Jan 24, 2013

COUNCIL NOTES JANUARY 22, 2013

COUNCIL NOTES (combined Mike E/Eric L)
Tuesday, January 22, 2013;
7-9PM Greenwood Office
Present: Eric Likkel, David Anema, Mike Elenbaas, Biff Gaitan, Mark Nelson Excused: Teresa Elenbaas, Kristen VanderLinden, Ryan Engel, Rennie Araucto

Prayed – especially for Cornell, leaving for Pittsburgh following day 

Elders Update: Eric read October summary, as follows: 

reorganized/renamed Elder Groups; released several member/households; re-assigned Elders/members; revisit February, or when new Elder recruited; launch recruiting/nominating January; Total count: 38 households altogether; 61 adults; 33+ children; 15 single households, including 2 single parent households w/children; 23 Couples, including 19 families w/children; 53 Active adults, including 37 Active Road Crew Members

Road Crew: Plan mtg. re: Groundworks/Belltown – Mtg. Planned for March 3Eric presented November 8 notes from mtg. w/Kristen VL/David A., including what follows:
Why GROUNDWORKS?
  • obedience; widows/orphans
  • 5th Sundays simple for coordinating
  • fellowship
  • Belltown specific, also for simplicity AND bldg relationships in 'hood
  • easy to invite pagan pals
  • church growth?

Improvements/Developments
  • Rotate/mix up the activities so as not to lose interest - make sure work is meaningful, intentional
  • Kid/family friendly ideas
  • Move toward serving "with" versus "for"
  • Engage congregation more; share Success Stories; address barriers: apathy; fear; kids’ rolE

Eric also met Dec.20 mtg. w/Kerrie Carbary and Plymouth/Simons staff, shared some insights
Council response: When pushing “with” versus “for” paradigm, don’t take members’ buy-in for granted – some may want to stick with doing simple service projects for people; communication ahead of time, especially FACEBOOK, including vision of project types; Road Crew forum mtg. in which we solicit feedback could be healthy; potential setup – “Groundworks: Build, Improve, or Move On?”; be mindful/strategic re: dates of Groundworks, also, especially when they fall around holidays
ACTION ITEM: HOST ROAD CREW MARCH 3 on BELLTOWN, GROUNDWORKS (ERIC)


Children's Ministry update
Mike related Teresa’s verbal summary: BKBW – good feedback; four teachers, do it every other week, so each pair gets once a month; BUT, Angie and Lara are both about to give birth, and will be out of it soon, leaving only Brad/Linda Bishop; need two more BKBW leaders; Godly Play – solid list of parent volunteers, Matt seems fine; Nursery – do we need current number of volunteers, since so many mothers stay w/babies?

Leadership role pairing/sharing, viz. Teresa/Mike’s suggestion
Teresa definitely needs backup; everyone who has ever served as Children’s Ministry Deacon has felt the special burden of this ministry role.
Stewardship Team – Mike would benefit, too, from taking a break; Ryan not complaining, but maybe would like break too?
Some areas where pairing already happens: Mark/Eric share liturgy/worship planning; Crown Hill group shares hosting/leadership between Alicia/Christina
ACTION ITEM: HOST “END OF YEAR” ROAD CREW (JUNE 9?); VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION THEME & SHARING ROLES

Worship
recruit Cornell’s replacement 
(DECISION: ALLOW BIFF TO TAKE ON CORNELL’S PORTION OF WORK/PAY, ON TRIAL BASIS)
Slides, Takedown, Hosting, Greeting – need to improve volunteer turnout 
(ACTION ITEMS: KRISTEN VL COULD SEND WEEKLY EMAIL TO ROSTER? BIFF CAN REMIND PEOPLE A WEEK AHEAD IN PERSON FOR TAKEDOWN)
Inventory of Emmaus Road stuff; sort, reorganize; want to move in direction of doing our best, displaying our best, rather than “make do” 
(ACTION ITEM: ERIC WANTS TO SCHEDULE W/BIFF, LINDA)

Prayer Renewal
 If musicians were done by 10am, prayer could happen for 30 minutes prior to worship; also, maybe have every other month prayer gathering on random Sunday nights – emphasize social/fellowship benefit, avoid extra programming; rotate among households; celebrate prayer that already regularly happens among Crown Hill and South End small groups 
(ACTION ITEM: ERIC OFFER OUT IDEAS)

Leadership Retreat
Council somewhat cautious about putting too much energy behind a big overnight event; so many families w/little kids, logistics tough; maybe a day event? Not high on priority list, but Facebook poll Emmaus Road members in ministry, discern if it’s of value 
(ACTION ITEM: ERIC POLL PEOPLE)

TABLED Volunteer Appreciation - cultivating common practice
(though we did set Road Crew agenda w/this in mind for June)

 TABLED Relationships w/Classis, Denom; CRC Office Bearers Covenant







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