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Yeppoon Wesleyan Methodist Church Approach To Ministry

Purpose

We are a people called to reach people for Christ through Outreach, Worship, Discipleship and Service and develop them into fully committed followers of Christ.

Approach to Ministry

This resource is an attempt to address matters not covered in the Handbook as a statement of how church life proceeds, particularly addressing issues pertaining to internal matters of the Yeppoon Wesleyan Methodist Church. They address a variety of issues, some major, some minor. Our purpose is to avoid misunderstanding and ensure that congenial relationships permeate the whole church. Always in their implementation, the spirit rather than the letter is to be recognised; but this does not mean office bearers can afford to be negligent in honouring their commitments and responsibilities. We are serving the Lord Christ and His people.

Board Meetings

  • As far as possible, Church Board Member positions are open for re-election for up to three (3) years, after which Board Members are required to take a year of absence from this position.
  • Covenant members to be eligible for nominations for a position on the Board would be expected to have been attending a Growth Group for at least three (3) months at the time of nomination. It is preferred that, where possible, the Personal Discipleship course be under taken as part of this commitment.
  • While serving on the Board, board members are encouraged to complete the Church Leadership and the Church Health courses over a two year period.
  • Board Meetings are usually held monthly and each Ministry Leader is to provide a report (preferably written) for the monthly Board Meetings. They should be received in time for their distribution with the Minutes and Agendas on the Sunday prior to the Board Meetings, if possible. Church Members should be informed of significant Board Meeting decisions via the Bulletin.
  • Incoming Board Members are invited to attend the last Board Meeting for the year to facilitate an overlap and hand-over at the first meeting after Assembly.
  • The Board will review the Membership Roll each year.
  • The Board will review the Risk Management Document each year

Equipment

  • An Inventory of all assets [or contents], which includes the value and which ministry is responsible for individual items, shall be updated each year. Ministry leaders are responsible for keeping these up to date. If an inventory is not available, it will be an early priority of the ministry leader to prepare one. has not begun, the first responsibility is that a document be prepared by the ministry leader.
  • When items are not owned by the church, actual ownership should be recorded.

Finance

  • The Senior Pastor or Associate Pastor are authorised to approve all purchases up to $1,000.00. Two (2) signatures are always required on any cheques issued. The maintenance officer is authorised to approve purchases up to $500 in respect of maintenance of the church property and equipment.
  • Payment policy for visiting preachers (pulpit supply). See Worship.
  • Insurance of personnel and assets shall be the responsibility of the Treasurer.

Auditing

  • Finances of Auxiliary Groups: It is the Treasurer’s responsibility to ensure that all auxiliaries have their books audited at the end of each financial year.
  • As well as the regular Annual Audits, the financial records are to be audited whenever there is a change of Treasurer.

Goals

Goals are set annually by the Church Board at the Annual Planning Retreat.

Growth Groups

  • To be led by a leader approved by the Director of Christian Education or Senior Pastor or Board.
  • An accurate record of attendance is to be kept and provided to the Administration Director for inclusion in church records at least monthly for statistical and safety purposes.
  • To work to achieve a maximum of 12 people and then to look to divide into two smaller groups.
  • Should always try and have an ‘apprentice’ leader in preparation for when the group divides.
  • It will be the responsibility of the Christian Education Director to review and approve study material.
  • As much as possible, the host should not also be the leader.

Expectations for Leadership

It is a Policy of the Yeppoon Wesleyan Methodist Church that all church staff and office bearers read and understand to their respective Job Expectations

All ministry leaders are to abide by the Leadership Covenant in the Handbook (para1195)

Where there is no written job expectation for a particular ministry, the first priority of the respective ministry leader is to ensure that such a statement be prepared by approaching the Pastor who will be responsible to take this matter up with the departmental head concerned

One of duties of the Administration Department is to collate the document and print out three (3) copies. (1) is kept in the Admin Office, and the other two (2) are kept by the office bearer and the Ministry Leader

This document is considered to be essential in the life of this church because:

  • People must be aware of what is expected of each role.
  • The quality of performance is raised.
  • They provide assistance with training at times of hand-over.
  • They help when delegating tasks.
  • If correction is needed we have a common basis of expectation. Hull’s three (3) questions are useful at such times:
    • What did we agree to?
    • What has changed?
    • Are you unwilling or unable?
  • Office bearers are protected from “Who-do-you-think-you-are?” type questions.

Approval of Job Expectations

Job Expectations are to be approved by the Local Board of Administration and the appropriate Ministry Leader before being adopted and are to be reviewed at least every twelve months.

Membership

  • All covenant members agree to an annual review of their membership commitments
  • Any Covenant member transferring from another Church is to review our approach to ministry document and membership commitments.
  • Continued neglect of the agreed responsibilities of a covenant member may result in an early review of such membership if it is deemed to be affecting the church fellowship in a destabilising fashion.

Ministry Groups

  • Leaders of ministry groups (Administration, Worship, Community Care, Family Ministries & Christian Education) will be appointed by the Local Church Board and are to be Covenant members within the local church.
  • As well as the appropriate Job Expectations, Character, regular attendance and participation in the life of the church, and the ministry group’s events, are areas to be considered for all people participating in a ministry.

