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Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation 2017-2020 Nominations & Leadership Development

Leaders Are the Key to Church Vitality

Cokesbury

Expectations of an Effective Committee

The Book of Discipline (¶258.1) uses five action verbs to name the responsibility of this committee. The charge conference elects annually a committee on nominations and leadership development to

• identify, develop, deploy, evaluate, and monitor Christian spiritual leadership for the local congregation. Members of the committee shall engage in and be attentive to developing and enhancing their own Christian spiritual life in light of the mission of the Church [emphasis added].

Together, the members of the committee take the lead to create a culture of leader development in the congregation. This Guideline will discuss the important role you have in building effective, fruitful Christian spiritual leaders. It will also suggest tools and tips for accomplishing each one of the five actions for which the Discipline gives you responsibility.

When a congregation is healthy and full of vitality, people expect that God will be present and that everyone will grow as Christian disciples. While you take the lead, others have important roles. Leaders you nominate direct the work of God in your community, with each individual living as the hands and feet of Christ. You have a big role in God's plans!

Your responsibility on the nominations committee is year-round, although you have particular responsibilities at charge conference time. A congregation that continues the same organizational structure with the same people year after year is assuming that yesterday's purposes and ministries are adequate for tomorrow. When, however, a congregation has a system of leadership development that begins with a vision for ministry and knowledge of people's spiritual gifts, then people remain open for something new God might be doing in their midst. Help your congregation understand leadership as a living out of their special gifts from God to be Christian disciples in the world.

Keep the Big Picture in Mind

Here are factors that connect leadership and vital ministry.

• Vital churches focus on increasing the effectiveness of laity in leadership.

• Vital churches have leaders who are actively growing in faith as demonstrated by their participation as faithful disciples.

• Vital churches emphasize rotating leadership to give more people a chance to develop leadership.

• Vital churches call, equip, use, and support a higher percentage of laity in leadership than do non-vital churches. In highly vital churches, about 20 percent of people describe themselves as leaders.

• The pastors of vital churches give attention to developing, coaching, and mentoring laity as leaders.

The nominations and leadership development committee oversees the whole system of identifying, developing, deploying, supporting, and evaluating leadership. The committee does not work in isolation. Collaboration with others is important, and there are suggestions on the following pages. Leader development is both formal (specific classes, nomination to specific leadership, etc.) and informal (mentoring, coaching, observation, and encouragement).

Who Serves on the Committee?

This committee comprises not more than nine members — in addition to the pastor and the lay leader. All members must be professing members of the local church. One or more members may be youth, and at least one member should be a young adult. Including youth and young adults may require you to change the times of your meetings or to provide childcare, but these are important considerations as you strive for a well-rounded view and representation on the committee. The committee should reflect diversity and inclusivity in its membership.

• In order to secure experience and stability, the membership shall be divided into three classes, one of which shall be elected each year to a three-year term. ... Only one person from an immediate family residing in the same household shall serve on the committee. (the Discipline, ¶258.1d)

The pastor chairs the committee, and a layperson serves as vice chair. The pastor and vice chairperson work closely together to guide the work of the committee. As chair of this committee, the pastor has the opportunity for influencing the culture of the congregation to effect change toward healthy and — perhaps new — leadership. A teamwork approach and delegation of tasks models the full effectiveness of participating in the body of Christ for the congregation.

What Leaders Are Needed?

The Book of Discipline suggests more than 40 positions of leadership for congregations. Your responsibility on the committee on nominations and leadership development is to align your work with the goals set by your charge conference to determine which leaders your congregations needs. You recommend leaders to the church council for election by the charge conference. It is unlikely that you will nominate people for all the suggested positions; and in fact, you may need leaders for specific ministries that are not mentioned.

However, the Discipline defines some leadership positions that every church must have. These relate to the functions of handling money, managing the property, developing leaders, and overseeing the total ministry of the congregation. Paragraph 249 directs the charge conference to annually elect:

• a chairperson of the church council,

• a committee on nominations and leadership development,

• a committee on pastor-parish relations and its chair,

• a chairperson of finance,

• a financial secretary,

• a church treasurer,

• trustees,

• a lay member of annual conference,

• a lay leader,

• a membership secretary/recording secretary.

