ELDERS MINUTES DECEMBER 8, 2009

The Ellington Conference Room, 7PM

ATTENDANCE
Pastor Eric Likkel; President David Anema; Secretary Chandra Mullenix; Mark R.; Beth DeVries
Excused: Rennie Araucto; Kurt Munson

JOYS/SORROWS 7:15

Eric:
Visited Darren Patillo, body continues to accept the kidney, feeling/looking well
Saw baby Simone Ruiter on Monday, healthy/well
Mark, Kurt, Rennie, new Elders!
Teresa Elenbaas, new Children’s Ministry Coordinator
David A. & Eric met with MHC staff person about community work, networking
Friday’s Christmas party!
Busy, hectic, overwhelming fall
Missing Josiah’s first string concert tonight

David A.
Americorps training went well in Chicago, met folks, networking with local churches
Today’s meeting with MHC staff person and Eric
Found out had cleaned carpets at aunt of shooter’s home, wanting to help out
Still in a mode of “freak-out” with the new position, but fading from it ☺

Mark
Neat to be here, in new ministry opportunity
Fun this weekend with family, and Likkels
Long hours at work: nights/weekends, upcoming stressful week out of town
Health? Pretty good, fatigue with long work hours, though no full-blown relapses

Beth
Nephew, family

Chandra
Grace’s new treatment plan, and ongoing complications b/t Grace and Mom’s needs

PRAYER: paused for prayer following sharing of JOYS/SORROWS

ELDER DISTRICTS
Proposed districts to be emailed to Kurt & Rennie for “approval”
See separate Word document

CALENDAR
Monthly for Elders, bi-monthly for full Council (Elders/Deacons)
Next Council mtg. January 12, 7PM
Next Elders mtg: February 9th, 7PM

PRAYER
Mark led closing prayer

ACTIONS!
Eric: Introduce new Elders to congregation this Sunday, December 13 (if Rennie/Kurt available)
See ACTION ITEM box in right hand of blog for “leftover” action-items

ELDERS MINUTES SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

Tuesday evening, 7-9:30PM Ellington

Pastor Eric Likkel

President David Anema

Secretary Chandra Mullenix

Suellen Yerger

Beth DeVries

Joys/Sorrows

Suellen:

• Camping!!
• Inconveniences of having cars on the fritz

Eric:

• Folks from Vermont Inn have come into ER community
• Ryan has begun leading Post Alley Small Group
• Jason willing to continue hosting W night SG; David A. open to leading
• Family is ill, still

Beth:

• Finding a Godly Play teacher J
• Amy, Rennie, Chad & Sarah pulled this all together

David A:

• Cousin has cancer, and is quite ill; will help weekly M’s with recycling

ELDER DISTRICTS/NOMINATIONS

Viewed Elder Districts document

From first wave of inquiries, possibilities/interest indicated by Amy Araucto, Rennie Araucto, Linda Bishop

Uncertain yet: JP Benoit (b), Valerie Benoit (b), Brad Bishop (d), Cornell Blackwell (b), Anna-Marie Chainus (b), Mike Elenbaas (d), Teresa Elenbaas (d), Ryan Engel ©, Kristin, Engel ©, Nancy Morrow ©, Kurt Munson (d), Mark Nelson (d), Christina Nelson (d), Darren Patillo (b), Sara Patillo (b), Tim Phipps (b), Randall Pope (b), Mark R (d), Angie R (d), Dan Ruiter (c), Reba Ruiter (c), Cynthia Tanis (b), Jason Wood (d)

(initial stands for Elder shepherding this particular person)

RELEASING SUELLEN

• Suellen had previously addressed Eric about having fulfilled three years as an Elder and desiring to step away from Elder ministry at this point
• Elders paused with agenda and prayed a blessing over Suellen
• Planning to pray over Suellen at point of welcoming new Elders in, some Sunday in October or November

COUNCIL CALENDAR

• Elder Monthly
• Council Bi-Monthly

• October, Road Crew
• November, Elders 17^th, 7pm
• December, Council 8^th, 7pm

ROAD CREW (7-8:30, 10/15)

• “MC” (Beth)
• Budget with Stewardship (Mike)
• New Road Crew Members (Eric)
• Presentation on Community, David/Daniel/Jennifer (Eric)
• Presentation on Classical Shares (Eric/Mike)
• Groundworks (Eric)
• Godly Play Update (Beth or Chad)
• Share Elder Nominations List (Eric)

PRAYER

• Keep on with Sunday night Prayer Meetings
• Prayer-after-church rotation, all come up front for next few Sundays
• Supplication to share with Elders, pass Eric’s notes down the row (sent out night before)

ACTIONS!

