COUNCIL NOTES - FEBRUARY 7, 2012

7-9PM Elenbaas Residence
Present: Eric Likkel, David Anema, Mike Elenbaas, Teresa Elenbaas, Mark Nelson, Rennie Araucto, Ryan Engel
Absent: Kristen Vander Linden, Kurt Munson, Biff Gaitan, Cornell Blackwell

1. Check-in; Joys, sorrows, prayer
- Joys: exciting worship recently; Belltown Covenant big today; good to feel like NH is full on Sundays; Arauctos multiplying; excited about South End Small group; good Groundworks in January; Big Kids Bible Workshop staffed; nice to have Josiah on bass
- Sorrows; mourning Anthony King today; feeling behind on Stewardship tasks; church family suffering marital breakdown; unemployed, underemployed members, struggling; missing those who seem to have lost their way
- Prayed together

2. Updates
- Finance: Acts 6:1-6 Fund/account
o Still have follow-up tasks left over from January Elders mtg. (see notes); learn logistics about feasibility of setting up separate non-profit accounts; Is there a tax form to be attached to charitable giving to people? If paying for medical costs directly, tuition, etc., the recipients do not need to pay taxes on gift
o Affirmed focusing on members’ needs; those among us in need of temporary financial help
o Discussed merits of including this Acts 6:1-6 fund as part of Emmaus Road’s tithe, or distinguishing it separately; seems like too much work for too little an amount to create separate entity, non-profit; Council decides instead to use Emmaus Road’s tithe as umbrella for Acts 6:1-6
o What happens when individual members want to pledge a specific gift for a specific need, through church? Council discusses issues which could arise.
o Council decides to move ahead; Stewardship Team willing to write proposal for March 4 Road Crew
o Come up with FAQ section about this online
- Thank-you note from church members, for financial gift, shared with Council
- Groundworks
o Two biggest growth edges; facilitating projects to include families with little ones; remembering to include non-church volunteers; FB helps
- Children’s Ministry: Deacon Teresa
o Too early to get feedback from BKBW teachers yet, but so far so good
o Matt Park enjoying arrangement of writing stories, keeping hours steady
o Council affirms keeping Godly Play over summer
o Background checks done; Teresa still going to let everyone know
- Worship; attendance numbers
o Good numbers
- Cluster/Classis
o Mike E willing to attend Classis
o Greenwood office may change; Sanctuary will assume new lease at 8515 Greenwood Ave. N, next to Razzi’s, when current lease is taken by new tenant yet to be identified
- Worship
o Rehearsal session during Groundworks? Some like idea; some do not; maybe another time could be found?
- Roots/Branches: 1 Peter 3:15; Evangelism Beyond Sunday
o Pastor shares steps taken to reach out to Jessie Elenbaas and Alicia Likkel w/some ideas toward encouraging bolder, more proactive sharing of faith among church; celebrating stories of how evangelism is happening


3. Road Crew Agenda/Calendar
- March 4 lunch mtg.
o Proposal re: Acts 6:1-6 account to be shared; Roots/Branches and general updates; fellowship luncheon
- David Anema’s Completion Party; 2yrs of Americorps!
o Remains in the TBA category

COUNCIL NOTES - OCTOBER 4, 2011

SUMMARY OF COUNCIL MEETING NOTES Tuesday, October 4, 2011

7-9PM Bedlam Coffee

Present: Teresa Elenbaas, Eric Likkel, Biff Gaitan, David Anema, Rennie Araucto, Kristen VanderLinden, Mark Nelson, Cornell Blackwell

Escused: Mike Elenbaas, Kurt Munson, Ryan Engel

Check-in

- 10/9 Simon Cunningham; 10/23 Matt Wolfe; 10/30 Groundworks

Opening Prayer

Road Crew Agenda November 13, including updates: Children's Ministry; Finance

- Deacon Teresa’s updates:

o background checks about one third finished; proceeding well; could finish before Nov. 13 Road Crew;

o Big Kids Bible Workshop: trial program off to good start; figuring out support needs along the way; discussed how to invite participation

o Godly Play; Matt doing Door-person refresher training; one emerging issue – big kids returning to GP when BKBW not offered; Council discussed various options to explore; Deacon Teresa following up

- Teresa then spoke on behalf of Mike/Stewardship Team – basic summary is that giving has held steady; also pledged a budget to have for Road Crew to approve November 13

o Council asks Stewardship Team to promise budget ahead of time, then provide budget by said time, and invite questions, suggestions, feedback prior to Nov. 13

Road Crew schedule; inclusive? Addressing issue re: postponing mtgs., value of Road Crew lunches, etc.

