Standing or Structural Teams

These teams provide the practical organizational structure.  They carry on the regular business affairs of the church and assist in finding and providing the tangible resources necessary to effectively carry out the church’s ministries.  

Standing Teams in Cowboy Church are:

·        Audit Team

·        Facility Team

·        Arena Team

·        Personnel Team

General or Ministry Teams

These teams are organized to carry out the specialized ministries of the church.  Each ministry team shall have specific functions and responsibilities as assigned or approved by the pastor and/or elders.

Ministry Teams may be permanent or temporary and are formed in response to an existing need.  Examples include, but are not limited to: children, youth, fellowship, Bible study, pastoral care, worship, media/communications, outreach.  Occasionally, temporary teams are appointed to for a specific function or event.  After the temporary team has fulfilled its purpose, it is disbanded.  An example of a temporary team is the Launch Team.

Lay Pastors

Lay Pastors serve as extensions of the Pastor.  They are appointed and replaced by the Pastor at his discretion to help carry out ministry duties.  Lay Pastors can expect to be attached to one or more ministry teams.  They do not run or lead the teams, (each team has its own team leader). They are a resource for the team and act as a liaison between the team and pastor.  

Lay Pastors can expect to be called on to participate in the worship service, i.e. Announcements, prayer requests, administering ordinances, assisting in baptism, etc.  Lay Pastors may also be called upon to bring devotions, preach, pray or lead bible studies depending on their gifts, talents and spiritual maturity.  Lay Pastors help the pastor minister to the needs of the congregation such as, hospital and home visits, crisis intervention and assistance, and ministering to physical needs of the church  

 Elders

The Elders serve the church by providing spiritual leadership and accountability in accordance with scripture.   They provide a brotherhood of support for the pastor, assist the ministry teams with difficult issues, serve as arbiters in matters of conflict or church discipline, and in general provide spiritual leadership, guidance and assistance wherever and whenever appropriate.  The elder body shall be made up of two or three elected elders plus the pastor, who is the lead elder.  Initially, in a new church start, the first elders are appointed by the pastor with the approval of the church.  

Elders are not a decision-making body and they do not receive complaints, nor do they pass on complaints to the Pastor.

Pastor

The Pastor is the lead elder and the primary spiritual leader of the congregation.  In that capacity, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and leadership of the Holy Spirit, he preaches and teaches the word of God.  He guides and directs the church in matters of reaching lost souls.  He leads the church in regular worship services and administers the ordinances of the church.  He provides leadership to additional ministerial staff and lay pastors as needed to meet the needs of the congregation.  He guides the church to implement the cowboy model of church structure and function as laid out in the church constitution. Ultimately, he fulfills the pastoral role as set forth in Scripture. 

Role and Structure of the Audit Team

The audit team is typically made up of no less than 3 members no more than 7. Initial audit team members serve a 1,2, or 3 year term.  As they rotate off one by one, they are replaced with members who will serve 2 yrs. each.  This, will allow for a new audit team member each year.  After the year off, a person may be re-appointed for another 2 yr. term.  The audit team meets once a month to audit the financial records. They verify and report only. They have no decision making authority about how money is spent. The Financial Secretary, Pastor and/or Elders, are also present at the monthly audit team meeting.  It is an open meeting and may be attended by any church members.

It is the audit team’s responsibility to get budget requests from all of the various ministry teams and staff and put together an annual budget based on giving history and projected growth and present it to the church for a vote once a year.

The audit team leader will give a financial report each month at the monthly leadership team meeting. Any problems that the audit team finds with the finances should be taken immediately to the pastor and elders; this includes issues with the financial secretary, discrepancy in reports, budget concerns or any other area of financial concern. 

Role of the Financial Secretary

A financial secretary is appointed to keep the books, record contributions and deposits, maintain bank records, and write out checks to pay bills.  The person in this position is paid a nominal salary since it requires a number of hours and carries a heavy responsibility.  The financial secretary does not sign checks, but works closely with the audit team, attending all meetings and reporting status of church financial accounts. 

Role of the Facility Team  

The facility team has a present working role, and a futuristic role.  They are responsible for setting up the present facility for worship services and making sure it is in order and secured after everyone leaves.  They make sure the facilities, furnishings, and equipment are clean and in order. 

In addition, they assess current space needs and future space needs.  They make recommendations for future needs and may actively be on the lookout for available space. 

Role of the Arena Team

The Arena Team is responsible to for planning, organizing, and working of all arena events.  Until the church has their own arena, this includes securing the use of other facilities in the community for church arena events or involving our arena team in community arena events.  The Arena Team will the primary planners in the construction of a future arena for CCTC.

Personnel Team

The Personnel Team will be formed in the future to oversee the hiring of paid staff members as needed. 

Role of the Leadership Team

The leadership team consists of: pastor, elders, lay pastors, staff, standing team leaders, and ministry team leaders. The leadership team typically meets once a month in an open meeting. In this meeting the various teams give a report on their activities and what they are planning to do in the future. The calendar for the coming month or months is put together at this meeting. Any activity that is church sponsored should be presented at the leadership meeting to be placed on the calendar.

While the various ministry teams make their own decisions about what they do within their budget, all major decisions should be brought before leadership team before being implemented.

The leadership team can, on occasion, have special called meetings that are closed only if called by the pastor and/or elders and should not take the place of the regular leadership team meeting that is open.  

Role of the Ministry Teams

The various ministry teams such as prayer, children, youth, fellowship, media, worship, adult bible study, singles, etc, carry on the work of the church. Teams will have their own budget and are responsible to work within their budget. New churches may only start out with a children’s ministry, and fellowship team; as a church grows, teams can be added. Do not have a team for the sake of having a team; be sure you have the people in place to carry out the ministry before you form the team.

Teams typically have around 7 members, no less than 5, no more than 10. This insures enough people to function but also makes it easier to work together and reach consensus. You can have extended team members that help carry out the ministry, for example there may be a lot of people who want to be a part of the arena team but if you get more than 10 people in meeting it is hard to get anything done.
Teams never vote. Teams work together until they reach consensus or they table whatever they are planning until they can reach consensus. If a team must make a decision about something and cannot reach consensus then the elders must be brought in and make the decision for the team. 

The teams make their own decisions about what they will do in their particular areas of ministry and they will choose how to allocate their budget dollars, however, all major decisions that could affect church direction or church sponsored activities must be brought before the leadership team before being implemented.
Teams need to hold firmly to the Mission Statement of the church and filter everything they do through this mission statement and each team should have its own Purpose Statement to help guide its direction. 

Prayer Team – This team of 3 to 6 people are willing to commit to pray for the worship service at CCTC before and during the service.  They also pray for the pastor prior to the service.  In addition, they receive prayer requests from the congregation, and make these known to the pastor and/or elders.

Fellowship Team – These folks (4-10 people at first) are responsible for refreshments or potlucks at regular worship services, and for planning additional fellowships at off site locations.  Fellowship team members may ask others to help with providing food and activities.

Children’s Team – Responsible for children’s activities, supplies, and materials for Christian learning during regular worship services and special events.  

IMMEDIATE TEAMS NEEDED FOR CCTC ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Structural Teams                 Ministry Teams                             

Audit Team                              Prayer Team

Facilities Team                          Fellowship Team

Arena Team                              Children’s Team