• Elders: ask your people about Eldership interest; tell Chandra by 9/27
• Chandra: compile, send to Elders
• Eric, David: send nomination list with letter to Road Crew
• Chandra: email new Districts list to Elders
• Chandra: book Conference Room for meetings

ELDERS AGENDA, TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

Ellington, 7-9PM

Joys/Sorrows/Prayer

Elder Districts

Nomination Changes

Road Crew prep

Overseeing Prayer

Closing Prayer

COUNCIL MINUTES - AUGUST 27, 2009

Thursday evening, 7-9PM New Horizons
Beth, Ryan, David, Mark, Eric, Mike in attendance
Chandra, Suellen, Dan excused

7:00PM Gather at New Horizons

7:25PM Childrens Ministry Leadership

• Council agrees with Godly Play volunteers to continue Emmaus Road's policy of funding the position previously held by Amanda; this position is beyond the “bandwidth” of our parent volunteers
• Council received suggestion from Godly Play volunteers about having Council (an appointee) oversee the Children's Ministry leaders and volunteers, including the Godly Play specialist and volunteers, acting as liaison between parents and the specialist; while agreeing with concept, Council concluded that nobody currently on council has “bandwidth” to provide such oversight; BE THAT AS IT MAY, Council recognizes the need for someone from Emmaus Road to become a Children’s Ministry Deacon, which means this person would thus become a Council member; President David will write to Road Crew and invite someone to fill this role

7:55PM Finances

• There is about $66k in Emmaus Road's checking account; no strings attached to how money is spent
• Treasurer Mike’s "gut feeling": Emmaus Road’s 2008/09 offerings/spending has been level with past few years
• Likkels’ health insurance premiums have increased; Likkels currently looking for different combination of high deductible policy and health savings plan
• Council discussed taking initiative in addressing spiritual discipline of giving; there is a need to address this area; showing stats is one way to raise awareness – Ryan will provide regular monthly data to Angie (eMonthly), and Eric (slides/bulletin); another way is to pursue testimonies, “minute for missions” style – Mike Colyn willing to stand up first; Beth, Mark also willing to share… Eric to schedule
• Classical Shares – Council approves paying; Eric will present at Road Crew, including story of Seattle Cluster’s hosting a Mich. Youth group in July; Eric to furnish Stewardship Team with Classical Treasurer’s contact information
• Preparing for Road Crew; Budget will happen first; Likkels can come late; snacks are a plus, Beth will provide; Council will lead Road Crew

7:55PM Expanding Council

• Council discussed Elders’ thoughts from prior Elders meeting (July) related to changing some of the rules around Emmaus Road’s nomination pool; Council affirmed leanings of Elders

8:55PM David/Eric agree to coauthor a Council Update for Road Crew

ELDERS AGENDA JULY 9, 2009

Agenda will be announced at meeting.

COUNCIL MINUTES - JUNE 11, 2009

Greenwood Office, 7PM

Present: Biff Gaitain, Sarah Groen-Colyn, Beth DeVries, Chandra Mullenix, Ben Lappenga, Eric Likkel, David Anema

Opening Prayer, Ben

JOYS/SORROWS: around the table sharing

ANNOUNCEMENT: Camping Trip, weekend of September 18^th-20^th

CHILDREN'S WORSHIP SUMMER PROGRAMMING

What do we do through the summer without a Children’s Worship Coordinator? Suspend all classes; hold childcare for 0-5 year olds; encourage preschoolers to join parents in “pews”; use kids’ bulletins

-Ben’s homiletics class: sermon should be for whole church, not just adults

-Fred & Belinda to make a presence; include additional kid friendly music

-Find spot that would work for older children; continue in Prayer Room

-Will be important to enforce limits on who is appropriate for Prayer Room (nursery) (increase awareness among adult volunteers, as well as parents)

--Beth to finalize letter to share Council’s decision; send to Chandra to mass mail

CHILDREN'S WORSHIP COORDINATOR AND GODLY PLAY

--Amanda not returning this Fall; what do we do for coming school year?

