Our Committee Structure

The people of Grace are focused on making all members and visitors feel safe, welcomed, and nurtured in spiritual growth. This includes the structured teams, each with a role to further advance the mission of our church. 

The Committees and Teams Supporting Grace

The Leadership Team works to continuously plan and evaluate the ministry of the church to involve all aspects of creating a vibrant, safe, and welcoming environment. Serving as the administrative arm of the church to include the annual charge conference, the Leadership Team remains actively involved in the mission and ministry of the church. The Leadership team includes the chairpersons from each committee as well as persons representing the various programs and ministries of the church.

Grace UMC Leadership Team
Pastor - Yaba Anongba
Administrative Assistant – Betsy Blum 
Chair - Annette Stanley
Vice Chair - Teri Christen

Committee Representation
     Education Chair – Paula Noyce Rung
     Finance Chair – Karen Zimmerman
     Lay Leadership – Martha Nelson
     Membership Secretary - Betsy Blum
     Missions Chair – Susan Harris
     Nominations Chair – Pastor Yaba
     Outreach Co-Chairs – Judy Moe / Betsy Blum
     Staff / Parish Chair – Bennette Harris 
     Trustee Chair – Albert Keizer

Education

The Education Team is headed up by Paula Noyce-Rung with support from Pam Medenwald and Cheryl Michaels, Carolyn Greene as the, Adult Bible Study leader, and parental support from Joni Anderson, Jennifer Cox, Becca Rolli, and Miranda Ziemba , Together, this team plans and organizes educational opportunities,  oversees children’s church time and coordinates with leadership to offer collaborative programs for youth and adults.

Finance

The role / responsibilities of the Finance Team include:
-Reviews and makes financial decisions and recommendations to the Leadership Team
-Creates and implement Annual Pledge drive
-Oversees United Methodist foundation accounts
-Manages payroll and online giving
-Oversees all financial accounts at the local bank
-Presents monthly reports to Leadership Team and congregation
-Creates annual budget
-Secures budget numbers from each committee chair
-Compiles end of year audit
-Prepares for Annual Conference and presents budget

The Finance Team is led by Karen Zimmerman, Chair as well as Peggy Meyer, Treasurer and Becca Rolli, Secretary. 
Money Counters include Sam Christen,  Renee Disch,  Jim Gilliland, Bennette Harris, and Pat Myers as substitute.)

Lay Leader

Martha Nelson is the Lay Leader for Grace. She represents the lay people in the congregation and as the Lay Leader, is a role model of Christian discipleship for the congregation and needs to remember that others will follow this leader’s example in spiritual living. Other responsibilities of the Lay Leader include:
  -Continuously looks for ways to connect Christian discipleship with daily life, and teaches others to do the same.
-Collaborates with other church leaders to find ways within the community of faith to recognize the ministries of laity in worship, in communication, and in other programs of the congregation.
-Meets regularly with the pastor to discuss the state of the church and the opportunities for ministry.
-May partner with the pastor in leading worship 

Missions

The Mission Team continues the framework of “Melodies of Compassion” loose change and designated check offerings to monthly missions consisting of four (4) local, four (4) national and four (4) global missions.  As such, this team researches and selects missions for each month.  By way of promoting these mission opportunities, the team engages the congregation in support of each mission by providing information for bulletins, newsletters and visual announcements that address each of the missions. Each mission is a coordinated with the Finance Treasurer to send donations to the applicable entity supporting the cause. As a part of this work, the committee keeps track of total donations to post in the bulletin and newsletter and records for an end of year summary. The Missions Team also works to bring in a missionary or representative of a mission to speak to the congregation and to identify giving projects like “shoe box gifts”, etc.  The team meets regularly to develop a philosophy and vision for Missions in our church.

Susan Harris chairs the Missions Team. Members of the team include Betsy Blum, Loretta Doyle, Mary Fritz, Becca Rolli, Paula Noyce, and Kris Schultz.

