As we shared in the presentation, the motivation for this shift is to create a structure that better supports the church’s mission of making disciples who know, love, and follow Jesus. Our current single-board model has presented challenges in leadership sustainability, decision-making, and relational disciple-making.

By moving to a three-board structure, we seek to: 

A. Encourage more participation in leadership and ministry, 

B.  Strengthen accountability and governance while supporting ministry leaders, 

C. Remove bottlenecks in decision-making and allow for more shared leadership 

D. Foster an environment where disciple-making is central to all aspects of church life. 

This change is not about a single issue but rather about creating a more effective, sustainable and biblically sound model for church that encourages each member to live out the call that God has placed on their lives.  

Although it looks a lot different than our current model, the new church structure incorporates multiple levels of accountability. Ministries at CHC will be accountable for participating in the work of both the Stewardship Board and the Vision Board. These boards, in turn, will be accountable to each other and to the five-year ministry plan they develop together.

Beyond this, the Governance Board will oversee both the Stewardship and Vision Boards, ensuring that their work aligns with the mission of making disciples who make disciples. The Governance Board will also hold the senior pastor and staff accountable for carrying out CHC’s Mission, Vision, and Values. Additionally, the Governance Board itself will be accountable to the congregation, as the board members will be elected by CHC congregants who are voting members. To maintain transparency, the congregation will receive updates through two annual meetings—one at the beginning of the year and another mid-year—where the Governance Board will report on its work and provide ministry updates.

From a biblical perspective, hierarchy should be displayed in servitude, as demonstrated in Matthew 20:20-28, Luke 22:24-26, Mark 10:43-35 and Philippians 2:5-7. In Christ’s upside down kingdom, humility, love, service, unity and responsibility replace power, privilege and position as the guiding principles for true servant leadership. The proposed structure better reflects this servant-leadership model by creating more opportunities for individuals to serve the body while distributing responsibilities more evenly. This approach reduces individual burdens, allowing leaders to focus on their ministry work service more effectively. 

This is an important question, and we understand the concern. The short answer is that while Scripture provides models for servant leadership, it does not mandate specific titles for all churches in all times and places. The key is not the title itself but the function of leadership within the church.

A. The Early Church Was Flexible in Leadership Titles
In the New Testament, we see different leadership roles, but they are described with varied terminology depending on the context:
-Paul refers to leaders as presbyteroi (elders) in some places, episkopoi (overseers) in others, and diakonoi (deacons, ministers) in yet others.
-The church in Philippi is addressed with both episkopoi (overseers) and diakonoi (deacons) (Philippians 1:1), while other churches seem to function with elders or other leadership groups.
-A figure like Phoebe (Romans 16:1) is called a diakonos, but this same word is also used for Paul himself, showing the flexibility in its meaning.
-During the time and place of the early church, "elder" was not originally a church title but a social designation in both Greco-Roman and Jewish households. It referred to individuals who represented their families and communities. Elders oversaw their households, which included various members such as wives, adult children and their families, household slaves or servants, and extended family members like widows. This societal role was then adopted within God's household. As a societal function it was not viewed as a “title”. 

From this, we learn that early churches did not necessarily use rigid, uniform titles, but instead adapted leadership structures to their needs while maintaining faithfulness to the gospel. 

B. Titles Are Secondary to the Role of Servant Leadership
The heart of leadership in the church is not the title but the calling—to shepherd, sacrificially serve and care for God’s people. Paul and the early church were more focused on the responsibilities of leaders rather than the specific words used to describe them.
If our church is shifting away from "Deacon" or "Elder" in title, it is not because we are abandoning biblical leadership, but rather because we are ensuring that our terminology clearly communicates a servant leadership function in today’s context. 

C. Faithfulness Means Preserving Biblical Leadership, Not Just Biblical Language
Churches throughout history have adapted leadership titles to fit their communities while staying true to biblical principles. What matters is:
Are we ensuring our servant leaders fulfill the biblical responsibilities of shepherding, governance, and service?
Are we maintaining accountability, wisdom, and spiritual maturity in leadership?
Are we making our leadership structure clear and accessible to those we serve?
If the answer to these is yes, then we remain faithful to the spirit of biblical leadership, even if we update the words we use. 

