Deacon Nominations for the Class of 2029

September 20, 2026

DEACON NOMINATIONS ARE HAPPENING IN SEPTEMBER

It is time to kick off our Deacon nomination and selection process. All church members are encouraged to participate in this process and help nominate a new strong slate of people to help do the great work of our Church. These key people will lead the church in our efforts to remain true to our Covenant.

Deacons are nominated and elected through a process and on a timetable in accordance with Policies and Procedures that are established and amended from time to time by your Board of Deacons (BoD) and that take care to include:

  • Soliciting from the Congregation deacon nominations of Members who meet the Deacon criteria adopted by the Congregation and printed in the Church’s Bylaws.
  • Soliciting from the Church’s Ministries deacon nominations of Members who meet these same Deacon criteria.
  • Consideration by the BoD for the top nominees (those who receive the most nominations) respecting these same deacon criteria.
  • Consideration for (a) the Church’s leadership needs for the next three years in various areas of focus, examples being training, or engagement and community interests, talents or professional and public service; and (b) the extent to which nominees can contribute these characteristics and their time and talents to the Church; and (c) assuring that the BoD is both diverse and inclusive.
  • The nominees’ willingness to serve and to commit the time necessary for service as expressed to the Nominating Committee.

A summary of the Deacon nomination process follows

  • Deacon Nominations will be accepted from church members September 20 - October 4, 2026.
  • Each household will receive a paper/mailed nomination form (will be mailed by September 17th).
  • Deacon nomination Form available in e-Weekly, in the Church’s Order of Worship and in the Sanctuary Narthex (September 20).
  • Each church member can nominate up to 4 candidates.
  • Nomination forms to be submitted by October 4th.
  • Nominating Committee examines nominations and recommends 4 persons to the BoD that, at its November meeting, it considers and approves as next year’s slate of Deacons.
  • Slate of new Deacons presented to the congregation for a vote of affirmation at the end of worship on November 22nd.

Important Dates

October 4 | Deacon Nomination Forms must be submitted to MPCOV by 11:59pm
November 9 | Board of Deacon considers and votes to approve new deacon slate
November 22 | Congregation Affirmation Vote at the end of worship service
December 6 | Deacon Ordination and Installation

Life Deacon & Deacon Nomination Timeline*

September 20 | Distribution of Life Deacons ballots to Life Deacons.
September 29 | Deadline for return of Life Deacon Ballots (Only Life Deacons Vote)

*Note - The Life Deacon process timeline is included for informational purposes only as this process involves nominations by Life Deacons and voting by Life Deacons only.

Changes to the process this year

This year, we are working from a new governance structure in the form of new Bylaws that were approved by the Congregation earlier this year and several new governance policies and procedures approved by the BoD in 2025 – all with the goal of right sizing our governance process to better serve our smaller church. Changes include an ultimate BoD of 12 Deacons, made up of 3 classes of 4 Deacons approved by the Congregation plus 1-2 Life Deacons with one-year terms, to make up a maximum of 14 Deacons serving on the Board. In addition, the BoD revamped the Church’s ministries structure, which is now comprised of six ministries of both Deacon and Church Congregant Members:

  1. Faith Formation and Worship Ministry
  2. Community Life and Congregational Care Ministry
  3. Justice and Outreach Ministry
  4. Facilities Ministry
  5. Finance and Stewardship Ministry
  6. Human Resources and Leadership Development Ministry

Our new governance structure adopted by the 2025 BoD includes the creation each year of a new Deacon Nominating Committee (starting with this year) to examine all Deacon nominees from the Congregation and its Ministries and to recommend a slate of 4 Deacons to recommend to the BoD and then to the Congregation for approval. The Nominating Committee is comprised of 7 persons, one elected by each of the Church’s six Ministries plus the BoD Chair-Elect. From all the Congregation’s and Ministries’ nominees, the Nominating Committee recommends a slate of four (4) nominees to the BoD, and the BoD will consider and approve the slate of four nominees to the Congregation for its approval, using the following criteria:

  1. Number of nominations that the candidate has received
  2. Meets eligibility criteria stated in the Bylaws
  3. Past contributions to the church of time/talent and financial resources
  4. Talents or background matches the needs of the BoD
  5. An ability to work effectively with others and foster healthy church community
  6. Maintains or enhances BoD diversity

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