New
Pastor Team and New Governance Structure at UCRP
Charge Conference at Ravenswood Fellowship at
12:30 on Sunday 14 july
Coming to the final planning stage of our coop’s Simplified Accountability Structure [SAS]. Last four months, we have had Town Hall meetings about the structure of the co-op. These meetings were held every 4th Sunday of the month toward a Charge Conference vote on implementation. If you missed the presentation, you can find a recording here.
There will be a Charge Conference at Ravenswood Fellowship at 12:30 on Sunday, July 14th to vote on implementing the Simplified Accountability Structure in our churches. There will be a virtual option, however, in order to vote you have to be a member and attend in person.
The agenda (pending DS approval):
12:30-12:40: Gathering
12:40-12:50: Final co-op presentation by co-op pastors/design team (you can find the final implementation plan here).
12:50-?: Discussion/Question and Response time in our individual churches
*When the church is ready to call a vote, they will call the DS over. The question will be by simple majority and a yes/no/abstention vote on the following:
To implement that Simplified Accountability Structure in order to continue membership in the co-op.
Adjourn
The timeline on SAS, Town Hall meeting,
and Charge Coference
Saturday, June 8: The Design Team will meet to finalize the co-op plan presentation.
Sunday, June 16th: The congregations will receive a copy of the co-op plan draft
Sunday, June 23rd at 3pm: There will be a regular virtual town hall to gather feedback on the draft. There will also be a survey sent out after the town hall.
Sunday, July 7: The final co-op structure will be sent to the congregation.
Sunday, July 14th, 12:30 at Ravenswood: We will hold a charge conference to vote on moving toward the SAS model and present the final draft of the co-op structure. We will also present next steps for our co-op and SAS work at this gathering.
History of SAS at UCRP
As discussed in our town hall meetings last year, Pastor Matt's interim ended on December 31, and there will be a shift toward the recommendation we outlined and voted on in the final town hall. Pastor Matt will remain on the co-op clergy team 1/4 time but shift to a consulting role to help us build out our co-op structure.
UCRP will be receiving a new half-time appointment, and we will be bringing Sabrina Bermingham into a more pastoral role. The Staff-Parish Relations Committee [SPRC] met Saturday 20 January 2024. This meeting was an important step in fostering a strong connection and collaboration between our congregation and the newest addition to our pastoral team.
During the last town hall, we had the opportunity to discuss the future of our church and the significance of building a welcoming and supportive environment for all. The upcoming SPRC meeting with our new pastor is a direct outcome of those discussions, and we believe it will contribute positively to the unity and spirit of our UCRP family.
We are also happy to announce that we have received $12,000 from the conference in Pastoral Support, which will help make a new appointment at UCRP possible. God is good!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the pastoral team.