Ministry Area Roles for 2003

Roles numbered 1 through 15 each represent one vote on the Administrative Council

1. (Chair of) Administrative Council

The work of the ADCO is to administer and coordinate the life and ministry of the congregation. This broad spectrum includes the financial health, risk management and stewardship of all our gifts. And it includes the careful application of all those resources to mission work and ministry. We set priorities and goals, appropriate funds, gather and coordinate the work of each ministry area on the Administrative Council in their respective functions. The ADCO meets monthly on the first Monday at 7:00 p.m. All members of the congregation are welcome and invited.

2. Welcoming Friends Area

This Mission is to invite people to involvement in the church and to faith in Christ and to see that they receive a hearty, winsome, and continuing welcome into the life of the church. To see that they find a way to make connections with others and find a place to belong. This area of ministry includes Evangelism, Greeters, Publicity and Advertising, FishTales Mailing.

3. Nurturing Disciples Area

This Mission is to encourage deepening of faith and provide resources for faith formation. To purposefully and creatively involve peripheral members in an inner circle of participation in the church and constantly develop maturing leadership. To keep church programming balanced in content and density and keep the community calendar on task. The work of this area includes Sunday School, Fellowship Committee, Childcare, Care Corps, Heritage and Archives.

4. Witness and Mission Area

This Mission is to keep the community of faith focused outward and moving outward in mission. We find and implement ways to send servants into the surroundings (local, regional, national, global) in ministry. Grounding this work in our rich worship, we recruit, train, and resource persons for such ministry and teach continually that we share the responsibility and the rewards. That by giving, we receive. This area includes the work of Missions, Worship, Ushers, and Acolytes.

5. Pastor

The pastor is ordained to Word, Sacrament, Order, and Service in the United Methodist Connection and larger church as well. The pastor is appointed each year in June by the Bishop of the North Texas Conference. The pastor chairs the Nominations Committee, which is responsible for matching people’s gifts with ministry needs. Recruiting and facilitating volunteer ministry. Manage staff, pastoral care, evangelism, worship planning, preaching and teaching.

6. Lay Leader

The Lay Leader serves as the “conscience” of the congregation, helping leaders, especially the pastor, reflect on and deal with issues. The Lay Leader recruits lay liturgists (readers) for worship services and communicates with the office so that names may be put in the order of worship.

7. Finance Committee

Trusted and accountable management of budgeting, fundraising, and fiscal responsibility. Included in this work are stewardship education, contribution records, and careful counting/depositing procedures.

8. Trustees Committee

The Trustees manage the assets of the church. We also monitor the adequacy and safety of all facilities, including church vehicles and parsonage. The trustees also oversee the church network of computer systems, for which the pastor currently serves as system administrator.

9. Pastor-Parish Relations Committee

The work of the PPR Committee is to recruit, train, manage, and supervise employed staff with the help of the pastor. The PPR Committee also cooperates with the District Superintendent in evaluation of the pastor’s work and the consultation for the annual appointment of a pastor.

10. Youth Council

Work with the Youth Minister to implement programs for our 7-12 graders for service, fellowship, learning, worship, and outreach. Recruit and resource adult teachers and counselors. A youth representative from the Youth Council serves on the ADCO.

11. Resale Barn Board

The Resale Barn Board governs the mission and ministry of the Lakeway Resale Barn. This Board is accountable, through the chairperson, to the ADCO.

12. Treasurer

The Treasurer keeps accounts, does financial analysis and forecasting, and check-writing for the congregation. Careful and responsible financial summaries are prepared monthly by the Treasurer for the Finance Committee, ADCO, and any member of the church who wishes to review it.

13. United Methodist Women

The UMW is a mission group which meets monthly for programs and fellowship. All women of the church are invited. Second Tuesday at 10:00 a.m.

14. United Methodist Men

The UMM is for service and fellowship. They meet for breakfast the last Sunday of each month at 7:00 a.m. for fellowship and planning service.

15. Lay Member of Annual Conference

The Lay Member of Annual Conference is responsible to represent and interpret the needs and resources of the conference to the local church and vice versa. Our informant of training and other resources offered by the conference, this person keeps the congregation aware of the larger picture of our Methodist connection. Attends the full session of Annual Conference in June and represents the congregation.

Evangelism

Gathers and compiles information about our guests from attendance registrations each Sunday. Assigns contacts who make Doorstep visits to first time guests. Contacts by phone and by personal note each visitor household each week. Conduct training for visitation program. Develop a program of contacts visitation for repeated or long time guests.

Greeters

Schedule, recruit, and train greeters for each entrance to the buildings for Sunday mornings before first service (8:10-8:40), before Sunday School (9:30-10:00), and before second service (10:40-11:10). Keep a rotation chart of assignments and make reminder calls the day before. Greeters are to make certain each person has a name badge or sticker, a coffee mug with appropriate literature, and offer them an appropriate class to attend for adults youth and children in the family.

