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COMMITTEES

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MOUNTAIN LAUREL PRESBYTERY'S COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS

PRESBYTERY COUNCIL

Purpose

The Presbytery Council seeks to provide oversight and support to the work of the presbytery, our congregations, and the leadership of our 66 churches and two worshipping communities. 

 

The Presbytery Council is responsible to:

  • Set the vision for the presbytery to flow through the work of all committees

  • Coordinate the work of committees and other structures of the presbytery

  • Include in each of its regular meetings a time of visioning for the presbytery led by the Vice Moderator

  • Empower or commission committees to carry out the work of the presbytery granting them decision making power and evaluating their effectiveness

  • Adopt and maintain bylaws and standing rules that detail, among other things, the authority and decision-making responsibilities for officers, committees, Presbytery Council and Presbytery Assemblies

  • Ensure that leadership is developed and trained to help the presbytery live into its vision and mission

  • Serve as the trustees of the presbytery

 

Membership/terms of service – 8 members

  • Presbytery Moderator, 1 year, Chair of Council

  • Presbytery Vice-Moderator, 1 year, Chair of Incarnation and Empowerment Committee

  • Presbytery Past Moderator, 1 year, Chair of Shared Gifts Committee

  • Budget and Finance Committee Chair

  • Church Orders Committee Chair

  • Personnel Committee Chair

  • Property and Resource Committee Chair

  • Technology and Communication Committee Chair

COMMITTEES OF PRESBYTERY COUNCIL

Budget and Finance Committee

Responsible for:

  • Monitoring the finances and per capita receipts of the presbytery

  • Providing financial reports to Presbytery Assemblies

  • Overseeing the investment and payment of grants recommended by committees 

  • Recommending an annual budget and per capita rate for the presbytery to be approved by the Presbytery Council and presbytery

  • Partnering with the Incarnation and Empowerment Committee in providing educational opportunities for the presbytery related to church finances

  • Working closely with the Presbytery Treasurer in fulfilling its responsibilities

 
Membership/Terms of Service

  • 6 members serving staggered three-year terms with a third of the committee rotating off each year

Incarnation and Empowerment Committee

Responsible for:

  • Casting a vision for the presbytery that drives everything the presbytery does

  • Recommending an annual theme for the presbytery’s work and ministry that helps us live into the vision

  • Administering and awarding designated grant funds held by the presbytery

  • Partnering with other committees to offer educational events that support the ministry and leaders of our congregations and the needs they express to this committee through regular surveys.

 
Membership/Terms of Service

  • 7 members: one is the Presbytery Vice Moderator serving a one-year term and the other six serving staggered three-year terms with a third of the committee rotating off each year

Property and Resource Committee

Responsible for:

  • Assisting, as needed, congregations with property and finance issues

  • Overseeing church property sales (full or partial), loans, insurance, deeds, leases, and church financial investments

  • Resourcing and training Administrative Commissions tasked with dissolving a congregation

  • Working closely with the Budget and Finance as well as Church Orders Committees in carrying out the work of this committee

  • Maintain a pool of people who are trained and experienced in church property issues to serve on Administrative Commissions when needed

  • Partnering with the Incarnation and Empowerment Committee in providing educational opportunities for members of the presbytery related to church property and finances

 
Membership/Terms of Service

  • 6 members serving staggered three-year terms with one third of the committee rotating off each year

Committee on Church Orders (COCO)

Responsible for:

  • Fulfilling the duties of Committee on Ministry and Committee on Preparation for Ministry as outlined in the Book of Order

  • Creating and providing training for Commissioned Ruling Elders

  • Partnering with the Incarnation and Empowerment Committee in providing opportunities for education and nurture for clergy and Commissioned Ruling Elders

  • Maintaining a structure of individual connections with each church in the presbytery

  • Administering the Emmons Scholarship

  • Establishing subcommittees and/or regions to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the committee.

 
Membership/Terms of Service

  • 18 members serving staggered three-year terms with a third of the committee rotating off each year

Personnel Committee

Responsible for:

  • Overseeing the performance of all staff members of the presbytery including hiring, firing, and annual performance evaluation

  • Arranging employer agreements with the Board of Pensions of the PC(USA)

  • Maintaining, reviewing, and updating personnel policies as needed

  • Approving all staff position descriptions

  • Assisting the General Presbyter, as head of staff, in resolving any personnel issues

 
Membership/Terms of Service

  • 3 members serving staggered three-year terms with a third of the committee rotating off each year

Technology and Communications Committee

Responsible for:

  • Ensuring technological resources are in place for any virtual or hybrid Presbytery Assembly

  • Creating a communication plan for the presbytery that helps in keeping congregations and minister members of presbytery regularly informed on the life and ministry of the presbytery

  • Supporting and assisting the Office Administrator in carrying out the communication plan

  • Providing technology advice and technical assistance to congregations

 

Membership/Terms of Service

  • 6 members serving staggered three-year terms with one member rotating off each year

COMMITTEES OF THE PRESBYTERY (not of Presbytery Council)

Shared Gifts Committee

Purpose

Responsible for:

  • Identifying and nominating to the presbytery individuals who are gifted and called to serve as presbytery officers, members of the presbytery committees, commissioners to Synod and General Assembly, and other leadership needs as appropriate

  • Fulfilling the duties of the Nominating Committee and Committee on Representation as outlined in the Book of Order

  • Ensuring, as much as possible, that membership of committees is representative of the makeup of our presbytery membership including, but not limited to, gender, ethnicity, and geographical location.  Especially in the first few years of the new presbytery, every effort should be made for equal representation from the two former presbyteries.

  • Partnering with the Incarnation and Empowerment Committee in providing educational opportunities for members of the presbytery related to call and service to the presbytery

 

Membership/Terms of Service

  • 7 members: one is the Past Moderator of the Presbytery serving a one-year term and the other six serving staggered three-year terms with a third of the committee rotating off each year

Permanent Judicial Commission

To fulfill the requirements for a Presbytery Judicial Commission as described in the Book of Order, D 3.01-3.06

 

Membership/Terms of Service

  • 9 members serving in three classes of six years each, with each class as equal as possible in size and with one class completing its term every two years.

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