Guiding Principles for 2025 CHUMC Leadership LEAD Board
LEAD BOARD MEMBERSHIP, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND FUNCTIONING
● The LEAD Board will be made up of 12 voting members and one non-voting member (the head pastor or other paid staff member serving as his or her proxy). No immediate family member of the pastor or other paid staff person may serve as a member of the LEAD Board. Only one person from an immediate family residing in the same household shall serve on the LEAD Board. Members will be professing members of the UMC or associate members.
● The LEAD Board favors transparency. All meetings of the LEAD Board shall be open to the public, except for any meetings or portion of a meeting in which a personnel matter, clergy transition, matter of staff salary, litigation, contract or legal negotiations is considered. In those cases, the LEAD Board will transition into closed or executive session. Minutes of executive session agenda items concerning personnel matters will be kept separately as part of the SPRC files.
● Terms will be for three years but to preserve continuity and institutional knowledge, one third of the membership will be replaced every year. The inaugural LEAD Board will be comprised of members serving one-, two- and three-year terms and their replacements (or if they agree to continue to serve), shall serve for three-year terms. Members are expected to honor their commitment to serve and, to the best of their ability, prioritize attendance at every meeting.
● Meetings will be held monthly, on the third Sunday of the month, after services, from 12:15pm to 2:15 pm. Meetings will be in person unless an emergency necessitates switching to a remote meeting. (An emergency situation could include inclement weather, national health emergency, regional disaster event, etc.) After the inaugural year, the LEAD Board may vote on changing location, timing, method, etc. of the LEAD Board meetings.
● Members are expected to attend the annual Leadership and Strategic Planning Retreat to align on vision and strategies.
● The LEAD Board shall prepare and make available a current organizational chart reflective of the current decision-making process and chain of command.
● At the first meeting of every new year in January, a Chair, Vice chair and In-coming Chair shall be discussed and designated. Additionally in the same manner the roles of SPRC for staff, Finance & Trustees liaison will be discussed and designated.
● The Chair shall circulate an agenda prior to every meeting. Members are expected to have reviewed the agenda and accompanying attachments/materials prior to the meeting. Members are expected to be present and in the moment at the meeting.
● The Chair may routinely solicit topics from lay leaders, those responsible for housekeeping, maintenance and grounds-keeping, Ministry Teams and other Pastoral staff and will be receptive
to topics of concern raised by other church members and church occupants (including commercial ventures and tenants).
● The Chair is the point of contact with the District Superintendent for Staff/Parish Relations matters.
● A quorum of 60% voting members shall be required prior to voting on any issue. Members are encouraged to participate in discussions with passion and vigor recognizing that the LEAD Board will strive for consensus on all issues. Once a vote passes by a majority of those present, members are expected to openly and publicly support the decision of the LEAD Board whether or not the individual member personally agrees with the decision.
● Any member may move for a vote on any topic; once that motion has been seconded, the chair will ask for any discussion before a call for a vote by asking for any ayes, nays, and abstentions before announcing whether the measure carries.
● While membership is extended to people aged 18 and above, only members over the age of 20 will have voting privileges in matters of property, incorporation, legal matters, contracts, insurance, investments, or other matters involving appropriations. The LEAD Board will strive to have at least one youthful member and will strive to promote inclusivity and diversity based on immutable characteristics.
● New members of the LEAD Board will be nominated by the Nominations committee which go to Charge Conference in the fall each year.
● Minutes of LEAD Board meetings will be compiled. Each member of the LEAD Board shall be responsible to record the minutes once a year. Minutes will be made available on the CHUMC website, with the exception of the minutes from an executive session. Those minutes will be kept separately but are available for review by any LEAD Board member.
● The role of the LEAD Board is good governance of church matters, as distinct from management issues that oversee daily operations and paid staff. The LEAD Board strives to provide transparent and routine communication to keep the congregation informed of missional effectiveness and resource alignment. The role of the LEAD Board is to define the mission, vision, and core values of CHUMC.
MINISTRY TEAMS
● To carry out the work of the church, the LEAD Board will create or approve standing and temporary “Ministry Teams”. These are where the ministry of the church is done.
