Through prayer, engaging in a formal Listening Process (An outside consultant group was brought in and conducted congregational surveys, personal interviews with members of RHCC, meetings with staff members and elders.), conducting research of other church structures and reorganizations, and the collaboration and confirmation of strategic plan proposals of different staff members, the new structure was formed.   A major change in the structure is in keeping with Jesus’ command for us to go throughout the land and invite people to the Great Banquet.  The expectation is not that people should come to us, but that we as the church will be a force in the communities in which we live and work.You can see that the new organizational chart reflects this. The regions surrounding the church to the north, south, east and west, will each have a pastor overseeing the discipleship and community partnerships/outreach endeavors.  We also realized that outreach is not what most people gravitate to and we have a lot of ground to cover in this area. Therefore, it was decided to have staff specifically designated for local and global outreach.  The role of each of the Community Discipleship Pastors is to ensure that:

• Biblical Discipleship is happening through the Community Groups in their region;
• The goal of being aware and meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the un-churched people in their communities as well as collaborating with other organizations who are endeavoring to do the same is realized;
• They provide coaching and resources in generalized and specific areas for all the Community Pastors (e.g. Men’s, Care, Singles, Marriage).

Throughout the summer, the reorganization team met and decided on what the church priorities needed to be and built a plan to ensure we achieved these objectives and aligned ourselves with the mission we believe God has given us. Concurrently, the Elder Board, with the advisement of the Stewardship Committee, evaluated our financial situation and determined the budget for our fiscal year, which goes from September 1 through August 31. It was recognized that RHCC’s financial status mirrors that of the nation’s economy and the economic reality being faced by our members.  It was determined that the budget needed to be reduced by $1.3 million.

The goal then became restructuring our organization to better focus on our mission while dealing with the financial realities. This unfortunately meant the loss of 17 paid positions.  Once the financial plan had full support of the Elders, the team spent many weeks considering the process of how to staff the organizational chart and helping those impacted by unemployment.  Some positions were filled by qualified people who were already in that role.  Newly created positions were made available for anyone on staff to apply and be interviewed for. This process began in November and will continue through December with current employees being interviewed for new positions first.  Should qualified candidates not be found within the staff for these positions, other resumes will be considered. The new organizational chart which reflects who has been selected for each of the positions is posted HERE.

WHERE WE ARE TODAY
• The number of Administrative Assistants went from 15 to 12 positions.  Only 12 submitted resumes and after the interview process, each of them has a position.
• We needed to reduce the number of paid staff in our Worship Ministries. After much prayer, Liz Dugger recognized that God has other plans for her and so she did not apply for a position.  Aaron Doerr will be our Worship Arts Pastor. 
• Eight people submitted resumes and were interviewed for the Community Discipleship roles.  Those filling these positions, along with their generalist responsibilities are:

• Monte Schmidt with oversight of the transition and leadership of the Community Discipleship ministries
• Bill Colton with oversight of the Care Ministries
• Dave Carr with oversight of Men’s Ministry
• Gregg Ramona with oversight to Singles and Marriage Ministries
• Faith Carter will be leading the charge in our community and global missions

There are two positions for which we did not have people on staff who had the skills, training and experience to fulfill the duties required by the role.  We are now looking to fill these positions by people outside our current staffing. These are:

• Campus Executive Pastor:  This person is responsible for creating the total RHCC experience when come to the church campus and the ensuring that the experience is Biblically based, relevant to the times, attractive and grace filled.  This person will oversee, direct and lead campus related ministries in accordance with RHCC’s vision and strategic plan.
• High School Leadership Development Director:  This person will primarily be responsible to recruit, empower and lead individuals and teams of people to minister to parents, and their high school students.  This position carries the additional responsibility of discipling female leaders and teens to think and live like Jesus.

We covet your prayers during this time of reorganization and transition at Rolling Hills. As the transition comes to completion, we wanted to let you know of those who are no longer paid staff members. We dearly love and believe in these people, and we trust that God will continue to use them in powerful ways. As you encounter them, please express your gratitude for their service and encourage them as they determine what to do next. Please also provide any help you can regarding job opportunities. Those affected are:

John Allen            Donna Braun
  
Carol DeVe           Liz Dugger
  
Donna Enbysk     Walter Gaede
  
Sam Haley           Aimee Heck
  
Kathy Koning      Linda Lockyear
  
Terry Lomax        Lisa Mercer
  
Joelle Meyer        Chris Nye
  
Skip Phipps         Christine Weber

Following are ways we are offering care during this time of transition:
Severance – One week’s pay for each year of service at the employee’s current rate. Severance for part-time employees is prorated.
Outplacement Services – CareerMakers was enlisted to provide a six-hour workshop to help with employment transition. In addition, two hours of individual career counseling is available to laid-off employees.
COBRA – Continuation of health coverage is available. Those who choose this option would normally pay 102% of the cost, but due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), employees involuntarily terminated by February 28, 2010, may be eligible to pay only 35% of the COBRA cost for up to 15 months.
Counseling Services – It is always difficult for both the employee and the employer when lay-offs have to take place. Therefore, up to four personal counseling sessions have been provided for all employees.

There are many ways in which we as a body can move forward with what we believe God wants to do in raising disciples and reaching our communities.  

• For those who are being released, pray that God would be their provider and lead them to gainful employment.
• Pray for everyone to receive His comfort and hope as the transition moves forward in the New Year.
• God has gifted all of us and wants to use us to further His Kingdom.  There are many opportunities to serve.  Where do you see God using you?  Where do you sense His leading?

We are excited to move forward with God’s direction to fulfill the mission He has set forth for Rolling Hills Community Church.  With all of us serving together, we will build fulfilling, supportive relationships with each other, and impact our communities and the world by living and sharing about the transformational reality of a Christ centered life.

If you have questions or comments, email info@rollinghills.org.