NOMINATION CYCLE/PROCESS

Over the past five months, the Nominating Committee has been prayerfully working to discern God’s will in identifying lay members to assume upcoming vacancies on the Foundry Board. These unprecedented times have challenged us all to ask what God is calling us to do in building the kin-dom at Foundry and beyond. As a reminder, the Foundry Board serves as the laity-led governance and oversight body of our church community and has responsibility to set our strategic direction; ensure Foundry’s financial health and management of its assets; participate appropriately in staffing decisions; and respond to unique challenges such as the pandemic and resultant disruption of church activity. The Nominating Committee, under the leadership of Pastor Ginger and Board member Tracy Collins, has the responsibility of seeking candidates with gifts and graces to fill designated leadership positions in the church, while also supporting the committee staffing structure as defined by the Board’s Bylaws.

Under normal circumstances, the Nominating Committee presents vetted candidates to fill all existing vacancies to the Foundry Board for consideration and affirmation. The Board-affirmed candidates would next be formally presented to the congregation through existing communication channels. In the June timeframe, a Church Conference, led by the District Superintendent (or designated surrogate), would be convened for the congregation to vote on each candidate. All elected candidates would become active in their tenured position in the month of July.

This year presents an extra challenge in that the church is convened only in a virtual format, making our congregational gathering/voting arrangement impossible to execute. Our District Superintendent, the Rev. Gerard Green, has given churches a special dispensation on managing congregational decisions during this season of shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

MANAGEMENT OF LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS – JUNE 2020

For the purpose of electing members to fill vacancies on the Foundry Board, the following process will be employed this year under guidance from our District Superintendent:

Candidates required to be elected, as formalized by the Nominating Committee, will alternatively be presented to the Foundry Board for formalized voting in lieu of congregational affirmation. The Foundry Board will take a vote on these candidates at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 7:00PM. As with all other Foundry community activities during the pandemic closure, the Board will convene in a virtual meeting, using the Web-based video teleconferencing and collaboration tool ZOOM. The vote will take place during the open session of the meeting and the congregation is invited to observe the proceedings. Please contact Tracy Collins at tracy.collins@redhorsecorp.com in order to obtain the ZOOM connection information for the June 2020 Foundry Board Meeting.

It is anticipated that a Charge Conference may be held during the fourth quarter of 2020, at which a formal vote after-the-fact will be held with congregational participation to affirm the action taken by the Foundry Board in June 2020.

2020 PROPOSED SLATE OF CANDIDATES FOR THE FOUNDRY BOARD

It is our pleasure to share with you this year’s proposed slate of members for the Foundry Board. The Nominating Committee’s process has resulted in talented, committed, and faithful persons making themselves available for servant leadership on the Board.  Normally, three persons are nominated to a three-year term, filling spaces vacated by the outgoing “class.” Based on a strategic decision in years past to stagger the terms of a previous slate, we present a class of four persons this year instead of three. We give thanks for outgoing board members Matt Hansen and Noel Bravo for their faithful service. The full proposed slate and term recommendations of members for the Board:

Please pray for the members of our community who are offering a great deal of themselves to God's service through their willingness to serve on the Foundry Board.

With gratitude and hope, Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli, Senior Pastor
Chair of Nominating Committee

Tracy L. Collins
Foundry Board Representative on Nominating Committee