The committee on nominations and leadership development is responsible for nominating people to carry out these functions. One person may hold multiple responsibilities, but there are some restrictions when it comes to handling money (see Guidelines: Finance 2017–2020).

Many congregations of all sizes are streamlining their leadership teams for greater ministry effectiveness. Think of these required responsibilities as functions that need to be attended to. These are the essentials for every congregation, and each role has specific responsibilities. You can find position descriptions on the Discipleship Ministries website (http://www.umcdiscipleship.org) and in The Book of Discipline. The committee may propose a plan for leadership structure to the church council. For a major review of church organization, the council may appoint a task force.

God Works through You

In one congregation, the nominations and leadership development committee met in January to begin a Bible study about leadership. Committee members met frequently, looking at Old and New Testament passages. They looked at the people who led the Israelites and people who led the fledging Christian Way. They paid attention to the way God called people and the response people had. After several weeks, one person exclaimed, "This committee has the wrong name! It should be the Call Committee. We don't nominate people as much as God uses us to call people God has already chosen!"

This congregation was reminded that the church is one of God's instruments for ministry in the world. Christian disciples are called to use their gifts, strengths, talents, and abilities in ways that fulfill God's purposes. The committee on nominations and leadership development has the opportunity and privilege of helping people hear and respond to the call of God.

Reflect on how God might guide your congregation as you consider the gifts and leadership of these biblical characters:

• Noah (Genesis 6:5–7:16)

• Abraham (Genesis 11:27–12:9)

• Esther (Esther 2:5-18)

• Isaiah (Isaiah 1:1)

• Mary (Luke 1:26-56; 2:19-20)

• Barnabas (Acts 4:36; 9:27; 11:22-30; 13:2, 14)

For each person, consider these questions:

• What is the person's age? Occupation? Character traits?

• Who supported, mentored, encouraged this person?

• What does this person's community have in common with yours?

• Who has these same qualities in your community?

See a sample chart, Guidelines: Nominations01-Bible Study for this exercise onwww.UMOfficialResources.com/Guidelines.

Leader Development in Your Congregation

The nominations and leadership development committee oversees the whole system of identifying, developing, deploying, supporting, and evaluating the leadership of your congregation. Every congregation will do this differently depending on the size of the congregation and other demographics, traditions, ministry goals, and the diversity of skills and experience among the people. Ideally, the committee will encourage every individual in the congregation to grow in faith and self-understanding so that each person follows God's path for him or her.

Who's Responsible for Leader Development?

Committee on Nominations and Leadership Development:

• identifies, develops, deploys, supports, and evaluates the leadership of laity who work with appointed and employed leaders;

• shines a spotlight on leadership development and builds a congregational culture of mentoring, support, and challenge for one another.

Church Council (Church Leadership Team):

• clarifies ministry goals, sets priorities, coordinates the work of leaders, and directs the committee on nominations and leadership development concerning leadership needs;

• oversees leader development as one component of disciple formation.

Staff/Pastor-Parish Relations Committee:

• identifies and supports candidates for church vocations;

• builds relations of appointed and employed staff with the congregation.

Teachers, Small-Group Leaders, and Youth Sponsors:

• help people grow in faith and make connections between secular life and ministry;

• provide leadership opportunities to participants and recommend emerging leaders to the nominations committee.

Existing, Experienced Leaders:

• build teams and recruit co-leaders;

• mentor others into leadership.

Whole congregation:

• fulfills baptismal vow to "so order our lives after the example of Christ that (the baptized one), surrounded by steadfast love may be established in the faith" (United Methodist Hymnal, page 44).

Can you imagine a place where individuals are welcomed just as they are, given the tools and opportunities to discover who they are in God's eyes, encouraged to use the unique abilities and experiences they have, and strengthened to live fully with others to make the world a better place? Can you imagine a place that helps people of all ages discover and live out vocations that God intends for them? This is the vision of a leader-development system!

Getting Started

Remember that the committee on nominations and leadership development is to identify leaders, develop leaders, deploy leaders, evaluate leadership needs, and monitor the whole system of leadership development. The Book of Discipline says that this committee shall serve throughout the year to guide the church council on matters regarding leadership. The committee and the congregation must shift their thinking from "recruitment" to development.

Each of the five actions you are responsible for is detailed with suggestions on the following pages. Prayerfully consider the focus that will be most beneficial for your congregation. You will emphasize certain actions over others. However, all five of these actions need to happen through the year. Here is a suggestion for planning your meetings:

January–March

• Provide orientation for the new committee (three newly elected people and six continuing members).

