Sullivan UMC—J. Michael Smith
NEW PASTOR TO BE ANNOUNCED THIS COMING SUNDAY
Our district superintendent, Sara Isbell, has introduced the incoming pastor (July 1) to our Pastor Parish Relations Committee. The committee was very pleased, but they have been trusted to keep the name and any identifying information confidential until this coming Sunday. This will give the new pastor time to notify family, friends, current church staff, etc. of the change. The name of the person and a short biography will be shared at that time by the chair of the committee, Bob Lane.
Please respect the request for confidentiality. Back in the days when I was being appointed to a new church—and leaving my old one—the week before the announcement was made public was a very busy time for me to make sure I notified all the people whom I did NOT want to hear it second-handed.
Everyone’s curiosity will be satisfied soon enough. So—do not expect any identifying information until Sunday—such as gender, age, race, shape of nose, identifying moles or tattoos, etc. Just show up Sunday and hear what Bob has to say.
Link for tonight’s Church Council Meeting
Our monthly Church Council meeting will be held in the Blessing room at 6 p.m. tonight. The agenda has the following items: 1) receiving the financial accounts summary (see yesterday’s post), 2) receiving a progress report from the Trustees on the disposition of the church van (no motion at this time), and 3) receiving a report on conducting meetings in the church from the pastor.
Anyone can tune in at 6 for the meeting, and I will send a link out tomorrow giving everyone access to the recording of it. The meeting is projected to last less than an hour.
My Notes on the Protocol for Holding Church Meetings and Taking Minutes (to be presented at tonight’s Church Council Meeting)
Meetings Workshop
Reasons We Have Meetings
- To have good arguments (two heads are better than one)
- To make good decisions, including votes on legal matters (including BOD)
- To delegate decisions or work assignments (to groups, individuals, or pairs)
- To receive documents and reports
- To discern the disposition of an appeal from a smaller gathering
- For team building
- For advanced training
- For transparency
- To interview potential personnel
Types of Meetings
- Five minute meetings
- Group phone call, stand up gatherings at end of another event, text chain
- Good for # 2, 3
- Style: Formal (minutes required)
- 30-60 minute meetings
- Zoom, in person, or combination
- Good for # 1,2,3,4,5,8
- Style: Formal (minutes required)
- Appeal meetings
- In person
- Good for #5
- Style: Formal (minutes should include summary of issue, final decision, and logic behind final decision, but minutes should not include discussion)
- Advanced Training meetings
- In person, Zoom
- Good for #7
- Style: Relaxed, stick to topic, handouts preferred, if a group, keep copies of materials in minutes
- Interview meetings: 20-90 minutes per interviewee
- In person
- Good for #9
- Style: Formal, questions prepared in advance, take turns asking questions; minutes should include 1) decisions, 2) logic behind decision, 3) notes for future reference, 4) background checks and references. All minutes confidential.
All decisions and rationale for decisions are public. Interview minutes are confidential.
Rules for Taking Minutes
- Minutes should include the following information:
- Time and place of meeting
- Names of the presider and people present
- Names of those who asked in advance to be excused
- A section for each topic listed in the agenda
- General description of Topic
- Person who raised the topic
- Decisions made (with motion makers and vote counts, 2nds not necessary)
- Logic behind the decision (optional, one sentence)
- Assignments and future action on the decision
- Additional business not on the agenda and its disposition (see letter d)
- Time of adjournment
- Minutes should be sent to everyone in the group and published on the church website within 24 hours of the meeting. (It is recommended to take minutes by laptop and post them at the end of the meeting.)
- Anyone who wishes to amend the minutes should contact the secretary as soon as possible. If the secretary agrees, the minutes will be changed. All minutes should then be verified at the next meeting of the group.
Before and after each Meeting
- Each meeting shall include a pre-meeting between the chair of the committee and the pastor, held sometime within the week prior to the meeting.
- The pre-meeting will be the time to prepare the agenda. Agenda items shall take precedence at the meeting itself.
- All major motions shall be prepared and distributed to the members at least 72 hours before the meeting. The group may accept late motions by 2/3 vote or defer them to a later meeting.
- Written reports submitted for review by the group shall be sent out 72 hours before the meeting.
- Notification by text or email shall be sent one week before scheduled meetings and the day of.
- After each meeting the pastor and the chair shall meet briefly to review the effectiveness of the meeting and make arrangements to follow through on any unresolved issues.
- All minutes of all meetings shall be forwarded to the secretary of the Church Council, even if it is something as simple as a text message. Except for confidential material, those minutes shall be posted on the website within 24 hours of the meeting.
Minimum Times Each Church Committee is Required to Meet in a Year
Trustees—once annually or at the call of the pastor or chairperson
Staff Pastor-Parish Relations Committee—-four times, or at the call of the D.S., chairperson, or pastor.
Nominations—once annually or at the call of the pastor (who is the chairperson)
Finance—once annually or at the call of the pastor or chairperson
Church Council—at least quarterly or at the call of the pastor or chairperson
In every case, a quorum consists of those who are present—no minimums, provided the meetings were reasonably publicized in advance. The only exception is the trustees, whose quorum consists of one half of the membership.
The following groups are open to any member or contributor of the church attending: Church Council, Finance, Trustees, Bridging Table.
The following church groups are closed meetings, due to handling personnel matters: Staff Pastor Parish Relations Committee, Nominations Committee
Repertoire 