Thrive Church Leadership

By Pastor Tom Anderson

The Holy Spirit grabs you with an idea for a new ministry at Thrive Church--who you gonna call? You see a need or an opportunity for the church—who you gonna call? You want to understand the policies and procedures of Thrive Church–who you gonna call?

Call the F.A.S.T. team! Thrive Church uses a single-board governance model we call the F.A.S.T. team. F.A.S.T. stands for Finance, Administration, Staff-parish and Trustees. This is the body of leaders that:

Creates and monitors a yearly budget
coordinates the major policies of the church: facilities use, child protection, employee manual, and financial procedures.
Engages in strategic planning
Evaluates staff and ministries
Oversees facilities maintenance and insurance
Organizes the church to accomplish our mission to make disciples of Christ

The team meets monthly on the fourth Tuesday at 7 PM in the Middle School room of the Family Life Center. Meetings are open and anyone can attend. If you have an item for the agenda, please contact the chair, Karie Saunders to schedule new business.

Membership on the team includes 3 finance members, 3 staff-parish members, 3 trustee members, lay leader, lay member of Annual Conference, financial secretary, treasurer, secretary, chair, vice-chair, pastor and lay staff. It's about 20 people. Team members are nominated by a separate nominating team chaired by the pastor and elected by the membership of Thrive Church at the yearly church conference.

The trustee members coordinate facilities and insurance matters and bring this business to the whole team. The staff-parish coordinates personnel matters and brings this business to the whole team. Finance coordinates financial procedures and policies and brings this business to the whole team. The team governs as a whole but depends on its specialized members to take the lead in their designated areas.

If you have questions about your giving statements, please contact Glen Betts or Jim Kettinger. If you would like a copy of the most recent treasurer's report or the approved minutes of the most recent F.A.S.T. Team meeting please contact the church office. Each year our financial books are audited, and a report is sent to the Heritage District office.

Please be in prayer for your leadership and encourage them in the important work they do on behalf of us all and in faithfulness to God.

If you are interested in serving, why not take Class 301 on discovering your spiritual gifts? Have a conversation with me about how God is leading you and where your leadership gifts could be employed. Leaders at Thrive Church are expected to be active in attendance, prayer, financial support and ministry of the church. Leaders should know and support the mission, beliefs and values of their church. Leadership is best done by example. I thank God for all the good examples in church who have taught and inspired me. Could you be such a person for someone else?

Here's the current roster of the F.A.S.T. Team for your personal prayer list:

chair: Karie Saunders

vice-chair: Jon Cohen

treasurer: Andy Persons

Secretary: Christy Powell

Staff-parish members: Bonnie Walworth, Angie Leonard, Monica Phillips

Finance members: Jim Kettinger, Rob Fitzgerald, Tami Flowers

Trustee members: Brian Drake, Gayle Olson, Kevin Frank

Lay Leader: David Schwaninger

Member of Annual Conference: Glen Betts

Children's ministry: Sue Cole

Student ministry: Ben Rhodes