THat of course would depend on who you talk to......

I have heard both sides of the question argued.

Technically the arguement is that since a church council is a court of the church then all members should be "full" members of the congregation.  In practical terms however....................

Gord is correct.

So there's three models now? I remember Session/Stewards and Unified Board from my UCCan days. My family church switched to Unified Board when I was quite young, I think. Certainly, it was running with a unified board by the time I was old enough to appreciate and understand such things. When did Church Council come along?

Mendalla

The only boards I remember from my early days in the UCCanada were blackboards and corkboards.

What about those with a blend of Unified Board and Sessions/Stewards?

LOL. My parents were proverbial "pillars of the church" and Dad spent several terms on the board over the 24 or so years that I was growing up and  living at home. Couldn't avoid knowing about the board, in other words, whether I was actually interested or not.

Mendalla

You didn't have flannelboards??

Yes, I am interested in this blend too

Say, now that you mention it redbaron, we did! Thanks for the memory.  The church that I'm in right now has a pretty small leadership board -- the pastor and two deacons.

I guess one of the questions I have is can a church have any blend of Church governance that they want  and it doesn't matter what the manual says? Does it have to be okayed by Presbytery or Conference?

Again a matter of opinion.

As long as the duties required by the manual are happening I can't see Presbytery raising a big stink.  If one wants to try a drastically new form of governance, even as an experiment, it might be a politically good idea to keep the Presbytery (who has oversight over the congregation) apprised of what is happening.  All the more so if it works because it might be something to share!

Conference has nothing to say about it (except when a Presbytery Decision [and the capital D is important there] is being appealed).

Actually you need to have your form of governance oked by Presbytery - many presbyteries give guidance. 

AS I say it depends who you talk to.  MAny Presbyteries only get involved if asked, or if things go off teh rails.

Just FYI, so you know where I'm at, my UU fellowship used to use a board + council structure (the church council model mentioned above?). The board was elected at the annual meeting and finance, stewardship, and personnel committees reported directly to the board. Remaining committees (property, worship, education, etc.) reported to council which consisted of the committee chairs and was moderated by the vice-chair of the board, who then took the reports and recommendations that came out of council meetings back to the full board.

However, our volunteer pool was finding this structure problematic, so we moved to something more like a unified board. Council was dissolved, instead board members were given responsibility for specific areas of congregational life. Relevant committees then reported to the appropriate board member (e.g. Finance and Stewardship report to the Treasurer, Worship and RE report to a Living Tradition trustee, and so on).

And, to the best of my knowledge, our governance is governed entirely by our own corporate by-laws. UUA and CUC provide guidance and consulting services to assist congregations in setting up an appropriate structure for governance, but how a church is governed is ultimately up the congregation.

Mendalla