Here is a covenant that board members of the local church I most recently served were asked to sign. The goal of this covenant was to raise the bar of spiritual leadership for board members in the local church. I wanted to empower them to be more like biblical elders than micro administrators. I encourage you to modify this for your church board members. I believe that when the bar of Christian leadership is raised, lay people will rise to the occasion.
-Character: I will model Christ-like love and leadership consistently by not gossiping, “speaking the truth in love,” and following through with my leadership commitments. I realize that more important in ministry than giftedness is godliness.
-Competence: I will pursue the skills needed for Christian leadership through ministry leader forums and retreats, as well as conferences, books, etc., so that I reach my leadership potential for Christ.
-Accountability: I understand and accept that I am accountable to the leadership of the church (Pastoral Staff and Board) if I consistently fail to abide by this covenant.
Signed: __________________________________________________ Date:_____________
In
consideration of the confidence placed in me by the local church for the leadership role I now fulfill, I hereby covenant to do the following:
-Character: I will model Christ-like love and leadership consistently by not gossiping, “speaking the truth in love,” and following through with my leadership commitments. I realize that more important in ministry than giftedness is godliness.
-Confidentiality: I recognize that our board meetings will often include
discussion about matters that should be kept confidential to protect the
reputation of individuals and the church.
-Unity: I will be a team
player who realizes that my ministry is only one part of the big picture vision
God has given the church to “help seekers become servants of Christ.” I will do everything I can to throw
water and not fuel on the fire of conflicts that may arise.
-Attendance: I will attend corporate worship
services with my brothers and sisters every Sunday morning, unless sick,
traveling, or emergency situations arise. I will also attend those events
outside of the Sunday morning worship services that are important for board
members (ie. Concerts of Prayer, All-Church Fellowship Events, Local Church
Conference in May).
-Growth: I will attend to
my own development in Christ as I lead others to a deeper walk with
Christ through my ministry. This means I
will devote time alone with God on a regular basis through prayer, Bible Study
and devotional reading. I will also
pursue growth through more communal means of discipleship suxh as growth groups
and accountability relationships.
-Support: I will do
whatever I can to support the vision God has given the church to “help seekers
become servants of Christ.” I realize
this support includes prayer for my church and tithing to build God’s kingdom
through my church (tithing is the biblical principle of setting aside 10% of
one’s income to support the ministry of the local church). I will also support the church by being involved
in a hand’s on ministry outside of my service on the board.
-Reliability: I will be
faithful to God through my leadership on the board by demonstrating the Five P’s:
Punctuality (on time to serve), Preparedness (ready to serve), Passion
(excited to serve), Persistence (finishing my turn to serve) and Perfect
Devotion (committed to serve).
-Competence: I will pursue the skills needed for Christian leadership through ministry leader forums and retreats, as well as conferences, books, etc., so that I reach my leadership potential for Christ.
-Accountability: I understand and accept that I am accountable to the leadership of the church (Pastoral Staff and Board) if I consistently fail to abide by this covenant.
Signed: __________________________________________________ Date:_____________
3 comments:
How long before you put something like this in place? How is/was it received? Did you do any training/ideas etc leading up to the signing of?
Good questions Kirby. I didn't implement this until I felt our leadership culture was ready for it. For me, that was about 2 years into my time at the church. By that time when had already raised the bar some in our leadership culture. Plus, when it came to electing new board members we became very strategic about nominating the kind of people who would see the value of such a covenant.
when i came to the church I now lead these standard were important, but over time some LBA members have slacked off in their commitment. How can I implement something like this and not give the impression that I'm throwing darts targeted at particular board members?
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