We're Not Even Unorganized
Let's talk governance *yawn* I know, for some of you this isn't your cup of plasma. But it's important to talk about because in the years ahead, good governance, with godly servant leadership, will form the backbone of our Crosspoint community. So I want to tell you a bit about where we are at and where we are going in terms of our governance.
First off, we're not even unorganized. What? This is an interesting term the C&MA uses to describe the first stage a church must transition to in its maturity. A church first becomes unorganized and then it becomes organized - an official charter member church under the C&MA. Becoming unorganized usually takes a couple of years. Becoming organized can take a whole lot longer.
We're not even unorganized but that doesn't mean we're disorganized! Technically, until we reach 'unorganized' status, Crosspoint is a ministry of Beulah Alliance Church. When we established Crosspoint, we put together a partnership agreement with Beulah, created a budget and Ministry Scorecard (how we measure success and are being held accountable).
As the Lead Pastor of Crosspoint, I am accountable to Keith Taylor, the Lead Pastor of Beulah, as well as their Board of Elders. We send a report every month to Beulah that shares the results of our Ministry Scorecard. I officially meet with Keith once a month. Along the way there are also other short meetings that occur with different members of the Beulah staff. Beulah is also our 'umbrella charity' because we currently do not have charitable status. Every Crosspoint expense is therefore scrutinized according to the excellent checks and balances of Beulah's financial systems and policies. We are so grateful for all of the assistance that Beulah Alliance Church has given us in getting established! And they continue to serve us in regards to our financials.
Crosspoint Church also has a Lead Team. As I wrote in a previous blogpost, "the Lead Team consists of fully-devoted Christ-followers who are committed to the mission and values of Crosspoint Church. They provide advisory spiritual leadership for major ministry decisions. They prayerfully discern the health and effectiveness of all our ministries and seek to understand what God’s will is for the future of our church community."
So our next goal for governance is to become an "unorganized church." We will be working with the C&MA towards this end. WIth this will also come our own charitable status. We will need to apply to the government for this (I'm currently sweating over a very lengthy, thorough, sixteen-page application). Our goal is to have all of this in place by the end of our next fiscal year (so July 1, 2012). The charitable application can take up to six months to process.
When we are unorganized, what will that mean? It means that we will form a very small membership of at least fifteen people (this is different than an official church membership). It means that the District will work with me in appointing an "Advisory Committee" which will essentially be our Lead Team, plus a few more people. It means that we will have a bit more autonomy in terms of financial decisions, but it also means that we will have to move towards tracking our own finances and managing our own financial systems. It also means that we will be one step closer towards developing an official membership and Board of Elders. It means that we will be led differently - we will have greater autonomy but will develop and empower leaders from within to govern Crosspoint.
So coming this fall, we will be taking our first steps toward becoming unorganized. We will form our small membership and officially form our advisory team. We'll give you a bit more details about members as we get closer to the fall. But for now, it's essentially a Christ-follower who is baptized and who embraces our values, and statement of faith. And more importantly it's someone who is willing to say, "I'm committed to this community and what we're doing for the long haul. I covenant to journey this road with you." Okay, enough about membership.
Truth be told, I'm excited about the men and women who God is shaping and raising up in our midst. Some of you will one day be elders at Crosspoint. Have you ever thought about that? That one day Christ will call you to govern and lead his church?
That's all for now.
