Torrey Pines Christian Church
General Board Report to the Congregation
2004 - 2005
The Torrey Pines Christian Church General Board
Keith Sherwood / Chair
Officer / 3
Maynard Bissonnette / Vice-Chair
Officer / 6
Pauline Parry / Secretary
Officer / 7
Kent Harrison / Treasurer
Officer / With Annual Meeting Agenda
Lisa Hillan / Admin/Personnel / 8
Bettie Spangler / Christian Education / 10
Audrey Swartz / Christian Womans Fellowship / 11
Sandie Cooper / Congregational Activities,
Co-Chair / 12
Don Cooper / Congregational Activities,
Co-Chair / 12
Cindy Lewis / Deacons, Co-Chair / 13
Jeff Lewis / Deacons, Co-Chair / 13
Sharon Surles / Deacons, Co-Chair / 13
Bert Wahlen / Elders / 14
Allan Heck / Evangelism / 15
Dick Bale / House and Grounds / 16
Paul Ware / Stewardship / 18
Carl Brown / Trustees and Permanent Fund / 19
Rich Jones / Worship / 21
Detailed information about the Committee Chairs and Committee members may be found on pages 23- 25.
Annual Report 2004-2005
Chair of the Board, Keith Sherwood
Looking Back
This has been a particularly challenging year in the life of Torrey Pines Christian Church. Through it all we have worshiped together on Sunday mornings and performed ministry both here on campus and throughout the area. This, I think, speaks to the great love our Lord has for us, and our tenacity as a Community of Faith.
Minister, Staff changes
As board chair this year I accepted the resignations of Rev. Dale Suggs, Senior Minister; Rev. Dr. Sue Amyx, Associate Minister; Steve Turner, Director of Operations; Janet Fox, Administrative Assistant; Shelly Suggs, Worship Coordinator; and Lori Allen, Praise Band Worship Leader. TPCC lost an incredible amount of talent and institutional knowledge about running the church.I pray that TPCC never again has to face the challenge of losing so many senior staff level positions as it did this past year.
The remaining staff and lay leadership pulled together admirably, taking on additional responsibilities. Jim Brandt became the Interim Director of Operations;Dana Atkins became the Interim Office Coordinator. And in May, the congregation voted to call Rev. David Van Heyningen as Interim Senior Minister. All those “interims” are indicative of TPCC wanting to remain agile enough to react and structure itself appropriately as it discerns its mission going forward.
Transition Team
When TPCC lost its senior minister, the Board had to swiftly transition from an over-seeing role to an operations role. Because the larger Board meets only monthly, a smaller group volunteered to meet more often to effectively manage the many administration and operation decisions usually handled by a senior pastor. This team, made up of the Board Chair Keith Sherwood, Vice Chair Maynard Bissonnette, Secretary Pauline Parry and Treasurer Kent Harrison; Chair of the Elders Bert Wahlen;Mike Mazaika and Bettie Spangler; Director of Operations Jim Brandt; and occasionally Rich McCullen, has met weekly since December to address issues as they arose.
The new Board Officers, Rev. Van Heyningen, and Jim Brandt will have to decide the most appropriate and effective way to structure congregational, administrative and operational decision making starting in July.
New Schedule
Last June at the annual meeting, the congregation adopted a new Vision Statement, one that attempted to marry our traditional strength as a Great Commandment church with our desire to also be a Great Commission church. That is, in addition to being supportive to those already here and loving one another, to also go forth and make disciples, bringing more people here. One bold expression of that Vision was the Sunday morning schedule change. The aim was to place what was thought to be a more accessible service in what was thought to be a more accessible time.
The institution of the new schedule failed to take hold, largely through lack of buy-in from the congregation, some of whom felt they were not adequately consulted and part of the decision making process. We wrestled with this issue all year. We will be taking our next bold step at the annual congregational meeting, where we will again take up the schedule issue.
Success Stories
We have a great deal to be happy and proud of as a congregation after this last year, not the least of which is still worshiping together on Sunday mornings. In October, we hosted the biennial Regional Assembly. Not only did this bring hundreds from all over the region to our campus, more importantly it was the broadest congregational volunteer effort ever undertaken by TPCC. The Wedding Ministry continued uninterrupted, marrying nearly 40 couples without a single minister on staff. Great Start continued to prepare couples for marriage. The HouseBuilding ministry continued to build homes in Tijuana’s colonias. The Youth Group has transitioned leadership seamlessly, and is poised for growth, giving families with teenagers a reason to come to TPCC. Many other ministries continue to continue, because that’s how their participants “do church:” Evergreens, Card Ministry, Quilting, Praise Band and Choir, and others.
