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DiscipleTown Charter — Version B (dual oversight, alternative)

MAYFLOWER CHURCH

DiscipleTown Charter

Version B — Dual oversight: Elders (content) and Deacons (child safety) (status quo alternative)

Streamline System 06 — Team Charters

DRAFT for consideration by the Servants Council at its meeting on July 11, 2026. Not yet ratified. Upon ratification this becomes a standing charter, reviewed at each August Leadership Summit and re-ratified on material change.

Governing Principle

We teach the children the truth, and we keep them safe while we do it.

The church's children are owed two things at once: the sound Word taught in a way they can hold, and a safe place to receive it. This team carries both. The aim is children who know the gospel and parents who can trust the room.

1. Oversight (the home)

Dual oversight, by design. The Elders oversee what is taught: content, curriculum, and theological direction. The Deacons oversee how children are kept safe, per the Child Safety Policy (Bylaws Policy Page viii). The children's leaders work primarily with the Elders for WHAT they teach and primarily with the Deacons for HOW they keep children safe. Where the boundary between teaching and safety is unclear, the matter is taken to the Elder-Deacon Roundtable. Day-to-day point person: Senior Pastor. Every team has a home; this team works first with both boards in their lanes. This is the status quo arrangement; an Elders-only oversight version of this charter exists as the proposed alternative, and the choice between the two is the Servants Council proposal of July 11, 2026.

2. Purpose

This team exists to disciple the church's children with sound, age-appropriate Bible teaching in a safe environment. It carries the church's children's Christian education: teaching the truth in a way children can receive, and keeping them safe while it does. Its concern is not the running of a children's program for its own sake but the forming of young disciples within a room parents can trust.

3. Priority-ministry link

This team serves Disciple-Making Pathways (System 01), specifically the children's Christian education by which the church forms its youngest in the faith.

4. The Commission

The Elders and Deacons together commission this team to disciple the church's children with sound, age-appropriate Bible teaching in a safe environment. The work runs on a steady weekly scale and carries two charges that must stay joined. First, teach: deliver sound, age-appropriate Bible instruction to the church's children on the Lord's Day and at appointed children's occasions through the year, under curriculum and theological direction the Elders own. Second, protect: keep children safe in every gathering, under the Child Safety Policy the Deacons own, so that every worker is screened and trained before serving. The two charges report into two boards: the Elders for what is taught, the Deacons for how children are kept safe. The measure is children learning the gospel within a room that is demonstrably safe, not a headcount in the classroom.

5. In scope / Out of scope

In scope:

  • Teaching sound, age-appropriate Bible content to the church's children on the Lord's Day and at appointed children's occasions.
  • Owning the children's curriculum and lessons under the Elders' theological direction.
  • Recruiting, training, and scheduling children's ministry workers.
  • Keeping children safe under the Child Safety Policy: screening and training every worker, and following the safety protocols in every gathering.
  • Communicating with parents about their children's growth in the faith.

Out of scope:

  • The care of infants and toddlers. That is the Nursery Team's charge (see Coordination); this team receives children handed up from the Nursery at the appointed age.
  • Setting the Child Safety Policy itself. The Deacons own the policy; this team follows it and keeps children safe within it.
  • Setting the church's theological direction. The Elders own the doctrine and the curriculum direction; this team teaches faithfully within it.
  • The recruitment process and worker screening mechanics as a standalone system. Those follow the Volunteer Chapter and Child Safety Policy; this team applies them rather than redefining them.
  • Treating attendance as the measure. The measure is children formed in sound truth within a safe room.

6. Scale

Shape: a permanent core of teaching leaders and a roster of trained, screened children's workers scheduled across the Lord's Days, expanding for special children's occasions such as Vacation Bible School and the Christmas program. Commitment categories are drawn from the Volunteer Chapter (System 06). The team recruits and trains workers rather than leaning on a few. Leadership is one appointed DiscipleTown Leader (System 07).

