You might have heard some talk going around the church about something called the Simplified Accountable Structure. Since that is a mouthful, it is most often referred to as the SAS model. This model looks at the current structure of the administrative life of the church and considers ways it can be simplified for maximum efficiency. When we talk about the administrative life of the church, we are referring to the Administrative Board, Finance Committee, Trustees, and Staff Pastor Parish Relations Committee. The SAS joins together all four committees creating a one-board model.
Currently, we are exploring the ins and outs of this model. A team of church members has been assembled to help the church understand what exactly this model is. There has also been a prayer team formed to pray us through this process. As we spend time engaging the information, we would like to invite you on this journey with us. Nothing about this process is meant to be kept secret. All information is open for all to know. You can be a part of this process in three ways.
Pray. Even as you don’t know the details or what we are fully talking about, you can pray anyway. Pray for God to illuminate our paths and sharpen our minds to digest well the information we are reading.
Ask. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you might have. Ask us anything, and we will try our best to answer with the information we know.
Attend. Be on the lookout for a town hall meeting that we will be hosting later in November. All will be invited to attend this meeting.
Lastly, to be absolutely clear, we are not currently deciding if we are adopting this process, we are simply educating ourselves and you on it. We are in Phase 1 “Discernment” of a 3-phase process. We will be here for a while.
Sincerely, the SAS Communications Team,
Jenine Furry, Pam Honeychurch, Mark Benjamin, Jim Canfield, Donna Sawhill, and Hannah Loughman
Photo by Hotel Aurthur