Most members of All Souls, even the newest ones, know that our elected Board of Trustees has over-all responsibility for running most congregational affairs. In a church of 1,500 members and countless committees, commissions and task forces, the need to balance the requirements of all those activities is a daunting task. To help them keep order in what can be a chaotic situation, the Board has created two organizational entities that deal with coordination, communication and the interaction amongst all of our outreach and in-reach activities. Those are the Church Council and the Program Council, which generally function in the background to make it all work and help the congregation develop and maintain a sense of community.

The Church Council is composed of representatives of all of our varied organizations, usually the committee heads. Currently, Carolyn Jackson is the Board-appointed chair of the Church Council. Rev. Jan Carlsson-Bull serves as ministerial advisor and shares what she learns at the meetings with the other ministers. A representative of the Board also attends the Council's meetings.

The members of the Program Council are: Donna Cassetta, George Dorsey, Ashley Garrett, Carolyn Jackson, and Bernie May. Jan also serves as ministerial advisor to the Program Council.

About twenty-five representatives gather at the monthly meetings to report on the past activities of their groups, tell about future plans and about any existing problems that need to be resolved. The Council also conducts leadership meetings to help committee heads deal with volunteers and to promote interaction and nurturing practices that will help maintain our goals in an efficient manner.

The Church Council reports to the Board appointed Program Council, a forum for looking at volunteering, resolving problems and troubleshooting, and also for keeping track of accountability regarding committee budgets and resources. While the Church Council deals with details, the Program Council acts as a watchdog and deals with larger, overall issues that affect the church. When groups encounter troubles, the Program Council may help alleviate the problem by either merging or redefining functions; it may even end programs that do not fulfill their missions.

The chair of the Church Council also serves on the Program Council, as does a representative of the Board. Together, these oversight groups try to eliminate conflicts between activities and to channel volunteer energy and outreach resources toward a pattern that will serve our common concerns and the overall mission of our large congregation.