Nominations

Pastor Yaba as Chair, along with Sam Christen, Judy Moe, and Chris Vande Kolk comprise the Nominations Committee, The role and responsibilities of the Nominations team include:
 -Leading/teaching the congregation God's plan for using gifts, skills and experience that already exist in order to accomplish the mission God has for the congregation.
-Developing and tracking a system for helping individuals discover their spiritual gifts, name their skills, interests, knowledge, and experience.
-Inviting people to positions of spiritual leadership, receive their responses, and provide training and support for these individuals.
-Presenting a nomination list to the charge conference for a church council chair, a committee on pastor (staff) parish relations, a board of trustees, a committee on finance, a lay member to annual conference and a lay leader.
-Working throughout the year to name other leaders for the ministry that fulfills the mission of the congregation.

Outreach Team

The primary role of the Outreach team is to elicit ideas for connecting with those it is intended to reach by:
-Engaging in community events as applicable
-Offering meals at no cost (e.g., meatloaf dinner/Thanksgiving dinner)
-Coordinating special events to be held at the church that are open to the public
-Coordinating events such as graduation, special open house/tours, celebrations of life, etc.
-Supporting giving causes to reach underserved populations
-Supporting all activities as appropriate through marketing efforts (social media; local newspapers; flyers, etc.)
-Effectively communicating results of all plans and outcomes to the congregation, the Leadership Team, and as documented for annual review / Charge Conference  

Members include: Judy Moe and Betsy Blum as co-chairs, and members: Denise Dill, Loretta Doyle, Gayle Galston, Pam Medenwald, Cheryl Michaels, and Jim Slagle

Staff / Parish

-Lead the congregation to encourage, strengthen, nurture, support, and respect the pastor(s) and staff and their families.
-Help the staff set priorities that strengthen the congregation's total ministry.
-Consult with the pastor to recommend staff positions to support the strategy of the church leadership team.
-Recommend staff compensation, travel, housing, and other financial matters to the church council through the finance committee.
-Create and update written policy for hiring, evaluating, promoting, retiring, and dismissing staff members
-Conduct proper screening (including background checks) for lay employees and volunteer staff.
-Meet with the district superintendent and/or the bishop in an advisory capacity related to clergy leadership. Considerations include the age and stage of the congregation, an understanding of feelings and desires within the congregation about the pastor's leadership and appointment, and the culture and needs of the community around the church.
-Enlist, evaluate, and annually recommend to the charge conference candidates for professional ministry.

The Staff / Parish team is led by Bennette Harris and team members Jim Gilliland, Carolyn Greene, and Martha Nelson.

Trustees

The trustees team members have several legal and administrative functions. They are to:
-oversee, maintain, and supervise all local church property
-report annually to Charge Conference on the state of the property, equipment, and resources of the church
-receive and administer all non-monetary gifts made to the congregation
-ensure that the Articles of Incorporation of the congregation are kept up to date as applicable
-in conjunction with the Pastor, be responsible for all use of the church buildings and grounds
-maintain appropriate insurance coverage on all church property and develop applicable risk management policies
-submit to the committee on finance the annual budget request for insurance, property maintenance and improvement, and new capital purchases
-be accountable to Charge Conference and to the church council 

The Trustee Team is comprised of Albert Keizer, Chair and Nate Blum, Sam Christen, and Denny Meyer.

Women of Grace

Women of Grace meet once a month before the service on the 3rd Sunday of the month.

Other Supporting Teams

Fellowship Supply Replenishment 
     Chris Vande Kolk and Jeanine Mabis  
Fund Raising 
     OPEN
Historians 
     Teri Christen, Mary Fritz, Betsy Blum, Ellen Tyree, Pat Myers, Jeanine Mabis   
Music (Choir / Keyboard)
     Susan Harris, Nancy Haden Meyer. Judy Moe  
Welcoming
     Jeanine Mabis, Fellowship
     Pam Medenwald, Greeters/Readers  
Women of Grace - Janice Hindson and Chris Vande Kolk
Worship Coordinators
     Betsy Blum – bulletins
     Jeanine Mabis – alter and sanctuary themed resources.
     Judy Moe – music support
     Chris Vande Kolk – visual presentation
     Technical Support - OPEN