Introduction

The Space Between: A place of conversation to discuss God, life, and all the things in between.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Fall Changes!

Greetings Rinn Nation!

We passed a milestone in my house this week. About this time of year, my wife gets a distinct glint in her eye. After studying her condition for years now, I know the symptoms start when tree leaves change color. Cooler temperatures contribute as well, along with the approach of Halloween. It all builds into a profound mania, and as I poured myself a bowl of cereal the other day, I saw the first signs that this year’s madness has arrived. It’s unmistakable. On the shelf next to my Honey Bunches of Oats, there was a big box of Pumpkin Spice Cheerios.  It might has well been the proverbial scout before a large army. It’s first of many, many, many Pumpkin Spice products to make their way to my house. In other words, the invasion is here, people! BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!
October is also a time when new ideas arrive in churches. It a natural progression. People are increasingly looking towards December, and planning better ways to approach the coming New Year. We are currently doing this here at Rinn. Normally, we’d be spending October looking to fill the holes in our five required administrative committees (Church Council, Finance, Trustees, Staff/Parish Relations and Nominations). But not this time. This year, we are potentially looking to replace our entire leadership structure with a “Single Board Governance” that streamlines our five committees into one central governing Church Council.

The system has numerous benefits for congregations that utilize it. Instead of waiting weeks for different committees to communicate at their separate meetings, the Single Board Model puts all leaders around the table at the same time. Decisions are made much faster as a result, or delegated to ministry teams already engaged in the work. Another benefit is it requiring less people to maintain. As of now, Rinn has 20-30 people serving on our required committees. That doesn’t sound like a lot, I know. But we’ve found it is extremely hard number to maintain. People can’t make the long commitment a committee requires. So a growing number end up not finishing their terms. Conversely, if they complete their service and rotate off, they prove hard to replace. As a result, many of our key leaders have stayed on for multiple terms, risking burn out to continue guiding our church. Single boards top out at 15 people. Meaning we don’t need as many people active in administration. Plus, our best leaders will be gathered in this one group, permitting us to have our top minds establish policies to train future leaders.   It should help our ministry too. With 15-20 people previously in administration now freed up, they can begin serving outside in our greater community.

Our Church Council has been looking at this model since April, and at our September meeting, we came to consensus that we would like to experiment with it in 2017. But we won’t do so without your blessing, which is why we are planning to have an All Church Meeting after our 5th Sunday Potluck on October 30th. At this meeting, our Church Coach,Rev. Beth Estock, will give a presentation on what a Single Board Governance could mean for us. I will be working closely with her in preparation for this conversation. And resourcing us both will be Rev. Steven Ross, who pioneered this style of administration in Methodist Churches throughout Oregon.

At this meeting, you will hear everything you’d ever want to know about Single Board Governance and be able to ask questions before we take a congregational vote to determine our path forward. As you may have guessed, my hope is that we will chose the Single Board. Why? Well, in addition to the benefits listed about, Beth Estock will tell you that this model is shown to be tremendously effective in churches with 120-150 active members (sound familiar?). Plus, it is very flexible, allowing us to determine a board composition that fits our needs and identity. It is also a great format to engage discussions concerning God’s mission and vision for us, which I want us to resume doing in 2017.

If you don’t feel we should go to this new model, know it is totally okay. The traditional way is perfectly fine if a church can count on its congregation to fill the leadership void. As you’ve heard, we have not had this lately at Rinn. So if we do choose to remain in the traditional Methodist system, I am going to need your help. We will need many people to step up and fill the gaps in our committees. But really, is this where our attention should be? I don’t think so. The community outside our doors is the goal, and as I’ve long been saying, WE NEED TO BE OUT THERE. I would much rather put a new Kids Hope Mentor into our program, or a new volunteer out to the Carbon Valley Help Center than have that person volunteer for a committee because no one else would do it. There are other alternatives, friends, can we explore them?

Nation, I could go on and on about this, but that’s not the point of this note. The idea here is to let you know what our leaders hope to do and why. And as passionate as I am about this potential switch, remember, no decision has yet been made. So we wait until October 30th. But if you’d like more information in the meantime, I’d be happy to oblige. Come talk with me. Roust me out of my office! I’ll buy you a cup of coffee over share all the resources I’ve amassed. I am an open book. Please take me up on it! Until then, enjoy all the Pumpkin Spice products abounding everywhere. I will too, as long as they don’t chase me out of house and home!

Blessings, my friends. Enjoy this beautiful time that is fall and get excited for what God is doing among us. Much love to you all.

In Christ,
Pastor Bryson