I am married (Nelly) since 82 and we are blessed with 2 children, David and Stephanie. I serve the Bethel CRC Dunnville as Pastor of Congregational Life since 2008. Born and raised in Newmarket ON but have lived most of my life in the Niagara area.
I would like to affirm Tim's comments and add our own experience.
We have 2 Pastors (one Min of the Word and one commissioned) both are "ex-officio" (there is your term Tim) aka non-voting.
We have a Chair, Vice-chair, Clerk, Vice-All (all elders) the Chair of the Deacons and Chair of Administration comm (who is not an office-bearer). We also have a recording clerk also ex-officio who handles the minutes and some communication. We have given the Executive a mandate with some limited decision capacity and minor spending ability. The significant decisions remain with council and they receive reports of each Exec meeting and they are asked to approve the work done. We, like Tim, operate on a consensus basis with open discussion. It has worked out fairly well with the key elements being trust and good communication.
We meet with Executive each month, and the Elders each month and Council about 5 times a year.
The topic of inactive members rarely fails to raise the anxiety level in the council room. Some members will seek to equate the presence on the membership rolls with membership in the Kingdom and so if the church removes an individual from the rolls we somehow have banned them from heaven itself. I dont think that is true and while it is true that there are spiritual health issues reflected in the attendance at church, there is much more to it.
I have found 2 things helpful. 1) Be current. All of the hurtful aspects of telling a member they have been lapsed are multiplied many many times over if it has been allowed to drag on for more than 6 months to several years. Once you notice that members have absented themselves (for longer than is customary) , that is your clue to make the call or stop by and check in with them. That is not just the responsibility of the officebearers but the entire church community.
2) Be clear that the actions of council (if lapsing becomes necessary) are a result of choices that the members themselves have taken. They may have moved to another church or another town and simply are not concerned about membership in a previous church.
This is a matter of concern to many and I'm sure there is much more that can and maybe needs to be said, but I'll stop here except to encourage you to spend as much or more time developing new relationships and members as you do with those who have chosen to step back from active membership.
I havent heard of a 'central site' for the LDN's but the website for the Eastern Canada LDN also contains links to several other LDN websites. You can find it at www.ecldn.ca .
As a graduate myself, I can speak to how God used the LDN experience in my life and would highly recommend it to anyone who is wondering what God might have in store for them.
Timely question: The context of our conversation surrounding baptism is regarding adult baptism. Our form and our tradition connect adult baptism to profession of faith. In many situations that may be appropriate but we have an opportunity with a new believer, who is attending our church regularly and witnessed an infant baptism, heard the teaching and asked, not unlike the Ethiopian, why shouldnt I be baptized? My sense is to separate the baptism from the profession of faith and to treat the new believer as a true 'babe in Christ" and then engage them in a discipleship process, walking alongside to an eventual profession of faith. Does that resonate with you? Frank
I share your confusion, grammatical discussion aside. I am ordained as a Ministry Associate with the title, Pastor of Congregational Life. Church Order 23 under which you and I are ordained, is itself confused in the terminology. 23 a) acknowledges our role as that of Elders in our respective churches whereas 23 c) and d) allow for a role as solo pastor. No wonder we are confused :)
I too understood that the movement was there to raise the profile of Ministry Associates but yet at Synod 2010, the announcement of my ordination was buried in the reports of the synodical deputies. Hardly noteworthy.
I'm not really that anxious about titles and am blessed to serve a church that recognized my calling.
Posted in: What is the Appropriate Membership on an Executive Committee of Council?
I would like to affirm Tim's comments and add our own experience.
We have 2 Pastors (one Min of the Word and one commissioned) both are "ex-officio" (there is your term Tim) aka non-voting.
We have a Chair, Vice-chair, Clerk, Vice-All (all elders) the Chair of the Deacons and Chair of Administration comm (who is not an office-bearer). We also have a recording clerk also ex-officio who handles the minutes and some communication. We have given the Executive a mandate with some limited decision capacity and minor spending ability. The significant decisions remain with council and they receive reports of each Exec meeting and they are asked to approve the work done. We, like Tim, operate on a consensus basis with open discussion. It has worked out fairly well with the key elements being trust and good communication.
We meet with Executive each month, and the Elders each month and Council about 5 times a year.
Blessings
Posted in: What are people doing about declaring members "inactive" and ministering to them?
Hi Dan,
The topic of inactive members rarely fails to raise the anxiety level in the council room. Some members will seek to equate the presence on the membership rolls with membership in the Kingdom and so if the church removes an individual from the rolls we somehow have banned them from heaven itself. I dont think that is true and while it is true that there are spiritual health issues reflected in the attendance at church, there is much more to it.
I have found 2 things helpful. 1) Be current. All of the hurtful aspects of telling a member they have been lapsed are multiplied many many times over if it has been allowed to drag on for more than 6 months to several years. Once you notice that members have absented themselves (for longer than is customary) , that is your clue to make the call or stop by and check in with them. That is not just the responsibility of the officebearers but the entire church community.
2) Be clear that the actions of council (if lapsing becomes necessary) are a result of choices that the members themselves have taken. They may have moved to another church or another town and simply are not concerned about membership in a previous church.
This is a matter of concern to many and I'm sure there is much more that can and maybe needs to be said, but I'll stop here except to encourage you to spend as much or more time developing new relationships and members as you do with those who have chosen to step back from active membership.
Frank
Posted in: Is there a central website where those interested in CRC Leadership Development Networks can share best practices?
Hi Jeff,
I havent heard of a 'central site' for the LDN's but the website for the Eastern Canada LDN also contains links to several other LDN websites. You can find it at www.ecldn.ca .
As a graduate myself, I can speak to how God used the LDN experience in my life and would highly recommend it to anyone who is wondering what God might have in store for them.
Frank
Posted in: Church Websites
Bethel CRC Dunnville ON
www.dunnvillecrc.ca
Posted in: Unique Baptismal Situations
Timely question: The context of our conversation surrounding baptism is regarding adult baptism. Our form and our tradition connect adult baptism to profession of faith. In many situations that may be appropriate but we have an opportunity with a new believer, who is attending our church regularly and witnessed an infant baptism, heard the teaching and asked, not unlike the Ethiopian, why shouldnt I be baptized? My sense is to separate the baptism from the profession of faith and to treat the new believer as a true 'babe in Christ" and then engage them in a discipleship process, walking alongside to an eventual profession of faith. Does that resonate with you? Frank
Posted in: Rev? Pastor? Ministry Associate?
Hi Amy,
I share your confusion, grammatical discussion aside. I am ordained as a Ministry Associate with the title, Pastor of Congregational Life. Church Order 23 under which you and I are ordained, is itself confused in the terminology. 23 a) acknowledges our role as that of Elders in our respective churches whereas 23 c) and d) allow for a role as solo pastor. No wonder we are confused :)
I too understood that the movement was there to raise the profile of Ministry Associates but yet at Synod 2010, the announcement of my ordination was buried in the reports of the synodical deputies. Hardly noteworthy.
I'm not really that anxious about titles and am blessed to serve a church that recognized my calling.
It is still confusing though :)
Frank