On July 17th at our 2022 Annual Family Business Meeting, we voted on amendments to the constitution and bylaws. All eight of the amendments passed;
see the summary of them here.
One of the amendments allows for an alternative executive model– an Executive Team that divides the responsibilities of an Executive Pastor to multiple senior staff. The Bethel Elders determine which model (Executive Team or Executive Pastor) is used on an annual basis (Sections Impacted: Bylaws Article 2 Section 2.C and Section 3.C). The reasons for adding this option include: ministry needs, industry best practices, access to qualified personnel that may not lend themselves to the Executive Pastor model, and a practical plan that could be executed in an emergency situation– if an executive pastor left staff for an extended period of time (like illness, for example) or left staff for another career opportunity (executive functions would therefore not cease).
So, you may be wondering about the application of this amendment. Will we move to an executive team model this year? And, if so, how will the executive team function?
The Bethel elders have determined that the Executive Team model is the best fit for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The model will be monitored for effectiveness throughout the year, and evaluated yearly to determine ongoing implementation or cessation.
The executive team works together to complete tasks of the Executive Pastor. Executive Team members are senior staff who fill a portion of the Executive Pastor role they are collectively fulfilling. Most of those roles are constitutionally specified. The Executive Pastor (or Executive Team) is responsible for the daily administration of the church. He (they) shall be responsible for motivation, supervision and direction of the ministry staff and shall annually report on staff performance to the Bethel Elders (Additional Responsibilities listed in Section 3: Duties).
A summary of this role includes church-wide finances, staff development and ministry alignment. The executive team for the 2022-23 fiscal year will be:
Rachal Carr - Executive Ministry alignment
Angie Hufford - Executive Staff care and development
Kent Ladendorf - Executive Finances
It is helpful to think of this team as a group that meets to fulfill the role of Executive Pastor. This is not a leadership or strategy team. Each person on the team has both executive roles and Richland campus specific roles. The team meets weekly to make sure they are aligned with these areas of day-to-day church functions. Additionally, all three current team members were carrying some of these roles prior to Steven’s resignation. While their executive roles are "duty specific," they work together (under the supervision of the Richland campus pastor) to ensure collaboration and unity are prevalent.
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