- seems meetings on Sundays are good; attendance seems better; mood seems better; lunch facilitates staying

- avoid cutting meetings too short; let there be bit more substance; avoid “announcement” posture

- having kids present seems ok mostly, but parents w/toddlers and tantrum prone children would benefit from a structured sitter in the room

- Proposal: more regularly scheduled – perhaps even monthly – Road Crew lunches because of community building aspect; Council likes idea

Nine Roots/Branches: next steps, fan out

- Pastor Eric asks Council members if there are any specific “roots/branches” they want to help move forward, beyond what’s already noted below

- Re: Deacon Teresa’s ministry load, Cornell/Kristen pledge support

- How to communicate: seems necessary to recast vision; each piece seems easier to grasp now; proposal: Fred could illuminate one idea per Sunday; diagrams or visual aids helpful, too.

- Pastor suggests elders will be leaned on to help facilitate conversations one on one

Summary list of Nine Roots/Branches:

· Rooted/Linked - Romans 16:16b

· Visibility – Matthew 5:15-16

· Evangelism Beyond Sunday -1 Peter 3:15

· Dads/Dudes multiplied - Matthew 9:15

· Parenting Beyond Sunday

· $ Discipline - Jeremiah 29:11

· Deacons - More

· Get-To Vs. Have To - 1 Peter 5:2,

· Church Big Vs. Big Church; Word - Joshua 17:14-18

· Pastor Eric shares how sermon/scripture prep connected w/some or these themes: referenced “Get To vs. Have To” in context of Parable of Generous Landowner, Grumbling Workers (Matt. 20); “Evangelism Beyond Sunday” in context of Parable of Two Ironic Sons (Matt. 21)

Field Trip Sundays (propose Sunday morning alternative when big events overtake Belltown a few times a year)

- Pros and Cons; some people would not go to another church’s service; value in pursuing it would be to develop “Rooted/Linked” factor; might motivate people if there was a planned ER crowd event following the visit to the sister church; a serious “con” is that there are people for whom that fellowship/worship time is even greater need than for those who may opt to skip worship because of parking hassles.

- After consideration, Council rejects idea; suggests planning special kind of service for “problematic parking” days

Deacon Cornell offers closing prayer; meeting concludes

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

COUNCIL MINUTES MAY 24, 2011

7-9PM Greenwood; Office; Beth DeVries, Teresa Elenbaas, Mark Nelson, Eric Likkel, Rennie Araucto, David Anema present; Kurt Munson, Ryan Engel excused

Intro to Agenda; anything to add?

Teresa: background check account finally set up

AGENDA: What did we hear from Road Crew mtg. of15th?

1. Mark: encouraging to see lots of fresh faces; not lots of specifics, but lots of affirmation, love of church; others concur

2. Rennie reiterated that he and Amy’s choice to re-engage has been crucial; council members discuss how essential non-programmed socializing is to help foster connections, trust, etc.

3. Mark believes ER used to be better at socializing; busy schedules of parents w/kids has put limits on that; PLUS (Beth), Emmaus Road has diversified – age, socio-economics,e tc. – which is harder to engage

Now What? Pastor’s suggests several specific pieces of vision and discusses w/Council; Council affirms eight out of nine suggestions, striking one, but suggesting their own (see below)

· Rooted/Linked

Pastor shows video from Parish Collective; explains how this follows vision of Forest Canopy and Roots, a vision of strength/growth of Church when congregations discern how to work together, share, etc.; Council affirms

· Visibility (access vs. attract)

Pastor explains difference between “Attraction Mode” (based on consumer model of church) and “Incarnation Mode” (missional, sending model of church), how Emmaus Road works more to be a “we go to them” than a “they come to us” church, BUT, being invisible or inaccessible is NOT right, either; Council affirms being an Incarnational/Missional church, but working on visibility/access to newcomers, too

· Evangelism Beyond Sunday

Pastor believes church members must be equipped to understand/practise relational evangelism and gospel transparency throughout life; bringing friends to Sunday worship as the primary mode of evangelism is misdirected, but even though we may agree with this thinking, our habits belie continuing “attractional mode” hopes for evangelism; inviting people “to church” is fine, but we really need to help people discover Christ; church usually follows, rather than precedes, a person’s growing interest in God and introduction to Jesus personally; we need to own our role in stoking interest and helping make introductions; Council affirms

