At the Vestry Retreat in 1989, the Vestry approved a Commission system which in philosophy and basic structure survives to this day. No longer would commissions be led by only Vestry members.
The purposes of the reorganization were to :
1. broaden the leadership pool
2. strengthen management of the church
3. set clearer directions within the parish
There were 6 new lay commissions led by non-Vestry members and open to all members of the church
Five other committees chaired by Vestry members. There was also to be an Activities Council chaired by the Rector and included “nurturing organizations” – ECW, acolytes, choir.
This was the beginning of the current commission. The basic commissions have survived though with different names – 1. Service is now Outreach, 2. Worship is now Worship and Music, 3. Education is divided into three formations (Adult, Youth, Children), 4 Evangelism, Faith and Fellowship is now Fellowship 5. Pastoral Care and 6. Stewardship have their same names though Pastoral Care has a number of separate groups .
Five other committees were created to be led by Vestry members – 1 Personnel, 2 Finance, 3 Buildings and Grounds, 4 Operations 5. Planned Giving are now mostly Lay led commissions except for Personnel and Finance. There is no Operations Committee. Planned Giving is not a separate commission.
Here is the document from the Parish retreat that defines the Commission system which began early in 1989:
commissionsystem1989
Later in December at the Parish Meeting Commission heads reflected on the year:
commissionreportsatparishmeeting1989