Our Governance 

This page provides detailed information about the Boathouse Church's governance, for those who are interested. It's provided in addition to the information on the Our Story and Our Team pages.

Who is responsible for running the Boathouse Church?

• The elders of the Boathouse Church, together with its senior pastor (who together form the “eldership”), are responsible for overseeing the church’s mission and all spiritual matters, as well as the day-to-day administration of the church. The elders have no legal responsibility with respect to their role, which they carry out on a voluntary basis.
• The senior pastor is a full-time paid employee of the Co-Mission Churches Trust (CMCT). CMCT is a charity and its Board of Trustees have ultimate legal responsibility for the administration of the Boathouse Church. CMCT employs the Church’s staff, has legal responsibility for the operation of the Church, and for the safety of all who have contact with the Church, and CMCT is the legal owner of the Church’s funds. Further background on the CMCT is set out further below.

Who are the elders?

• Elders carry out a leadership role in a church by shepherding (pastoring) God’s people by serving, leading and overseeing the congregation of the church. Further background on elders is provided here.
• The current elders of the Boathouse Church are Niel Du Preez and George Johnston.  They form the eldership alongside our senior pastor, Dave Lee.
• A new elder is nominated by the existing elders and senior pastor of the church, who consult with the congregation before being formally commissioned by the congregation. CMCT has no role in the appointment of elders of the Boathouse Church and the CMCT trustees have no desire to interfere in the spiritual leadership provided by the Church’s elders.

What is CMCT?

• The CMCT is a charity¹ and comprises of a number of churches, including the Boathouse Church. The other churches are: Christ Church Balham, Christ Church at All Saints Wandsworth, Cornerstone Church Kingston, Dundonald Church, Grace Church Worcester Park, Hope Church Sutton and Kings Church Walton. Dundonald Church played a significant part in the establishment of The Boathouse Church and each of the other six churches referred to above, and allowed the churches to benefit from its charitable framework, in order to reduce their governance burden which can so often prove to be a major distraction from ministry.
• The trustees² have legal responsibility for ensuring that the charity is properly governed. The trustees therefore have a range of responsibilities which include:
  • ensuring employees are properly looked after and remunerated;
  • ensuring that appropriate policies are in place and are implemented throughout the churches to ensure compliance with relevant legal obligations e.g. Safeguarding, Data Protection and Health and Safety;
  • ensuring the charity's finances are properly managed and used for its charitable purposes.
• The Boathouse Church is organised under the umbrella of CMCT as this is an efficient and beneficial legal mechanism for the management of the church. For example, the CMCT assumes the role of employer in relation to the senior pastor and any other staff, ensures compliance with relevant laws, provides a number of services to facilitate the administration of the church (e.g. safeguarding procedures and accounts/information on the church’s finances) and enables giving to qualify for gift aid and claims that gift aid back on behalf of the Church. Each year, CMCT allocates a small portion of the Church’s giving income (and does likewise in respect of the other seven churches) to cover the costs of the shared services referred to above. For the Financial Year 2023-2024, this amount will be £5,290.
• The elders and pastors from the eight churches organised under the CMCT umbrella have an annual leadership evening to meet with the CMCT trustees, discuss CMCT policies and receive training and support. These evenings are an opportunity for elders and pastors to enjoy fellowship together and to pray for one another and their churches. 

What do the responsibilities of the elders entail in practice?

• The responsibilities of the elders are primarily spiritual relating to the spiritual health of the church, for example:
  • the teaching of sound doctrine (and refuting error),
  • designing and implementing the strategy for the mission of the church,
  • evangelistic and ministry initiatives,
  • asking church members to provide leadership on particular ministries (e.g. children’s ministry), and
  • church discipline.
• The CMCT delegates to the elders and the senior pastor the day-to-day responsibility for the management of the church. So while the “buck stops” with the trustees from a legal perspective, in practice they rely on the elders and senior pastor to help them within their specific church context to fulfil their legal responsibilities. The management responsibilities of the elders and senior pastor in respect of The Boathouse Church includes:
  • Overseeing and ensuring the implementation within The Boathouse Church of policies provided by the trustees, e.g. Safeguarding, Data Protection and Health and Safety;
  • helping to manage the church's finances, including by setting the church budget, promoting and monitoring church giving, making decisions on expenditure (material expenditure may need approval of CMCT, e.g. housing) and ensuring money is not misappropriated;
  • helping with the care, supervision, appraisal and development of staff;
  • promoting legal compliance in all areas of the life of The Boathouse Church and by bringing to the attention of the trustees matters of serious concern.
• The elders have lead responsibility for the recruitment and appointment of the senior pastor and other staff. The elders’ decision on the appointment of a senior pastor (or any other member of staff) ultimately requires the legal approval of the CMCT in its role as the legal employer.
• The Boathouse Church has adopted the CMCT Complaints Procedure which sets out a process for the handling of any concern or complain concerning the church, including its senior pastor and its elders.