· Groundworks Beyond Btown

Pastor admits this may be a “far out/far off” vision, to expand the Belltown based Groundworks approach to include neighborhoods where members are spread out, e.g. Lori K’s work on N.49^th, Cynthia’s work in her ‘hood; Council challenges this as not right for us now, as it would damage existing small but healthy momentum we are building in Belltown; Pastor agrees to shelf this

· Dads/Dudes multiplied

Pastor believes the semi-regular Dudes/Dads/Drinks nights have been successful, in that they have corralled guys from Emmaus Road, along with some outside friends/coworkers, to have fun together; these outings have not demanded much planning, money, etc.; merely the initiative of someone to schedule and announce; Rennie asks if we could please schedule a bit further in advance to include those who have not hitherto been able to attend; Pastor suggests this approach should expand to include events for women of church; perhaps events targeting parents, kids, etc.; Council affirms, declaring the need for SOCIAL activity between church members as important as any of the other ministry, worship, bible study we share

· Parenting Beyond Sunday

Following several months of ongoing Parenting Beyond Sunday interviews w/Emmaus Road parents (continuing), Pastor reveals how crucial it is to equip parents to share faith at home, break ice around sharing parenting stories/resources w/each other; must cultivate sense of how Parenting in Faith is something we are going through – differently – but none-the-less together; to put Sunday programs in proper perspective, Mon-Sat “real life faith curriculum” must be embraced, as parents are de facto primary witness to Gospel for their kids; Council affirms

· Church Big vs. Big Church

Pastor explains concept learned from INHABIT story about north seattle church/pastor, who embrace vision of having big impact in lives of members, neighbors, without worrying about big size of congregation or Sunday attendance; a different way of seeing church, measuring success, being oriented to ministry, rather than membership, acknowledging power of God to multiply impact from people of faith; i.e., small number of united Christians with big faith is much better than big number of Christians with little faith; Council affirms, however, also expose necessity of wrestling with Emmaus Road’s historic sense of being too small, worrying about resources, esp. volunteer power, burn out, etc.; this leads to vision of cultivating a more functional, encouraging, inspiring subculture of shared participation, in which people will think more positively about volunteering together; see below

· $ Discipline

Pastor relates positive assessment from Treasurer Ryan about church’s financial muscle flexing over last few months, but acknowledges ongoing need to develop Emmaus Road’s financial discipline; Council lists several questions to discuss w/Stewardship Team (Ryan out of town), wanting to replace culture of complacency with culture of urgency around $ generosity, sharing, faithful tithing; Pastor suggests that even if Emmaus Road was “flush with $million”, it would still be incumbent on us to practice spiritual discipline of sacrificial giving/tithing; everyone grateful Emmaus Road is not in midst of $ crisis, but all agree to keep talking, examining, encouraging church to remain faithful, ESPECIALLY through summer months, when giving typically dries up

· Deacons: expand, acknowledge greater presence and role

Pastor suggests that while we make a fairly big deal of Elders, coming and going, there are many who serve in various ways, performing the duties of Deacons; some serve as acknowledged members of Council, but some do not, and Pastor suggests we begin to acknowledge and include them; Council affirms

· Get To versus Have To

Flowing from Council, this piece of vision is about cultivating of a “I get to serve” rather than “I have to serve” thinking/feeling among church; structuring more intentionally ways of evaluating support needs of people in ministry; carefully setting expectations, rather than inheriting them; declaring the value one receives from giving (spiritual, biblical truth); Council affirms

As hour is late, Council adjourns; agree to carry on conversation via email, about how to present and follow up with pieces of vision for June 12 Road Crew

Prayer; dismissal

COUNCIL NOTES MARCH 22, 2011

7-9PM; Bedlam Coffee, Belltown: David Anema, Eric Likkel, Mark Nelson, Teresa Elenbaas, Ryan Engel, Beth DeVries, Rennie Araucto, Kurt Munson

1. Road Crew review - good meeting March 13? Seemed like good turn out; most people stayed; not a drawn out group discussion, simple presentation format; good to combine mtg. w/worship; not sure if lengthier forum type mtg. would work after Sunday worship; considering May 15; week before, redistribute “40 Days of Discernment” questions, invite people to email feedback to be read at meeting; Council recommends mtg. begins after worship and is somewhat open-ended; should have food again AND childcare

