West Side United Methodist Church
Church Council-An Overview
Church Council Members
Church Council is a group of women and men including: Pastoral Staff, Director of Discipleship, Youth Director, Leaders of Standing Church Committees/Trustees, Leaders of United Methodist Women and United Methodist Men, Lay Members to Annual Conference, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, Members-at-Large, Chairperson, Recording Secretary. The Council meets on the fourth Tuesday of the following months: January, March, May, September, October, and November. Meetings are open to all members and friends of West Side United Methodist Church. For further information please contact Bill Lynn, Church Council Chairperson/Lay Leader, at 662-1484, by email, or through the church secretary at (734) 663-4164.
The Role of Church Council
Church Council primarily enables and supports ministry. While it will concern itself with administrative matters, it is intended to be a future-oriented body, focused on the mission, vision, goals, and strategic planning of the church. Church Council is the primary decision-making, evaluating, and forward-looking body of the church. Some of the specific duties and responsibilities of the church council follow:
1. Be accountable to and serve as the executive
agency of the charge conference, overseeing the administration
and organization for ministry of the congregation.
2. Provide for effective pastoral and lay leadership
for the mission and ministry of the congregation.
3. Provide for financial support, physical facilities
and the legal obligations of the congregation and
to recommend to the charge conference the compensation,
housing needs and benefits for pastors and other
paid staff.
4. Provide for the connectional responsibilities
of the congregation; to see that the congregation’s
relations to appropriate annual conference and district
programs and structures are maintained.
5. Constantly monitor the current reality of the
congregation: that is, have a continuous awareness
of the concerns, hopes, and needs of the community
(including the congregation) and an understanding
of how the congregation may address those concerns
and needs. This will involve knowing the demographic
facts of both congregation and community, and understanding
what the congregation’s standing in the community
is. It will also be aware of areas where new congregations
can be sponsored.
6. See that the congregation (a) has a shared vision
that is clearly understood and supported by its members
and (b) sets goals which are consistent with the
mission of the church and that move the congregation
toward its vision.
7. See to the congregation’s involvement in
ministries of nurture, outreach, and witness—to
the development of leadership and to the evaluation
of the congregation’s discipleship in these
areas of ministry.
8. Promote organizational learning in the congregation.
9. Encourage and support an inclusive and ecumenical
spirit within the congregation.1
Although the above list is extensive, perhaps it could best be summarized as: Members of Church Council focus on leading our congregation toward the fulfillment of it’s (our) mission and vision. To do this, the council necessarily looks beyond short-term administrative duties to keep revisiting that vision. It does this by attempting to constantly be in discernment of God’s will.
Church Council Work as Spiritually Uplifting
At one time in our Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren history, it was understood that the work we did in committee or council should be as inspiring, edifying, and meaningful as any worship service or Bible study. Work that did not feed the soul and lift the spirit was viewed as work not worthy to be done. Ministry should never be lost to administration.
Leaders in today’s church often reflect that they do not feel that council and committee work is spiritually uplifting. Too many meetings, with too many motions, and too much debate leave people feeling frustrated and burned out. Often, agendas for meetings are created and a short time for devotions is slated as the first item on the list. Instead of our business meetings being something into which we impose a ten-minute devotion, we need to create ninety-minute devotions in which we deal with the business of the church.1
To do this, we need to view Church Council meetings differently than those of secular decision-making bodies. Church Council meetings should look and feel different than meetings outside of church. After all, our work (on council and as a church) is “to honor and glorify God by creating settings where women, men, and children can enter into a life-changing relationship with God”! We need to put aside argumentative or parliamentary means of decision-making (which although efficient invariably create “winners” and “losers”) in favor of those involving prayer, discernment and consensus. We also need to set about the difficult (and sometimes soul-searching) task of putting aside our own personal agendas and looking to God for guidance. It is possible to have meetings that are worshipful, focused and don’t leave members feeling like they have simply “plowed through an agenda”.
We are blessed to have been called to serve the church as leaders. “The work of the church is holy, worshipful work.” We can do this joyfully and with great thanks to God for the opportunity!
1Church Council 2001-2004. Copyright © 2000 by Cokesbury. Used by permission.
For additional discussion of the role of Church Council in the local church, please see The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church: 2001-2004, 251. The United Methodist Publishing House, 2000.