Leadership Structure
Mission Statement: Making disciples who know God, who are becoming like Christ and who are working to make Him known in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Vision Statement: Experiencing and expressing the love of Jesus.
Introduction: In December 2008 the elders of Valley Church adopted a "leadership team" model for managing Valley Church under the direction of the elders. This is a change from previous leadership models relying on a single senior pastor or in recent years two co-pastors. The decision to move to the "leadership team" model is based on the practice of New Testament churches that appear to have been managed by the consensus of a group of elders not just one senior elder (Acts 14:23, 20:17, 1 Timothy 5:17, Titus 1:5).
Biblical
Foundations for Leadership: Jesus Christ is
the head of Valley Church. The elders, the pastors, and the members
are all under His authority.
(Romans 15:7, Colossians 3:15-16). The Bible uses the terms elders
(presbyters) and overseers (bishops) interchangeably
(Titus 1:6-7) as leaders (always
in the plural) in the church. The term pastor (shepherd) also
signifies a leader (Ephesians 4:11). At Valley we have a board
of elders elected by church members. Some elders are also pastors
and both elders and pastors are responsible for shepherding the
church and are expected to meet the criteria for church leadership
(1Peter 5:1-4, 1Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:7-11). All leadership is
modeled after Jesus, our Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4, Philippians
2:1-11).
Structure: The "leadership team" model adopted by Valley Church is organized around four teams (Knowing, Growing, Showing, and Supporting). Each team is led by a "point pastor" who works together with the elders involved in those ministries.
The four "point pastors" join together to form the "leadership team." A "staff leader," appointed by the elders, guides the "leadership team" in the exercise of their respective responsibilities. The pastors participate in all elder's meetings except when they concern salary matters. Including pastors in the elder's meetings reinforces the team approach to management under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The elders are responsible for setting the overall vision and direction of Valley Church. The "leadership team" is responsible for carrying out the day-to-day implementation of that vision.
Pastors that preach/teach are appointed by the elders. When these pastors are considered for eldership, they will be presented to the congregation for approval.
Decision Making: At each level of leadership at Valley Church, decisions are made by consensus (general or widespread agreement among all members). If unanimity cannot be achieved, the minority will be asked if they can support the majority decision. If not, continued prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit is followed until consensus is achieved. While this approach may delay some decisions and appear to be inefficient by worldly standards, we believe it will produce better decisions in the long run and promote spiritual unity among the leaders.
Current Leadership, January 2010
Elders: Alex Auer (Chairman), Jaime Burnett (Treasurer), Russ Dilley, Jon Drake, Kurt Jones (Staff Leader), Burt Lancaster (Secretary), David Mayfield, Glen Miller, Steve Noble (intern), Michael Saboff (Vice Chairman), and Doug Weller.
Knowing Team:
Point Pastor, Daniel Kim. Elders: Alex
Auer and Michael Saboff.
Pastor: Glen Miller. This team is
responsible for welcome, worship, and preaching.
Growing Team:
Point Pastor Dennis Low, Elders: Russ
Dilley and Steve Noble (intern),
Pastor: Pat Jensen. This team is
responsible for relational groups, Sunday school, community groups,
life ministries, and discipleship electives. Life ministries include:
Children's ministry, Junior and Senior High School, College, Young
Adults, Valley Golden Agers, Men's and Women's ministry.
Showing Team:
Point Pastor Darren Johnson Elders:
Doug Weller and Dave Mayfield,
Pastor: Kurt Jones. This team is
responsible for both local missions (tennis/sports ministry,
international students, the Hunt, etc.) as well as Global Outreach.
Supporting Team: Point Pastor, Jaime Burnett and Elder: Burt Lancaster. This team is responsible for the finances, maintenance, and support functions of the church.
Current Pastoral Staff Ministry Responsibilities (listed alphabetically)
Jaime Burnett -- Point Pastor/Elder of Supporting Ministries (One-third Time)
- Hands on Finance
- Oversight of Office -- (Office Staff)
- Oversight of Property/Maintenance -- (John McDill, Custodial Staff)
- Oversight of IT, Kitchen, Transportation
- Hands on Benevolence
- Oversight of Weddings, Funerals, Baby Dedications, Baptisms
Pat Jensen -- Pastor of Children and Junior High Ministries (Full Time)
- Hands on Leadership of Children's Ministry
Darren Johnson -- Point Pastor of Showing Ministries (Full Time)
- Oversight of Local "Macro" Showing Events &
Opportunities
(Dave Mayfield) - Oversight of Showing Programs - ISF (Dennis Low),
Sports/Tennis
(Thomas Sorrentino), Missions (Kurt Jones) - Hands on "Micro" Showing
- Preaching
- Hands on High School (with Ben Palm)
Kurt Jones -- Staff Leader, Pastor/Elder of Preaching, Global Outreach (Full Time)
- Oversight of Leadership Team
- Preaching and oversight of preaching schedule
- Hands on leadership of Missions
- Assist NBC Church Plant
- Oversight of Web Site
Daniel Kim -- Point Pastor of Knowing Ministries (Full Time)
- Hands on leadership of Worship Services
- Hands on Welcome Ministry
- Hands on College Ministry
- Oversight of Valley Music Academy
- Oversight of Growth Ministries (tapes)
Dennis Low -- Point Pastor of Growing Ministries (Full Time)
- Hands on Community Groups
- Hands on leadership of Training Ministries (Sunday School Classes, Discipleship Electives)
- Oversight of Life Ministries -- Children through Golden Agers
- Hands on Young Adult Group
- Hands on International Students Fellowship
- Assist Preaching
Glen Miller -- Pastor/Elder of Preaching (Quarter Time)
- Preaching
- Mentoring of Staff
Joe Usher -- Student Ministries Pastor (Full Time)
- Hands on leadership of Middle School Ministry
- Assisting in High School Ministry
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of our pastors or elders.