Called to Be God

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Called to Be Gods People

• A Journey in Faith
• A Future in Christ
• A Vision for our Church

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Our Journeyto Find Our Place in the World

• Council Authorized the Development of a Vision
  Team
• Purpose of Vision Team
• Examine Strengths and Challenges of Current
  Organizational Structure
• Develop new organizational model to best support
  achievement of the Congregational Goals
• Revise Bylaws to meet new organizational
  Structure
• Vision Team Members
• Jan Goodrich
• Steve Henrikson
• Deb Hill
• John Pickering
• Jan Thompson

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Who We Are And What We Believe

• Our Mission
• We the First Congregational Church and Society
  of Rindge, New Hampshire, under the guidance of
  the Holy Spirit, strive to answer God's call to
  follow Jesus Christ.  Sharing Christ's love and
  peace, we live our faith through service to God. 
  In our worship, we seek spiritual growth and
  fellowship.  In the Spirit of Christ, we welcome
  all, valuing every person, and encouraging
  freedom of thought and mutual respect.
• Our Vision
• We will fuel the growth and prosperity of our
  blessed congregation and community through our
  tenacious and committed Christian energy in
  spreading the word of God.  On our tireless
  journey we welcome believers of all ages to enjoy
  peace, spiritual nourishment, and warm
  fellowship.

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Congregational Goals

• Actively encourage membership growth
• Provide a variety of spiritual growth
  opportunities and activities for our church
  family and the community
• Cultivate and nurture wholesome activities for
  youth and children of all ages
• Visibly demonstrate greater involvement and
  ministry in the community and wider-church
• Achieve the church's financial goals in support
  of the growth and vitality of its ministries
• Uphold the tradition of being a caring and
  friendly church

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8 Characteristics of Vibrant Churches

• Having studied over 70,000 churches on all 6
  continents, the Institute of Natural Church
  Development has identified 8 qualities that exist
  in vibrant growing congregations.
• Empowering Leadership
•  Gift Oriented Ministries
•  Passionate Spirituality
•  Functional Structure
•  Inspiring Worship
•  Holistic Small Groups
•  Need Oriented Evangelism
• Building Loving Relationships

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A Vision Of Transformation
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A Vision Of Transformation
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A Vision Of Transformation
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A Vision Of Transformation
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Why Change

• How Do We Spend Our Time
• We are a Committee Driven Church
• This is a traditional Congregational Model that
  grew out of the 1950s
• It is not a model for the future.
• Our Current Structure has 66 nominated
  positions.Our Current Membership is 90 Members
• How We Can Be More Effective and Joyous
• Use our Gifts
• Structure that draws upon the gifts and abilities
  of our membership leads to greater
  participation
• We look not to fill positions but to fill lives

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Why Change

• 1 Peter 410
• Each of you has been blessed with one of Gods
  many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of
  others.
• So use your gift well!
• Matthew 2514-29
• Parable of the Talents
• God has given us each different talents and
  abilities that he expects us to put to good use.
  Our talents and abilities contribute to the well
  being of each other, the world, and the Kingdom
  of God.

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A NEW VISIONA RENEWED CHURCH
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The PROPOSED STRUCTURE
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The Nominated Roles

• The Deacons Moderator
• There shall be a Leadership Team consisting of
  the Moderator and the four Deacons.
•  Worship Deacon who will support and help broaden
  worship ministries, thus strengthening the church
  through worship
• Education Deacon who will support and help
  broaden ministries related to renewal and
  education, thus deepening the church through
  Christian nurturing
• Reaching Out Deacon who will support and help
  broaden ministries related to missions near and
  far, thus enlarging the church through evangelism
  
• Stewardship Deacon who will support and help
  broaden ministries related to the care and
  maintenance of the church property, finances, and
  administration, thus helping to provide an
  environment where the passions of the
  congregation can result in Christian Action.

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The Nominated Roles

• The Deacons Moderator
• Deacons Moderator should possess the spiritual
  gifts of
• A vibrant life of faith
• Mutual respect
• Creativity
• Deep listening
• Effective communication
• Collaboration and Cooperation
• Valuing diversity
• Flexibility
• Commitment to fostering empowered Leadership
• Ability to work towards consensus

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The Nominated Roles

• The Deacons
• All Deacons will be charged with encouraging the
  warmth of fellowship as they support and help
  broaden the ministries called into action within
  their areas of responsibility. Deacons, with the
  support and collaboration of the Pastor and
  moderator, will have the following
  responsibilities to one another and to the
  church
• Create an annual Vision Report for the
  congregation's review
• Based upon the Church Mission Statement, to
  provide ongoing development and implementation of
  the vision for the life and growth of their
  ministry area
• Provide coordination and communication with
  ministry teams
• Work with Ministry teams to identify proposed
  dates for upcoming Church Events
• Assist the congregation in living their Christian
  principles and passions in the ministries of the
  church

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The Nominated Roles

• The Deacons
• Seek, support and develop potential leaders
• Provide support and guidance to the Pastor and to
  work for beneficial communication and
  understanding between congregation and Pastor
• Participate in an annual evaluation of the work
  of the Pastor and assist the Pastor in sharing
  his/her evaluation of the state of the church
• As needed, develop plans, proposals, and policies
  for presentation to the congregation
• Contribute to and review all contracts,
  covenants, and agreements approving, and
  authorizing the signatory to such agreements as
  do not have a monetary component

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The Nominated Roles

• The Deacons
• Take responsibility for documenting all of its
  official actions
• Assist in the proposal of ministries for the
  congregations approval
• Assist the trustees with the preparation of the
  annual budget

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The Nominated Roles

• The Moderator
• The Moderator, with the support and collaboration
  of the Pastor, will have the following
  responsibilities to the church
• Preside at all Deacons and Congregational
  Meetings
• Serve as Chair of the Leadership Team
• Guide the Leadership Team in the development of
  the annual vision report
• Accept all resignations
• Keep Pastor updated with all significant
  discussions and decisions of the Deacons
• Coordinate and publish the Church calendar
• Assist the Pastor in resolving any issues related
  to paid staff, except those involving financial
  compensation.

