Elder Communication
Elder Communication
The Board of Elders desires to have regular, transparent communication with the church family of Mountainview. This page is part of the "hub" of communication for the Elders to communicate with the congregation what the Board has been, and is currently, working on. Below you will see a FAQ section and a quarterly update of communication of what Mountainview's Elder Board has been working on, making decisions on, and working toward. While the Elders have a number of conversations that must remain confidential, there are a number of things that we want to openly share with you and celebrate what God is doing in our midst.
What Your Elders Have Been Working On:
Since this is the first of its kind communication, I am tempted to take you back the entire three years that I have been serving at Mountainview, and all that the Elders of MTNVW have navigated through. If we were to list all of it out, it would be an amazing list. And I am continually impressed and amazed by the resiliency of Mountainview's Lay Elders. These men serve and volunteer their time relentlessly in order to help Mountainview navigate through its various seasons. In the first 18 months that I came to Mountainview, the Elder Board was tasked to completely change the structure of the church: Mission, Core Values, Vision, as well as organizational and financial restructuring. I don't have time to go into all the details of this, but it laid the foundation for the previous 18 months of work.
I look back over the last 18 months, and I see another busy season of work that the Elders engaged in. This work was started with the knowledge that we need to recruit and equip a new group of Elders for a new season at Mountainview. Our By-Laws required it. But in order to do that well, we need to address and assess a few things: 1) our current doctrinal statement, 2) our current By-Laws, and 3) how the Elder Board would operate.
The Elders have spent hours upon hours studying scripture and establishing a comprehensive doctrinal statement of what Mountainview believes. This was more than an endeavor of the basic core beliefs on most church websites. This became a comprehensive, 23-page document that deals with three tiers of doctrine: Essential, Central, and Important beliefs. These not only shape what is taught at Mountainview, but also shape its leadership and the church's practice. Before we pursued selecting new Elders or ministry staff, we needed to have a doctrinal statement for them to align with.
The Elder Board also took on the task of assessing and updating the current By-Laws of the church. Since this is new season of MTNVW, there was language and clarity that we found needed to be given to the By-Laws for smooth operations. We looked at a number of trusted sources--authors and experts in the area of church by-laws, as well as a number of other churches' By-Laws. We were looking for current "best practices" and wisdom, while also creating a document that reflects who we distinctly are as Mountainview--as a non-denominational church with a Christian Church/Restoration Movement background. We then sent it to a lawyer with expertise in church by-laws for his legal advice, and shaped the document around a number of his (minor) suggestions. Before we pursued selecting new elders or ministry staff, we needed to know how the church is going to operate moving forward for them to align with.
We also worked on an "Elder Covenant" as well as an "Elder Policy and Procedures". The Elder Covenant is a commitment to how they will work together interpersonally. The Elder Policy and Procedures is a commitment to how the Elders will work organizationally.
This is on top of the normal business of the Elder Board and our love to pray for the needs of our church family.
FAQs
The board is a collection of qualified men who have been equipped to be Elders at MTNVW and affirmed by the congregation. The board is comprised of the Lead Pastor and Lay Elders. According to MTNVW's By-Laws, there must be at minimum two lay elders + the Lead Pastor, for a total of three. In the Elder meetings, there is no distinction of hierarchy or importance. Each man has one equal vote when making decisions. The Lead Pastor serves as President of the organization--and also serves as both Elder and staff member. He is the only Staff Elder. The rest of the men are Lay-Elders, or volunteers who are qualified, equipped, and called to serve as protectors, shepherds, and decision-makers for the health and thriving of Mountainview Christian Church. You can see all of our current Elders at: https://www.mtnvw.org/elders
The Elders typically meet for Elder Board meetings the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
The Elders structure each meeting around their primary duties. We begin with prayer. We dive into God's Word and pour into each other spiritually. Then we get to the business of MTNVW. The topics can change from meeting to meeting. But the Elders discuss the finances of the MTNVW monthly, receive pastoral updates from the Lead Pastor, and discuss any big-picture items such as future plans, large expenditures, staffing, policies, and spiritual matters of the MTNVW church family.
When decisions are needed to be made, a motion is given, another elder seconds that decision to be voted on. Then each elder has one vote. The goal for every vote is for the entire board to move forward when decisions are unanimous. Much discussion, study, and prayer go into each decision the elders make.
Over the past 6-8 months, two of our Elders needed to step down from their roles as elders. Scott Davenport stepped down from serving as an Elder because of health reasons. Dan Hubbard stepped down, and he and his wife, Kathryn, decided to attend another church. We miss them dearly.
We are now in the process of having discussions with a number of men who we believe meet the qualifications of an Elder at MTNVW. We are asking them to also do a self-assessment of their own qualifications and for them to all go through an Elder training course, where we will work through our doctrinal statement, By-Laws, policies and procedures, and a few equipping books on Eldership. Then they will shadow in the Elder Board meetings. The goal is to have a pool of qualified men who desire and feel called to be Elders at Mountainview.