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Sanctuary Team Charter

MAYFLOWER CHURCH

Sanctuary 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

The room is made ready so the people can meet with God.

A prepared room preaches nothing of itself, but a cluttered or careless one distracts from the One who is worshiped. This team readies the space week by week so that nothing in the room competes with the worship offered in it.

1. Oversight (the home)

Overseeing board: Deacons (Sanctuary preparation is named under deacon oversight, Bylaws Art. II §B 2.c). 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 prepare the sanctuary and foyer for worship each week so the space is attractive, uncluttered, and inviting to those who gather and to those who visit. The work is plain, but it serves the gathered worship of God's people and the welcome of the stranger who comes through the door.

3. Priority-ministry link

This team serves The Lord's Day Gathering (System 01) as one of the Sunday Support Teams.

4. The Commission

The deacons commission this team to ready the sanctuary and foyer for worship each week, and to keep watch over how the worship space appears to those who visit. The work has two parts. First, prepare: make the sanctuary and foyer attractive, uncluttered, and inviting for worship each week, responding to Planning Center scheduling requests in good time. Second, see with a visitor's eyes: periodically assess how the sanctuary, foyer, and restrooms appear to a first-time guest, and put right what the team can. Where a concern is a building or facility matter beyond the team's reach, the team escalates it to the Trustees rather than leaving it or carrying it alone.

5. In scope / Out of scope

In scope:

  • Preparing the sanctuary and foyer for worship each week so the space is attractive, uncluttered, and inviting.
  • Keeping the foyer welcoming to visitors.
  • Periodically assessing how the sanctuary, foyer, and restrooms appear to a first-time guest.
  • Responding to Planning Center scheduling requests promptly and arranging coverage when a member cannot serve.
  • Resolving routine room needs the team can handle.

Out of scope:

  • Building repairs, equipment, cleaning contracts, and facility systems. Those are the Trustees' charge; the team prepares the room and escalates facility concerns.
  • The welcome at the door and guest connection. That belongs to First Impressions; this team readies the room they welcome people into.
  • The fellowship table and food. That belongs to Hospitality.

6. Scale

Shape: a small permanent team carrying a steady weekly rhythm, drawing commitment categories from the Volunteer Chapter (System 06). The team recruits and schedules enough hands that the weekly preparation does not rest on a few.

7. Key responsibilities

  • Prepare the sanctuary and foyer for worship each week.
  • Keep the foyer attractive and inviting to visitors.
  • Periodically assess how the sanctuary, foyer, and restrooms appear to a first-time guest.
  • Respond to Planning Center scheduling requests promptly and cover gaps.
  • Resolve routine room needs; escalate facility concerns to the Trustees.
  • Communicate with the deacons on worship and special-service schedules and supplies.

8. Coordination

  • Hospitality and First Impressions (Deacons, Sunday support): the three serve the Lord's Day together. Sanctuary readies the room; First Impressions carries the welcome; Hospitality readies the table.
  • Trustees (facilities): concerns about the building, equipment, or systems that exceed the team's ability are escalated to the Trustees.

9. Resources

Budget line: supplies coordinated with the Deacons (Purchasing Policy); no separate named budget line. Facilities needs are coordinated with the Trustees. 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.

  • The sanctuary and foyer are ready and uncluttered each week without scramble.
  • A first-time guest finds the space attractive and inviting, not neglected.
  • Facility concerns are escalated to the Trustees promptly rather than left or absorbed.
  • The weekly rhythm is covered without resting on the same few hands.

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 for Anton: there is no System 07 position description for a Sanctuary Team Leader. This charter is built from the prior team-charter draft and the deacon-oversight reference in the bylaws, not from a leader position description. The team needs a decision: either author its own Sanctuary Team Leader position description in System 07, or fold the team's work into another Sunday Support team (Hospitality or First Impressions). Flagged for Anton. Pending change: a proposal is being brought to the Servants Council on July 11, 2026 to move Sanctuary Preparation from Deacon oversight into the First Impressions Team (Elder oversight). If that proposal is approved, this standalone charter retires and its scope is absorbed into the First Impressions Charter.

Commissioned by: Deacon Chair ____________________________ Date __________

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

Sources

  • Mayflower Church Constitution and Bylaws, Art. II §B 2.c (sanctuary preparation under deacon oversight); 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 (no Sanctuary Team Leader position description presently exists; see review note).
  • Streamline System 09 — Decision-Making Framework; System 11 — Annual Goals; System 12 — Leadership Handoff Guidelines.
  • Prior Sanctuary Team Charter draft (2026-04-22), substance inherited and upgraded; Team Charter Standard, this folder.
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