• Deploy and orient new and returning congregational leaders.

• Set goals for increasing your congregation's understanding of leadership development.

April–June

• Develop congregational leaders.

• Monitor leaders and the leadership needs of the congregation.

• Identify new leaders continuously.

July–September

• Evaluate congregational leadership needs.

• Prepare nominations for charge conference.

• Monitor leaders and emerging congregational leadership needs; recognize completed ministries.

October–December

• Prepare orientation for new leaders.

• Review and evaluate the committee's work, including recommendations for the next committee.

How well your committee accomplishes its task depends in part on how well the members work together. You are coworkers with one another and with God, seeking to identify, guide, and nurture the leadership of your church. As committee members, you have assumed a commitment and a responsibility to one another. Your task of overseeing the leadership of your church is crucial to strengthening the body of Christ.

Identify Christian Spiritual Leaders

The committee on nominations and leadership development has the privilege of and responsibility for linking people who have gifts to share with opportunities to meet specific needs within your congregation and community. This task requires diligence and a strong commitment on your part, and it can be a joyous and rewarding experience.

Qualities of Leadership

To identify leaders, begin with a discussion about the qualities you seek. There are general qualities for all who would lead in the church as well as specific knowledge or skills for specific responsibilities.

A good place to start identifying leaders is to look at the Bible to see whom God uses. Refer to the Bible study suggestion on page 9. We need to remember that God works through all kinds of people, even the least likely. Remember the story of Samuel going to Jesse to identify the next king among Jesse's sons? It turned out to be the youngest — David, the shepherd boy who was still out in the field.

• God works with those who deny God — like Jonah.

• God works with those who persecute God's people — like Paul.

• God works with young people — like Joshua, Esther, and Timothy.

• God works with secular leaders — like the centurion whose daughter was ill.

There are many other examples in the Bible. All of them remind us to be open to whatever God might do and to people God will raise up.

People Who Can Lead

Next, identify people who have leadership potential. Develop a method for keeping track of information about the spiritual gifts, interests, life experiences, and skills of your members. You probably already know about the current leaders, so remember that development of new leaders includes getting to know all the people. You might have an electronic or a paper file to identify people who might help with long- and short-term projects, behind-the-scenes tasks, and leadership in the district or conference. Be sure to update this information frequently.

Some congregations invite people to indicate their interests with a "Time and Talent" survey. A survey invites people to reflect on their stewardship of the membership vow to participate in ministry through "prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness" (http://gbod.org.s3.amazonaws.com/legacy/kintera/entry_5129/19/bapcovumh.pdf). If you ask people to volunteer information, it is important to follow up!

People who are not part of your committee can be very helpful in identifying leaders. Amazing things happen in congregations that expect God to work through them. Some congregations have formal classes to help people identify spiritual gifts; there are resources for self-assessment, for learning about personal strengths, and for personal development. Even congregations that are informal in structure can become more intentional about identifying spiritual gifts and recognizing skills and experience.

Review and Update Leadership Positions

Look again at the list of "required" leaders on page 9. Add other leadership positions for your congregation, both the long-term and short-term commitments that need leadership. Leadership development is a fluid, ongoing process. Many congregations today identify ministry leaders who then recruit their own work groups. Ideally, the work groups include a changing and evolving group of people. This is the opportunity for people to follow a passion, to try a new responsibility, or to develop an interest. This contemporary characteristic of leadership flow gives you an opportunity to help people grow in discipleship.

Leadership Rotation

Remember that vital congregations rotate leaders to bring fresh perspective and new ideas to a position. Encourage current leaders to identify another person to mentor to take their place. Some congregations regularly identify a co-leader or vice chair who will become the next leader of a ministry. Arrangements like this provide mentoring and take advantage of experience, while ensuring that more people will grow as leaders and disciples. In the Bible, Paul developed several leaders by working with them and then having them take over ministry responsibilities. Leadership rotation will be covered in detail in the section "Monitor Christian Spiritual Leaders."

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Excerpted from Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation 2017-2020 Nominations & Leadership Development by Betsey Heavner. Copyright © 2016 Cokesbury. Excerpted by permission of Cokesbury.
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