Sullivan UMC—J. Michael Smith

An Organizational Map of Our Church

We have two primary centers of organization in our church:  the Bridging Table and the Church Council.  

The Bridging Table (something new) coordinates all the ministries of the church, schedules them, makes sure they are funded, and supervises to be sure that all our events, programs, and new ideas are carefully organized and communicated to everyone.  Anyone with a new ideas, any annual events, and any groups that are active in the church get connected at the Bridging Table. 

Since the Bridging Table is at the heart of the church (worship, missions, evangelism, children’s ministries, youth, older adult, family ministries, Sunday School, Chrisitan education, young adult ministries, service, member care, hospitality, etc.) it is made up of 8-12 people who act as “hosts” and help shepherd groups, events, programs, and new ideas through the maze of getting organized, resourced, and off the ground.  These “hosts” work with individuals and groups to secure resources from the Church Council (see below.)  

If you would like to be part of the Bridging Table, please let me know.  We will be having training/orientation this coming Wednesday at 11 a.m. and repeated at 6 p.m.  If you cannot make one of those times, I can set up other times for you. 

The Bridging Table is where all the action flows through—where we organize to love God and love our neighbors.  Anyone who wants to serve the church in a significant way should consider becoming a part of this.

To support and undergird Bridging Table, we have a Church Council.  The Church Council cares for all the church’s capital assets:  money, property, human resources, etc.  The Church Council is divided into four committees that care for the church’s assets.

• The trustees (Chip Hagen, Trevor Poe, Dave Sowers) have responsibility for all church property:  buildings and grounds, land, equipment, van, appliances, etc.

• The staff-parish-relations committee (Kendall Brettschnieder, Mackenzie Hoss, Susan Connor, Dennis Ozier, Erica Lehman, Kathy Booker, Bob Lane, Chip Hagen) has responsibility for the paid staff and for assuring a healthy relationship between the pastor and the congregation

• The nominating committee (Lois Shuman, Karen Reed, Susan Connor, Erica Lehman, the pastor) has stewardship for our volunteer leaders—selecting leaders, training them, and supporting them.

• The finance committee (Bob Lane, the pastor, Bill Workman, Jennifer Love, Yvonne Workman, Chip Hagen) has stewardship for the church’s money.

In other words, it is the responsibility of The Church Council to increase and manage all the various capitals of the church:  data capital, financial capital, platform and technical capital, property capital, human capital.  

Monthly meeting of the Council are open to members and contributors to the church.  In those meetings they accept reports and vote on motions that require Council approval.  But most Council work is done through its committee structure (trustees, nominations, finance, staff parish relations.)  This is the “business” arm of the church and conducts its business efficiently, with maximum communication and minimum red tape. The Church Council is a servant group, not an authoritarian group.  Their main question is always “How can we help?”