A Message from Our President
I wanted to take a moment to personally thank you.
Standing Stone is experiencing explosive growth right now, and we owe a great deal of that to you: faithful friends of our ministry who pray, give, and read these weekly newsletters. I’m also very excited to announce that we recently completed a draft of our first comprehensive board governance policy manual. Why on earth is he excited about that, you may well wonder? I’m excited because healthy governance will guide our ministry for many years to come.
Standing Stone’s Board of Directors exists to help our organization flourish, focusing on strategies that then enable our staff to focus on the mission God has given us–guiding pastors, missionaries, and parachurch workers into healthy ministry.
A healthy board is essential for any healthy organization! And yet, according to New York Times bestselling author and leadership guru Patrick Lencioni,
“A greeter at Walmart gets more orientation than most board members ever do.”
I’m happy to report that Standing Stone’s Board of Directors doesn’t operate this way. We know that a healthy, effective board doesn’t just “happen.” Rather, it’s the direct result of of thoughtful onboarding and evaluation, strong and committed leadership, good culture and robust governance procedures. That’s why I’m excited about our board and the governance model it follows. Our policies begin and end with the character of our board members.
More important than every other qualification, a genuine, growing faith in Jesus characterizes each of our board members. I’m grateful for these team members and want to introduce them to you.
Bryan Luci, Board Chairman, comes to us with almost forty years of experience in the insurance field. He recently retired as Senior Vice President of the Philadelphia Insurance Companies and has overseen Standing Stone through critical inflection points.
Having served fourteen years as President of the global missions organization, Operation Mobilization, and equipped with a Ph.D. in Organizational and Developmental Psychology, our board co-chair, Dr. Rick Hicks, brings a wealth of wisdom and experience to the Standing Stone table.
Shannon Reese currently serves on the Executive Team at Calvary Church of Santa Ana, where she oversees teams of pastors who serve adults, children, students, and families as well as the development of 500+ volunteers and leaders. Shannon is a dynamic leader and woman of God.
Dr. Phil Yphantides, Chief Medical Officer at a large hospital, grew up in a ministry home and brings the unique combination of a sharp mind, corporate skills, and ministry experience to our board. He’s been an elder, worship leader, and teacher in various church capacities for many years.
And our newest board member, Carl Lachman, comes to Standing Stone from the world of financial management. With both an MBA from UCLA and a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary as well as several years working on a large-church staff, Carl’s keen insight adds a great deal to our group.
Please pray for our board (pictured above) as we serve Standing Stone during this time of amazing growth!
In His grip,
Dr. Jeramy Clark
Weekly Encouragement
The Bible makes clear…
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22, NIV
At Standing Stone, we take this seriously. We are wholly committed to operating as a ministry that seeks the counsel of wise men and women of God. We are grateful for the board members we already have and we’ll be building our board as our ministry continues to grow. Thank you for partnering with us as we serve ministry leaders for God’s glory!
