April Leadership Council Update

Your Leadership Council has had a busy April!

Back in January 2021, we began a new experiment of ministry when the Presbyteries of North Central Iowa, Prospect Hill and Des Moines started using a shared staff model.  Instead of each presbytery having its own executives and clerks, we jointly hired 3 executives and an office manager.  The original covenant for this model was through 2027 with an evaluation to take place in the middle of the agreement.  That mid-term evaluation took place on April 13 when the three Leadership Councils of the presbyteries, along with our staff, members of each presbytery’s finance committees and also members of the Personnel Commission met in Boone, IA for an all-day time of prayer and discernment.

We took time to celebrate the many strengths of this model and how it has blessed our presbyteries and congregations.  But we also recognized that there are some serious weaknesses that must be addressed.  Is this model fiscally sustainable?  Are there better ways in which we can serve our congregations?  And most importantly, is this who God is calling us to be in this time and place?  We are not done in discerning God’s plan for us and we ask that you would join us in prayer as we journey together on this path.  You can anticipate further updates both from your Leadership Council and the Personnel Commission as we continue to seek God’s will for our three presbyteries.

Then on April 16 your Leadership Council met for its monthly meeting.  Here are some of the highlights of that gathering.

• We spent time informally reflecting upon the joint meeting of the Leadership Councils that we had on the previous Saturday.
• We heard reports from both the Finance and Personnel Committees.
• We discussed the duties and roles of Leadership Council as they are outlined in the Manual of Operations (12.5). Are there items on this list that need to change?
• We reflected on the current structure of Leadership Council and if this needs to be modified in a way that better ministers to the presbytery and its congregations.
• We looked at the upcoming meeting of presbytery in Oskaloosa on May 14. The theme for both worship and continuing education will be on last year’s trip to the Mexican border by members of our presbytery.
• We listened to the reports of our presbytery executives.
• We received the reports of the Leadership Council’s liaisons to the different committees of the Presbytery.

David Endriss
Leadership Council member and liaison to Committee for Preparation of Ministry