7. Key responsibilities

  • Teach sound, age-appropriate Bible content to children weekly and at appointed occasions.
  • Maintain the children's curriculum and lessons under the Elders' theological direction.
  • Recruit, train, and schedule children's workers.
  • Keep children safe under the Deacons' Child Safety Policy in every gathering.
  • Communicate with parents about their children's growth in the faith.
  • Communicate plans, encouragements, and needs to the Elders (teaching) and the Deacons (safety).

8. Coordination

  • Elders (content) and Deacons (safety): the standing dual relationship. The children's leaders work primarily with the Elders for WHAT they teach (curriculum, content, theological direction) and primarily with the Deacons for HOW they keep children safe (the Child Safety Policy, screening, protocols). When a question sits on the line between teaching and safety, it goes to the Elder-Deacon Roundtable rather than to one board alone.
  • Nursery Team (Deacons): handoff. The Nursery cares for infants and toddlers; this team receives children handed up at the appointed age and folds them into children's teaching.
  • Parents: this team works with parents, communicating their children's growth and partnering with the home in the children's discipleship.

9. Resources

Budget line: "DiscipleTown Curriculum," administered by the Elder Chair (Purchasing Policy). Facilities needs for classrooms and children's occasions are coordinated with the Trustees. Scheduling, rosters, and worker screening records run through Planning Center. Workers must hold a current CORI check and complete child-safety training before serving, per the Volunteer Chapter and Child Safety Policy; this is a standing requirement of the role.

10. Health indicators

Faithfulness-shaped signs the team is alive, not an attendance scoreboard. The year's specific targets live in the System 11 annual goals, set with the Elders and Deacons each August.

  • Children are receiving sound, age-appropriate Bible teaching on a steady rhythm.
  • Every serving worker is screened and trained before serving, with no gaps in coverage.
  • The Child Safety Policy is followed in every gathering, and parents can trust the room.
  • A widening roster of trained workers is carrying the load, not a few.
  • Parents are hearing how their children are growing, and the home and the church are partnered in it.

11. Review and approval

Standing charter, reviewed annually at the August Leadership Summit. Re-ratified by the Servants Council on material change. Because oversight is shared, both boards weigh in: the Elders on content and the Deacons on safety, reconciled at the Elder-Deacon Roundtable. Escalation beyond the team's or boards' authority follows the Decision-Making Framework (System 09). Leadership succession follows the Leadership Handoff Guidelines (System 12). Review note for Anton: this is Version B, the dual-oversight status quo. A Version A exists that proposes Elders-only program oversight, kept on file at discipletown-charter.md. The choice between the two versions is the Servants Council proposal of July 11, 2026. This version is the fallback if the church keeps child-safety oversight with the Deacons rather than moving program oversight to the Elders alone.

Commissioned by: Elder Chair ____________________________ Date __________

Commissioned by: Deacon Chair ____________________________ Date __________

Ratified into the operations documentation by: Servants Council ____________________________ Date __________

Sources

  • Mayflower Church Constitution and Bylaws, Art. II §B 1.c.2 (board oversight of ministry); Art. II §B 4.c.7 (Servants Council receives and approves Ministry Team charters).
  • Child Safety Policy, Bylaws Policy Page viii (Deacons own child safety across all children's ministry; CORI and child-safety training required of workers).
  • Streamline System 01 — The Five Priority Ministries We Guard (Disciple-Making Pathways; children's Christian education).
  • Streamline System 06 — Team-to-Board Oversight Map (dual oversight: Elders for content, Deacons for child safety); Volunteer Chapter (worker recruitment, CORI, child-safety training).
  • Streamline System 07 — Role Clarity, "24 — DiscipleTown Leader."
  • Streamline System 09 — Decision-Making Framework; System 11 — Annual Goals; System 12 — Leadership Handoff Guidelines.
  • Purchasing Policy (DiscipleTown Curriculum, Elder Chair).
  • Nursery Team Charter (sibling form and handoff partner); Team Charter Standard, this folder.
  • DiscipleTown Charter, Version A (Elders-only oversight, proposed), discipletown-charter.md.
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