2. "40 Days of Discernment" - leading the church to engage - who/what/when/how?;beyond redistributing original email invitation to engage, Eric asked if anyone would be willing to lead 10:15 prayer time – Kurt and David willing to lead 15 minutes of prayer

3. SWOT notes - publish? Council affirms idea of “low tech” printed SWOT poster set out on Sundays, inviting people to contribute; NOTE: value will be cheapened if people don’t have specific framework – “why is this important?” Must be framed with context of “40 Days” AND seeing what COUNCIL has considered

4. Gentri-church - anything valuable to communicate to ER? Some liked article, yet detected tone of criticism toward traditional; saw some valuable description of current church approaches; NOTE: this approach radically contrasts with conventional church; article could be helpful to show Emmaus Road is part of movement; launches framework for “coop” approach; Eric to publish summary, invite others to read

5. INHABIT conference April 29/30 - Kurt, Eric, David A. so far... any others? Three of us will go

6. Sustaining Pastoral Excellence - $ for a project? Mark N. has ideas in “tech grant” ; Rennie has some film/TV ideas, too.

7. Updates

· Stewardship Team; giving still at OK level; usually drops in summer; should invite folks to keep it up through summer; Ryan asks when official vote on budget, including “austerity measures” will happen; suggestion is that we keep the May 15 Road Crew on task with gathering emiotional, spiritual feedback, then COUNCIL takes lead coming up with one or two budget proposals, and Road Crew votes @ June mtg.; Stewardship Team meeting last week of March, following early month meeting

Children's Ministry - tour of ER families; policy progress; Eric/Teresa met Friday the 18^th; Teresa shares progress report on background check policy; also updates on “Sermon Time” proposal for older kids; talked through timeline of feedback gathering; COUNCIL approves

Mission to Belltown - Pastor Eric shares six encouraging opportunities/signs:

neighbor's apartment of prayer

belltownvolunteers.org;

"Magic Wands" surveys

May20 Dr. Tech & Preacher @ Street Bean;

May29 Groundworks;

Aug2 Block Party

INHABIT conference

8.

Calendar (what's coming up); COUNCIL points out June 19 is Fathers Day, reschedule Road Crew for June 12 (Eric publish); April 12 Elders meet w/o Pastor; schedule June 14 Elders (have new Elders present by then; Beth’s last mtg); July 19 COUNCIL

Other: all-family Sunday blew past; we’ll reschedule (Eric/Rennie)

• Sunday attendance; why so low? A. UGM crowd smaller due to shift in choices for initial program members, now going elsewhere; B. though there’s been gradual decline, feels “sudden”; COUNCIL discusses adjustments to our Sunday experience, to respond to smaller crowd – several ideas floated

Food Groups; do we have healthy oversight and leadership? Biff is our NH liaison; Eric will ask Biff to oversee Food Group ministry, make sure leaders reminded; Eric update webpage to reflect changes

COUNCIL NOTES JAN 25, 2011

7:30PM New Horizons

Present: Deacons Mark Nelson, Ryan Engel, Teresa Elenbaas

Elders Rennie Araucto, Kurt Munson, Beth DeVries, David Anema

Pastor Eric Likkel

Council engages in SWOT discussion (assessing Emmaus Road's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats); giving floor primarily to Deacons during the meeting, as Elders meet more frequently

STRENGTHS

$

• Strong Stewardship Team
• Consistent giving
• Escaped negative impact of recession

Children’s Ministries

• Godly Play
• Adults who care for youth
• Approachable, capable, Children’s Ministry Deacon

Worship

• Musicians who want to work as a team
• Three bald guys

General

• Compassion; willingness to rally and respond to crisis of fellow members

OPPORTUNITIES

$

• Address and adjust budget
• Partner with others – e.g., NH (office space)
• Engage everyone, Road Crew, to find creative solutions to financially sustain staff, giving, and ministry expenses

Children’s Ministries

• Bring more visibility to current children’s programs
• Church Beyond Sunday for kids @ home
• Involving every parent – COOP approach

Worship

• New ways to engage congregation

WEAKNESSES

$

• Historic “deficit spend” approach
• Reluctance to provide insight, leadership, in addressing giving, spending

Children’s Ministries

• Programs lack visibility for newcomers
• Too small a pool of Nursery Volunteers
• Discontent among parents

