GOVERNANCE

Church Experience functions under the leadership of the Senior Pastors (lead elders, organization presidents) and leaders appointed by the Senior Pastors (such as the Senior Leadership Team and local Lead Pastors), under the governance of the Board of Directors (ordained pastors/ overseers), and ultimately and most importantly under the Headship of Jesus Christ. Under the leadership and accountability of the Senior Pastors (Brandon & Jennifer Bruce) our CE Lead Pastors and Campus Leadership Teams are responsible for leading ministry at each CE campus according to these CE Essentials. The Church Experience bylaws outline the legal organization, authority, and accountability for Church Experience as a whole. CE campuses may not have separate bylaws, boards, membership, employee handbooks and guidelines, or governance documents.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

A committed group of pastors mostly outside of CE function as the legal Board of Directors (ordained pastors/ overseers) for our collective church. One of our CE Senior Pastors (Brandon Bruce) is the chair of the CE Board of Directors. This board creates and maintains bylaws, holds the Senior Pastors accountable for leading within set boundaries, reviews financial information and results, leads in the absence of a Senior Pastor, and sets compensation for the Senior Pastors (and anyone related to the Senior Pastors).

ADVISORY BOARD

A group of godly business-minded people who receive recurring extensive financial reports and may advise on management of all budgets and buildings under the direction and authority of the Senior Leadership Team. Lead Pastors may utilize their Campus Leadership Team or local Finance Team members to help manage local financial decisions as needed (under the overall authority and direction of the CE Finance Director and CE budget) but may not set up local boards of any kind.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

A group of Church Experience leaders who have been appointed by our Senior Pastors to a central vision, strategy, and management team. This team prayerfully advises our Senior Pastors on important issues and topics impacting the whole of CE, creates and maintains essential vision alignment documents for all campuses, ensures support and accountability for CE employees, oversee the Mission Support team, and helps facilitate excellence in the execution of these CE Essentials.

PARTNERSHIPS

Church Experience is inter-denominational/non-denominational and legally independent. We operate in close relationship with The Wesleyan Church (affiliate network church connected to The Florida District of The Wesleyan Church). In addition, we have several other significant partnerships such Association of Related Churches (ARC), 12Stone Church (GA), Lake Pointe Church (Strategic Launch Network based in TX), Pinelake Church (MS), and several other large churches and/or relationships with their pastors who serve as mentors to our Senior Pastors. CE employees may personally join various networks to the extent they do not conflict with their prior agreements and commitments with CE. Church Experience campuses may not join any associations or networks (or similar) without prior approval and no financial or legal obligations to similar groups may be committed by a campus.

CAMPUS LEADERSHIP TEAM

Each CE Lead Pastor must have a Campus Leadership Team to help guide the mission locally as a team. Each Lead Pastor decides how large their Leadership Team is (between 3-12 others), how often they meet (at least monthly), and how they operate/lead together. However, Leadership Teams are not “boards” or official/legal decision-making bodies at a campus (CE looks to the local Lead Pastor for responsibility and decision-making as described within these CE Essentials). Every location refers to their team as their “Campus Leadership Team” or “Leadership Team” (for clear communication across all of CE). Mission Support may occasionally communicate with this team and the Lead Pastor is expected to keep Mission Support updated with the names of those on the team. CE may communicate certain minimum character expectations or occasionally provide a book or resource for Leadership Team members across all campuses for the purpose of unified learning on a topic across the whole church.

LOCAL EMPLOYED LEADERSHIP

Each Lead Pastor has a “green light” to suggest who will join their team as a paid CE employee. However, CE has “red light” employee hiring responsibility (veto authority) which is primarily expressed through someone not passing the interview process (additional Mission Support interview(s), background check, personality testing, etc…).

Also, each Lead Pastor is able to suggest compensation allocation at that campus. Although a Lead Pastor does not set their own salary and benefits, they may make recommendations on what their compensation level should be set at personally. For example, some Lead Pastors may work well with more non-paid leaders on their team so they can personally earn more as needed for their family while other Lead Pastors may have a spouse with significant income and decide to allocate more to employees for a larger team. Lead Pastors are given the ability to budget 45% (55% max) of campus income solely for employee compensation and benefits (including the Lead Pastor salary and including additional 8% retirement contributions for full-time pastors).

CAMPUS HIRING PROCESS

When a Lead Pastor is ready to make a hiring decision at the campus they lead, they must first talk to their coach. The coach will ask them to send a written Ministry Description (please use our CE Word document template for Ministry Descriptions) and their proposed compensation range and hours for the position. The open position should not be posted publicly and a potential candidate should not be specifically approached (including discussion about compensation or hours) before taking the steps above. After the position, the Ministry Description, and compensation plan have been approved by Mission Support, the Lead Pastor may find, interview, and propose a candidate for a Mission Support interview. Mission Support will ask the potential employee to fill out a form (based on a review of our CE Essentials or similar PDF), conduct a background check, and schedule a Mission Support interview. The final hiring offer will typically be extended by the local Lead Pastor once Mission Support has completed these steps and given approval for the offer.

RELEASING EMPLOYED LEADERS

The Senior Pastors and those assigned by the Senior Pastors have authority for releasing CE employees. All employees are “at will” employees to the extent permitted by local laws and they may be released from their paid position at any time without reason (employment contracts may have some of their own unique agreements). Church Experience reserves the right to discriminate on the basis of religion with the authority of the first amendment of the US Constitution. Lead Pastors may not hire or fire other CE employees without prior approval (the Lead Pastor recommendation to Mission Support for release of a local CE employee at their campus is almost never vetoed, but suggestions on timing and process are expected).

MAJOR MINISTRY DECISIONS

CE views local Lead Pastor as the “quarterback” of their respective Campus Leadership Team as well as the CE campuses they lead. CE wants Lead Pastors to make as many of the local leadership decisions as possible within the boundaries of these CE Essentials. However, for major ministry decisions that will significantly impact any part of CE or a campus in a significant way, Mission Support should be included in the conversation prior to the decision. Major changes should be communicated ahead of time to Mission Support.

The following ministry decisions (not an exhaustive list) are most often deferred to local Lead Pastors, but these following decisions may not be made without prior approval of Mission Support.
• Beginning a new worship service
• Changing the time of an existing worship service
• Closing/combining an existing worship service (one time or permanently)
• Moving primary meeting locations
• Selling or donating resources or equipment of larger value

The following decisions are made by Mission Support or our CE Board of Directors and may only be recommended by a Lead Pastor (not an exhaustive list).
• Buying/selling real estate
• Buying/selling a vehicle
• Creating or changing a property lease or any other binding legal agreement