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Bethlehem Lutheran Church

F.A.Q’s on P.B.G. for B.L.C.

Frequently-Asked Questions on Policy-Based Governance for Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Nearly two years ago, the Bethlehem Voters approved the adoption of a new structure of governance for our congregation.  The Policy-Based Governance Committee was charged with developing the policies that would fall under this new structure.

On Sept 25, 2011, the PBG Committee will recommend to the Voters that we “set aside” the current Bylaws of the congregation, allowing the Policy-Based Governance to be utilized for the next year, essentially “trying it before we buy it.” 

Over the next couple of weeks, in preparation for that important meeting, we invite you to become familiar with the Policy Manual and we will attempt to answer some of the Frequently-Asked Questions about Policy-Based Governance.

These FAQs  are also available as a .pdf document that you can download, save, and print.

QUESTION: Why has it been recommended that we change our current governance structure?  Things seem to be going well at BLC to me!

ANSWER:  The current Board and Church Council structure did serve well for many years, but as ministries have grown and staff have been added, it has been increasingly ineffective.  While this may not be evident to the average member, many of our staff and lay leaders report that our current structure is confusing and frustrating to work under.  Lines of authority and accountability are not clear, decision-making is slow and cumbersome, and aligning ministries toward common goals is extremely challenging. The purpose for moving from a board-led form of governance to a policy-based governance is really to streamline the work of the church. Things will look much like they do now and most people won’t see much of a change. Taking away the boards and the requirements of meeting monthly, serving 2-yr terms, etc, will really free people up to do ministry as opposed to spending time in meetings. Policy-based governance also provides direct accountability that we don’t currently have.

QUESTION:  I’m confused by what I’ve read about the “Board of Directors” and how that impacts our current Boards.  Could you please clarify the roles of these groups in the proposed new structure?

ANSWER:  Yes. We can continue to have boards (though we may not call them “boards” in the future). Their functions may change from decision-making to advisory, depending on the board. Bethlehem School still needs a School Board in order to meet their requirements for accreditation, but the responsibilities of that board may change. We will still have Lay Ministers as they are a vital part of the pastoral ministry. The Preschool will probably continue to have a board, though may adopt more of an advisory role, depending on the requirements of their accreditation. In the proposed new structure:
  • The Governance Board will be a small group of nine members, each elected by the Voters to a 3-year term.  (The Executive Officers, our Pastors, will also serve on the Board “ex-officio,” without vote.)  The Governance Board, along with the Voters and the Executive Officers, will establish “desired outcomes” (the Global Ends Statement in the Policy Manual) for the congregation.  The Governance Board will supervise the Executive Officers as they lead the staff in the day-to-day operations of the church.  The Governance Board will also develop and change policies as needed to achieve the congregation’s ministry plan.
  • Ministry Teams will be created as needed to do the work of the church.  They will have no terms or election of members.  Rather, they may stay together as long as they are willing to serve and are achieving their stated goals.  (Many of our current boards will likely become Ministry Teams in the new structure.)

QUESTION: Can you explain the 3-year terms of the Board members?  Are you saying the Voters will only elect new Board members every three years?

ANSWER:  With the exception of this first year, the Voters will elect three of the nine Board members every year to serve a 3-year term.  The nine members of the Board will have staggered terms of office to allow for both continuity and change.  So to set this up, at the September 25 Congregational Meeting (and only at this meeting), we will be asking the Voters to elect
  • three Board members for 1-year terms,
  • three Board members for 2-year terms,
  • and three Board members for 3-year terms.
And then next year, the three members who were elected for 1-year terms will be up for replacement or re-election (to serve a new 3-year term).  The following year, the three Board members who were elected for 2-year terms will be up for replacement or re-election (to serve a new 3-year term).  The following year, the three Board members who were elected for a 3-year term will be up for replacement or re-election (to serve a new 3-year term).  At that point all Board members will be on a 3-year term rotation so that Voters will elect/re-elect three Board members every year.

QUESTION:  In the new structure, will the same type of things come before the Congregation at Voter’s meetings?

ANSWER: Basically, yes.  In the new structure, as in the current structure, the Voters will assemble at least once a year to approve the annual budget, elect the Governance Board members, and receive ministry updates.  The Voters also retain the authority to extend divine calls, excommunicate, buy or sell real estate, incur long-term debt, and make changes to the Constitution and Bylaws.  The only significant change is that the Voters will not elect members of the Ministry Teams as they currently elect members of the Boards.

QUESTION:  Why are you recommending eliminating the Board of Lay Ministers?  Aren’t we required by the Bible and our denomination to have one?

ANSWER: It is important to understand that all of the current functions of the Board of Lay Ministry will be preserved in the new structure.  They will continue to operate as a Ministry Team.  Neither the Bible nor the LC-MS require churches to have a Board of Lay Ministers.  When the New Testament writers speak of “elders,” the office they’re referring to is actually closer to what we call the office of the pastor.  Lutherans have always believed that the office of the pastor is the only Biblically-required office in the church.  Beyond that, we are given great freedom to govern our churches in the way that seems best.  Some churches have tried to maintain a Board of Lay Ministers along with a Governance Board under Policy-Based Governance and they have reported that they regretted doing so.  The problem with preserving a Board of Lay Ministers along with a Governance Board is that is creates the very problem you are trying to solve, i.e., establishing clear lines of authority and accountability.   It is worth noting that the Lay Ministers will continue to evaluate the pastors based only on their role as pastors; the Governance Board will evaluate the pastors based only on their role as Executive Officers.

QUESTION:  How will the Boards for Guiding Star and BLS be affected by this new structure? Does Timothy Lutheran have a school and, if so, how has this played out under their PBG?

