ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Ministry Areas and Mutual Ministry
MINISTRY AREAS
Members of the Congregation Council will act as coordinators of the following ministry areas:
Christian Education: Works closely with other committees. Develops and oversees strategies and programs which provide opportunities for members of the congregation to grow in faith, personally and corporately, through educational programs. Examples include Sunday school, adult forum, Bible studies, Confirmation class, and outside educational opportunities.
Communications: Develop and maintain a network of communications, internal and external, using a variety of media: the internal used to inform members of events and decisions on a regular basis via weekly emails, social media posts, phone chains, etc.; the external used to increase awareness of Living Waters in the community via internet web presence, brochures, phonebook and newspaper advertising, as well as press releases highlighting events of particular significance.
Congregational Life: Develop and oversee strategies and programs which actively promote, facilitate and encourage involvement and inclusion of all congregational members in the worship, education, service, fellowship, stewardship and decision-making activities of the congregation.
Property: Oversee plans for development, use and maintenance of temporary and permanent facilities and property, including the parsonage, incorporating principles of good stewardship and mindful of our Purpose Statement.
Service: Develop and oversee strategies and programs which provide opportunities for service to those in need in the community and congregation, and encourage congregational members to participate in advocacy activities toward the furtherance of justice and peace for the sake of the Gospel.
Stewardship: Develop and oversee strategies for congregational evangelism and outreach in order to attract new members. Develop and oversee programs and procedures designed to strengthen and expand our faith. Develop and oversee strategies and programs which promote faithful stewardship and financial stability and independence.
Worship & Music: Develop and oversee the planning of worship services to provide opportunities for participation, education and growth in faith both personally and corporately. Examples include planning diverse worship and music formats, working with the pastor and church musicians, scheduling open seasonal planning meetings, and communicating with other ministry areas.
MUTUAL MINISTRY
What is Mutual Ministry? In short, the mutual ministry team is a committee selected by the pastor to confidentially evaluate sensitive issues that may be occuring within the congregation or between the pastor, council and congregates of the church. Its unofficial charge is to keep a finger on the pulse the congregation, making sure its direction is always Christ centered. Here are some additional official ELCA statements pertaining to the Mutual Ministry area.
The term “mutual ministry” recognizes that the Church’s ministry is the mutual concern of both the laity and the pastor. It encourages us to move away from a primary focus on the ministry of ordained clergy alone and includes all the people of God in the mutual work of ministry. There is one ministry in Christ and all baptized people participate in it according to the gifts given to them and the specific ministries entrusted to them.
In embracing mutual ministry, we understand that we are all God's beloved. Just as Jesus emerged from the waters of baptism to the announcement that "this is my son, my beloved; in him I am well pleased..." we too emerge from the waters of our baptisms as God's beloved, empowered to share in Christ's ministry, empowered to bring God's love and God's truth to a broken world.
We understand we are given to each other to look for and draw the Christ from each other. Together we help one another recognize that we are, indeed, God's beloved and that we are to respond to the One who loved us first by recognizing the God-given gifts each person has for ministry. As a community we affirm those gifts God calls us to offer within the community and in our daily lives, and we work together to match our gifts to the needs of the Church and the wider community.
Mutual ministry, therefore, on the one hand, is a commitment to recognize that we all share in Christ's ministry. It, on the other hand, is a process as we listen prayerfully together, as we discern various gifts, and as we become more and more in touch with ministry as a way of life, living out our ministries in the church and daily life.
Updated 4/6/2024
