COUNCIL NOTES - AUGUST 4, 2011

7-9PM Greenwood Office

Present: Mark Nelson, Mike Elenbaas, David Anema, Kristen Vander Linden, Eric Likkel, Kurt Munson

Excused: Rennie Araucto; Teresa Elenbaas; Biff Gaitan; Cornell Blackwell; Ryan Engel

1. Welcome new Elders, Deacons

· Welcomed Kristen and Mike to their first Council mtg.; Biff, Cornell unable to attend this mtg., but all are excited to have them join the leadership

2. Council Calendar

· Tuesdays seem good; Sept. 6 Elders; Oct. 4 Council; Nov.1 Elders, etc.

· Eric to post, eWeekly, etc.

3. Word & Prayer: Joshua 17:14-18

4. Children’s Ministry Proposal

· Council likes proposal: main concern is manpower question: important concern; one idea would be to scale this program to every other week; perhaps a good approach is to phase it in, or three Sundays w/programs, and fourth Sunday is ALL AGES

· Related to children’s programming in general, Council affirms the value of encouraging kids – as they are able – to participate in worship; also affirm that children belong to our body, they are members, not just extensions of members

5. ROOTS & BRANCHES: 9 AREAS TO GROW

Identifying Who, When, and Word

• Council went through each of the nine areas, differentiating a "branch" from a "root"
• talked about which individuals of Emmaus Road seem to stand out - gifts, story, strengths, passions - in relation to each of the areas of growth
• discussed what most urgent/logical next steps seem to be in each area
• Also tried to discern specific biblical passages as "the Word" for each of the nine areas