In accordance with governing principles laid out by the United Methodist Church, the leadership at St. Paul's is comprised of a robust roster of church lay members from a variety of backgrounds, in addition to clergy and staff.
In 2022, our church voted to move to a Simplified Accountability Model. SAM replaces the traditional governing model of a Church Council receiving reports from separate and independently-operating small committees such as trustees, finance, lay leadership development, worship planning and altar guild, justice & compassion, staff-parish relations, and education.
Instead, there are two umbrella groups broadly encompassing ministry and administrative needs:
- The Ministry Table covers those decisions previously falling to Justice & Compassion, Spiritual Care, Education and Faith Formation, the United Methodist Men and Women's groups.
- The Strategy, Accountability, and Leadership Table covers Finance, Trustees, Staff-Parish Relations, Council, and Administrative needs.
Upcoming SAM meeting dates:
February 21, 7:00-8:30 PM
March 15, 7:00-8:30 PM
April 20, 7:00-8:30 PM
May 17, 7:00-8:30 PM
Meetings are held over Zoom and are open to the entire St. Paul's community.
For the Zoom link or more information, contact SAM chairperson Rachel Stalcup.
Rest assured, all the work of the previous committees continues. Each area will have a member of the church in a dedicated leadership role, who can call on the full SAM group for guidance, support, and approval. The new structure mitigates communication delays, reduces the information "silo" effect, cuts down on unintentional and unnecessary overlap between teams, and avoids the risk of burn-out faced when the same handful of volunteers are tasked with serving in multiple areas.
In the new SAM model, energized lay leaders can seek new and improved ways of serving the community and supporting the life of the church, in community with other leaders and a wide array of church members and friends.
SAM meetings are open to all who wish to attend and are usually held once a month using Zoom. Please contact Chairperson Rachel Stalcup for more information. (To request Rachel's contact info through the church office, email stpaulsunited@stpaulsk.org.) When appropriate, meeting minutes may be included here as attachments.
Area Leadership:
SAM Chairperson: Rachel Stalcup
Staff-Parish Relations: Jenny Lipford
Justice & Compassion: Grace Graham
United Methodist Men: Rich Higgins
Stewardship Chair: Jen Graff
Memorials: Rich Higgins
Finance: Tracey Furman
Education & Faith Formation: Meg Baker
Building and Trustees: Mike Barnes
Lay Leader: Marge Higgins
Lay Member to Annual Conference: Kenzie Raulin
Retired Connected Clergy: Sue Brown, Roger Carlson, Connie Paulson