How is Patterson Park Church Governed?
(This letter originally appeared in the August, 2007 issue of The Perspective)

Dear Patterson Park Church Family,

How is Patterson Park Church governed? What are we doing to find a senior pastor? Who is in charge? How are decisions being made?

These and similar questions are being asked as we walk through the changes we are experiencing at this time as a church body. The church leadership truly desires your prayer first and foremost as they seek God’s direction and wisdom. Your comments and questions are also very welcome. As you pray for our church, here are some thoughts for your consideration, personal edification and study.

The Patterson Park Church constitution establishes the “Church Board” as the governing body of our church, and defines the Church Board as the senior pastor and the Deacons. The Church Board meets at least once each month (currently twice a month) to discuss issues facing the church and provide direction to address those issues. The Church Board makes decisions as necessary within its scope of authority, or prepares recommendations to present to the church body for approval. Since we do not have a senior pastor at this time, the Deacons have not only invited the associate pastors to attend all Church Board meetings, but have given each of them a vote.

While the structure defined by the church constitution has served us well, occasionally some problems have come up that the constitution has not helped us solve. Some of the issues are:

• Accountability: There is no clear accountability structure or expectation laid out for the senior pastor or the Deacons.
• Scope of Authority: Responsibilities for the senior pastor and Deacons are spelled out, but there is an element of ambiguity on who has the final or ultimate authority on a decision.
• Biblical Role Definitions: Some of the roles and responsibilities given to Deacons in our constitution are actually assigned to elders in the New Testament, while some of the other boards established in our constitution are performing roles the New Testament assigns to Deacons.

Our Deacons and pastors agree that at this time it is more important to study scripture and pray for wisdom in clarifying these and other issues than to try to quickly “fill” the senior pastor position. Would it be fair and realistic to expect a senior pastor to come serve here with these questions unanswered? Would it not be better for us as a church to define who we are and what our values are first, and then evaluate our leadership needs? Another consideration is one of stewardship. Given the number of people attending PPC at this time and our budgetary constraints, the leadership of the church feels it is more important to invest more of our resources in finding an experienced youth pastor, meet some real needs in our support staffing, and encourage our entire staff with compensation increases.

For the immediate future, Pastors Joe Godwin and David Faile will continue to share the preaching and teaching responsibilities. All five of our pastors are sharing in pastoral care responsibilities and each one will continue to focus on the ministries and administrative tasks they have been given. We have established strong communication and accountability among ourselves so we can continue to oversee the ministries and daily administrative tasks necessary for the church to function. We have also established good communications and accountability with the Deacons to make sure the church stays focused an on track.

Because of strong positive feedback from the Church Family Meeting on July 15, Joe Godwin has begun teaching on the subject of church leadership on Sunday nights at 6:00 p.m. We encourage you to attend these meetings and learn and grow with us. You might also consider obtaining a copy of the church constitution and the briefing slides from the July 15 meeting. You may request a copy form the church office, but we also hope to have these documents and other suggested resources posted on the church web site.

We covet your continued prayer and support as we seek to know and do God’s will in the exciting days ahead of us.


Your Pastors, David Boucher, David Faile, Joe Godwin, John Mohler, and Dan Sietman

Back to Church Government