What is the Co-Mission network of churches?

• The Boathouse Church is also a member of the Co-Mission network, which is a voluntary and informal group of 30 churches and ministries across London.  Co-Mission exists as a network to strengthen one another that we might plant and revitalise churches together to reach London for Christ.
• The eldership of the Boathouse annually commits to the Co-Mission Constitution which includes a reformed evangelical Statement of Faith that summarises the core convictions of all Co-Mission churches.
• The Co-Mission Initiative Trust ("CMIT") is the charity vehicle behind the Co-Mission network. CMIT is a different legal entity to CMCT, has a separate leadership team and performs a very different role. CMIT has no legal responsibility for any church nor plays any part in the management of the Boathouse Church.
• The CMIT Executive Team³ seeks direction from and is accountable to a senior pastors council in relation to the above ministries. The Boathouse Senior Pastor is a member of this council along with the other senior pastors of the Co-Mission network churches. The CMIT Executive Team is accountable to the trustees⁴ of the CMIT in relation to management and governance as it is the trustees who have ultimate legal responsibility for the oversight of CMIT.
• The key activities of Co-Mission through CMIT include:
  • Making grants to individuals engaged in planting new churches and gospel ministries in London, to new or young Co-Mission churches/plants and also to more established churches throughout London which are either unable to cover their own costs or require some financial support as part of a revitalisation or in order to maximise their local mission opportunities. (The Boathouse Church received considerable financial support from CMIT in its early years and whilst the Church hasn’t required its financial help in recent years, it has now secured fresh funding from CMIT in order to support a new ministry trainee for a two-year period.)
  • Providing training, coaching, mentoring and support to individuals involved in church planting.
  • Through the Co-Mission Church Strengthening Team and new Pebble ministry consultancy, engaging with Co-Mission pastors to help them to review their respective ministries, provide recommendations, support and encouragement.
  • Organising and provide the annual Co-Mission Revive Bible festival, Staff Focus, Senior Pastors’ Focus and a number of other annual conferences and events.
  • The Boathouse Church makes a voluntary annual membership donation to CMIT which is used by Co-Mission to advance our shared vision for the advancement of the gospel across London.  This is equivalent to supporting an overseas mission partner, but Co-Mission is focused on reaching people of all nations, cultures and backgrounds across London. For the Financial Year 2023-2024, this amount will be £5,290.
  • The elders and pastors of churches of the Co-Mission network meet quarterly for a Co-Mission Partnership Evening. The evenings are intended to be a forum for the network to equip and support its church leaders as they work together to reach London for Christ. They also provide an opportunity for church leaders to provide feedback on the organisation of the network, share encouragements and pray together.

 

---

¹ CMCT is a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity. Its registered company number is 07496944 (England and Wales) and its registered charity number is 1139922. Further details about the CMCT (including its current trustees, annual reports and accounts) are publicly available on the register of charities maintained by the Charities Commission for England and Wales.  CMCT's entry can be found here.
² The trustees are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006.
³ The CMIT Executive Team is made up of Richard Coekin (Mission Director), Jonty Allcock and Matt Fuller (advisors to the Mission Director), Andy Harker (Assistant Mission Director), Matthew Dalton (COO) and Andy Mason (Director of Church Strengthening). Matthew Dalton and Andy Harker are the only members employed directly by CMIT, with other members seconded from their churches.
⁴ CMIT is a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity. Its registered company number is 08848067 (England and Wales) and its registered charity number is 1157383. Further details about the CMIT (including its current trustees, annual reports and accounts) are publicly available on the register of charities maintained by the Charities Commission for England and Wales.  CMIT's entry can be found here.