--Importance in having congregation teach vs. employee, relationships in context of whole church vs. isolated relationship

--Core Godly Play teaching group: Amy, Chad, Rennie, Sarah, Kristin - all trained; most have experience teaching

--No one yet committed to teach on regular basis; Sarah can find this out

--Sarah has been solo lead to guide Godly Play; looking for team leader to take it from here

--Is it better to wait to share with the church once a decision is made or present the issue?

--Council will discern where to go from here, and communicate with Road Crew in August

NEW HORIZONS

Mark Nelson/Biff to meet with John James, possibly

--Considering helping NH financially for building updates that would also benefit ER (Biff)

--Table until Fall when NH might be able to take on a new project for us to come alongside vs. ER carrying project for NH

--Side note: NH extremely grateful/overjoyed with Groundwork Sunday work (Eric)

--Are there other things we can do that don’t require money to support/assist New Horizons? (Beth)

--Important to discuss physical set-up of Godly Play with NH, as well (Sarah)

--Biff (and Mark Nelson) will check in with NH about options.

--Chandra to ask Food Group Liaison if they’d be willing to also discuss facilities once in awhile

LEADER BOARD

--Looks great; thanks Brad & Cynthia!

--Next step: write description of our roles to include with photos

--Beth will write, send to Eric for approval, then to Brad to make it all pretty

ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES SHIFTING

--Chandra has passed along aspects of administrative roles to 3 folks, searching for a 4^th

--Share via slides, eMonthly, blog, announce during the service that these people are stepping up to serve (Eric/Chandra)

SARAH'S LEADERSHIP SHIFT

--Pit Crew work to move to Elders? Yes: Pit Crew to discuss at Sunday meeting

NEXT COUNCIL AGENDA, AUGUST 13

--Discuss Emmaus Road's relationship with Classis Pacific Northwest (regional group of Christian Reformed Church) with Road Crew; we are supposed to contribute to denomination to help fund shared ministries

--Eric to fill everyone in on work and connections of Belltown Covenant

--Eric to fill everyone in on LDN meetings

NEXT ELDER AGENDA, JULY 9 (Uptown Espresso, Belltown)

--What will happen with Ben’s people? Replacing? Redistributing?

--Revising by-laws about term lengths, and eligibility

ELDERS MINUTES MAY 14, 2009

Thursday evening, 7-9PM Greenwood Office

David, Suellen, Eric, Biff in attendance; Chandra, Beth and Ben excused absences

7:10PM Elders shared Joys/Sorrows

·       Biff: moving to Florida early August; unable to find employment; joy about not having to move into Bread of Life, thanks to Bishop family

·       Eric: sorrows about Biff leaving, certain member gone; joys Council has stepped up; joys about David loaning bass to Josiah

·       Suellen: joys about healing, returning strength; joy about connecting with Joe Haley, Don Turner

·       David: joys about sister’s healing, no cancer in latest diagnosis

7:40PM Elders prayed over joys and sorrow and prayed for one another

7:50PM Elders discussed further Agenda Items and approved agenda

7:55PM  Future Elder/Council mtg. locations:

·       suggestions include Uptown Espresso, New Horizons; ACTION ITEM: BIFF LOOKING AT UPTOWN’S CALENDAR FOR JUNE 11

8:00PM Elder Districts; Member health, etc.

·       updates on situations re: couple members who've been absent

·       Eric read Chandra’s update via email on her Elder district 

·       Elders make a Covenant of Trust with their people; between the two of them and the Lord

·       Biff reports a connection having been created between himself and just about everyone in his district

·       David reports some good conversations between himself and the folks in his district

·       Eric asks about whether the Elders find “structure” helpful, or keeping things occasional; room for both approaches

depending on Elders and inviduals they shepherd

·       Suellen attending first meeting; had not chosen district during recent illness; since Biff is to depart in August, it’s decided Suellen could shepherd Biff’s district: ACTION ITEM: BIFF/SUELLEN WILL APPROACH FOLKS THIS SUNDAY AND BEYOND

