Governance and Documentation Levels

Our church operates with a multi-layered governance system that ensures clarity, accountability, and consistency in how our community is organized and managed. This system reflects the various levels of decision-making and responsibility within the church, providing a structured yet flexible framework for how we operate. Each layer plays a distinct role in guiding our actions and aligning them with our shared values and mission. Below is an overview of the key layers within our governance system:

Bylaws

Purpose: The Bylaws are the foundational governing documents of our church. They establish the core principles and structures that define how our community is organized and how it operates.

Authority: The Bylaws are set and can only be amended by a vote of the entire congregation, ensuring that the most fundamental rules and principles are reflective of the collective will of the community.

Policy

Purpose: Board policies define the mission-driven boundaries and priorities Policieswithin servewhich the church operates. Rooted in policy based governance as directed by Foothills bylaws, these policies guide both the rulesMinistry and directivesthe Board by articulating:

• Vision/Ends: The outcomes the church exists to achieve—what difference we seek to make, for whom, and at what cost.

• Executive Directions: Requirements for the execution of ministry 

• Executive Limitations: Boundaries around the methods and means that guidestaff may not use in pursuit of those Ends.

• Board Process: How the church’sBoard operationsgoverns itself to act with integrity, accountability, and vision.

These policies live in alignmentthe withBoard ourof Bylaws.Trustees TheyPolicy cover areas such as finance, personnel,Book and safety,form the operational between the Board and providethe aExecutive frameworkTeam.

for decision-making at a strategic level.

Authority: Policies are established by the Board of Trustees through a voting process, reflecting the board's role in providing strategic oversight and ensuring that the church operates in a manner consistent with its mission and values.

ProceduresOrganizational Guidance 

Authority: Executive Team , or designated staff lead

Purpose: ProceduresOrganizational areGuidance detailedprovides processesministry-wide developedframeworks tothat implementinterpret and fulfilloperationalize board-level policy. More flexible than policy and more strategic than procedures, these documents offer consistent direction for how staff and ministries live out policies across varied contexts.

They answer:

• What does this policy mean in practice? Ie. How is the policiesexecutive setteam byinterpreting the board.board Theypolicy?

  translate
broader
• policy

  How directivesdo intowe specificstay actions,aligned ensuringas thatwe the day-to-day operations of the church are consistent with the strategic goalsadapt and policiesevolve?

  established
by the board.
Authority: These are created and managed by the church staff, who are responsible for carrying out the daily activities of the church in a manner that aligns with the established policies.

Guide/Process/ProtocolProcedures 

Purpose: GuidesProcedures are practical, step-by-step instructions that help staff to enact the procedures.Organizational Guidance and daily operations. They are designed to ensure that specific tasks and processes are carried out effectively and consistently across the church.
Authority: Developed and maintained by staff or designated teams,teams. these guides provide the necessary detail to support the implementation of procedures and, by extension, the policies and Bylaws.

How To

Purpose: How To guides are practical, congregant-facing step-by-step instructions to enacting specific tasks and actions from the perspective of someone outside the system. These documents are written in an accessible manner for the audience that is expected to use them.
Authority: Developed and maintained by staff or designated teams, these guides provide the necessary detail to support the procedures, ensuring that actions are completed in alignment with church policies and values.