Publicity and Advertising

Currently handled by the Pastor’s office, this area includes weekly press releases to four area newspapers, managing the church website, coordinating the use of bulletin boards, production of the monthly newsletter and other mailings, production of the weekly Sunday Bulletin. No other advertising is currently done but this needs to be improved.

FishTales Mailing

Known as the “Tuesday Group”, this collection of helpful workers assemble and fold the monthly newsletter and prepare it for bulk mailing. Workdays are scheduled near the end of each month through the pastor’s office.

Sunday School

The Sunday School Committee plans and organizes the work of the Sunday School and keeps a current list of classes offered with their descriptions for publication. Partnering between classes, special events throughout the year, resourcing and appreciating our teachers, planning curriculum orders—these are all part of the work of the Sunday School Committee. The leader of this committee keeps the pastor’s office aware of Sunday School class events, dinners, socials, seasonal parties, etc.

Fellowship Committee

The Fellowship Committee plans three major fellowship events of the year—1. Mardis Gras (last Sunday before Lent begins), 2. Fatted Calf Barbecue (a mid-September homecoming Sunday), 3. Thanksgiving Dinner (Sunday before TG). Other events such as the 2002 Spring picnic can become part of this traditional cycle. Legendary items include a church birthday party and a summer fish fry. Other ideas might include a church-wide family campout. This committee has recently been called upon to help with Trunk or Treat and Hanging of Greens. The actual responsibilities do not include these things and need to be clarified.

Childcare

This committee, which includes several young moms, oversees the work of the nursery and childcare staff. We are responsible to see that the facilities are adequate, clean, safe, age-appropriate, and uncluttered. We also manage the procedures for registration of children for childcare on Sunday mornings and other times as necessary.

Care Corps

The Care Corps currently has the responsibility of providing meals for bereaved families related in some way to our church family. Adult Sunday School classes are the primary resource. Resources are broader if the related members are not part of a class. This is a ministry which has high impact on families at a vulnerable time. Other transition times can be included such as births, hospital stays. In current practice, these are not covered.

Heritage and Archives

The church’s brief history has been well-documented in pictures and other resources. These are in desperate need of being gathered, assembled, catalogued, archived. Some creative persons could be asked to help put all these in albums and add them to our website.

Missions

The Missions Committee plans monthly mission projects for church-wide participation.

Worship

The Worship leader gathers a group which will assist the pastor in preparing for worship, especially the sacraments, seasonal decorations and banners, recruiting servers for communion, and other tasks. This leader meets weekly with the pastor and staff to evaluate and plan Sunday Services. Any members of the congregation are welcomed to participate in this weekly creative session.

Ushers

A head usher is appointed for each service. That person is to recruit and employ others to serve on a rotation basis to greet and seat guests at the sanctuary doors, pass out bulletins, collect our offerings, distribute and pick up attendance registration folders, deliver prayer requests to the pastor, lead during communion, and be generally available to meet special needs during the service. Usher are needed for each Sunday service and for all special services such at Christmas, Holy Week, and others.

Acolytes

Acolytes bring in the flame of Christ near the beginning of each service of worship and carry it out at the end. This important act symbolizes the presence of Christ leading the congregation out into the world to do his work. Children K-6 are invited to be trained for this sacred role, older ones usually paired with younger. The leader keeps a list of those who have received training. A calendar can be made with names on rotation, and reminder calls made, but it may be better to just recruit children from the list at the beginning of each service. An acolyte handbook is provided to each person who is trained to serve. The leader coordinates training sessions with the pastor, plans special events for the children. Two training events are to be offered each year.

Stewardship

The Stewardship Leader (or Committee) does year-around education for the important of giving and also helps the Finance Committee conduct the annual fall effort to raise funds for the ministry needs of the church in the coming year.

Memorial

The Memorial Committee oversees the record keeping of memorial gifts to the church, whether given for general purpose or special designation. The Pastors Office acknowledges such contributions to the donor and the family of the one remembered. The memorial committee tracks the gifts and assures that they are spent for what they are reserved for and also encourages memorial giving. Each month, the gifts for the previous month are reported in FishTales without amounts attached. The Committee makes recommendations to the Finance Committee for appropriate application of undesignated gifts.

Counters

Managed by the Financial Secretary, this group of people count offerings and record contributions in the database on an individual Sunday basis. Counters work in teams of two or more and never alone. Counting is done in the Finance Office behind locked doors. Deposits are made by night deposit at American Bank.

Certified Lay Speakers

Persons certified by the Church (Charge) Conference to serve our Sherman-McKinney District and our own congregation by filling pulpits for pastors who are away from their congregations.

Staff

(accountable to the Pastor and then to the PPRC) Detailed Job Descriptions are filed with the pastor and the PPRC.

(The Resale Barn Staff are accountable to the RSB Board and to the PPRC for background investigations)