Change the Governance Model of Immanuel Lutheran Church and School to a form of Policy Based Governance
In 2001, the Voters Assembly authorized the Board of Stewardship to conduct a self-study of the congregation. The purpose of this "Visioning Process" was to help examine Immanuel's strengths and weaknesses in an ongoing effort to provide a compass for the future while evaluating the successes and shortcomings of the past. The visioning process identified five priority areas for Immanuel:
Spiritual Growth
Governance / Stewardship
Membercare / Involvement
Communication
Mission / Outreach
Several task groups (Bible Study, Worship, Governance) were formed to provide recommendations to the Parish Planning Council and Voters Assembly. Several of these recommendations have been implemented. Now it is time to tackle probably the most difficult of the recommendations, a dramatic change to our governance structure from a Voters Assembly to a Board of Directors or our preferred name, Church Leadership Team (CLT).
The CLT is to be chosen by the Voters Assembly. Furthermore, other aspects would include replacing most boards with action committees or advisory cabinets. It would delegate all the decision making to the Pastoral Staff, Principal and Business Manager to stream-line decision making for more effective ministry. Finally we would be eliminating all but one Voters' Meeting per year (plus special meetings as needed).
We would be electing a group of nine Godly individuals to provide overall direction for Immanuel Lutheran Church and School. The concept is that the Pastoral Staff, Principal and Business Manager would be more active in executing the daily tasks of the church under the CLT. Various ministry teams with a shorter term focus would also be created to implement the daily tasks of the previous boards under the direction of the Pastoral Staff, Principal or Business Manager. These ministry action teams focus would be to be involved in implementing and supporting ministry and not managing these ministries.
Several reasons were identified for pursuing a Board of Directors model:
-The current board structure forces a 2-year commitment to serve, which eliminates a large percentage of the congregation that can only make short-term commitments. Ministry-focused tasks identified by the Board of Directors would allow for better involvement by more members.
-Poorly attended Voters Meetings do not represent the views of the congregation and also prevent timely decisions from being made. A Board of Directors allows for faster decision making.
-A growing number of large congregations are moving towards Board of Directors governance so there is a
Immanuel Church Leadership Team
Paul Niewald
Brian Becker
John Breite
Gail Blackman
Laura Govero
Brian Hahn
Don Kusterer
Chad Wiegmann
Erik Burgdorf
Scott Schmieding
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Secretary
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Business Manager
Senior Pastor
2020
2021
2021
2020
2022
2022
2020
2022
Ex Officio
Ex Officio