A Word From the Pastor
Rev. L. David Mortenson, Senior Pastor
The Holden UMC church held a charge conference on March 17th, in which there was a vote to move our administrative duties from the current model, to what is called a Simplified Accountability Structure. Fancy words for a single board model. It is designed to do two things.
First, it moves away from the committee form of governance to a single board model. This means that the Staff Pastor Relations Committee (SPRC) and the Trustees Committee, plus any other committees, except Nominations, all move to be a part of the Administrative Board. The reason for the Nomination Committee to stay separate is for accountability. The board cannot vote for itself. An outside committee votes for who will serve on the board.
The board is tasked with setting the vision and mission of the church. And overall governance of the church. The day-to-day operations will be managed by the Administrative Assistant and the Pastor. The board will set policy as well as the budget.
As before, all board meetings are open to the public, except for employment issues. We will meet quarterly on the second, fifth, eight and eleventh months, on the third Thursday at 6:30pm. The new board will begin with the August meeting.
Second, is that it frees members from sitting on committees for three years and allows them to do more mission work. We will have teams for the mission. Some teams may be short term, and some may be long term. A short-term team could be Vacation Bible School. Only for a couple of months prior to VBS in July. A long-term team may be custodial, or worship, which are needed regularly and permanently. Other teams could be a care team, a security team, or other teams necessary conduct the mission of the church.
The mission of the church is set forth by Christ in Matthew 28:19; Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is also the mission of the Methodist Church, ¶ 120. The Mission—The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Local churches and extension ministries of the Church provide the most significant arenas through which disciple-making occurs.
This is my hope and prayer for this church. That we can have several teams doing mission work in our community. If you have a mission or idea, do not hesitate to come to me, so we can discuss it. As always, my door is open for any questions or comments. Do not hesitate to come by and see me.
Thank you and God bless.
Pastor David