In the midst of a very unsettled time, the Interim Minister Search Committee ably lead by Barb Price, developed a process for calling a minister that was as open and transparent and communicative as any effort I have ever seen undertaken at TPCC. It included a weekend visit to TPCC by Rev. Van Heyningen where the congregation had multiple opportunities to meet David, and culminated in a congregational vote to call. The model they developed will suit us well in our next search for a settled minister.
As a congregation, we are and should be excited and looking forward to David’s arrival and steadying influence both on Sunday mornings and in the administration of TPCC.
Looking Forward
Rev. Van Heyningen has an important role to play. His role is to help us work through the process of defining who we are to make good decisions about schedule, resources, and the type of settled minister to most effectively lead us. He is not coming to fix us, nor is he here just to preach on Sunday mornings. We have a great deal of work to do together, but the outcome will be worth it: a shared sense of who we are and what we are about, and a consensus on the attributes of the right next settled minister.
Rebuilding
There is no doubt that we have suffered attrition, both in service attendance and in the volunteers that do the majority of the work of in any church. Our immediate challenge will be to re-establish joy and love as the hallmarks of any gathering of TPCCers. It will difficult work to simultaneously examine our differences and celebrate that which binds us together, but I for one believe the congregation to be up to the challenge.
Great Start and HouseBuilding, two ministries high lighted above, have been affected by drop off in volunteer participation. While not explicitly “going and making disciples,” these ministries are expressly targeted at those outside our immediate congregation. If you want to make a difference beyond the immediate life of TPCC, please consider these two worthy ministries.
In Conclusion
We have been quite literally a lay led congregation since December. We’ve learned that running a church without a minister is hard, but ultimately rewarding, work. We should all take comfort in the distance we’ve come in the last six months. I know that I have grown spiritually and in faith for the trials and triumphs of the last year, and I thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers of support all year long. I believe the congregation has grown spiritually for the tests that it has endured, and my hope for you is that you too consider yourself stronger in Faith now than a year ago.
Respectfully submitted,
Keith Sherwood
Torrey Pines Christian Church
Annual Report to the Board - Vice Chairman
5/10/05
If I could sum up this past year serving the Board and the congregation as your Vice Chairman, it would be to say that it has been a privilege to watch with true respect and wonder Keith Sherwood, your Board Chairman, spend his heart and his time for the future of Torrey Pines Christian Church.
As Vice Chairman, the majority of the time spent has been responding to phone calls and queries from the congregation about their concerns. These have been primarily about two issues: first, the experimental but sincere change in worship schedule and when it will come to a vote and secondly, especially since the beginning of Advent, concerns for the future of Torrey Pines Christian Church.
I have been very involved since then in the “Transition Committee” made up of your elected officers and other members of the board concerned with finance and the locating of an Intentional Interim Minister. From time to time I was able to fill in and chair both this committee and the Board meeting.
I do sincerely believe that the future of TPCC is extremely bright. A timely selection of a “settled” minister will greatly solidify and assure that bright and blessed future. In the mean time we are very fortunate to have the able support of our new Intentional Interim Minister David Van Heyningen. Rev. Van Heyningen has dedicated time and heart to be trained and ready for this interim position to help us through the transition period. This is not his first call to such a position and he has received most glowing accolades from the other churches where he has served in a similar position.
I have been, for this time as Vice Chairman, one who had several temporary assignments in support of our Chairman and Board. These have been special to me where I could be of service but also in allowing me to get to know the congregation on a more intimate basis.
Thank you for your faith in allowing me this privilege.
Respectfully submitted by Maynard Bissonnette
Torrey Pines Christian Church
Annual Report to the Board, Secretary
It has been an amazing year at Torrey Pines Christian Church and it has been my privilege to serve you as the Secretary to the General Board. In that capacity I have attended Board meetings, prepared the minutes and served as a conduit of communication between Board members and between the Board and the congregation.
This has been a year of extraordinary change for our congregation. We adopted a new Vision, lost our senior and associate ministers as well as several beloved members of our staff, and made sweeping changes to our Sunday Morning worship schedule.
And throughout,we met as family and we talked.
It was my honor to work on the congregational survey data, to join in planning sessions, and to facilitate at some of our meetings. In addition, I worked with the Board Chairman, and the other Officers and Members of the Board to help to open channels of communication throughout this period. Together we published congregational letters, articles in the lamplighter, notes in the bulletin and spoke at the lectern on Sunday mornings. There were days when the Board members e-mail in-boxes fairly hummed with TPCC activity.
