by Lindsey Telg, Executive Director
For at least two years, that I am aware of, there have been ongoing discussions about the size of our Church Council and ways to streamline. The goal of restructuring was to promote collaboration between committees, to break down silos, to reduce the burden of lay leadership roles, and to reduce the overall number of meetings the ministers attend. I created a draft of this plan in scribbles in my trusty Golden Girls note pad at the June 2025 Leadership Summit, then ripped the page out to give it to Andy Ingram.
Andy and Lisa championed moving the idea forward with the support of then co-moderators elect, Arwynn and Holly Collins. At the May 2026 Congregational Meeting, Holly and Arwynn described the plan to trial the new structure over the summer. The goal of this trial is to work out the kinks, see how the plan on paper translates to real life, and make any revisions to the plan in time to present bylaw changes at the October Congregational Meeting.
The Board chairs met in June for the Leadership Summit, working in their new Board grouping to plan and dream together. They established Board meeting schedules that made sense for their work, identified areas of potential collaboration, and determined who would represent their board at Church Council. We’ve now met twice under this format. My personal impression is that our meetings are engaging, rich with meaningful discussion, with more opportunities for conversation versus updates. Click here for the graphics depicting the proposed Board structure and ministerial resourcing. If you have any questions about the status of the restructuring, please reach out to either Lindsey, or your co-moderators.