State of the Church
January 25, 2009
The Meeting was called to order and opened with devotion.
The following items were discussed during the meeting.
Note: all items from the state of the church meeting can be located on the church website.
- Changes of personnel on the board were given. Mr. Peter Causer and Mr. Larry Tharp were added to the board to replace Adam Bennett and Marvin Bagwell.
- Pastor McFarland noted key achievements that have occurred during the past year. These included:
Adding Cantors to all services.
Sports Ministry
Broadcast of the Christmas Eve Service over the website
Purchase of new service books
Established a Praise and Worship service
Continuation of the service event
New Projection equipment added to the services
Started an MP3 player use for the homebound
The donation and building of a new picnic pavilion
Reduced the CEC loan by $42,000
Fixing the roof
1995 loan retired 20 months early
Small Bible study groups expanded
- Future items to occur are:
ECE expansion study to continue
Study of adding an elevator to the building
Expansion of small group studies
Continuation of sports ministry
A focus on Family ministry
Continuation of assisting with Habitat for Humanity
Hosting of the 28th service event
Addition of new doors to the entrance of the Church
Live internet feed of church services
Opening of the church Nursery
Renewed emphasis of the Stephens Ministry
Debt reduction
Budget Discussion:
- As of this date, there is a budget shortfall of $34,000.
- We will not fill the positions of youth leader or business manager.
- We will work with ministry teams to minimize expenses without impacting goals.
Worship Ministry Team discussion:
- Music (See power point)
- School choirs are taking a bigger part in worship
- Altar guild now has 20+ members.
- Acolytes have been trained
Mission and Outreach ministry discussion:
- More ways of advertising have been occurring
- We will be involved with the Easter celebration week
- Support of the Dominican Republic mission trip
- Started the MP3 homebound ministry
- Looking at expanding the In-active ministry outreach
- Outreach singers are still active in prison ministries
- Visitor ministry has been taking place each week
- Starting college outreach ministry
- Greeters
- Literacy council
- Member assimilation
- Expansion of small group Bible study
- Support of the Greene ministry
Youth Discussion:
- Chattanooga Mission trip
- Served at Food Bank and other areas.
- September had 37+ involved at Camp Earthshine
- October was the corn maze
- Nov. was the service project of raking leaves for members of the church
- 2009 activities are being planned
- A special thanks was given to all who have helped with the youth groups
- Three goals were given. Spiritual Growth, Practice being servants and to Provide opportunities in the church to be involved.
School ministry discussion:
- There will be a 2.5% increase in the tuition rates for the coming year.
- The board approved tuition payments base on 12 months.
- The board is involved with discussions with the ECE expansion ad hoc committee concerning what would be involved with expansion.
- Monthly meetings are held with the administration of the school.
- They are making and reviewing recommendations for budget and priorities of budget material.
Report from Luke Schmelzle:
- Enrollment has hit a new high at 220.
- The 50th anniversary has been celebrated throughout the year.
- Digital projectors have been installed in rooms.
- New Literacy Curriculum has been purchased
- School expansion discussions continue
- Accreditation and self study are on the last steps
- A look at how the economy might affect the growth of the school is being studied.
Ad Hoc Committee on the Expansion of ECE:
- A look at the expansion drawings was given. (can be seen on the power point which is on line)
- A cost analysis was given based on 52 pre-school children.
- See the power point that is on line for the full details of the committees findings.
The meeting closed with prayer.