Worship

• Only one main guitar player
• Three bald guys

THREATS

$

• At current rate, go broke in 20 months
• Self-assured w/status quo rather than sober and serious to change

Children’s Ministries

• Nursery volunteer burnout
• Exodus of children
• Potential division among parents if concerns not addressed, tensions not managed

Worship

• Loss of musicians; fatigue

Topics for Elders to SWOT (place on future agenda):

• Internal communication, especially about tough topics
• Prayer
• Leadership Development
• Community Development

COUNCIL NOTES JULY 13, 2010

7PM, The Ellington

In Attendance: Chandra Mullenix, David Anema, Beth DeVries, Teresa Elenbaas, Eric Likkel, Mark Nelson

7:00 Gathering, greeting

Opening prayer

7:25 Reschedule upcoming Road Crew meeting

Possible agenda items: budget, new members, new Elder

7:30 Debrief on Sunday’s guests

7:35 Baptism at the bay next Sunday; it’s a go

7:40 Guest Speakers: Verna, Bern Alberda from First CRC; invited to Emmaus Road Council to tell stories of implementing “Safe Church” policies re: preventing child abuse, protecting children’s ministry volunteers, etc.

Council listens to presentation, including

8:35 Council thanks and excuses guests; debriefs together

Discuss when Elders will vote, how policy could be implemented, who needs to be addressed individually, etc.

8:50 Groundworks Sunday

David Anema speaks to Council about Founders Day Festival

9:10 Close in prayer

COUNCIL NOTES, MAY 11, 2010

@ Mullenix Residence, 7PM

Present: Eric Likkel, David Anema, Rennie Araucto, Kurt Munson, Mark R., Chandra Mullenix, Teresa Elenbaas

Not Present: Beth DeVries, Mark Nelson, Mike Colyn, Ryan Engel, Dan Ruiter, Jason Wood

Agenda items:

· Solicit updates, Deacons

· Flow Chart

· August Groundworks

· Parish Collective

· Small Groups

· Money Talk

· Prayer

7:15 Opened with prayer

7:15 “Picture of the Church” (Eric)

Eric suggested view of forest, trees, distinguishing life at root level and life at canopy levels, as a way to view how we honor our own congregation, and our relationship to other congregations. Roots represent heritage, traditions, geographic location; provide stability, obtain nutrients, water from soil. Canopy life is where trees interact and share role in creating shade, shelter, etc. Each level needed for life of other; how do we balance own congregational needs & those our neighborhood…without becoming overly inwardly focused or end up in maintenance mode

In view of “canopy” level, Eric presented ideas behind “Parish Collective”, then discussed Emmaus Road’s relationships with Matt Wolfe (Storytellers), CRC planter Simon, the networks of Hot House, Cluster, B. Covenant. Council discussed both “canopy” idea, including steps Emmaus Road could take to develop these relationships

8:00 Small Groups

Leaders report; various changes to membership, leadership, hosting, and sizes of groups are discussed.

8:20 Children’s Ministry

Member concerns around Godly Play stories are voiced; suggestions offered to address concerns. Children’s Ministry Team Deacon, Teresa, checking in with Godly Play storyteller Matt Park, to hear how Matt is doing

8:25 Flow Chart Chat

Council discussed follow-up steps after Road Crew mtg. Since proposed updates to decision-making processes were approved

9:00 Founders’ Day Festival 3^rd week in August; Council approves third Sunday of August, rather than fifth, as Emmaus Road’s Groundworks Sunday effort.

Closed meeting with prayer.

COUNCIL NOTES - MARCH 9, 2010

Council; March 7, 2010 @ 7PM; Mullenix Residence

Present: Eric Likkel, David Anema, Mark R., Chandra Mullenix, Teresa Elenbaas, Mark Nelson, Ryan Engel, Kurt Munson
Not Present: Beth DeVries, Mike Colyn, Rennie Araucto

7:15 Opened with prayer
Reviewed old minutes on Children’s Ministry
Old minutes hard copy shared with Teresa
Haven’t progressed to update document about background checks; some members hesitant about policy, may leave Children’s Ministry if required current volunteers aren't "grandfathered" in
Question remains whether to “grandfather” current volunteers, or require background check of all …how to determine?
Question of policy: only background check for individuals alone with children?
One background check has taken place for newly hired Godly Play storyteller; letter received at office
Is there an Emmaus Road Children's Protection/Child Safety policy manual available? Yes.
***Issue tabled, until discussed on how Council runs & makes decisions (next topic)