● Team leaders and members are not nominated by the Nominations Committee or elected by a Church/Charge Conference. Instead, they are selected or volunteered based on their gifts and passion for a particular area of ministry, with no fixed terms of service.
● The LEAD Board will provide guidance, direction, and oversight to ensure the Ministry Teams’ work aligns with the mission and vision of the church, yet will not manage their work.
● Ministry Teams will develop their action plans, goals, and budget needs and submit them to the LEAD Board each year for consideration and approval, to ensure these are aligned with the mission and vision of the church and to provide the resources to enable each ministry.
● Once the budget is approved, the Ministry Teams have permission to spend the money approved for that ministry. The LEAD Board may also establish a spending cap for a given team within the church budget.
● The specific standing and temporary Ministry Teams set up and running will change over time.
● The LEAD Board will create and dissolve these Ministry Teams as it deems necessary for the work of the church.
STAFF PASTOR PARISH RELATIONS (SPRC)
● Staff/Parish Relations including the management, evaluation, hiring/firing of staff and the recruitment and development of staff to address current and emerging needs. Specifically:
○ The CHUMC pastor(s) are responsible for the daily management of staff.
○ Any change in the employment status of staff will be authorized by the pastor and at least one leadership board member.
● The CHUMC pastor will review all paid staff annually using the approval evaluation process outlined in the employee manual. Paid staff will review unpaid staff/team and leaders annually using the same evaluation process.
● A member of the LEAD Board, on a rotating basis, will serve as a liaison to staff.
● Utilizing appropriate metrics each quarter, the LEAD Board will evaluate emerging or changing staff needs
● The annual pastor evaluation and other required evaluations will be the responsibility of three LEAD Board Members and be done by December 1st of each year. The pastor will submit an evaluation for consideration in this process.
● Existing job descriptions and policies on leave, hiring and firing, and the use of contractors will be followed.
FINANCIAL MATTERS
● Budgeting
○ The LEAD Board will develop a process to which either the Pastor or a Member of the LEAD Board leads the annual budget development.
○ The following year’s budget will be approved by the LEAD Board by the December meeting each year.
○ Once the budget is approved, those responsible (i.e., staff and team leaders) for the various ministry areas have the authority to spend their budget in alignment with the
objectives for their ministry area and as approved by the paid staff person responsible for that ministry area.
○ The Pastor and the LEAD Board will communicate the budget and solicit feedback from the broader congregation on discretionary spending and other fund-raising initiatives.
○ The Pastor is responsible for reviewing line items within ministry areas with the appropriate staff or team leaders for accountability from the staff and to the LEAD Board. This is a high-level review and does not include individual transaction reviews, unless necessary.
● Expenditures:
○ All checks are to be signed by a designated signer weekly. Those signers include the treasurer, a member of the LEAD board, and any other person designated by the LEAD Board.
○ The Church Treasurer must be consulted concerning any single purchase or expenditure over $10,000 for the purposes of cashflow. The purpose of this consultation is to ensure CHUMC does not experience cashflow issues.
○ Any building or other purchases over $ 2,500 require LEAD Board Chair approval unless the expenditure is already in the approved annual budget.
○ Regular, budgeted expenses of over $ 2,000 do not require approval beyond designated check signers.
○ Any expenditure over $ 10,000 will require three bids unless an approved vendor is identified for a specific cause. Preference will be given to hire local companies offering competitive bids within 10% of other bids. If the expenditure is already approved in the budget and meets the previous criteria, there is no further approval needed. In either case, the ministry team leader or staff personally responsible for the purchase will provide documentation of the bids to the LEAD Board.
● Financial Governance:
○ The LEAD Board will review annually the long-term financial health and stability of CHUMC. This is to be done by a small group of members of the LEAD Board reviewing the annual financial audit and the 5 year plan of the organization and reporting back to the entire LEAD Board.
○ The LEAD Board will receive updates/reports from the church administrator, financial secretary, the treasurer and invested funds chair. This may be in person or via reports submitted to the LEAD Board chair in advance of the usual monthly meeting.