glossary

Governance Glossary

The Board of Directors adopts policies.
 * Adopted**

The GTF develops policies, presents them to the board and asks for **affirmation. Affirmation** is permission to proceed, to share the proposed policy or group of policies to a wider audience for comments.
 * Affirmation** (of a policy by the board)

A committee is a group of people that gathers information, drafts a policy, or prepares in some other way to report back to the body that appointed it. In our case, a committee is a committee of the board, that is, is appointed by and reports to the board. All other groups within the church would now be known as ministries or teams.
 * Committee**

A comprehensive financial plan is a comprehensive projection of church finances over a specified period of time. It includes operating expenses, capital expenditures, contributions to reserve funds, major projects, and other anticipated expenditures.
 * Comprehensive Financial Plan**

The Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist (C3HUU) is a non-profit church corporation founded in 195?. The Church is operated according to its Articles of Incorporation?, its Bylaws, and the laws of the state of North Carolina.
 * Church**

A group of individuals appointed by the board, responsible to the board, reporting to the board, either permanent or temporary, to complete a task, or manage a part of the mission of the church as directed in its charge. Temporary committees (a.k.a. Task Forces) will disband when their objectives are completed.
 * Committee**

Congregation
The Congregation members, the highest governing authority in the Church, are those members eligible to vote. That eligibility is set forth in the Church’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.

Core Values
Core Values are those values and behaviors the Church intends to honor in all of its endeavors. The Unitarian Universalist Principles are examples of Core Values. The question, “What principles do we intend to observe, no matter what?”, helps lead to the discovery of Core Values.

Discernment includes all tha t a congregation does to discover and articulate its mission.
 * Discernment**

Governance is a collective, democratic process that produces lasting policies designed to direct many individual decisions. It is best accomplished through democratic or representative bodies, including Congregational meetings, the Board of Directors, and Board Committees and Task Forces. The Board of Directors is responsible for leading the governance of the Church.
 * Governance**

Ministry is the practical work of the Church and consists of continually choosing means and methods, allocating resources, hiring staff, recruiting volunteers, providing leadership and support to enable them to serve the mission of the Church effectively. Ministry is best accomplished through empowered ministry teams of people who share a sense of calling to particular forms of service. The Minister, as the called spiritual leader and designated Ministry Team Leader, is responsible for directing the Church’s ministry in accordance with Board policies. A Ministry Team is a group of individuals with a shared call to particular forms of service to the mission of the Church. The Ministry Team consists of all people engaged in implementing the mission of the church and is lead by The Ministry Team Leader.
 * Ministry**
 * Ministry Team**

The Ministry Team Leader
The Ministry Team Leader is the called spiritual leader of the Congregation, the Chief of Staff, and the leader in spirit of all Ministry Teams in the Church.

The Church’s mission is the good that the congregation means to do, whom it hopes to benefit, and how. It answers the question, “Whose lives do we intend to change and in what way?”
 * Mission**

The Mission Statement is a statement of the Church’s mission, but does not necessarily encapsulate all aspects of the Church’s mission. The current mission statement of C3HUU is, “”
 * Mission Statement**

Open questions are questions that are significant to the Church’s strategic planning, but do not, as yet, have answers. Open questions call for a wider, longer conversation than an annual goal-setting process can accommodate and invite congregational conversation before a decision is made.
 * Open Questions**

Strategic Plan
The strategic plan encapsulates the Church’s longest range plans. A strategic plan answers the question, “What major choices will we make about how we fulfill our mission?” The strategic plan must be updated at least every three years to remain relevant to the mission and the congregation.

Strategy is the means by which the church fulfills its mission.
 * Strategy**

Trial Run
The Board intends to initially adopt these policies for a one year trial. During the year, policies will continue to be developed and modified as necessary. At the end of the Trial Run, the process will be evaluated and a determination will be made with respect to permanent adoption.

Vision
A vision is a statement about what the Church wants to become. It is a star to guide by, an imagined future state of the Church as it becomes a better vehicle to serve our Mission. It answers the question, “What will our Church look like if we serve our Mission well?”

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