Much of the focus of church administrators over the past several months has been the consideration of the various proposals of ICOC 3.0. The Administration Service Team exists primarily to assist with the effective implementation of the church’s evangelistic vision and to support the ministries both locally and globally. As decisions on ICOC 3.0 are considered and finalized over the rest of the calendar year 2018, the Administration Service Team will strive to ensure that policies and procedures are made available to ministries around the world as needed.

In addition to the implementation of ICOC 3.0 decisions, the AST will continue to address a number of ongoing projects. These include:

  • Establishing training programs for church administration, whether ‘global’ in the event of major developments like ICOC 3.0 or regional training (basic or intermediate)
  • Supporting the recruitment of administrative personnel, which could include volunteers as well as paid staff
  • Developing and maintaining administrative support resources, for example compensation model libraries, retirement program guidelines, employee benefit program suggestions, and/or reference guidelines
  • Identifying issues (whether legal or social, etc) that affect our ministries, with suggestions and/or referrals to appropriate support
  • Forging the paths to provide support, guidance, etc for ministries outside the U.S. – transcending the developed world, US-centric procedures and assumptions (a great amount of development is needed that is appropriate to and/or applicable to very different societal, governmental, and legal contexts).

Leadership Plan

The term of the current chair, Tom Briscoe, ends in October 2018, and the team is considering nominations for his successor. The Service Teams are also focusing on ongoing leadership development, with the intent to establish succession plans and Assistant Chairs.

Team structure & organization

Vision – to provide support to ICOC ministries to maximize the sustained growth and strength of the work of the Lord.

The current membership and structure of the Admin Service Team include:

Team Membership and Committees –

  • Human Resources Committee (including Compensation, Benefits, Employment Practices): Steve Smith, Chair – Dallas, Texas; Christen McDuffee – Boston, Massachusetts; Gary Slebodnick – Boston, Massachusetts; Tom McCurry – Los Angeles, California
  • Compensation Subcommittee: Gary Slebodnick – Boston; Steve Smith – Dallas
  • Leadership Development: Members under consideration
  • Governance (including Board, Legal, Policies/Procedures): Cheryl Kaplan – Northern Virginia; Paul Ramsey – Columbia, South Carolina
  • General Administration (including Accounting, Taxation): Connie Beene, Chair – New York City; Vivian Hanes – Atlanta, Georgia; Brian Gross – St. Louis, Missouri
  • International Administration: Paul Ramsey, Chair – Columbia, SC; Christen McDuffee – Boston; Paul Rowden – London, England
  • Risk Management (including Liability Insurance): Tom Briscoe, Chair – Dallas, Texas; Cheryl Kaplan – Northern Virginia; Paul Ramsey – Columbia, SC