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The Nominated Roles

• The Trustees
• The Trustees shall consist of the Stewardship
  Deacon, the Treasurer (voice only) and four (4)
  Members.
• The Trustees shall be the prudential officers of
  the church. The responsibilities of the Trustees
  shall include
•  Preparation of the annual budget
• Monitoring the annual budget and expenditures
• Property oversight
• Hire and supervise sexton
• Provide performance review of sexton
• Long range financial planning and implementation
• Long range capital planning
• Money management, including management of
  investments

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The Nominated Roles

• The Trustees
• Approval of non-budgeted expenditures up to and
  including 5000
• Encouraging, accepting and managing all gifts and
  endowments to the church
• Approval of contracts, deeds, and other
  agreements that have a monetary component,
  including authorization of the signatory to any
  such agreements on behalf of the church
• Consideration of all other financial matters of
  the church
• Serve in the absence of the Treasurer.
• Assist the Treasurer in the performance of the
  above duties as required
• Establish schedule for counters

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The Nominated Roles

• The Treasurer, Clerk, and Collector
• The Treasurer is responsible for keeping the
  financial records of the church and working in
  collaboration with the Trustees to ensure the
  financial health of the Church. The
  responsibilities of the Treasurer are listed in
  the proposed bylaws
• The Clerk shall be responsible for record keeping
  at all Congregational meetings. In addition, the
  Clerk shall publish minutes of all Congregational
  meetings to the congregation be responsible for
  official correspondence review the record of the
  church membership, baptisms, weddings, deaths,
  and other vital statistics and submit all
  statistical reports to the Cheshire Association,
  NH Conference, and the National Office as needed.
• The collector shall 1. As assigned, collect and
  count with one other non-related Church member
  and deposit all monies received on behalf of the
  Church during worship services, special
  collections, social functions, and by mail or
  other carrier.. 2 Record the collection. 3.
  Monthly, shall balance all accounts with the
  Treasurer. 4 Maintain sole knowledge and
  confidentiality of members pledge amounts, and
  shall record individual pledge and special
  offering contributions. 5. Issue quarterly and
  year-end reports to each contributor for tax
  purposes.

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The Nominated Roles

• Important Facts
• There are 14 nominated roles versus 66 in our
  current structure
• All nominated positions will be presented for
  election by the Nominating Team and approved at
  the annual meeting.
• Nominated positions shall be for a 2 year period,
  renewable annually for an additional 1 year
  period not to exceed a total of 6 years. If
  after six years of service in a nominated
  position, the member wishes to return to the same
  position, they can do so following a 2 year
  fallow term from said position.
• The positions of clerk and collector will be
  un-termed positions.
• A partial year of service will be considered a
  full years term.
• The Leadership Team and Trustees will be expected
  to provide support with counting and depositing
  the weekly collection on a rotating basis.

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The Meetings of the Church

• The Annual Meeting shall be held the third Sunday
  of May each year for the election of the
  officers, approval of budget, and other business
  as needed
• Three Church-wide Informational Meetings will be
  called throughout the year. It is anticipated
  that these meetings will take place in August,
  October and January, however there should be
  flexibility in the scheduled of these meetings
  based upon the life of the Church.
• The purpose of the Church-wide Informational
  Meetings will be
• to facilitate basic communication with the
  congregation
• to increase and maintain the voice of the
  congregation
• to give a broad hearing to the vision of the
  church and to review the Deacons annual vision
  report.
• to approve proposals and policies, and to approve
  ministries
• to review and approve the proposed operating
  budget of the Trustees
• to approve any expenditures recommended by the
  Trustees in excess of 5000
• to consider and act upon recommendations of the
  Trustees for changes in policies or practices
  related to money management
• to approve nominees for any pastoral search
  committee

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The ministries of the Church

• All activities and programs of the church will be
  organized as Ministries of the Church.
• Ministries will be organized within the structure
  of Worship Ministries, Education Ministries,
  Reaching Out Ministries, and Stewardship
  Ministries. Each Ministry will be supported by
  the Deacon responsible for that Ministry Area.
• All individuals wishing to participate in a
  Ministry are invited and encouraged to sign up
  for that Ministry. Participation is voluntary
  and there are no nominated roles or term limits
  for service in Ministries.
• A Ministry is formed when a member of the
  congregation identifies a need or wish to develop
  a new program or project and presents this idea
  to the Leadership Team. The Leadership Team will
  authorize the formation of a new Ministry, and
  this ministry will be formally approved and
  recognized at the next Congregational
  Informational meeting. (New Ministries can
  function with Leadership Team approval prior to
  formal authorization by the Congregation.)
• Ministries will remain in effect as long as there
  is interest and participation by the membership
  of the Church.

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The Bylaws of the church

• Draft Bylaws have been created and are available
  electronically and in print.

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Transition Process

• Vision Team to Hold Listening Session on March
  10.
• Special Congregational Meeting Held on April 7 to
  Vote to Adopt New Structure and Bylaws for a 1
  year trial period.
• If Approved, Nominating Committee will meet with
  Vision Team to create slate of nominations. (All
  nominated positions will be considered as the
  first year of a new term)
• Slate of Nominations will be voted in at May 19
  Annual Meeting
• A Ministry Fair will be held in May or June.

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Questions?????