COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY

Committee On Ministry

Description (according to the Book of Order and Standing Rules)

G-11.0500 of the Book of Order requires that each presbytery establish a Committee on Ministry (COM) and it delineates the duties and responsibilities of the COM. The purpose of the COM is “to serve as pastor and counselor to the ministers and Certified Christian Educators of the presbytery, to facilitate the relations between congregations, ministers and Certified Christian Educators, and the presbytery, and to settle difficulties on behalf of the presbytery when possible and expedient” (G-11.0501a)

COMs have several responsibilities, which in our presbytery’s COM are accomplished, for the most part, through teams, each Committee member being assigned to at least one team. These responsibilities include:

1. Of Clergy/Ministers, Certified Christian Educators and candidates for ordination as minister of Word and Sacrament:

Consult regularly with the ministers of Presbytery (new members of Presbytery serving a church are to be visited at their first anniversary of being received into membership),
Interview and inquire into the credentials of all ministers and Certified Christian Educators applying for reception into the Presbytery, or laboring or seeking to labor within the bounds of Presbytery; conduct exit interviews will ministers whose relationship with a church is being dissolved by mutual consent,
Prepare plans for ordination and/or installation in consultation with candidates before presentation to Presbytery,
Receive reports, annually, from clergy performing work not under Presbytery’s jurisdiction and recommend, annually, to Presbytery whether or not they should be continuing members of Presbytery.

2. Of Churches with vacant pulpits:

Nominate, in consultation with representatives of the church, a moderator for the session; provide for a liaison with the pastor nominating committee,
Assure that the pulpit is properly supplied until a pastor is chosen, and remuneration of such supply be at a rate approved by the Committee.

3. Of all churches: Visit, at least once every three years, the sessions of each church to discuss their mission and ministry and encourage their and the congregation’s full participation in the life and work of the presbytery and the larger church.

4. Of conflicts between ministers and churches: At the invitation of any minister or any elder in active service in a church, the COM, through its chair, is to direct such inquiries and concerns to appropriate counselors or advisors who will help resolve the issues and seek to preserve the peace, unity and purity of that church.

Each June the COM appoints one of its members to the Bills and Overtures Committee.

MEMBERSHIP: The Committee on Ministry is to consist of twelve (12) ministers and twelve (12) elders divided into three classes of four ministers and four elders each, one class of which shall be elected annually. Currently, there are fifteen (15) members on this Committee: six (6) clergy and nine (9) elders. One clergyperson and two elders in the Class of 2008 are eligible for re-election to serve in the Class of 2011, leaving openings for three clergy and two elders. The Class of 2009 has three vacancies for clergy and one vacancy for an elder; the Class of 2010 has two vacancies for clergy and has the full complement of four elders.

MEETINGS: Meetings are held the first Thursday of each month, except during the summer, at 6:30 PM at the Presbytery office, beginning with a light meal, the business meeting starting at 7:00 PM. Occasionally there are months when no meeting is held, when the Committees business is light, but the Committee always meets in those months when stated meetings of Presbytery are scheduled. There are also occasions when special meetings are called to address emergent matters, often during a break in a Presbytery meeting.

The business meetings of the COM usually last no more than two hours.