Update - New Council and Ministry Structure

In January 2002, you the congregation approved a trial council restructuring that moved ministry chairs from council positions into a forum (All Ministry Night) that focused on ministry projects and communication. You also elected a slate of council members into new specialized roles. This effectively increased the number of members serving in a leadership role at Bethel.

Ministry Night has completely met our expectations. Robyn Winegardner has done an excellent job facilitating the monthly meetings, bringing an element of fun and surprise, and usually a great analogy that ties the evening together. We’ve had good attendance from many ministry areas. Robyn was particularly thrilled that “people began showing up, without being invited, sometimes even after another commitment outside Bethel.” The format of the evening begins with reports from various areas, then gives time for interaction between ministries, often with follow-ups and suggestions to ideas raised during the reports. For example, this summer, the leaders of the Octoberfest event came to Ministry Night, and detailed planning happened that evening, with ideas flowing from other ministry members.

Council meetings continue to focus on business issues of the church. In order to ensure ministry visibility at Council, each councilperson has been paired with a specific ministry lead, with whom they keep in close contact regarding that area of ministry. Ministry updates are conveyed to the council via the Pastors, Robyn, Davis, or myself, all who attend Ministry Night.

The new roles of Human Resources Advisor, Project Management Advisor, Ministry Team Chair, and Member at Large have proven to be good choices. Going forward, we absolutely plan to keep this structure and these roles, and have added this into our Constitutional By-Laws (being considered at the Jan 2003 congregational meeting.)

Overall, the structure change has been considered a success by Bethel leadership, but as with any organization change, there are still opportunities to tune the system, thus the following suggestions:

· A standing council agenda item that at least one councilperson gives a short report on the ministry area they follow.

· Each council member attend at least one ministry night.

· Dedicate a council member to the Network Ministry and report monthly.

· The stewardship ministry chair should attend council meetings, as the business focus is more appropriate there.

I encourage all active members to attend at least one Ministry Night this year, and share the excitement as we do ministry at Bethel.

Respectfully submitted,

Ralph Miller

Congregation President

January 13, 2003