Our General Church Board … Willing, dedicated and gifted to serve

by Lisa McIntosh

The LCANZ’s General Church Board (GCB) is often described as being ‘Synod in between synods’.

And that’s true to an extent, but after tapping the wisdom of members present and past, it becomes apparent that the role of these highly dedicated and gifted church volunteers is more multi-faceted than that.

Known as the General Church Council (GCC) until 2018, GCB has an extensive range of responsibilities when it comes to the functioning of the organisation of the church.

In reality, GCB does not have the scope General Synod does to enact change. But many regulatory, compliance and administrative matters handled by GCB need to be dealt with in the three years between Conventions. The board also takes direction from Synod to research, explore, expand upon or deliver policies and programs, and supports and facilitates the work of departments and agencies of the church.

Members donate many hours each month to prepare for and attend meetings, and in follow-up to directions or decisions. Some members take annual leave from their paid employment or lose wages to attend meetings and, in pre-COVID times, also may have had to be away from home for several days each month to serve.

While previously all district bishops sat on GCC/GCB and most lay members were put forward by their districts, since 2018 the board has comprised the churchwide bishop and assistant bishop, one pastor member and six lay members, all elected by General Synod.

Former lay member Faye Schmidt, who served on GCC/GCB from 2015 to 2021, says those changes brought great benefits. ‘I think it increased both the efficiency of the General Church Board and it also helped to coalesce and strengthen the role of the College of Bishops’, she says.

The longest serving member of GCB and a 13-year veteran of District Church Council for Victoria-Tasmania, Tim Wiebusch, agrees. ‘We were tying our bishops up unnecessarily with a whole lot of governance and administration’, says Tim who is interim chair of GCB as part of a lay chair trial designed to allow the churchwide bishop to be a more active participant in board meetings. ‘But for those things that they are critical to, such as the doctrine of the church and the health and wellbeing of the pastorate, we’ve been quite deliberate in setting up a regime to make sure they are connected in.’

These days GCB is a skills-based entity rather than a purely representative one, with experience and expertise required in areas including mission, law, governance, finance, human resources, and organisational and change management. The aim is, however, to still include people of a mix of perspectives and backgrounds with a geographical and gender balance.

The 2021 GCB cohort includes two farmers, a chartered accountant, a corporate governance professional, a barrister and three pastors. Tim, whose ‘day job’ is as Victoria’s State Emergency Service Chief Officer of Operations, says the LCANZ is ‘blessed to have such breadth and depth in terms of the skillsets that our GCB members voluntarily bring and offer to the church’.

Paul Argyle, a farmer with governance experience in national grower organisations in New Zealand and member of the NZ Council of Synod, believes the diverse backgrounds and God-given skills each member brings to the team is a real strength, as they ‘come together as a team with a common objective to offer servant leadership to the LCANZ’.

The GCB pastor member since 2018, Rev Dr Tim Stringer, also reflects on the teamwork of the group. ‘We do not act as individuals, but as a board. Yet we bring unique perspectives and experiences to the table for discussion and to assist decision-making’, says Pastor Tim, who has also served on the Victoria-Tasmania District’s Church Council since 2017 and is on the LCANZ’s Church Worker Support Committee.

But while the members’ CVs make impressive reading, as Faye says they are primarily committed to serving the interests of the church, including upholding its confessions and constitution and adhering to its objects.

Corporate governance professional Charmaine Harch, who joined the board in 2018, also says GCB members ‘take their role seriously and endeavour to make God-directed decisions that are best for the LCANZ’.

‘GCB discusses and prayerfully considers strategic matters that need to be dealt with, ensuring “the mission of the church, the proclamation of the gospel of Christ, remains central in the work of the church”’, she says, citing the relevant by-law relating to the board’s responsibilities.

Chartered accountant Mel Zerner stresses, too, that GCB members are ‘ordinary members of congregations in the LCA’. ‘God has provided us with skills, experience, time and energy to serve the church in governance and planning for future directions of the church’, says Mel, who has been on GCC/GCB since 2009 and has served the LCANZ as its Finance, Audit and Risk committee chair since 2013, in addition to 20 years on the South Australia-Northern Territory District Church Council.

Farm business manager Peter Zweck, who has also served at district church council level in New South Wales and has been on GCC/GCB since 2016, agrees. ‘We are just like any of the other countless volunteers in the LCANZ who use our talents to serve God and the church we love to the best of our abilities’, he says.

But while there are many dedicated and selfless volunteers across the church, there is no doubt GCB members are a willing, committed and well-credentialed bunch. A newcomer to the board in 2021, Kim Baumeler, a barrister and former chair of the LCANZ’s Ecclesiastical Discipline Review Team, says in her short time on the board, she has seen ‘that everyone is very dedicated to serving the LCANZ’.

GENERAL CHURCH BOARD MEMBERS AT A GLANCE

• PAUL ARGYLE – GCB member since 2018, farmer, member of St Lukes Palmerston North NZ
• KIM BAUMELER – GCB member from 2021, barrister, member of St Peters Hobart Tas
• CHARMAINE HARCH – GCB member since 2018, corporate governance professional, member of Good News Middle Park Qld
• REV NEVILLE OTTO – GCC/GCB member 2009-2018 and from 2021, LCANZ Assistant Bishop, pastor of St Pauls Box Hill Vic
• REV PAUL SMITH – GCC/GCB member 2015-2018 and from 2022, LCANZ Bishop, former LCA Queensland District Bishop 2015-2021
• REV DR TIM STRINGER – GCB pastor member since 2018, pastor of Calvary Greensborough/Thomastown Vic
• TIM WIEBUSCH – GCC/GCB member since 2008, interim chair since 2021, Victoria State Emergency Service Chief Officer Operations, member St Pauls Box Hill Vic
• MEL ZERNER – GCC/GCB member since 2009, chartered accountant, member of St Peters Blackwood SA
• PETER ZWECK – GCC/GCB member since 2016, farmer, member St Pauls Henty NSW