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Prince of Peace Church Leadership Review
Update for POP members from the Administrative Council
May 6,13, 2007
The current Council/Board structure (aka “the Don Abdon model”) has served POP well in the
past. However, as Prince of Peace has grown in size it has become increasingly ineffective and
problematic. Over the last several months, the staff and council have been investigating
another model of church leadership. On April 17, the council voted to recommend to the congregation a model of
church leadership known as “Policy-Based Governance.” This recommendation will be presented at
the voters’ meetings on May 6 & 13, 2007.
What are some of the problems with our current structure?
- A number of our ministries have grown to the point where a board structure doesn’t
work. (Ex: P.E.A.C.E. Groups, Children and Student ministry.)
- The growth of staff has essentially created two systems of leadership. (i.e. some
ministries are board-led and report to the council, others are staff-led and report up to the
Senior Pastor)
- As a result of having two systems of leadership, lines of authority and responsibility are not
always clear. Staff and lay leaders are often unclear as to when they have the “go ahead” to
move forward.
- Because most of our staff do not attend council meetings, they are often out-of-the-loop on the
communication of factors and issues on key decisions
- Relatively small decisions are taking way too long to be finalized. We seem to spend more
time “almost making decisions” instead of actually making them!
- The board of elders, which is limited to men by our Bylaws, carries out many duties that there
is no Biblical reason to restrict women from.
- Our current structure focuses too much on managing what’s currently going on here and not
enough on looking forward to where we’d like to be as a congregation.
What is “Policy-Based Governance”?
- “Policy-Based Governance” is a model of organizational leadership created by John Carver and
explained in his book,
Boards That Make a Difference.
- A number of LCMS churches & ministries have successfully adopted Policy-Based Governance,
including:
- Saint Michael Lutheran Church—Bloomington, MN (Pastor C’s home church)
- Saint Andrew Lutheran Church—Stockton, CA (Pastor Glover’s former church)
- Many of the most forward-thinking NID Congregations, including: Trinity—Lisle, Saint Paul—A
urora, Immanuel—Batavia, Holy Cross—Cary, Lord of Life—La Fo
- The Northern Illinois District and the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights
Key elements of Policy-Based Governance:
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The voters determine the overall direction of the ministry, approve the annual
ministry plan & budget, extend divine calls and make major congregational decisions. They
also annually elect a board of directors. The Voters make no decisions about operational
details.
-
The board of directors is not responsible for any program of the
church. Rather, they are responsible for the achievement of the mission and overall outcomes
of the congregation. The board of directors establishes “desired outcomes” of the congregation and
supervises the Senior Pastor as he leads the staff in their implementation. However, the board
does not oversee day-to-day operations of the church. Instead, the board of directors develops
and changes policies needed to achieve the congregation’s ministry plan. Policies
typically fall into one of four categories:
-
Desired Outcomes—What do we want to see happen? (But the board of directors
does not answer the question, “how”?)
-
Senior Pastor Limitations—What can he
not do without the board of directors?
-
Board of Directors Self-Governance---How is this group to function?
-
Board of Directors—Senior Pastor Relationship Specifying how the
Senior Pastor and board relate to one another.
-
The Senior Pastor is charged with implementing all policies of the board and
oversees day-to-day operations of the church . All paid and volunteer staff are accountable
only to him or someone designated by him. (A key component of the Carver model is that every
person or group is only answerable to
one individual or group.) Therefore, no member of the board of directors is
authorized to give work assignments to staff or volunteers.
-
Ministry teams, led by staff, are created as needed to do the work of the
church. They have no terms or elections of members. Rather they stay together as long as
they willing to serve & achieving their stated goals.
What are the potential benefits of Policy-Based Governance?
- Clear lines of authority and responsibility both for paid staff and lay leaders.
- Better speed and efficiency in decision making.
- Better communication throughout the church leadership.
- A leadership structure that is able to adapt quickly to the ever-changing needs of the church,
without amending the Bylaws of the church.
- A clearer focus on the overall goals of the congregation and better accountability for
achieving them.
- Removes all unnecessary restrictions on the service of women in the church.
What has the Council done so far to investigate “Policy-Based Governance”?
- Over the last several months, the Council has been working with Les Stroh, from the Cornerstone
consulting group in Saint Louis, MO. Les Stroh is trained as a D.C.E. and understands our LCMS
doctrines and values. He is considered an expert on Policy-Based Governance and is
highly regarded by NID staff.
- Les made an initial presentation about Policy-based governance to the Council and Staff on
September 13, 2006. After understanding the model better, the council decided to do
further investigation of the model with Les.
- A small working group of council members met with Les Stroh a second time on October 18
th. Les reviewed a template of a Board of Directors policy manual and
explained various options POP could explore using Policy-based governance. Over the next eight
weeks or so, this small group of council members met frequently to draft a policy manual for
POP.
- Les Stroh returned to POP on December 19
, 2006 to review the working group’s draft of the policy manual with the Council and
make suggestions for improvement.
- Over the next month, the Council reviewed the policy manual and prayerfully considered whether
Policy-based governance was right for POP.
- On January 16, 2007, the Council decided to continue to move forward with exploring
Policy-based governance. The working group of Council was charged with reviewing POP’s current
Constitution, Bylaws, and Endowment Fund charter for changes that will be needed to implement
Policy-based governance at POP.
- On February 24, 2007, a special presentation was made to all POP board members about
Policy-based governance.
- During the month of March, President Tod Kruse and Vice-President Scott Dismeier visited all
POP board meetings to further discuss the implications and benefits of Policy-based
governance.
- Congregational forums were held on April 14
th and 16
th, 2007 to explain what Policy-based governance is, why we think we need it at POP, and
what it would look like here.
- On April 17, the Council voted to recommend policy-based governance to the congregation.
What might be our next steps from here?
- The proposed changes to the Constitution, Bylaws and Endowment fund charter will be presented
to the congregation at the voters meetings on May 6
th & 13th, 2007.
- The proposed changes would then go the NID Polity committee for review.
- Additional congregational forums will be held in the fall of 2007.
- Final adoption of the change would take place at the voters’ meetings on November 4 & 11,
2007. The motion presented would dictate when the changes will take
place.
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