StructuresReview2012

2012 review of GWUC structures

At its February meeting, Church Council noted:

• A request to move Leisure Time, Playgroup & Cooee from Outreach to Hub had been agreed.

• A request had been received from Outreach Missional Group to review the Missional Groups.
• Ross Mackinnon has suggested a review of Elders, their roles and their relationship to the MGs.
• Ministry team have been looking at pastoral care structures.

Council agreed that DavidMorgan, JudyLowe and AlaneeHearnshaw be asked to call for submissions from the appropriate groups, second others as needed to process them, and produce a recommendation. The 3 of us agreed to take on this task.

This is our invitation to all interested members of GWUC to make suggestions about how our structures can be improved.

Suggested changes across a wide range of congregational life are welcome, and nothing should be considered off limits, though the areas mentioned above are expected to be foci. Pastoral Care structures are currently being addressed by Pastoral committee & Ministry Team, and input in those areas will be included in that process.

The energy generated by the missional groups has been life giving to our congregation, but there is always room for improvement. Input from those directly involved in the groups is likely to be particularly valuable.

Comments are welcome on paper, in email, preferable to [email protected], or by personal conversations.

Some background points that may help are:

• Prior to 1999, the standard UCA model included a Parish Council and an Elders Council, who shared responsibility for the congregation, with Parish Council focused on strategic direction, finance and property, and Elders focused on worship and pastoral matters.

• After 1999, the standard UCA model for congregations changed to a single Church Council, responsible for all matters in the congregation, with all Elders becoming members of Church Council. (See CouncilRegulations for the statement of Council responsibilities.) Alternative models are allowed by agreement with Presbytery. Glen Waverley felt that the number of Elders that we had would create an unwieldy Church Council, so adopted, with permission, a Church Council of 25 with at least half being Elders. In 2000, Glen Waverley Councillors and Elders agreed to a covenant (see EldersCovenant) effectively delegating some of Council's responsibilities to the Elders, particularly general spiritual and pastoral oversight.

• The four Missional Groups were set up in 2008 as a result of the "OnTheWayTogether" process. In this process, a few pre-existing structures were merged with the Missional Groups, but many were kept.

• It may be helpful to think of these structures as the structures by which Church Council delegates its responsibilities, rather than the structure of the congregation, which can be pictured in many ways.