Effective Trustees are Christian stewards of the property God has entrusted to the congregation.
Effective trustees supervise and maintain the property of the congregation to ensure that disciple making ministries of the congregation are effective and that local legal requirements related to the
property are satisfied.
Structure:
The Board of Trustees shall be composed of not fewer than three nor more than nine persons; one
third women and one third men. Trustees shall be of legal age as defined by law, and 2/3 shall be
professing members of the United Methodist Church. No pastor is a voting member unless selected as
a member. Legal requirements for trustees of property are outlined in the United Methodist Book of
Discipline 2012,¶2525 through 2551.
Responsibilities:
-
Trustees, subject to the direction of the charge conference, have oversight and care of all local church property, buildings, and equipment in order to accomplish the mission of the church. This is done in consultation with the pastor .
-
Trustees need to engage in spiritual practices that build a relationship of attentiveness to God’s will and direction. Church administration and daily affairs can distract trustees from the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Trustees need to hold one another accountable to the mission and vision of the church.
-
Trustees receive and administer all gifts made to the congregation, making certain that trust funds of the congregation are invested properly. Bequests and gifts to endowment projects can, by direction of the charge conference, be directed to a special endowment or legacy committee. This committee will promote, invest, and distribute the proceeds from these gifts. Congregations should seek assistance from their conference or are a United Methodist Foundation.
-
Trustees ensure that the Articles of Incorporation of the congregation are kept up-to-date. Trustees annually review property, liability, and crime insurance coverage on church-owned property, buildings, and equipment. The team also reviews personnel insurance for protection against risk, and consults with the Pastor-Parish team about other personnel insurance.
-
Trustees conduct an annual accessibility audit of buildings and grounds to discover and then work toward eliminating barriers that impede full participation of all people .
-
The team submits annual budget requests to the committee on finance for property maintenance and improvement , as well as new property purchases. Trustees are accountable to the charge conference and the church council. The term “trustees” as used in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, may be construed to be synonymous with “director” of corporations when required to comply with law.