LEADERSHIP

Board of Deacons | Board of Elders

Board of Deacons

St. John’s has a 15 Member Board of Deacons.  Members are chosen from the congregation at large to serve a three year term.

The office of Deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of sympathy, witness and service after the example of Jesus Christ (Acts 6:1-6; I Timothy 3:8-13).  The role of Deacons is primarily to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress, especially those in the church and in its immediate community.

Board of Deacons 2008:

Bobbie Allen, Bryce Ferguson, Ellen Or, Irene Lund, Janet McMaster, Jeremy McKinney-Allen, Jim Matheny, Margery Pandzic, Mary Ware, Melanie Bomar, Nancy Wambaa, Nick Fox, Pat Chesney, Wayne Fujitaki, Wendy Appleby

The Deacons service is organized into four ministry areas: 

1.  Ministry of Prayer  - Mary Ware, Pat Chesney, Jeremy McKinney-Allen, Janet McMaster and Wendy Appleby

These Deacons take the prayer requests from the office, the church pews, the Pastor and personal contacts.  They assign them to members of the committee and are in prayer over them.

They give the confidential list to the whole Deacon Board at the monthly meetings so that all of the Deacons are in prayer for church members’ requests.

2.  Ministry to the Church Family  - Jim Matheny, Wendy Appleby, Bryce Ferguson, Ellen Or, Wayne Fujitaki, Bobbie Allen,  and Nick Fox

The purpose of this group is to arrange to meet the basic short-term needs of any church member.  These needs may be babysitting, grocery shopping, transportation, meals or financial assistance.  These needs often arise when there is a new baby, unexpected surgery, or a crisis in the family.  In addition, a member of this group is responsible for church earthquake safety.

3.  Ministry to the Confined - Pat Chesney, Margery Pandzic, Jeremy McKinney-Allen,  Irene Lund,  Mary Ware,  Ellen Or, and Bobbie Allen,

This group of Deacons regularly contacts confined members who are unable to join in worship and activities at St. John’s.  This group is also responsible for conducting a monthly worship service at Culver West Convalescent Hospital.

4.  Ministry of Outreach  - Jim Matheny,  Nancy Wambaa, Irene Lund,  Wayne Fujitaki, and Nick Fox

This group provides support for community agencies (food or clothing drives, People Assisting The Homeless).  These Deacons also plan outreach projects such as Habitat for Humanity, and Project Angel Tree and inform and involve the congregation in these efforts.

5  Ministry to the Stranger  - Janet McMaster,  Bryce Ferguson,  Melanie Bomar, Margery Pandzic,  and Nancy Wambaa

This group provides support to people in need in our community.

Our Moderator is Melanie Bomar;   Secretary: Bryce Ferguson,; Treasurer: Jim Matheny;  Nominating Committee:**** ; Disaster Preparedness Coordinator: *****; Culver West Coordinator: Mary Ware; Grapevine and Messenger: Marguerite Knutzen

Board of Elders

As set forth in Scripture, the office of Elder is one of leadership, being shepherds of God’s flock, willing overseers, eager to serve, good examples (1 Peter 5:1-4).  Elders work together to define the purposes and objectives that are appropriate for the church; outline programs to achieve these purposes; and recruit and equip lay people to implement those programs.  In all of these roles, Elders look to Jesus as the Head of the Church for inspiration, direction and guidance, and to one another for support and encouragement. 

St. John’s has a 15 member Board of Elders.  Members are chosen from the congregation at large to serve a three-year term. The Elders’ service is organized into five ministry areas, or commissions.  The chairpersons of these commissions, plus the Pastor and the Clerk of Session, form the Executive committee, which meets monthly to coordinate plans.

2008 Session Members:

Anna Njei, Beth Swanson, Carol Cherman, Cathi Lamm, Chuck Tolman, Debbie Boyd, George Bower, Jaime Arocha, Jim Strand, Kathy Darbous,  Michael Njei, Moira Donnelly,  Norbert Smith, Peggi Sharp, Scott Moore.

1.  Worship Commission  - Chaired by Jim Strand. Members: Moria Donnelly and Peggi Sharp.

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs!” Psalm 100:2. 

This group is responsible for the Sunday morning worship services and coordinates with the Pastor, the choir director and the praise team leaders.  The Worship Commission oversees the work of the ushers, the worship assistants, the greeters and the sound system operators.  All decisions involving the sanctuary are handled by this group.

2.  Growing in Faith Commission   - Chaired by Beth Swanson. Members are Carol Cherman and Ana Njei.

“Blessed are they who keep God’s statutes and seek him with all their heart.”  Psalm 119:2

Christian education and spiritual development are the main goals of this group.  The Growing in Faith Commission oversees the ministries to children, including Sunday School, the Scripture Singers children’s choir and the St. John’s Nursery School.  The Jr. High, Sr. High and College ministries come under this commission.  Growing in Faith is responsible for our disciplining program, which includes weekly Adult Education classes, spiritual formation classes such as the Apprentice Course, and other materials in the church library.  The church’s small group ministry, Lifegroups, also falls within this commission.

3.  Building Community   - Chaired by Kathy Darbous.  Members are  Norbert Smith and Debbie Boyd.

“They broke bread together in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”  Acts 2: 46b & 47a

As its name suggests, this group focuses on enhancing fellowship ties within the congregation and beyond.  It is responsible for ‘all church’ events, such as potlucks, barbecues and church camp retreats.  Building Community provides for the instruction of new members and for the shepherding of members with few remaining ties to the church community.  The Pastoral Care Team, which provides spiritual and practical assistance to members in crisis, comes under this commission.

4.  Outreach and Proclamation   - Chaired by Cathi Lamm. Members are: George Bower and Michael Njei.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”  2 Corinthians 5:20a

This commission encompasses both World Missions and Local Evangelism.  Regarding World Missions, the group is responsible for deciding which missionaries to support and how to allocate the world mission budget between them.  Ongoing contact with our missionaries often includes hosting them at St. John’s when they are in town.  The annual Alternative Christmas Faire, which supports local and foreign missions, is sponsored by Outreach and Proclamation.  Local Evangelism efforts include training congregation members in how to share their faith, as well as providing opportunities for seekers to hear the gospel through classes such as The Alpha Course and Who Is This Jesus?

5.  Support   Chaired by Chuck Tolman. Members are:  Jamie Arocha  and Scott Moore.  Along with  Church Administrator/Office Manager Sandi Dick, and Lay member Alan Lund.

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  Ephesians 4:16

This commission’s efforts are focused in 4 areas.  Buildings and Grounds provides for the maintenance and improvement of the church’s physical assets.  Personnel deals with the human resource issues of church employees, including annual performance reviews.  Finance provides for the recording and reporting of the church’s financial transactions and is responsible for overseeing the annual budget process for the 5 commissions.  Stewardship involves encouragement of the congregation to be good stewards in the management of our time, talents and ‘treasure’.

Our Clerk of Session is Kathie Steinmehl.

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