D. A Biblical, Practical, and Missional Approach
Rather than preserving certain terms solely for tradition’s sake, we aim to approach leadership in a way that resonates with our congregation today. This sometimes means moving away from terms that carry preconceived expectations that no longer fit with our context. Our decision is not a rejection of Scripture but a commitment to ensuring that leadership in our church remains clear, effective, and faithful to its biblical calling.

Ultimately, our goal is to uphold the biblical model of servant leadership while using language that best serves our community. As long as we remain dedicated to the core principles of biblical servant leadership—sacrificial service, wisdom, spiritual guidance, and care—we stay true to Scripture, regardless of the titles we use. 

At first glance, transitioning from one board to three may seem like it requires many more volunteers. In reality, CHC leadership believes this new structure won't significantly increase the number of people needed. Instead, these changes are designed to better organize and unify those already serving in Chapel Hill Ministries, allowing them to work together more effectively.

Instead of each ministry doing ministry in a silo, the current leaders will work together. We believe this will reduce burn-out concerns.
While having three boards may seem to require a larger number of volunteers, we anticipate needing only two additional individuals to fill the necessary positions. 

The Vision Board and Stewardship Board will primarily consist of staff members and individuals already serving in existing ministries. The Governance Board, over time, will be composed of ministry leaders who have previously served on the Vision or Stewardship Board.
During the transition phase, however, the Governance Board will include former Elder team members who have strengths in governance and accountability.

The key roles we need to fill are the Associate Pastor position and a leader for the newly established Leadership Development Ministry. Both positions will be essential in equipping, training, and encouraging new and current servant leaders within the church. 

The Vision Board will Collaborate with the Congregational Care ministry to meet the diverse needs of the church body ensuring that members of the church family feel supported, loved, nurtured and encouraged in their faith. 

In this proposed structure:
-The community quadrant would be further developed to ensure that all members of the body are known and cared for both spiritually and physically.
-The practice of relational disciple-making across the church's boards and ministries would enhance congregational care by creating more opportunities for needs to be recognized and addressed. 

We believe that all people are created by God in His image, to glorify Him forever. Because the first couple, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God's command when tested, they and all people since are alienated from God and sinners by nature and choice. Because God is Holy and cannot tolerate sin, all people are under condemnation and unable to save themselves. Genesis 1:26; Psalms 51:5; Romans 3:23; 5:8, 12; James 3:9.

We believe the body of Christ is a living spiritual body composed of all regenerated believers of whatever race or nation. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; I Corinthians 12:12-31; Colossians 1:18.

We believe that marriage is the original and foundational institution of human society, established by God as a one-flesh, covenantal union between a man and a woman that is life-long (until separated by death), exclusive (monogamous and faithful), and it is to reflect the relationship between Christ and the Church. Only such marriages which fit the definition above may be conducted on our church property and/or officiated by members/staff of our congregation. Genesis 2:24; Hosea 2:19; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:9; Ephesians 5:21-33.

We believe procreation is a gift from God, a precious trust reserved for marriage. At the moment of conception, a new being enters the universe, a human being, a being created in God's image. This human being deserves our protection, whatever the circumstances of conception. Psalm 139:13; Jeremiah 1:5.

We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God and the well-being of others; that their conduct should be blameless before the world; that they should be faithful stewards of their possessions; and that they should seek to realize for themselves and others the full stature of maturity in Christ. Romans 12:9-13; Ephesians 4:1-6, 15-16, 5:1-2; Galatians 6:9-10.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted two ordinances to the local church; baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Triune God. We believe that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ to commemorate His substitutionary and atoning death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 26:26-39, 28:19; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 10:16, 11:17-34, 12:13; I Peter 3:21.

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal joy of the righteous, and the endless suffering of the wicked. John 14:3; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:11-15, 22:20.

We believe that every human being has direct relations with God, and is responsible to God in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority. I Corinthians 7:17; Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16, 10:19-22.