusters and committees should bring ANY ideas/decisions that may benefit from input from other areas to Church Council!

Any decisions that are in keeping with their purpose and are within their allocated resources

Planning Model 22

Continual prayer asking for guidance from the Holy Spirit is the single most important part of determining both which ministries Pender should execute and how Pender should execute those ministries

Emphasis on  Love God and Love Neighbor  Outreach and In-reach  Cross Ministry collaboration

 Write the objective of the ministry activity in a “so that” statement ◦ Use a simple statement: “We will do ___ so that ___ will happen.” ◦ “So that…” changes everything. It helps establish the reason/purpose of why we do anything  Ask the questions whether and how the “so that” contributes to our ultimate objective “To make disciples of Jesus Christ”  Determine how we will know if the ministry has succeeded in it’s objectives John 3:16 “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that… everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

 Six months ahead: Identify cross ministry participation needed  Three months ahead: Have a defined plan  One month ahead: Begin executing and handling any unanticipated issues  “What’s Next?”: Include follow up activities to help build longer term relationships As good stewards of God’s riches, we must make the most efficient use of our resources

 Encourages general participation and volunteer participation in ministry activities  Is needed before, during, and after an event Telling the story Venues  “This Week at Pender”  Pender website  Pender Facebook site, twitter feed, and blogs  Sunday morning announcements

Budget Planning & Execution 28

 Execute the planning process ◦ Prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit ◦ “So That” ◦  Estimate the costs associated with the plan

 Mid August: Budget worksheets are provided electronically to committee chairs and cluster leads.  August Church Council meeting: Budget process and guidelines are explained  Early September: Budget worksheets are due to the Finance chairperson  September Finance Committee meeting: Budget is reviewed in preparation for the September Council meeting  September Council meeting: Budget recommendations are presented. Budget may be approved if there are no issues. Issues will result in actions assigned for completion prior to the October Finance meeting  October Finance meeting: Final budget submissions are reviewed. Recommended budget is compiled  October Council meeting: Final budget is approved for distribution and communication to the church at the Church Conference.  January 1: Execution against the budget begins

 Cluster Lead/Committee Chair role  Finding a copy of your budget  Tracking expenditures vs. budget  Artifacts required for expenditures

Do’s and Don’ts of Communications 32

 The Bible  The UMC Book of Discipline  Lay Leaders and Church Council Chair  Administrative Assistant in the Church office  The Pastors The Pastors are our Spiritual Leaders. HOWEVER, there are many other avenues to find the answers to your questions

 Face to Face  Telephone  DO NOT send s for very emotional or inflammatory issues!

Next Steps 35

The Pender Mentoring Program exists to develop, encourage, enhance, empower and support ministry leaders of Pender as part of the Body of Christ

 Each cluster will be assigned a Lay Leader to serve as a mentor  Mentors will ◦ Help leaders navigate Pender’s governance structure ◦ Provide leadership expertise and guidance  Feedback will be gathered to improve the mentoring program as it progresses

 Pender Leadership Orientation Package ◦  Pender Leadership Orientation Guide ◦