NewSong Board of
Elders
Minutes of
September 16, 2007 Meeting
The NewSong Board of Elders met on Sunday afternoon, September 16, 2007
from 4:00 to 6:00pm at the Church. Elders present included:
The meeting began with a time of prayer for ourselves, for our church,
for those among us who are hurting, and for our community.
After this time of prayer the Board discussed the following items.
Pastor Steve will dispense with reading his pastor’s report at our
meetings from now on, assuming that all Board members have had the opportunity
to review the reports since they are emailed prior to the meeting. Pastor Steve
asked if there were any questions about the reports. There were none.
New Business
The Elders discussed the 2008 operating budget which will be
presented to the congregation in the 2007-08 ministry booklets which will be
mailed the week of Sept. 17-21.
- Remove any zero-balance items
from the proposed budget
- Make sure all ministry leaders
know their area budget and where they stand on at least a quarterly basis
- Make sure ministry leaders are
aware they cannot spend more than their budgeted amount without getting
permission first
- Salaries came up as Brent
suggested a raise for Pastor Steve and our administrative assistant. Pastor
Steve asked to be dismissed during this discussion and left the room. In his
absence the Elders decided to increase Steve’s and
Vicki Eitel made a suggestion concerning missionary support that
also involved the budget. Vicki suggested that as a church we should support missionaries
that go out from our congregation. Since “sharing with the world” is a focus of
the church it seems appropriate that we encourage “our” missionaries with our
prayers, encouragement, and finances. Since the only missionary on the field at
the present time from NewSong is Amy Jackson, Pastor Steve again excused
himself from this discussion. In Steve’s absence the Elders decided to support
Amy financially.
The Elders also agreed to begin “paying ourselves” the salaries we
have budgeted for a Director of Worship and a Director of Children’s Ministry.
Beginning the week of Sept. 23 we will write a check for the appropriate amounts
of these two salaries to our Fidelity account.
The Elders then voted on the budget and it was approved unanimously.
The next item of business was to review the 2007-08 ministry booklet
and several editorial suggestions were given to Pastor Steve to make it better.
These changes were incorporated in the final edition and it has been printed.
The next item of business was to discuss the next steps in implementing
our new mission as a church. Time ran out on us however, so this was not discussed
at length. The Elders agreed we should possibly consider a separate meeting for
this, which will be decided via email. We will hopefully have this meeting some
time soon after Steve returns from
Other Business
As for the regular, ongoing business of the church for the month of
August, the following is a summary of Pastor Steve’s report to the Board which was
previously emailed to them.
Pastor’s Report
We are primed for a great start
as we launch the new Church year with our new mission. Attendance is
strengthening, giving has remained strong, and there seems to be a hunger to
get involved by our congregation. We seem to be hitting on more cylinders with
the men’s ministry, women’s ministry, Sunday School, Study
Groups, and Worship. We kicked off the month of August with a family fun day at
Other Items
For the second
month in a row our Average YTD worship attendance rose by one to 138. Attendance for the four Sundays was 118, 163, 153, and 154. Our average
attendance for August alone was 147 so we appear to be growing in average
attendance.
Current membership statistics as of the end of August remain unchanged at 60 member families, 118 full members, 66 preparatory members and 32 constituent members for a total of 216.
Financially speaking, revenues for the month were $20,104 and expenses were $19,733 with income exceeding expenses by $371 for the month. Our YTD numbers through the end of August are revenues of $173,841 and expenses of $157,172 with revenues exceeding expenses by $16,668. The balance in our Fidelity reserve account as of August 31 was $37,413.
Coming Up:
As for my preaching I am now preaching standalone messages using the Revised
Common Lectionary. Brian Brown will be speaking for me on September 23rd
and Vicki Eitel on Sept. 30th as I will be in
Sunday School has resumed and we had 54 in class the first week, up from our previous average when we stopped SS in May of around 30. I’m especially emphasizing to our parents to get their children and youth to Sunday School. Just so you know, Pat Plant and Greg Citta are our children’s teachers while the Ellingtons and the Fenns teach our youth. Please encourage them every chance you get.
Sunday Night Fellowship, newly renamed Sunday Night Bible Study, also resumed
last week (Sept. 9th) with no more meals. We had about 30
present. We also are having a children’s time during SNBS led by
Our youth will continue meeting on Sunday nights at 6pm. The youth will
be holding a parents meeting on Sept. 23rd at 5pm before youth
group. The Youth are also planning a retreat this fall to a retreat center
known as the Cliff House.
Our Fellowship Ministry has a large group (over 20) going to a Casting Crowns concert at the Arena at Gwinnett on November 23rd. They are also planning a Fall Festival on Saturday, October 27th.
Our Women continue their
new Beth Moore study called Believing God.
They are led by
Our Men have started their new study called “Being God’s Man in the Search for Success.” The men are led by
John Krauss and meet on Thursday nights at 7pm. They average about 6-8 and
include: Will Imhoff,
The Lectionary Bible Study group mentioned last month has continued to meet on Wednesday nights at 7pm to study the upcoming week’s passages. The Browns, Eitels, Fishers, and Thomas Porter have been participating in this.
2007-08 Church Year – The ministry booklets will go in the mail next week (Sept. 17-21). We are praying for a good response. Hopefully all books will be received and entered in the computer by Oct. 7th. We will hold our Annual Meeting on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 7pm. The budget will be voted on at that time.
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Board of Elders will be Sunday, Oct. 14th at 4pm so we can finalize any business before the Annual Meeting.
Elder of the Month for October –