Church Council

Annual Meeting Information

Thank you all who attended the Annual Meeting this year. It was a an evening of celebration of the past year and excitement about the coming year.

To read the Senior Minister’s Report & Annual Plan please click here.

To read the Ministry reports please click here.

Moving from Meetings to Ministry

At our Annual Church Meeting and Dinner on May 1st, we will hear about how our Ministry Staff and Church Council came to rethink the organizational life of Colonial Church. Christians desire to be a part of the church and it’s ministries, but maybe not so much around tables at meetings. Our committee structure – we started the year with ten committees – can make us somewhat fragmented, with each committee vying for its own funding, time, advertising, members etc. This may cause us to miss opportunities of shared ministry and shared vision. The Church Council has initiated a new organizational look for the life of our church, our new vision and the next chapter of our life together. It will provide a way to help more of our members serve at Colonial through an action-focused, project-oriented structure of doing ministry by using additional task forces as an alternative to the traditional, board/committee/meeting approach.

Traditionally, committee members serve a three-year term and are organized with a Chair and Vice-Chair. They typically meet one time per month. Task Force members serve for the duration of a season or project. They are led by ministry staff and they may or may not have routine meetings, but rather gather and work based on the needs of their project. Task Forces are assigned tasks that are defined by the Church Council or the Senior Minister and they report to the Church Council or the Senior Minister as appropriate.

Two years ago, the Children’s and Youth Committees were converted to Task Forces, as allowed for in our By-Laws. There currently are multiple Task Forces in Children’s Ministry and Youth Ministry. Children’s Task Forces are led by Anne-Marie Finsaas and other Children’s Ministry staff. Youth Task Forces are led by Brian Jones.

The success of that concept, along with the observations of our Senior Minister in his first year at Colonial, prompted the Church Council to consider this design for additional ministry areas for the future. This winter, discussions were held among the Church Council and the Adult Education, Outreach, and Worship, Music & Arts committees. Following those discussions, changing to a Task Force structure was proposed for those three specific committees. Task Forces for Outreach will be led by Jeff Lindsay, for Worship, Music and Arts by Mark Stover and for Adult Education by Danielle Jones.

An important goal of using this model is to open communication amongst groups through the staff and to the Church Council as well as for more flexibility in decision-making and action. We are excited about this new structure and look forward to participating with you in the next phase of God’s plan for Colonial Church. If you have any questions about this change please do not hesitate to ask any member of the Council.