Church Conference Preparation WorkshopSkylands District

Monday, August 3, 2015

The purpose of a meeting is not to report on what has already been done, but to focus on what will be happening moving forward.

Clustered Church Conference Schedule 

Morning Schedule   Afternoon Schedule

9:00 a.m. Group 1 Individual Business Session 2:00 p.m.

9:30 a.m. Worship/Fellowship for Group 1 and 2 2:45 p.m.

10:30 a.m. Workshops for Groups 1 and 2 3:45 p.m.

12:00 noon Group 2 Individual Business Session 5:15 p.m.

  Group 1 is free to leave  

12:30 p.m. Adjourn for the day 6:00 p.m.

Individual Church Conference Schedule

 

Sample Sunday Morning

  Evening Schedule

9:00 a.m. SPRC or other Small Group Conversation

6:30 p.m.

10:00 a.m. Worship – A Celebration of Ministry

7:30 p.m.

11:00 a.m. Business of the Church Conference 7:50 p.m.

11:30 a.m. Thriving in the new mission field 8:15 p.m.

  Equipping and improving ministry the coming year

 

12:00 noon Adjourn for the day 9:00 p.m.

Expectations in Preparation for Church Conference

• All paperwork needs to be completed and submitted electronically – forms from last year can be updated and submitted.

• Work will be done ahead of time: - Nominations completed and submitted- Compensation report for 2016 will be recommended by SPRC

and approved by Church Council prior to submission- Audit for 2014 (due June 1st) will be submitted if not

previously done (if already submitted, no need to resubmit)- Reports from Lay Servants will be completed and signed prior

to submission- Pastor’s and Church Profiles (SPRC) will be updated and

submitted with other paperwork – pastors who have submitted profile for one on ones need not resubmit

- Required forms and reports not printed for book still need to be submitted

Expectations in Preparation for Church Conference, continued

• Ministerial Candidates seeking Church Conference approval for the first time must be voted on with a paper ballot. Please be prepared for this ahead of time.

• Any additional recommendations or resolutions for adoption at the church conference must be submitted, in full written form, with other reports.

• Most financial reports are not required to be printed for distribution. You are free to do so, however, it is the assumption that these reports have been readily available to your church leadership, and therefore need not be duplicated again.

• All forms that need signatures can be signed ahead of time, scanned and submitted as a PDF. If signatures are not available by the time of submission, submit the form without signatures and have a completed form with signatures at the church conference. No form should be signed at the conference itself!

• Once your church conference has been held, the work of the conference should be complete.

• The pastor is the administrative officer for the congregation – pastors are accountable for the completion of requirements for church conference

The Role and Function of a Circuit Elder for Church Conferences

• Circuit Elders will be presiding at the business sections of each church conference.

• They will receive their packet of reports from the district office (reports are not to be submitted to them directly)

• Reports will have been reviewed by the Administrative Assistant in the office and by the District Superintendent.

• In clustered Church Conferences, the DS will not preside at any one conference, but will rotate among the churches.

• Circuit Elders are not supervisors, and therefore do not have the authority to be in conversation with the Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee around effectiveness or appointment issues.

• Circuit Elders only sign reports that say “presiding elder” on them. If a report calls for a DS signature, only the DS can sign (after consultation with the Circuit Elder that the item has been approved)

• Circuit Elders may be involved in workshop leadership at the Clustered Church Conference

• Additional Elders may be asked to preside at business sessions.

Workshops

At clustered Church Conferences, the workshops are an opportunity to bring resourcing closer to the local church. Three to five different workshops will be offered, and each grouping will have a different set of workshops. The purpose of workshops is:

• Resource closer to the local church geared to the specific context of an area

• Engage persons from churches in a designated area of learning together and from one another

• Provide opportunities for learning and inspiration for laity• A list of all workshops will be published in early September for all

churches so that persons are free to attend workshop sessions that are interesting or relevant to them.

