Ebenezer UMC > Committees

EBENEZER LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES 

Administrative Council

The Administrative Council is the executive agency of the Charge Conference. It is their responsibility to provide for planning and implementing a program of nurture, outreach, witness and resources in the local church. This group also provides for the administration of its organization and temporal life. The Administrative Council envisions, plans, implements and annually evaluates the mission and ministry of the church. The chairperson or the pastor may call special meetings. Currently our Ad Council meets on the 1st Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m. All committee chairpersons participate in our meetings. All members of the church are encouraged to participate.

Board of Trustees

It is the responsibility of our Board of Trustees to care for all real property owned by the church. The trustees annually review the adequacy of property, liability, personnel and crime insurance. They ensure that permission which is granted to outside groups for use of church property is consistent with the Social Principles and ecumenical objectives of the United Methodist Church. The Trustees also provide for an annual review of the church owned parsonage and ensure proper maintenance. At the direction of the charge conference, this group receives and administers all bequests and trusts and shall invest all trust funds of the local church in conformity with the laws of the country and state. The Board of Trustees conduct an annual accessibility audit of buildings, grounds and facilities to discover and identify what barriers exist that impede full participation of people with disabilities.

Committee on Lay Leadership

Ebenezer’s Committee on Lay Leadership recommends to the charge conference officers and members of the church council and other committees as required. The Committee on Lay Leadership also serves throughout the year to guide the church council on matters regarding leadership (other than employed staff) and to identify, train and support leaders in the congregation. This committee is composed of not more than nine persons in addition to the pastor and lay leader. The pastor serves as the chairperson.

Communications

This group works to improve the communication of the church’s programs within and outside the church in order to keep all informed of events, activities and changes at Ebenezer UMC.

Endowment

The role of the Endowment Committee is to receive, administer and invest bequests, trusts or trust funds for which the donor has designated. It is their job to see that the provisions of the current United Methodist Discipline are being followed concerning investments and the governing policy of the local church for the endowment fund. This group works to develop policies to accomplish the primary function of this committee for the Administrative Council and Charge/Church Conference annual approval:

  • To emphasize the need for adults to have a will and an estate plan and to provide information for the preparation of these to the congregation;
  • Stress the opportunities for church members and constituents to make provisions for giving through United Methodist churches, institutions, agencies, and causes by means of wills, annuities, trusts, life insurance, memorials and various types of property;
  • Arrange for the distribution of information that will be helpful in pre-retirement planning, including such considerations as establishing a living will, a living trust and the need for each person to designate someone to serve as a responsible advocate should independent decision-making ability be lost.

Finance

Our Finance Committee works to compile annually a complete budget for the local church and submit it to the church council for review and adoption. The committee is given the responsibility for developing and implementing plans that will raise sufficient income to meet the budget adopted by the Administrative Council.  It works to administer the funds received according to instructions given from the Administrative Council.

This group includes: Chairperson; pastor(s); lay member of the annual conference; chairperson of Administrative Council; chairperson or representative from SPRC; a representative of the trustees to be selected by the trustees; lay leader; financial secretary; treasurer; other members to be added as the charge conference may determine.

Missions and Outreach

Our Missions and Outreach Committee works to connect the local church with issues and needs in the surrounding community, county, state, nation and world. They receive funds for dispersal to various charitable groups and world missions. Our Missions group also works to inform and educate the congregation concerning social justice issues in the community and beyond. This group supports the ongoing ministry of our Rock of Help Food Pantry.

Scholarship

The Scholarship Committee’s purpose is to distribute scholarship funds from the annual income of the scholarship portion of the Endowment Fund portfolio. It is the job of this group to receive applications from those in the congregation, under the age of 23 attending institutions of higher learning including vocational and trade schools. The group then must determine criteria for awarding of scholarships and oversee the process of paying the awarded scholarships directly to the institutions.

 

Staff Parish

This committee identifies, develops, evaluates and monitors Christian spiritual leadership for the local congregation. They work to reflect biblically and theologically on the role and work of the pastor(s) and staff as they carry out their leadership responsibilities. SPRC is there to assist the pastor(s) and staff in assessing their gifts and setting priorities for leadership and service.  (See 2004 Book of Discipline ¶259.2.g for sixteen detailed duties of the committee.) The group includes 5-9 persons representative of the congregation. One of the members shall be a young adult and one member may be a youth. In addition, the lay leader and a lay member of the annual conference shall be members. In order to secure experience and stability, the membership shall be divided into three classes, one of which shall be elected each year for a three-year term. The lay member of the annual conference and the lay leader are exempt from the three-year term.

Technology

Our Tech Committee works to make the church more accessible via cyber space and to understand the technology and communication needs of the church. It is the function of this group to plan, design, implement and evaluate the church’s website and to do the same for the church office computer network.

Worship

Our Worship Team works to prepare the sanctuary for worship and collaborate with the pastor and staff to plan the worship experience at EUMC.

To assure that our members experience God through worship at EUMC. This includes a variety of tasks including:

• Caring for all real property pertaining to the sanctuary including paraments, altar cloths, communion vessels, candles, organ, technology, etc.

• Recruiting, training and scheduling acolytes, ushers, altar guild members, sound and Information Technology teams

• Supporting the music staff

• Decorating the sanctuary for seasonal events such as – Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter, as well as for sermon series throughout the year.

• Communicating with the congregation about the worship experience — sharing plans, gathering feedback, etc.