Ministry Task Force seeks your voice

Comment

Comment by Maggie Clayton on February 5, 2010 at 5:49am

Great questions no matter if you are a new member of not. Thank you for the feedback.
1. What is team ministry?
Team Ministry (TM) is the sharing of ministerial authority in the church, rather than designating one minister as the ultimate decision-maker, as is the case in most UU churches.
2. Do we practice it per the definition? What's the variation? I don't need to know why if we do practice it differently right now.
UUCA's practice of TM reflects our history. It was adopted when Rev. Michael was called a decade ago to join Rev. Joan Gelbein, who at the time was associate minister. It has evolved with the changes in our ministers, and the question of our practice is at the heart of the Task Force’s inquiry.


3. What's the decision making process?
That is among the questions the Task Force is exploring.


4. Does the team ministry include the church administrator and the creative director?
Team Ministry includes the three called ministers, who are accountable to the congregation. The Board of Trustees appoints an "Executive Team" or ET (which includes the administrator and a minister) to act as CEO; the ET is accountable to the Board. A "Professional Leadership Team" (PLT) -- the ministers, church administrator, and creative arts director -- supervises the activities of the church.


5. Accountability: How are the members of team ministry held accountable for their responsibilities and their ability to function as a team member?
The Board conducts performance evaluations of the ministers. The Task Force is exploring the nature of accountability.


6. What are the other forms of ministry that you refer to?
Some UU churches have forms of shared authority such as co-ministers, who are usually partners or married couples; most have a single or senior minister who is acts as the CEO.


7. How does accountability work in each of the other forms of ministry?
Accountability varies from church to church. The Task Force is focused on how to provide accountability within UUCA, and is exploring how accountability works in other ministries.


8. Is there a desirable ratio of xx parishoners per minister? Any study on this?
Neither the Task Force nor the Board has pursued the question. The Board is inquiring: What tasks are intrinsically ministerial, and what tasks can be performed by other staff?

Comment by June Herold on February 3, 2010 at 4:14pm

Hi. I would appreciate some help understanding a number of things you've brought up in this posting.
1. What is team ministery?
2. Do we practice it per the definition? What's the variation? I don't need to know why if we do practice it differently right now.
3. What's the decision making process?
4. Does the team ministry include the church administrator and the creative director?
5. Accountability: How are the members of team ministry held accountable for their responsibilities and their ability to function as a team member?
5. What are the other forms of ministry that you refer to?
6. How does accountability work in each of the other forms of ministry?
7. Is there a desirable ratio of xx parishoners per minister? Any study on this?

I have many more questions, but I think these are factual and process based ones. I can't speak for all new members, but I bet many of us don't really understand some of this stuff. And there might be some folks who've forgotten what all of the above is.

I think this site is a great place to provide basic background information. I'm assuming that it's background info. My assumption could be wrong. Probably is! But if even if it's in the report, it would be helpful to think about the answers to these basic questions before April. Thanks for all the work on this, June