Hospitality Team Charter

MAYFLOWER CHURCH

Hospitality Team Charter

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

A welcomed guest is already being loved with the gospel.

Food, a clean room, and an open table are not the work beneath ministry; they are ministry. This team builds belonging in the body and makes the table ready, so that the warmth of Christ is felt before a word is spoken.

1. Oversight (the home)

Overseeing board: Deacons (Bylaws Art. II §B 1.c.2, service ministries under the deacons). Day-to-day point person: Deacon Chair. Every team has a home; this team works first with the deacons.

2. Purpose

This team exists to build belonging and fellowship in the body of Christ at Mayflower, and to make the church's tables ready. It organizes food and beverage for the gatherings of the church, keeps the Briggs Building kitchen sound and clean, and lends its welcome to other ministries when they host. The work serves the church's common life and its care for those who grieve.

3. Priority-ministry link

This team serves The Lord's Day Gathering (System 01) as one of the Sunday Support Teams, and overflows into the church's fellowship and common life.

4. The Commission

The deacons commission this team to build belonging in the body and to carry the food, beverage, and hospitality of the church's gatherings, at a scale that rises and falls with the calendar. The work has three parts. First, fellowship: provide opportunities for members, attenders, visitors, and families to gather in formal and informal settings, building a sense of belonging and family. Second, the table: take the lead in organizing food and beverage for church dinners, socials, outreach activities, coffee hour, and funeral collations, planning the set-up, preparation, serving, and clean-up of each. Third, the kitchen: keep the Briggs Building kitchen supplied, clean, and organized to Board of Health standards. A small permanent core team carries the steady rhythm and recruits a wider circle of volunteers for specific events rather than absorbing every task itself.

5. In scope / Out of scope

In scope:

• Initiating and hosting social and fellowship events that build belonging in the body.
• Organizing food and beverage, set-up, serving, and clean-up for church dinners, socials, outreach occasions, coffee hour, and funeral collations.
• Maintaining the Briggs Building kitchen supplies, cleanliness, and organization to Board of Health standards.
• Lending hospitality support to other ministries' events when asked.

Out of scope:

• The Sunday welcome and guest connection at the door. That belongs to First Impressions; this team supports the fellowship side of Sunday (see Coordination).
• Kitchen as a facility: repairs, equipment replacement, and building systems are the Trustees' charge; the team keeps the kitchen clean and stocked and escalates facility concerns.
• Owning another ministry's event. The team lends hospitality; the hosting ministry owns its event.

6. Scale

Shape: a small permanent core team that expands with volunteers for specific events, drawing commitment categories from the Volunteer Chapter (System 06). The core team carries coffee hour and the steady rhythm; larger dinners, socials, and collations are staffed by recruiting the wider body rather than staffing every event from the core.

7. Key responsibilities

• Plan and host fellowship and social occasions that build belonging across the body.
• Organize food and beverage, set-up, serving, and clean-up for the church's gatherings and collations.
• Keep the Briggs Building kitchen clean, supplied, and organized to Board of Health standards.
• Recruit and mobilize volunteers for specific events rather than carrying every event from the core team.
• Support other ministries with hospitality when asked.
• Communicate regularly with the deacons on plans, supplies, and needs.

8. Coordination

• Sanctuary and First Impressions (Deacons, Sunday support): the three serve the Lord's Day together. First Impressions carries the welcome at the door; Sanctuary readies the room; Hospitality readies the table and the fellowship that follows.
• Kitchen Team: coordinates use of the Briggs Building kitchen and its readiness for events.
• Other ministries needing event hospitality: Hospitality lends its welcome; the hosting ministry owns the event.
• Trustees: facility concerns with the kitchen that exceed the team's ability are escalated to the Trustees.

9. Resources

Budget lines: the Hospitality and Coffee Hour budgets, administered by the Deacon Chair (Purchasing Policy). Facilities needs are coordinated with the Trustees. Event scheduling and volunteer requests run through Planning Center.

10. Health indicators

Faithfulness-shaped signs the team is alive and serving well. The year's specific targets live in the System 11 annual goals, set with the deacons each August.

• Guests and members alike report being welcomed and known, not merely fed.
• The church's gatherings are hosted without the same few hands carrying every one.
• The kitchen stays clean, stocked, and ready to Board of Health standards.
• Families who grieve are cared for promptly when a collation is needed.
• The team recruits and mobilizes the wider body rather than absorbing every task itself.

11. Review and approval

Standing charter, reviewed annually at the August Leadership Summit. Re-ratified by the Servants Council on material change. Escalation beyond the team's or deacons' authority follows the Decision-Making Framework (System 09). Leadership succession follows the Leadership Handoff Guidelines (System 12). Review note: the prior draft named the "Diaconate" as the overseeing board and carried a stale one-year term; oversight is restated as the Deacons and the charter is standing and evergreen.

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 (service ministries under the deacons); Art. II §B 4.c.7 (Servants Council receives and approves Ministry Team charters).
• Streamline System 01 — The Five Priority Ministries We Guard; The Lord's Day Gathering and the Sunday Support Teams.
• Streamline System 06 — Team-to-Board Oversight Map; Volunteer Chapter.
• Streamline System 07 — Role Clarity, "22 — Hospitality Team Leader."
• Streamline System 09 — Decision-Making Framework; System 11 — Annual Goals; System 12 — Leadership Handoff Guidelines.
• Purchasing Policy (Hospitality and Coffee Hour budgets, Deacon Chair).
• Prior Hospitality Team Charter draft (v3, 2026-04-22), substance inherited and upgraded; Team Charter Standard, this folder.