9:15PM May 28 Road Crew Agenda

·       Elders decide that a Road Crew mtg. not totally necessary in May; no pressing ministry issue warrants meeting; Church has been positively engaged in events over last few months; ACTION ITEM President Anema (w/help from Pastor) will write email to Road Crew, telling of meeting cancellation, inviting response re: future meetings

9:25PM June 11 Council Agenda:

·       New Horizons

·       Other items to be added later

 9:30PM President Anema closed meeting in prayer

COUNCIL AGENDA MAY 14, 2009

7:00PM Gather at Greenwood Office

7:10PM Joys/Sorrows

7:15PM Prayer

7:20PM ?

8:45PM Closing Prayers

9:00PM Naked City

COUNCIL MINUTES - APRIL 7, 2009

Tuesday evening, 7-9PM Greenwood Office
Excused absences:
Mike Colyn w/sick kids; Sarah GC w/client in crisis; Suellen sick; Dan w/baseball kid, spouse working

In attendance:
Eric Likkel, Biff Gaitan, Ben Lappenga, David Anema, Mark Nelson, Beth DeVries, Chandra Mullenix

7:00PM Gathered at Greenwood Office; Sanctuary CRC Council also meeting
7:10PM Joys/Sorrows
Moving around the room, everyone shared a couple joys/sorrows, re: Emmaus Road and/or personal
7:20PM Prayer
7:25PM Council Offices and Officers
Ben voted in as President; David as Vice President
1st item of business; how to form agendas: at end of Council/Elders’ meetings, President calls for agenda items; send out reminder email and call for update on agenda items
-Added/Extra Elder Leadership Thoughts
ACTION ITEM: Beth will follow up with Brad & Cynthia about the leader board
Elders continue to come forward during Prayer of Supplication; hope to share requests of those in each Elder’s district aloud with congregation
What about after-service Elder prayer? Important to keep weight off Eric and keeps coming forward non-threatening. ACTION ITEM: Beth to include on volunteer schedule. Have one man, one woman each week. ACTION ITEM: Eric to continue to announce, at Benediction. Eric to head towards the door each week.
ACTION ITEM: Beth to also add before-church Small Group prayer to volunteer schedule.
-Council Calendar
Elders/Council switch-off monthly, so Elders would meet monthly.
May 14th Elders, Eric’s birthday
(May 28th Road Crew)
June 11th, Council
July 9th, Elders
August 13th, Council
(August 27th, Road Crew)
September 10th, Elders
October 8th, Council
November 12th, Elders
(Road Crew falls on Thanksgiving—TBD)
December 10th, Council
7:40PM Ministry Talk
-Groundwork Sunday: Review; next May 17
Best connection ER has had to Belltown yet. Sara (City Dept. Neighborhoods), Brett (Txori), Erin (Tula’s) came. Mama’s folks came out: “Sweethearts”. Re-engaged with Glen at P-Patch. Gardeners and others came and visited. Joe Corsi walked by. Neighborhood organizer on Vine Street spoke to the group. And Hans visited, too! ACTION ITEM: Eric to do write-up for the blog to share. Those who participated should share. Most wonderful: Darryl-Ann shared on the corner, this was the corner where her drug use spiraled—outside Recovery Café. Keep NH on the list: cleaning the kitchen, and maybe sorting donations. The next round on the 17th. (31st is Pentecost, and the 24th is Memorial Day weekend.) ACTION ITEM: Next step: have neighbors out with us. Natural conversations already happening, but hope to be more intentional with other groups, and other churches, too. Planning further out helpful, but won’t prevent accidental arrivals for worship. August 30th, November TBD, falls on Thanksgiving. (Perhaps serve a meal as a church.)
-Anticipate April 18 Retreat
The Theme: Fishers of Men. Approach ER’s growth from this stand/viewpoint. What does it mean to be fishers of people? What is the net? (Eric: Relationships, strategic things we do as a church—serving. Needs to be thought of, or we don’t use it. Many think the net is inviting someone to church on Sunday and stays there. Ben: Off-putting image? Capture? Important to discuss context; what did/didn’t he mean by this? Mark: We are the fishers, and still the fish. Broaden the scope, about looking out and looking in, a process that continues for us all.) Take this day, time of fellowship (food, conversation, casual bonding) to discuss. What is our attitude about? Important to have closure/take-away—why did we do this if nothing’s going to change? Why did we talk about this? Are there too many questions to move through?
