Moving to the One Board Model
Over the past couple of months, The Way church Council has been researching and evaluating a governing structure called the “One Board Model,” which several churches have adopted. This model streamlines decision- making and expands the church’s governing board to include more congregation representation. Several members of the church Council attended seminars and discussed whether this model would significantly benefit our church. After discussion among the committee chairs and committee members, the Council voted unanimously to ask the congregation to vote on adopting the One Board Model for The Way Woodstock.
How our current decision-making works:
Currently, the church has several committees, each being responsible for a particular function of the church: Finance, Trustees, Staff/Parish, and Lay Leadership. The chair of each committee serves on the church Council along with a Council chair and a Secretary. Typically, each committee meets on its own to discuss issues related to its particular function. Committee members then make recommendations that must be presented to the church Council for approval. Sometimes, a committee recommendation requires the involvement of multiple committees, e.g., Trustees may need to talk with finance to determine if there is money in the budget to fund a recommended project. As a result, the decision-making process is time-consuming and inefficient. The One Board Model alleviates the frustration and inefficiency of this process.
How the One Board Model works:
The One Board Model eliminates committees to streamline decision-making. Under this model, the church Council would expand to include more voices of leadership from the congregation. The new Council would consist of 13 members: nine members would represent the ongoing functional areas of the church and four at-large members would expand representation of the church congregation. All members of the Council would meet at the same time, so decisions can be made in a timely manner. The board would be comprised of:
- Council Chair
- Council Secretary
- Lay Leader
- Lead Pastor
- Assoc Pastor
- Church Director
- SPR Captain
- Trustee Captain
- Finance Captain
- At Large
- At Large
- At Large
- At Large
The church would still need a Finance Secretary, Treasurer, and data reporter to conduct everyday financial tasks, but those individuals would not serve on the Council.
Instead of using standing committees, taskforces would be created for specific time-limited projects. When that task is completed, the taskforce is dissolved. For example, if the Trustee captain needs help with a task, e.g., landscaping quotes, the captain would create a taskforce of people willing to help. The One Board Model allows more congregation members to serve the church without a long-term time commitment.
The congregation will have an opportunity to ask questions about the One Board Model at the churchwide meeting on Jan. 12, 2025. At that meeting, we will ask the coveting members to vote on this proposal.
