CHURCH GOVERNANCE 
3trees Church is governed by its elders and led by its senior pastor. There are two branches of government, shepherding elders and oversight elders. 

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The Shepherding Elders are nominated from within our local congregations by existing elders and confirmed by the unanimous consent of this group of leaders. Typically, there are two or more elders per church location. These leaders assist in shepherding the church in every way. Specifically, they oversee the church's shepherding strategies by advising the senior pastor on all fronts, helping care for the congregation, guiding the annual church budget, and reviewing the church's finances quarterly. 

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The Oversight Elders are pastors of other thriving churches. They are nominated by the senior pastor and confirmed by the shepherding elders. They oversee the church's expansion strategies by advising the senior pastor, helping coach his leadership, guiding the church's growth strategies, and confirming the annual church budget. 

 

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Annually, by working with the church's department heads, the church's directional team proposes a budget to the shepherding elders for prayerful consideration. The shepherding elders then finalize this budget for confirmation by the oversight elders.  As the budget is executed, all 3trees Church financial transactions are reviewed quarterly and annually by a nationally renowned outside accounting firm--that specializes in church finances--for accuracy, discrepancies, and budget alignment.

 

Neither the senior pastor nor any executive has any involvement in setting their personal compensation. External independent compensation committees are appointed by the oversight elders, in cooperation with an external church law and tax expert, to set all executive salaries and the wages of any relative of an executive. Additionally, these committees determine compensation packages within the framework of comparable national non-profit compensation studies, as a nationally recognized church auditing firm is contracted to perform these studies every three years. 

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INFOGRAPHICS

The following infographics detail the church's expense report for the previous year, as well as the anticipated capital improvements for the upcoming year. Diagrams two and three also reveal the church's staffing matrix and the flow chart for church governance.