Church Council

Purpose
Congregation’s biblical calling
Christ gave to the church leaders and their responsibility is to equip God’s people
for the work and ministry of building up the church, the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-12

Purpose/Mission of A United Methodist Congregation
Make new and deepen the faith of all disciples to be loyal to Christ through their prayers,
presence and participation in the church, and to engage in ministries of witness, mercy and
justice in the world.
(Based on the membership vows of The United Methodist Church)
A congregation builds up the body of Christ to serve in the world.

The purpose of the church council
The church council is to receive updates and evaluate the congregations progress toward vitality goals, sustainability measures, ministries to build up the body of Christ and engage in mission and ministry with the community, finances, leadership engagement and property maintenance. The church council is to evaluate the congregation’s progress yearly and propose goals to the charge/church conference each year.

Typical Agenda
The church council is to meet at least four times a year. A typical agenda may include the following.

• A Bible reading or devotional and prayer.
• The pastor or church council chairperson might invite everyone to read an article or watch a video about an aspect of mission or strategy concerning congregations and spend 20-30 minutes discussing how the article informs the mission and ministry of the congregation.

Ask three questions.

• • What has gone well since we last met?
  • Where did you see God at work through our congregation?
  • What is something we learned and how are we applying it to our ministry?
• Review of the congregation’s goals and update on progress toward the goals.
  • Ministry reports.
  • Property report.
  • Finance report.
  • Other reports.
  • New business.
  • Adjourn

1. Charge/church conference form
   Select the following link to complete the appraisal. To be completed by ??? Congregational Appraisal
   Select the following like to complete the charge/church conference report by ??? Church Council Charge/Church Conference Report