New Groups:

Before a ministry or outreach group begins (or resumes), or the significant expansion of an existing group, the following conditions are to be in place:

  • The Senior Pastor/Board appoints a leader
  • The Board approves a Statement of Purpose created by the leader, consistent with the Statement of Purpose and Core Values of the church.
  • The Senior Pastor and appropriate Ministry Leader must approve the team committed to undertaking the ministry
  • Fund Raising: Funds raised for a special project (over and above the regular running cost of the group) are to be approved by the Board, who will approve not only the project but the manner of fund raising.
  • Self-funded groups are to keep an up to date cash ledger to account for all monies incoming and outgoing. It will be the responsibility of the ministry leader to ensure that all tax invoices are presented to the Treasurer monthly so that GST can be appropriately dealt with in compliance with the Tax laws in place from time to time. These books are to be audited by the treasurer each quarter.
  • Calendar: The calendar for various ministries within the church must be compatible with the calendar for the church as a whole
  • Counselling: The church insurances do not permit unqualified persons to conduct counselling sessions. Where counselling is available or in any emotive ministry situation, such ministry shall be provided by a member of the same gender unless the circumstances are exceptional.

Multi-level Marketing

It is a policy of this Church that no aspect of multilevel marketing is to be carried out within our activities or ministries.

Promotions

(It should be noted that important matters need to be communicated in a variety of ways to get the message through. Also, it should be kept in mind that promotions need to give sufficient details for newcomers to understand them)

  1. The Bulletin, church web site, and the Church Facebook page* serve as the usual avenues of communication for our church. Social media sites including Facebook and the like shall not be commenced by an individual or ministry where it purports to represent the church or its ministries in an unauthorised manner. Ministries are encouraged to utilize the approved avenues for communication to encourage oneness and consistency. Even where the approved avenues are utilized, they shall be consistent with (d) and (e) below.
  2. Personal information and news may be briefly communicated in worship services, as long as the circumstances are explained appropriately.
  3. Pulpit announcements should be limited to notices which are considered significant for the entire congregation and three (3) minutes maximum.
  4. Matters which are not consistent with our Statement of Purpose, Membership Commitments and Core Values or which clash with, or come immediately before an activity of this church will not be communicated.
  5. All posts to social media pages are to be approved by the designated administrators of those pages and should be designed to inform and encourage the entire church family.
  6. Unrequested Publications: All promotional materials must be approved by Senior Pastor before being displayed or distributed in the church. Only publications from ministries that are consistent with our Statement of Purpose, Membership Commitments and Core Values will be accepted for distribution; and all promotional materials must be approved by Senior Pastor before being displayed or distributed in the church.
  7. Where external events clash with the local church events, promotional preference will always be given to the local church.

Workplace Health and Safety

  • The Incident Report Book (kept with the First Aid Kit) is to be filled in, in the case of any accidents. This is the responsibility of the senior leader in charge at the time.
  • All ministry leaders must hold a current First Aid certificate.
  • A current first Aid certificate holder must be present at any function of the church.
  • In the event of an accident or illness parents should be advised of the matter and actions taken. No promise or undertaking should ever be made that insurance cover for the injury is available. An Accident Report should be made and handed to the Pastor.
  • A key register is to be kept with only Board members, ministry leaders and cleaner having allocated keys. All other people wishing to have a key must sign one out on the Sunday prior to its use and return it the following week. The Board may extend the use of the keys to ministries under special circumstances. This register will be reviewed by the Board on an annual basis. 

Worship Services

Professionalism in Church Services

  • It is a responsibility of the Worship Director (or the Senior Pastor in his/her absence) to screen items for presentation during services.
  • Our church’s commitment to excellence is to be balanced with a commitment to encourage participation in services.
  • The wording of our songs will be in contemporary English, as far as possible, regardless of the source.
  • Appropriate dress code is expected of those ministering in worship services.
  • Payment Policy for Visiting Preachers (Pulpit Supply): Visiting preachers are to be paid $100.00 for one (1) service.

This is a living document, stable but flexible, and it is reviewed annually to keep it current for the local church
This edition approved by the Church Board of the Yeppoon Wesleyan Methodist Church January 2015

*APPENDIX A

The Facebook usage guidelines form a working part of this document.

Facebook Usage Guidelines

When using the Yeppoon Wesleyan Methodist Church Facebook page the following requirements should be adhered to.

  • Where possible, all ministries should have a media contact person responsible for material sent to be posted on the Facebook page.
  • All posts are to be sent to, and posted by, the Facebook administrators appointed by the Local Church Board – currently Jonathan McClintock and Richard Crosland.
  • All requests for posts should be made, where possible, one week in advance to ensure the post can be allowed for in the posting schedule.
  • Content is not to include any personally identifiable photos or information without consent from the persons, and where the content includes children or persons under the age of 18, the parent or guardian must give consent.
  • Posts should be kept to one or two sentences to help people engage with the content.
  • If longer content is required (ie articles etc.) please utilise the church webpage and post an article. Then it can be linked through to the Facebook page for promotion.
  • Any events listed on the Facebook page should be approved by the Local Church Board.
  • At no point should Facebook replace email, handouts or verbal communication as not all members of the church are using Facebook. Facebook is to be one of the methods of communication not the only method when advertising events or notifying the general public.
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