Trustees
Effective trustees will function as Christian stewards of property God has entrusted to the congregation. This includes supervising and maintaining both the physical property of the congregation and gifts made to the congregation so that the ministries of the congregation can be effective and all legal requirements related to the property are satisfied.
Responsibilities of the Committee
- This team, subject to the direction of the charge conference, has oversight and care of all local church property, buildings, and equipment to further the mission of the church. This work is done in consultation with the pastor.
- This team and individual trustees need to engage in spiritual practices that build attentiveness to God’s will and direction. Church administration and attentiveness to daily affairs can distract the team from the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Trustees need to hold one another accountable to the mission and vision of the church.
- Trustees receive and administer all gifts made to the congregation and make certain that trust funds of the congregation are invested properly.
- Trustees ensure that the Articles of Incorporation of the congregation are kept up-to-date.
- Trustees annually review property, liability, and crime insurance coverage on church-owned property, buildings, and equipment. They also review personnel insurance for protection against risk and consult with the pastor-parish relations team about other personnel insurance.
- Trustees conduct an annual accessibility audit of buildings and grounds to discover and then work toward eliminating barriers that impede the full participation of all people.
- The team submits annual budget requests to the committee on finance for property maintenance and improvement and new property purchases.
- Trustees are accountable to the charge conference and the church council. The term “trustees” as used in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church may be construed to be synonymous with “director of corporations” when required to comply with law.