-Pentecost Seattle: May 30/31
A very diverse group of Christian leaders are planning a new annual event, the Saturday before Pentecost Sunday. Gathering of all church leaders—Catholic, Evangelical, Emergent, Pentecostal… Ethnically diverse. Trying to make as broad as possible. Meet each other and tell each other what God is saying and doing. We cannot hear God fully/clearly unless we know what God is saying to others. Purpose: to say this is what our church is what God is telling us to do, and new connection and relationships within the city. To carry-on year to year. Seattle will have sense that there is a church here, and there is healthy dialogue happening among. Christian. Ecumenical.
-Shift from "Children's Ministry" to "Parent Ministry"; Godly Play update
Sarah had something to share, emailed Eric. How is Godly Play going with Amanda not there? “As I've polled parents and volunteers I've heard strong enthusiasm for the GP program and widespread willingness to get more involved. Our plan is that Rennie will be attending the full accredited teacher training in April and May, and I'll be providing an in-house training for at least 6 others who will then be able to also lead as storytellers. I'm grateful for bringing this good out of Amanda's absence, that support and involvement in the GP program can be so widely shared - the blessing will be multiplied! Also, we can all thank Chad for stepping up as storyteller this past Sunday, and Kristin for supporting him as door person.”
Parent Ministry: A really big thing, only touching on this evening. The greatest asset to the church is the parents. Important not to fall into the trap of leaving spiritual teaching and nourishing to Sundays. Needs to be at home, and supported by the church. Need support, encouragement, resources from other parents. Fun family night? Boys & Girls Club? Chandra: Don’t make into a bigger thing; focus on how we’ve already been voicing this. Put practicality on it, make it tangible. Beth: Shies away from “one more thing”, but seeks a forum, resource(s) for kids’ questions. Ben: Knows others who would also appreciate this. Eric: Expects some activities, but mostly sees resource sharing, and experience sharing. Has underground connections in Seattle.
-Added/Extra Next Meeting Agenda Items
David to step-on as President, Ben becomes Vice President
Beth: Opportunity to voice concerns for those in district? Yes, during each Elder Meeting.
Beth: Revisit rules as to who can be eligible to be Elders.
Eric: Eldership term limit, David as President (Elections in the Fall: Ben, Suellen, David)
Eric: South Whidbey Island State Park reservation change, August to September now
Chandra: Review Retreat
Mark: Want to re-iterate, seeks input, and is open to hearing
Ben: Pit Crew thoughts to share with Mark. (Sarah has these notes.)
Beth: What to be addressed as Council, and what as Elder
David: Emergency responses. How did that work out recently with our visit to Suellen?
Eric: Deacons on care? (Affirming Cynthia in her traveling to see Suellen.) To be there and coordinate community’s response, meals, flowers—concrete ways of showing love.
Beth: Is Cynthia, as Worship Supporter? (Eric followed up, and she said “no”.)
Ben: Definition of Deacon. Is it allowed to be in leadership role, and not attend meetings?
9:00PM Beth led Closing Prayers

COUNCIL AGENDA APRIL 7, 2009

7:00PM Gather at Greenwood Office

7:10PM Joys/Sorrows

7:15PM Prayer

7:20PM Council Offices and Officers

-Council Calendar

7:40PM Ministry Talk

-Groundwork Sunday: Review; next May 17

-Anticipate April 18 Retreat

-Pentecost Seattle: May 30/31

-Shift from "Children's Ministry" to "Parent Ministry"; Godly Play update

8:45PM Closing Prayers

9:00PM Naked City

ELDERS AGENDA MARCH 19,2009

7-9:00PM Greenwood Office

7:00PM Opening Reading & Prayer

7:10PM Matching Elders with People

• discuss interim plan in light of Suellen's illness; Ben's imminent departure

7:30PM Elders: Job Description

8:00PM New Business?

