Selection of new board members
This Journey Begins and Ends with the Members of The Journey Church.
Members of The Journey Church congregation play an important part in the selection of the board. The process of selecting new board members starts with members recommending people of good character and commitment to the church’s mission. (see Board Ministry Description) In order to recommend well, members of our church family need to understand what it is that a board member does? Within our guidelines for conducting church ministry, the board fulfils or plays the following roles:
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They represent Christ who is each member’s personal Saviour as well as the owner of our church.
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The board is called upon to connect in the following areas: with Christ by understanding His mission; with People by understanding our cultural context and church community; with our Principles by operating within their guidelines and updating the church’s organizational documents; with the Lead Pastor by supporting his vision casting but also by monitoring performance.
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The board defines the goals, boundaries and measurements for success in regards to the mission of TJC: leading people to follow Jesus- love God- love others.
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The board makes decisions/judgments on established boundaries along with corrective responses that provides protection and creates accountability.
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The board seeks to support and encourage the leadership and those managing the ministries of the church.
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The board is the governing leadership of the church and oversees all congregational meetings.
Governance - what is that?
The role of the board is to provide what we call governance. That word ‘governance’ is not used by many people, but perhaps this word picture can help. Think of a sporting event. Of course, there are the players, the coach, the coach assistants and the crowd. But we are missing some other vital roles without which the sporting event could not take place. We need referees, scorekeepers and cheerleaders. This is a good analogy for the board. Their overall responsibility is to ensure that our church is playing within the rules/boundaries; calling attention to any ministry infractions (referee) while also measuring ministry outcomes (scorekeeper), and encouraging every effort that accomplishes our church mission (cheerleader).
The Selection Steps
Step 1 – Any member of the 3 TJC congregations may email the board to recommend a potential board member. Include name of nominee and a couple of sentences explaining why they would make a good board member.
Step 2 – Anyone recommended as a board member will be contacted and asked to give prayerful consideration to their nomination.
Step 3 – The nominees will be contacted again to see if they will be open to take part in the training for board members.
Step 4 – Potential board members must successfully complete a board training and interview covering the mission, vision and structure of the church.
Step 5 – Potential board members sign a covenant to model high standards of participation, service, supportiveness and giving. (See Board Member Covenant)
Step 6 – Potential board members that have been certified by the board as qualified to serve are presented to the congregation for a church vote of approval at the Annual Gathering Meeting (AGM).
Step 7 – Those individuals who are selected by the church membership will join the Board for the upcoming year. The others will be asked to let their name remain on a Reserve List for either future involvement or possible replacement, during that ministry year, should a board member need to withdraw their involvement prior to the completion of their term.