7:35 Conversation moved to consider an individual member's letter to Council
Shared questions, ideas of themes, thoughts of letters
Some on Council understand Council/Elder group(s) as decision-making bodies
But others saying many don’t know Council’s role(s); need increased communication
Over time, Council’s roles have shifted; Elders have become shepherding & administrative
Currently, decisions made everyway: by Pastor, Council, ministry group, individuals
Current conversation leads to recognition that Council has been mandated a primary leadership role
Since Emmaus Road's inception, decision making has remained a relevant question
It is suggested that Council both recommends & decides; reference made to "Roles/Goals" document online
Pastor shares how folks often approach him alone with ministry questions in addition to personal things; he has not cultivated the habit of saying, “I don’t know; let’s bring it to Council.”; Pastor suggests there is great value in shared decision making to provide support for individuals doing work
Council agrees to review roles/goals as a starting point
Question asked about procedures for CRC leadership/decision-making
Noted that Council's meeting minutes provide information on decisions already made, but would be better to offer opportunity to church to provide input prior to Council meetings
This warrants separate email for notes before and after meetings
Council wonders, are there people who don’t know who Council is? what they do?
Perhaps Council could sit together at RC.
Currently, list of roles & meetings included in eMonthly
SG leaders could also question folks about what to bring to Council & Elders
Healthy to bring up big decisions to RC before much conversation
Perhaps pamphlets to give with bulletins, given in person
Council discussed having RC meetings more often; currently, RC marked by scant attendance, with too much to cover
Should Robert’s Rules be employed?
Personal frustration shared around old RC meetings with too much
Noted that there are separate issues… becoming transparent vs. who makes decisions
Church should be asked for input on RC meetings, too
Suggested that interest in RC decreased when decision-making body created
How often is RC? What is function of RC?
Budget approved by RC; other decisions often made by Council & day-to-day decisions
Currently, it is difficult to make time-critical decisions through Road Crew
RC would benefit with regular meeting times, with predictability
Reminder: RC function—committed crew of people who join together in ministry, coming around certain values & beliefs, and making big decisions together
Could provide handout to RC membership about who does what; suggested that Mike Elenbaas may volunteer to create a flow chart
Noted that there are many unused gifts in congregation; one of church's biggest needs is to facilitate discovery
Question raised about merit of an idea-factory SG?
Social connections help people find complimentary gifts; need for more social functions to discover these things

8:25 Council discussed Next Road Crew
Last meeting was 10/09
Would Quarterly mtgs. serve ministry well? Schedule Council one month prior to RC?
Function to gather information, and follow with Council? Yes.
Keep or forego Elder meetings on RC months? Healthy for RC to meet at least quarterly; don’t sacrifice Elder meetings
Next Road Crew: April 22nd, Council President David A. to confirm location, 7pm-8:30pm
Who will Emcee, what is Agenda? David A. will decide
Operate under Robert’s Rules? Activities for children?

8:40 Member letter to Children's Ministry Deacon; Teresa shared thoughts
Idea suggested to explore something for Kids ages 6-10 to engage in during worship (sermon/prayer times)
Member with idea initially shared with Elder, Pastor; invited to write letter; letter brought to Council via Teresa.
Children's Ministry Deacon and Council discuss next step and related issues, including man-power.
It is pointed out that Godly Play teacher can only teach single class at a time, which is why different age groups engaged by that program happen at different times.
Council affirms value of elementary-aged children being part of worship
Council affirms value of exploring idea as NON-COMPETITIVE with Godly Play
Suggested to Teresa to take time and care moving forward, to connect with parents generally, & eventually, bring this idea forward along with other Children's Ministry ideas and observations to RC; letter from Children's Ministry Deacon forthcoming as Teresa is able to gather input and feedback

8:50 Council discussed recent Women's Retreat
Two members who participated in retreat shared; it was an exciting topic, but also one raising concerns
Would have been served well if wider leadership had met & discussed plans; good for attendees to know well ahead of time what would be discussed
Some found great value in information, even if uncomfortable at times and info new for them
Concern raised about "young" and/or fragile Christians participating
Suggested to get “vote” or evaluation from ladies who participated
Pastor had been approached about idea of retreat, met Pastor Kerry prior to event and felt good about her involvement
Council members encouraged to speak directly to Retreat leadership about perspectives
Suggestion for future: have outside speakers only speak to non-denominational, more general topics

9:10 Council Dismissed