Gloria Dei Board of Elders
The Board of Elders meets the fourth Tuesday of each
month at 7:00 pm in the Board Room. Feel free to contact
any member of the Elder Board. If you have any questions, please e-mail the elders at the church.
Update November 2012
Above are the current members of the congregation serving as Elders. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month.
Update Fall 2010
Due to the tremendous growth that has occurred at Gloria Dei, the Board of Elders examined its role in the last few months. Currently, they are responsible for every service; finding ushers, getting baptisms and communion ready, checking the temperature of the building and setting up the coffee station. Their duties worked well when there were two services; however, with five services the work became more than what was anticipated.
As a group, they came up with two viable options: double the size of the Board of Elders to help distribute the workload or transfer some of their current duties to Worship Assistants. After much discussion, they decided on the latter, which would allow them to refocus their efforts to study doctrinal issues facing the congregation and to provide spiritual support for the pastors. They also decided to reduce the group to five instead of 12.
All current elders were given a chance to be an elder under these new guidelines and four chose to do so.
In the future, the Governing Board will appoint all new elders based upon the written qualifications that were adopted by the current Board of Elders and in consultation with the Senior Pastor. Those qualifications are:
- Male member of Gloria Dei for a minimum of three years
- Regularly in attendance at worship services
- Involved in Bible studies and other church activities
- Solid knowledge of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod doctrine
- Regularly give a percentage of their income back to God
- Participant in Gloria Dei Leadership training
Welcome Center Change
When it comes to growth, God has blessed Gloria Dei tremendously in recent years. The past decade we have witnessed our congregation moving from two Sunday services to five services that cover both Saturday and Sunday. Each service has enabled us to be a beacon to the community, bringing Jesus Christ to people for the first time and for a lifetime in unique and distinctive ways. With growth, however, has come a few challenges, but with Christ’s guidance we are able to view each hurdle as an opportunity. One such opportunity is to review our approach to greeters, ushers and elders. Our approach to these congregational “ambassadors” has not changed for years, thus with over twice as many services on a given weekend, our teams are often stretched thin.
For years, the Board of Elders has been talking about some possible solutions to our current obstacle. (Read about their final solutions on page 3.) Earlier this summer, Pastor Robarge formed a Ministry Action Team to take a fresh look at each unique worship experience at Gloria Dei. The team not only examined the role of the elders, but looked at how greeters, ushers, the welcome center, parking and security/emergency response could play a vital role in helping both first-time visitors and long-standing members feel welcome at each worship service (and throughout the week).
One exciting item stemming from the discovery process is the creation of a new group called Worship Assistants. Each Worship Assistant will be assigned to one specific worship service and will be responsible for helping with the distribution of communion and aiding the pastors in all baptisms.
A few of the elders from the past board were charged with the task of writing the qualifications for this new group. The Worship Assistant qualifications are:
• A male member of Gloria Dei for at least one year.
• Regular attendance at worship services.
• Involved or willing to become involved in bible studies and other church activities.
• Willing to attend periodic meetings/training sessions and continuing education.
• Willing to commit to one year of service.
In addition, each service will have an identified team of greeters, ushers, and welcome center leads who regularly attend that particular service. There will also be a separate team of parking assistants and security/emergency response personnel. This new approach will open up a variety of ministry opportunities to more individuals and families.
Ways to help
Ushers
The primary duty of an usher is to maintain an atmosphere of reverent worship and respect during the entire worship service. Specific tasks include helping individuals find seats, distributing service handouts, handling offering and communion dismissal and assisting with individual needs that may arise during service.
Greeters
The primary duty of a greeter is to welcome everyone to Gloria Dei. This includes opening the external entry doors appropriate to each service, assisting the elderly, the handicapped or children being dropped off at a main entrance, and directing visitors to the worship location and Welcome Center.
Welcome Center/hospitality
The primary duty is to provide a welcoming environment for Gloria Dei attendees and to encourage fellowship among members and visitors alike. These individuals will be encouraged to be familiar with class locations within the church, the church calendar and be prepared to point individuals to specific information. Following a service, hospitality may work with other team members to provide impromptu tours for visitors.
Parking
The first touch of hospitality begins in our parking lot when our parking ministry welcomes people by offering rides to and from their vehicles, answering questions and thanking people as they exit the service.
Security/emergency response
It is impossible to predict every type of security or emergency situation. We want to put everyone at ease by having a plan in place. We will identify people who will be trained and knowledgeable with this plan if an emergency situation should occur.
Take time to pray
Please take time to ask God about serving on one of the above teams. It takes all of us to reach out to create a welcoming environment. The possibilities are endless when hundreds of worshippers are looking for ways to bless and encourage each other. So, please commit this to prayer today. To sign up, contact Pastor Robarge at 278-5544, ext. 224 or probarge@gloriadeionline.com.
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