Over the past several months the Elders and Advisory Council (Sara Thompson, Jason Smith, Mark Zimmerman, Mark Warren and Tyler Hari) have been engaged in collaborative meetings with several church leadership experts, churches, and consultants from around the country to review Eastview’s leadership structure. The objectives were to identify what worked, what did not work and what could be improved. Based on this review, we have identified several key areas of improvement that going forward will build a better staff culture, improve accountability, and ultimately lead to a better and more healthy church.

The "reinforced bow-tie"
For over 20 years Eastview has operated under the policy governance model. This model is common and favored among large evangelical churches through the country and it is an effective model for church governance. Recently, at Eastview, it has been referred to as the bow tie model and looks something like the diagram below, where the Lead Pastor (LP) has been the critical linkage between the elder board and the staff.

This model has served Eastview well for decades. However, if the Lead Pastor manipulates information from the board to the staff or from the staff to the board, the weakness of this model becomes clear.

If we think about this structure like a bridge, you can clearly see how the weakest point is at the center where information flows between the two sides. So, like a structural engineer would do to improve the structural integrity of a bridge, we will be reinforcing this structure with several additional lines of communication and policies to prevent any one person from manipulating the flow of information.

After thorough review, the Elder Team has approved the following new lines of communication between the elder board, the Lead Pastor who remains the single direct employee of the ELT, and senior staff to reinforce the structural integrity of our leadership model. These new lines of communication include:

• Quarterly meetings between two elders and the Director of Finance to review executive spending. This will provide greater accountability for our next Lead Pastor.
• Quarterly meetings between two elders and the Director of HR to assess staff culture, staff performance, compliance throughout the organization and any areas of concern related to our Lead Pastor.
• Quarterly meetings between two elders and the Executive Pastor(s).

These quarterly meetings will be in addition to the regular meetings of the full board and are designed to provide regular opportunities for senior staff to raise concerns with a smaller subcommittee of elders without the Lead Pastor in attendance.

It is the responsibility of the two-elder teams to report critical information from these meetings back to the full board which may call for a deeper review and/or executive sessions when appropriate.

The Elder board will continue to hold its regularly scheduled meetings with HR, Finance, and Executive Pastor(s) in which these leaders present their areas of responsibility directly to the board for review.

In addition to these quarterly meetings, we have adopted additional policies that will further reinforce the structural integrity and accountability of the leadership model that will:

1. Prohibit the Lead Pastor from terminating key positions such as the Executive Pastor(s), Director of Finance and Director of HR without first gaining approval from the board.
2. Require thorough HR documentation of performance and improvement plans for all underperforming staff members before their employment may be terminated. This is meant to ensure every staff member is given adequate opportunities to improve and to provide clarity to staff when performance expectations are not being met that could lead to a change in their employment.
3. Require all executive roles (and additional Directors as appropriate) to submit annual 360 Evaluations of the Lead Pastor to the ELT. This evaluation is in addition to the ELT’s annual formal evaluation of the Lead Pastor.
4. Require the leaders of key ministry areas to present their annual performance metrics directly to the ELT rather than submitting them through the executive team or Lead Pastor.

Adopting these additional lines of direct communication and accountability between the board and the staff will provide a stronger leadership structure and will significantly reduce the likelihood that any future leader could withhold or manipulate information.

It is important to point out that several other models were considered and evaluated. With each model we found pros and cons. Our goal was to clearly identify the problems we were trying to solve, and the “reinforced bow tie” model provides the best solution to those problems.

The ELT and Advisory Council are unanimous that this is the right model for Eastview going forward. This model simply provides greater accountability for the Lead Pastor and creates several new lines of communication between staff and the elder board. We recognize no leadership model is foolproof or capable of guaranteeing that leaders will act with complete integrity at all times. Thus, our goal was to focus on strengthening accountability and improving the reliable flow of accurate, truthful information.

It was critical to make these governance and leadership structure decisions before a search for a Lead Pastor could begin in earnest. A healthy and strong Lead Pastor will invite these additional lines of communication for the health of his leadership and the integrity of the church he leads. Ultimately, with the adoption of the reinforced bow tie model, these new layers of accountability will make Eastview a better, healthier church.

Plurality of Teaching/Preaching Voices
Eastview has a rich history of biblical preaching and teaching, and we plan to simultaneously honor that history and improve upon it going forward.

In the past, Eastview’s Senior Pastors have done the vast majority of the preaching in a given year, and this has been a common practice in many churches like ours. However, we (and other large churches around the country) are learning how this can contribute to a ‘celebrity culture’ through an unhealthy elevation of one person’s voice. Based on our research, we believe that adopting a plurality of preaching/teaching voices will reduce the likelihood that any teacher/preacher could fall victim to celebrity culture, reduce the church’s dependance on one person and will allow our church to experience a fuller expression of teaching and preaching styles while remaining firmly grounded in God’s Word.

Rather than preaching 45 times per year, our next Lead Pastor will preach approximately 26-32 times per year, complemented by two other teaching pastors who will preach approximately 6-10 times per year. We will also make space to hear from our own additional young preachers to ensure Eastview continues its legacy of raising up younger preachers who can effectively proclaim God’s Word.

Increased Executive Support
The ELT and Advisory Council have determined that for a church of our size, at least two Executive Pastors (XP’s) are needed to distribute the significant responsibilities at that organizational level. Establishing a plurality of leadership in the Executive role will provide greater accountability, transparency, and diversity of thought and perspectives at the Executive level. This new hire will not take place immediately as we expect the new Lead Pastor to play a significant role in hiring this position.

Changes to the Elder Board
In an effort to establish a consistent rhythm of fresh leadership perspectives, the ELT has established term limits for each elder. After serving for up to 5 years, an elder will be required to leave the board for a minimum 1-year sabbatical.

Elders that have rolled off the team could be nominated to rejoin the board. They would be required to go through the full vetting, interview, and affirmation process.

The elders have determined that we need to grow the size of the board, and we are moving forward with the nomination of up to three additional potential candidates. They will be invited to begin the process later this month. Each candidate was recommended by our staff based on biblical qualifications, spiritual maturity, and their involvement and leadership at Eastview. As always, after the candidates have been thoroughly vetted, their names will be presented to the congregation to invite feedback for any biblical reason they should not be affirmed.

These will be the first of many important changes that we believe will ensure Eastview’s best days to be ahead of her. After several months of fervent prayer, research and seeking God’s will, we are excited and energized by what God has in store for Eastview. We invite you to join us in prayer as we ask God to continue to guide us, give us wisdom, and maintain unity as we seek His will for our church. We love you and we deeply appreciate your involvement as we work together to build a better Eastview.