Third Church Governance Structure

Over 3,000 people participate in the mission of Third Church. Each and every day, the Executive Board of Third Church takes its governance call seriously through prayer, care and leadership to everyone that calls Third Church its church home. Third Church utilizes a biblical and best practice approach to its governance responsibility.

Throughout the New Testament, principles of church leadership point to a central theme: that the church is to be led by a plurality of godly leaders. The key word here is plurality. Relying on the consensual agreement of godly elders and deacons selected from the congregation ensures a healthy checks and balance of leadership direction, congregational care, spiritual guidance, financial accountability and ministry implementation. By providing and enforcing biblically based policies that guide ministry decisions, the Executive Board creates a safety net that makes certain ministry is offered in a God-honoring way.

In 2004, Third Church adopted a model of governance called Policy Governance. In this model, Executive Board members provide spiritual oversight, long-term vision and operational boundaries for the functioning of the whole church as an organization. While they focus on these items, they entrust the implementation of their direction into the hands of staff and other ministry leaders through the leadership of the Senior Pastor. The benefit of this model is that it allows the Executive Board to focus their time and energy to the biblical mandate to lead and shepherd the whole church, while allowing the aforementioned leaders the empowerment to lead ministries as God directs and make practical decisions on how to carry out the Executive Board’s mandates.

As a governing body, the Executive Board serves as ambassadors of Jesus Christ who rules over the universal church and as representatives of the congregation who have an interest in the ministry and mission of Third Church. Six members of Third Church serve on the Executive Board at any given time. These six individuals are comprised of elders and deacons, men or women; however, at least one elder and one deacon serve on the board at all times. These six individuals are elected to three year terms from the consistory of all active elders and deacons; whereas, the consistory of elders and deacons is elected by the congregation. There are three ex-officio staff persons who serve as non-voting members of the Executive Board, the Senior Pastor, the Executive Director of Ministry and the Executive Director of Operations. The Senior Pastor, along with the help of the executive directors, provides a key linkbetween the Executive Board and the day-to-day happenings of the church.

The responsibilities of the Executive Board have both routine and varied aspects. Throughout each month and at monthly meetings, the Executive Board tackles important issues for the church, including:

 • Overseeing the overall vision and future direction of the church;

 • Creating policies to clearly define church values and biblical operating procedures;

 • Ensuring the teachings and practices of the church reflect accurate biblical theology;

 • Praying for congregational pastoral care needs, conflict resolution and restoration;

• Protecting the church by providing direction on financial and risk management issues; and

 • Supervising the Senior Pastor for accountability and to ensure the vision and values determined by the Executive Board are carried out.

Officers:

• Arlyn Stuart, Chief Governance Officer
• Lyle Horman, Clerk

At-Large Members:

• Mark Blankespoor 
• Joel Bennett
• Paul Jones
• Seth Schreur

Ex-Officio Staff Leaders:

• Kevin Korver, Senior Pastor
• Jason Nelson, Executive Director of Ministry
• Dan Sorensen, Executive Director of Operations