December marks the end of my one-year term on the Brecksville UMC Leadership Board. I have served in several leadership positions since coming to BUMC in 2004 and have found through my participation on the Leadership Board that the church has made a wise change in the way that it approaches governance.

One of the main reasons for changing to the Simplified Accountable Structure was to allow leadership to focus on the mission and ministry of the church and allow others within the congregation to participate on ministry teams to execute tasks and carry out specific aspects of our mission. In our first year, our new governance structure worked in precisely this way.

We started the year by establishing Guiding Principles for the Board and then created short and long-term goals to support BUMC’s mission of “Creating safe spaces to grow with God and one another”. During the year, we worked with church staff to create Vital Signs to measure our progress in achieving our goals and held quarterly Town Hall meetings to have a little fun and to ensure that we were communicating out the results of our work. Among other things we established an Alternative Revenue ministry team to address the shortfall in our annual operating budget. Through this ministry team we conceived the Brecksville Flea, the BUMC Pumpkin Patch, the Close the Gap campaign, and the Joyful Gatherings Cookbook. In addition to raising revenue for the budget, each of these helped us address our long-term goals by allowing the church to reach out and engage with the community in new ways and providing opportunities for many in our congregation to participate and lead in a manner that they may not have before.

I appreciate the opportunity to have served Brecksville UMC on the inaugural Leadership Board. As Zane Burgstahler, Carolyn Jatsek and I move off the Board, three new members will join (Kathy Louttit, Maria Shurik and Michael Houff). The Leadership Board, and the ministry teams that support it, provide numerous opportunities for those in the congregation to participate in the work of the church. There will be several chances to get involved in 2025. Pastor Heidi, the staff and the Leadership Development Team will be filling out ministry teams early in the year. Enhancing the Leadership Board with the development of ministry teams represents the next evolution of the Simplified Accountable Structure. I’m looking forward to engaging with a ministry team next year. How can you engage? – Submitted by Eric Louttit

Connect with the Leadership Board through the church office.