Leadership
Committees
The church in general has a reputation for being overrun with committees. Though HWC has our share of committees, our goal is that they exist in order to help us carry out the ministry of Christ more effectively. The committees serve as avenues for planning in order to collectively know the mind of Christ for our ministries, for organization in order to most effectively bring to fruition the plans we sense Christ has for us, and for communication in order to encourage, support, equip and assist our ministry volunteers. We believe that our committees are successful when their unseen work is lived out in the seen ministries that they oversee.
Elders
The Elders, along with the pastoral staff, are the spiritual leaders of our congregation. They are people of spiritual depth, godly wisdom and relational maturity. These leaders form a partnership of mutual support and accountability with the pastoral team so that spiritual leadership might be a dynamic force in the body of Christ, enabling the church to become all that God wills for it. Though the elders are endowed with authority in the church, the most important characteristics are humility, joy, love, a combination of grace and truth, and a desire for Christlikeness through the power of the Holy Spirit. We all fall short of these goals, but they are the desire of life for those who serve as elders in the Houghton Wesleyan Church.
Because we believe that God creates men and women as equals (Genesis 1:26-27), and because it is obvious that God endows leadership gifts to both men and women, elders consist of men and women.
Elders are elected for three-year terms and are limited to two consecutive terms.
Trustees
The Trustees are also spiritual leaders, charged with the stewardship of the church’s physical resources (buildings, grounds, vehicles, equipment). While we value the organizational, mechanical and artistic gifts of our Trustees, they are chosen to serve primarily because of their spiritual maturity, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and desire to be shaped into the image of Jesus Christ.
The Trustees are elected for three-year terms.