8:30PM Pray For the Church

COUNCIL MINUTES - FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Greenwood Office, 7-9PM

Present: Pastor Eric Likkel, Deacon Dan Ruiter, Elder Biff Gaitan, Treasurer Mike Colyn, Elder Beth DeVries, Deacon Sarah Groen-Colyn, Elder Suellen Yerger, Elder David Anema, Elder/Deacon Ben Lappenga; guests Mattheus and Pieter Colyn

Absent: Elder Chandra Mullenix, Deacon Mark Nelson

Pastor Likkel convened meeting pretty close to 7PM, gave overview of agenda, opened with prayer.

Distributed lists, one including all Small Group Leaders and Members, and another including all the people regularly participating in worship and/or small groups.  Also included a breakdown of singles versus families.

As first item on agenda, Pastor presented a list of Joys and Sorrows.

Council gave much time to second item on agenda: Leading Emmaus Road as an Effective Council.

Agreed on some improvements toward effectiveness:

• Communicating Leadership Roles more clearly; currently, confusion reigns among the Emmaus Road crowd, as to who, what leaders are and do; this causes Pastor Likkel to bear an inordinate amount of responsibility and creates bottle necks; slides worked; post-worship prayer led by Elders worked; 
  
• Council also discussed creation of Council "offices" filled by Elders/Deacons to carry out specific tasks, including scheduling meetings, gathering Council members, compiling the agenda with Council input, co-leading Road Crew, taking on Sunday announcements and greetings; expanded job descriptions of Council could be published to help congregation discern how and with whom to communicate; this is addressing, or realizing, part of what it means to be the "priesthood of all believers" the Apostle Paul writes about.
  
• Council also acknowledged tensions within Emmaus Road, between those favoring a "congregational" model, or style, of governing (everyone votes on everything), versus a hierarchical model (one person in charge; others take orders and carry out).  Emmaus Road is neither; Reformed polity is often based on "Presbyterian" Elder led system(s).
  
• Advantages of a clearly communicated leadership/governance structure: demonstrates maturity, stability.
  
• Decision was made to create offices and nominate officers: President (set agenda for next meeting at end of each meeting; gather Council members via phone, email, etc.), Vice President (carry on in absence of President, and assist President), and Secretary (minutes, archives, distribution), will be from among the Elders, but elected by both fellow Elders and Deacons.  Treasurer would be a Deacon.  Didn't elect officers yet; will do so at April meeting.
  
• Council wondered if Cynthia Tanis is a Deacon, as Worship Support Team leader; Beth DeVries to ask Cynthia to update Leadership Board with photos of new Elders and Council roles.
  
• Council decided to schedule more meetings for remainder of year than the ones which lay ahead (April, July).
  

Council discussed third item on agenda: Was the "Missing Tuba Player" addressed at recent January Road Crew?

• format was popular (telling allegorical story; dividing Road Crew into smaller discussion groups around tables).
  
• meeting lacked closure, "takeaway", next steps; suggestion: Council could "capture" Road Crew's "heart," "themes" from discussions; promise Road Crew that they will deliberate and lead
• One theme related to Road Crew meeting: Emmaus Road's size, growth potential; this led to a discussion about Emmaus Road's worship location, New Horizons, and how its physical limitations might hinder the church's growth/size; Biff was appointed a liaison to New Horizons in the area of the "face lift" they would like to accomplish (probably talking to NH's Jon James); such would expand the physical space Emmaus Road uses for worship

Pastor finished by quickly presenting several Strategic Events for Strengthening Bonds, and Building Bridges.

Dr. Groen-Colyn closed the meeting with prayer.

SOME ITEMS FOR NEXT COUNCIL AGENDA:

Election of President, Vice President and Secretary

Schedule additional Council Meeting(s) between current April and July meetings.

COUNCIL AGENDA, FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Thursday evening, 7-9PM Greenwood Office

(Naked City @ 9PM for whoever's interested)

1. How to lead Emmaus Road: when, what, how

Monthly breakfast and monthly pub nights to be scheduled

• What are your Elder Goals (including redistricting)?
  
• What are your Deaconal Goals, Stewardship Team, Pit Crew, Small Group Leaders?

2. Review of January Road Crew - was the "missing Tuba player" addressed?

3. Strengthening bonds within, Building bridges out: 

• Groundwork Sunday(s)
  
• April Retreat
  
• August Campout