In churches with individual church conferences, the DS will work collaboratively with the pastor to use the conference time for creative conversation and/or learning.

Worship(note: there is no order of worship being done this year)

At churches with individual church conferences, • The pastor(s) is/are responsible for planning a worship experience

that celebrates the ministry of the congregation and a vision for the future.

• Worship should be something that inspires and lifts up the ministry of the church.

• It need not be complicated or intricate (sometimes less is more), but should reflect the church and community.

• You may include the celebration of communion if you wish. • Please send an order of worship to the DS prior to the conference if

you have something in particular you want him to do in the service.

At clustered conferences, • DS and Circuit Elders will be taking primary responsibility for

planning worship, • clergy and laity from the cluster will have significant leadership. • Each church in encouraged to send 3 to 5 pictures to the district

office (skylands@gnjumc.org) to be used in our celebration of ministry.

• Holy Communion may be celebrated, depending on cluster’s thoughts around this.

Business Session Agenda

Approval of Minutes (#1)

Nominations and LayLeadership (#2)

Lay Servant/CLM Approvals (#7 & 8)

Candidacy Approvals

Clergy Compensation (#3)

Housing Exclusion (#3 – Line 11)

Audit Report

Trustees Report (#4)

Membership Items (#5)

Additional Resolutions (#10)

Setting of Goals for 2016

Other Reports: Required

Directory of Officials (#11)

Clergy Housing Exclusion (#12)

Parsonage Evaluation (#13)

Treasurer’s Report YTD (#14)

Church Profile (#15)

Pastor’s Profile (#16)

Other Reports: As Needed

Lay Servant Reports (#7)

CLM Reports (#8)

Deacon’s Report (#9)

Nominations and Lay Leadership Report

Church Council Chair Frank Asbury

Council Vice-ChairTommy Coke

TreasurerBarb Heck

SecretaryWilly Otterbein

Finance Chair Sue Wesley

Worship Chair Jake Albright

Missions Chair Hank Appenzeller

Evangelism Chair Annie H. Shaw

Chair – Strategic Planning Committee Chuck WesleyLay Member to Annual Conference Marge Matthews Lay Leader

Rich WhatcoatPresident, Board of Trustees

Rich AllenSPRC Chair

Maud Jensen

Staff Parish Relations Committee

2016 20172018

Anna Oliver Maud JensenGeorge Whitfield

Fred Gwynne Will RogersDonna Reed

Rosa Parks Bart StarrWalter Reed

etc.

Senior Pastors and any appointed associates should submit a narrative report to the Church Conference

Parsonage: 1. Report on parsonage is to be completed by the chair or

representative of SPRC and Trustees in consultation with the pastoral family.

2. Written report needs to be completed and submitted with other paperwork.

3. Walk through with the Superintendent will be done upon request of pastor, congregation, or DS after submission of the report

Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee

4. Meetings are not a requirement of the Discipline. Will do them upon request of committee, pastor, or DS.

5. Prior to meeting, agenda items should be discussed with the committee so as to bring focus and meaning to the meeting.

6. Meetings for churches engaged with clustered church conferences will be held at another time that is worked out with the DS and committee.

7. By Discipline, only a District Superintendent can meet in this closed door session with the SPRC. Circuit Elders are not permitted to do these meetings.

Additional Option• Meetings can be set up for other areas such as strategic planning,

stewardship, evangelism, mission, church council, etc. • These can be at other points in the year. • Some may engage Circuit Elders or conference connectional

ministries staff if this is best for the need. This will be negotiated with the DS.

Process for setting up another meeting• Complete a DS consultation form, indicating the area of focus,

potential agenda, steps that have been taken thus far. • Pastors or committee chairs can request (but only with knowledge

of the pastor) a meeting. • It is recommended that a gathering include no more than 12 lay

persons. • Meetings will be approximately 60 – 75 minutes in length.

Pastors in churches where there will be individual church conferences can request a different group other than SPRC. This meeting will be for one hour prior to the Church Conference.