From December onward I served as the ‘keeper of action items’ for the Transition Team, the subset of the Board and others who served to maintain operations in the absence of a minister. It was a joy to meet every Wednesday at noon with such a dedicated and selfless group of people. We addressed the daily and strategic issues that arise in keeping a facility and congregation the size of TPCC functioning smoothly. And although it was a pleasure to work in that capacity, I am delighted to know that the work of the Transition Team is almost done. We have indeed transitioned - from a minister-led through a congregation-led to an interim minister-led church. It is good to see TPCC moving forward and it has been an honor to have been a part of this chapter of the TPCC story.
We have a wonderful God and I do believe that he has great things in store for His people at TPCC. Children of God, let us join our hearts in prayer and our hands in work with the single aim of glorifying Him as we travel forward together
Respectfully submitted,
Pauline Parry
Administration Committee
2004–2005
Committee members: Ruth Amos, Jason Elliott, Angela Franz, Lisa Hillan, Fred Kubli.
Introduction
Over the course of this last year, this committee has become active and fully formed as set forth in TPCC's Bylaws, primarily to respond to the many issues that were occurring with staff. Under the capable leadership of Phyllis Huckabee as Chair last Fall, Ruth Amos, Angela Franz, Lisa Hillan, Fred Kubli, and Jack Hayes undertook the work of this recently inactive committee (which includes "Personnel" as a subcommittee).
Of note, our first meeting took place the very evening of Rev. Dale Suggs' resignation announcement at a general board meeting. Our primary focus since then, therefore, has been maintaining and supporting systems and procedures necessary to the administrative functioning of the church: staff needs and concerns, hiring procedures, and employee-specific compensation issues other matters have been largely deferred, maintained as, or delegated to capable consultants. In the upcoming months we will increasingly devote our time and energies to the following additional matters, already underway: benefit and insurance package bids, analysis and revision of all employee job descriptions; analysis of compensation comparables for all employees (in conjunction with the finance committee); development and implementation of annual performance reviews for all employees; ongoing collaboration with the child abuse prevention committee as required by that policy; and, of course, open and productive collaboration with our incoming intentional interim minister
Our committee composition changed at the beginning of 2005, when Phyllis Huckabee tendered her resignation as committee chair due to job demands. Jack Hayes also withdrew from the committee at that time. In March, Lisa Hillan offered to serve as chair and was approved by the board. The committee invited Jason Elliott to join our ranks.
Of significance, in February the general board approved the committee's proposed formal hiring process for senior-level and high-visibility staff. (A separate board-instituted hiring process was already in place for the intentional interim position.) This process was the result of several months' work, and involved collaboration with various committees and open discussion and approval mechanisms for the benefit of all. As interim Director of Operations following Steve Turner's resignation, Jim Brandt retains discretion on hiring and management of mid- and junior-level staff.
As a "quasi-member" of this committee, Jim Brandt attends our meetings and provides insightful and thorough status reports regarding the aspects of his position that fall within the purview of this committee. The openness and respect that characterizes this collaborative relationship benefits the staff specifically and the church generally with regard to administrative matters.
Over the last six months, Jim Smith has volunteered his time and talents by meeting individually or in small groups with staff members to discuss their job descriptions. He has recently submitted a comprehensive spreadsheet, suitable for comparables analysis, which will assist this committee in the next stages of our work. We extend to Jim our gratitude for his selfless service, his rapport with staff, and his experience with these important issues.
Committee members Angela Franz and Lisa Hillan served on the Interim Minister Search Committee, which indirectly served this committee given overlapping issues, but which necessarily diverted time and attention. As part of the Rev. David Van Heyningen's interview weekend in April, Lisa represented this committee in a meeting with David to discuss his and TPCC's respective positions on compensation issues. Her detailed summary of those matters formed the basis of negotiations with David, pending congregational approval. Now that David has been extended, and has accepted, a call to serve as our intentional interim minister, she has drafted his formal contract.
This committee has sought bids for benefits packages from several insurance brokers/providers. Phyllis Huckabee has graciously offered her services as a consultant and assists this committee, Jim Brandt, and Jim Smith in reviewing and analyzing the bids. Our goad has been to create a cafeteria plan that will permit full-time employees to choose among various benefits options to meet their individual needs. At this writing, we are still exploring the possibilities, but we are trying to design a benefits package that will permit part-time employees to be included somehow. A well-designed cafeteria plan will serve well the needs of our valued staff without increasing the cost to the church. We strive to achieve a benefit plan design that is legally compliant and that offers church staff members more choice and flexibility. We have sought staff input directly on what should be included in the cafeteria plan, and will seek approval of the proposed plan at the June 2005 board meeting.
Finally, this committee is committed to supporting Rev. David Van Heyningen, Jim Brandt as Director of Operations, the church staff, and the lay leadership as needed and as directed by the general board as we continue "the business of doing God's business" at and through Torrey Pines Christian Church.
Respectfully submitted by Lisa L. Hillan, Chair