NewSong Board of Elders

Minutes of March 12, 2005 Meeting

The NewSong Board of Elders met Saturday March 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Elders present were Dave Allen, Michael Smith, Brian Brown, Tom Frederick, Steve Jackson, Brent Orr and Curt Sloyer.

Brian Brown delivered a devotional on Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of the Lord rather than burnt offerings.” Jesus cites this verse in Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7, so there must be something pretty important about it. We decided this is not a case of God desiring one instead of the other, but one of those “both and” situations. Either way, we decided God is after the heartfelt, relationship kind of faith rather than “religiosity.”

The meeting included the following discussions:

Pastor’s report:

Steve asked if we wanted to place ads in the local paper advertising our Easter services. We decided not to.

Steve also mentioned the possibility of us running sound from the worship center into the adult SS room so we could have a “crying room” where parents could come with their little ones and still hear the service. This was discussed but no action was taken.

Steve announced that things were picking up with our visitors, we’ve had more lately and several have been returning again and again. Steve sees this as a hopeful sign. Worship attendance is down however. We averaged 136 per Sunday in February, down from our average attendance of 160 for last year.

Steve also discussed the Ghana mission and Pastor Yaw. Steve is praying about whether to go or not. If he does go it will be in July.

Steve had also forwarded some financial spreadsheets prior to the meeting showing our financial situation at present. These were discussed. For the month of February we had a net operating “loss” of $2,063. Year-to-date we are approximately $8,800 in the red. The service we had to cancel on Jan. 30^th did not help our financial situation. Regardless, we continue to be able to pay our expenses and benevolences without relying on our savings. Budget-wise we were approximately $13,000 behind in income as of the end of February.

We removed three families from the church rolls in February: Chad Bingham (his request, moved to a church closer to home), and Mark Oliver and Teresa Torres (removed for inactivity). As of the end of February we had 56 member families made up of 97 adult full members, 79 preparatory members, and 36 constituents.

Old Business

Tom – Tom presented a bank’s loan questionnaire for churches. The Elders agreed we should fill it out and submit it. This will allow us to get some understanding as to what borrowing capabilities we have for the future.

Dave reminded everyone how important it is to contact first time visitors.

Steve will be out on April 3. Dave will speak in Steve’s absence and will most likely preach from Romans 12:1. Steve will be back for the April 10 service, but Brent Orr will be speaking for him that day in case he encounters travel delays.

The meeting concluded in prayer at 10:30