ANSWER: Bethlehem School still needs a School Board in order to meet their requirements for accreditation, but the responsibilities of that board may change.  The Preschool will probably continue to have a board, though may adopt more of an advisory role, depending on the requirements of their accreditation. The Principal of the School is responsible for the School and accountable to the Executive Officer; the Preschool Director is responsible for the preschool and accountable to the Executive Officer.  Timothy Lutheran has an elementary school and a childcare center. Their old school board was transformed into a resource team that the principal organizes and convenes. The school administrator reports to their Executive Officer.

QUESTION:  Policy-Based Governance seems to place a lot more administrative responsibility on the Pastors.  Will the Pastors still have time to be our spiritual leader?

ANSWER:  Absolutely yes!  When reading the documents about Policy-Based Governance, it’s important to understand that they are only addressing the administrative side of the Pastors’ work, not their entire job.  The Pastors’ spiritual duties of preaching, teaching, and pastoral care will remain.  Does policy-based governance place some additional administrative load on the Pastors?  Yes.  But it’s important to understand that the Pastors carry out a lot of administrative duties already.  Currently, however, the Pastors’ administrative authority, responsibility, and accountability are very unclear.  This ambiguity extends the time they spend in dealing with minor administrative issues.  We think the new structure will actually allow them to spend less time in administrative matters by empowering them to make minor administrative decisions they cannot make with the current structure.  Having said all of this, it is worth noting that the PBG Committee believes that “in the best case scenario” the Executive Officer for Bethlehem would be a full-time paid position separate from the Pastors, allowing the Pastors to relinquish all business/administrative responsibilities.  Given the current financial condition of the congregation, however, an additional position cannot be supported and the Pastors have agreed to share the role of the Executive Officer.  This is another benefit of “trying it before we buy it,” so that we can better evaluate the feasibility and reality of having our Pastors also serve as our Executive Officers.

QUESTION: What exactly will the Congregation be voting on at the September 25th Voters’ Meeting?

ANSWER:  The Congregation will be asked to vote on “setting aside” the Bylaws (which outline the Board and Church Council structure we currently use) allowing us to implement the Policy-Based Governance for a year to “try it before we buy it.”  Next November (2012) we would be prepared to ask the Voters to adopt the necessary changes to the Constitution and Bylaws of Bethlehem Congregation for final approval of the Policy-Based Governance.  The Voters will also be asked to elect the first nine-member Governance Board (as described in an earlier answer above).

QUESTION:  How would the proposed governance structure affect the role of volunteers in the church?  It seems to me to move us from “the leadership of many” to “the leadership of a few?”

ANSWER:  Actually, we will need more volunteers in leadership roles in the new structure, not less.  Our current structure involves lay people on the Church Council and on all of the Boards.  Under Policy-Based Governance, we will need nine volunteers serving on the Governance Board as well as the many volunteers who will be needed to serve on the Ministry Teams, doing the work previously accomplished by the existing Boards.

QUESTION:  Will the church now operate only according to the decisions that flow out of the Board of Directors?   Will the Governance Board dictate all actions taken by individual boards or committees or Ministry Teams?

ANSWER: The proposed policies are the groundwork of PBG and are designed to be more limitations than directives in order to free people up to get the work done that needs to be done. In other words, the Governance Board is asking the Executive Officers to develop an annual plan (which is referenced in the Policy Manual as the Strategic Focus and in the past we’ve also called this our Long-Range Plan) and giving them permission to do whatever the Executive Officers feel is necessary to meet those annual goals as long as they stay within the parameters of the Executive Limitations (the “thou shalt nots” of the Policy Manual).  Very few decisions will actually be made by the Governance Board as that authority will now rest with the Executive Officers who will, in turn, authorize Ministry Teams to accomplish various goals within the same parameters.

QUESTION: So the Executive Officers will have the sole responsibility for developing the goals or Strategic Focus for Bethlehem?

ANSWER: The Executive Officers, our Pastors, have already mentioned the desire to put together a Vision Team to develop this Strategic Focus, the ministry goals for Bethlehem in one, five, and ten years.  More than ever before, it will be important for the future of Bethlehem to be a shared responsibility, both in terms of the ideas/goals/vision for the church as well as the actual work to accomplish those goals.  So the Strategic Focus will need to be a plan that is “owned” by members of Bethlehem, not just the Executive Officers.

QUESTION: Can a woman be the Executive Officer? (See references to “him” or “his” in GP3.17b, EL8.5, and BEOR4.2)

ANSWER: Yes, at the point that the congregation is in a financial position to support a paid, full-time Executive Officer, applicants could include women.  At this time, since our Executive Officers will be our Pastors, we will keep the references to “him” or “his” in the policies and this will be changed if at some point a female Executive Officer is hired.

QUESTION:  How does the Executive Officer come into office?  Who would hire the Executive Officer?  Will there be a job description for the Executive Officer?

ANSWER:  Some of the particulars around hiring an Executive Officer will need to be worked out at whatever point we can financially justify the hiring of an Executive Officer.  These details have not been outlined in the current Policy Manual yet since it is a non-issue at present and while our Pastors have agreed to share this role.  We would recommend that input from the Governance Board, from the Pastors and staff, and from the Voters will be important to consider when defining the Executive Officer’s job description, interviewing, and eventually hiring this person.

QUESTION:  Will there be any additional opportunities to discuss the proposed change before the Voters’ Meeting on September 25?

ANSWER:  If there is interest, the PBG Committee would be willing to consider holding an open forum to address additional questions.  Please feel free to contact any of the PBG Committee members: