Elder Meeting Minutes 10/27/11

Attendance:     Beau McCarthy, Barb Meyer, Dave Hardin, Harvey Curley, Dave Nichols, Greg Brinks

Also attending:  Mike Iley

Group opened with Prayer

Beau asked for what people might be hearing from God.

• Portrait of God study seems to be very engaging

Covenant Membership process

• Each member of Pastoral staff is teamed with an Elder for meetings with Small Group Leaders
• Beau provided outline for meetings that will be held with all Covenant Members

Missionary Sending Team

• Brief discussion on idea of establishing a Missionary Sending Team – separate from Compassion Team – to help Genesis Members who are feeling God’s call to missions
• Need to define the role of this team and what responsibility and authority the team may have

Meeting with Amanda Nichols

• Amanda presented her story and calling to work with The Dream Project in Mozambique
• Her desire is for Genesis to provide 10% of her monthly need
• Elders to think, pray, and reconvene in the next meeting on her request

Elder Nominee Process

• Nomination committee met with one candidate and we actively discussed his candidacy.

Two Service Survey

• 180 respondents already.  Seems to be strong support for 9 & 11 as service times.

Elder Meeting Minutes 9/15/11:

Present: Beau McCarthy, Drew Hunter, Nate Sjogren, Dave Nichols, Dave Hardin, Harvey Curley, Greg Brinks

Middle School Ministry Review
• Matt Demorest visited to report and be prayed for
• First meeting on Sunday, September 11, went well with 4 students in attendance
• Anna Lewis, David Cain, Tim Tucker, Susan Nievelt are other leaders
• Mark requests that we pray he be led by the Spirit and not just by his academic training
• Mark will attend weekly at first to help get things going
• Would like to have monthly events to give kids opportunity at a different time to invite friends

Group prayer together

Budget – Some material increases
• Some needs for improving sanctuary
• Garden needs additional help, particularly for older elementary students. May need another part-time paid position. Also some equipment needs.
• Goal to bring budget to congregation on October 16 with idea that congregation would vote on 10/23 and 10/30

Report on Compassion
• 40+ people willing to serve on AIDS walk
• 60+ on Love in Action day
• Community Lunch – needs a leader, lots of people are willing to help, but no one has stepped up to lead. Need to pray about this more to see if God is leading us and saying, “You must do this.”

Dave Hardin presented a draft Benevolence Fund Policy. Policy was generally approved with some small suggestions for change.

Mike and Nicole Peraino visited to talk about High School ministry.
• First meeting occurred 9/14/11 with two students attending
• Meeting of the Edge here on 9/11 – maybe 100 or more kids with 40 leaders
• Dave N emphasizes that we want the Youth Leaders to feel prayed for and feel like they can have access to the elders when needs arise.
• Elders prayed for Mike and Nicole

By-law review: Jim N agreed to participate in drafting changes to by-laws, but his time is limited.

Up-coming elder retreat topics:
• Inquire about whether God is calling us to do something more to expand number of people worshiping at Genesis?; if so, how might this be accomplished?
• Inquiring whether God is calling us and compelling us to take on the Community Lunch (and potentially do it differently)

Discussion with William Kuster regarding a Biblical literacy program.
• William has a background in teaching biblical literacy in South Carolina and education at Moody’s and University of Edinburgh
• William proposed a possible syllabus for use in a basic biblical literacy class
• Style would be Socratic method with a relatively small class – up to 15-17
• William’s ideas were enthusiastically received and the Elders prayed with William

Elder Meeting Minutes – 8/25/11

Attendance: Beau McCarthy, Nate Sjogren, Dave Nichols, Jen Hullinger, Harvey Curley, Barb Meyer, Dave Hardin, Greg Brinks

Group opened with prayer.

Beau reported joyfully on a couple of correspondences from people who had filled out green cards saying they had made decisions to follow Jesus.

Consideration of the question of whether there’s anything that we feel like God has called us to do that we’re not doing (based on review of I Samuel 15). The group mentioned the following
1. There’s a danger that Saul fell into of being a leader who follows his people. We need to be wary of shying away from confronting sin and hell, but at the same time ensuring that we continue to be welcoming to all who are interested. This is difficult to balance
2. Any commitments that we made as part of the merger that we’re forgetting about? Reminder that we committed to getting to 10% of our budget dedicated to missions.
3. Should we be doing more to teach people more basic Christian doctrine and biblical literacy as a starting point? The longer people are Christians but lack that basic understanding, the harder it is to admit this. Perhaps with the space we have and other things that weren’t available in Genesis’s history, now is the time to launch an initiative like this.
4. Greater provision of more child care for more events, e.g., small groups.

Question about Budget Review
Beau asked about development of the Compassion Team / Missions budget. Elders reported about discussion that we had with the BOB and the idea of breaking out a missions line item within the Compassion Team area.

Discussed question about how we accommodate more people in our worship services. Determined that we would defer a larger discussion of this to a separate meeting (weekend retreat).

Youth Ministry
People responded to call for leaders, particularly with people who were approached personally. Qualified people about whom were excited have agreed to step into leadership roles. We will meet with some of these people on September 15.

By-laws adjustments
The remainder of the time was spent going through the by-laws section by section, identifying items that really should be changed. Beau agreed to take these away and work with someone else to come up with draft language. Below are the identified areas for changes:

Elder Meeting Minutes – 7/14/11 Attending: Greg Brinks, Harvey Curley, Dave Hardin, Barb Meyer, Drew Hunter, Dave Nichols Dave Hardin opened with prayer Discussion of agenda for Community Summit 7/24/11. Drew described the new member process – both the formal all-church process and the process for individuals who indicate an interest in joining the church between all-church affirmation opportunities. Following the all-church covenant affirmation service (expected to occur in late September), all attendees who affirm that they meet the requirements for covenant membership, as well as those who indicate an interest in becoming covenant members, will be contacted by an elder or a staff member. It is recognized that this will be a time-consuming but appropriate process at the beginning. The Elders were comfortable with what Drew described and Drew agreed to put the process in writing. The group discussed potential by-law changes to be made. Concerns were raised regarding putting through only some changes to the By-laws while recognizing that many others remain to be made. After discussion it was agreed that at the Community Summit Drew would describe the changes to be made to the By-laws that affect church membership. Other changes will be deferred until a more thorough review of the entire By-laws document could be completed. It is recognized that this is overdue and may frustrate some who would like to see certain changes put in place. However, there was consensus among the elders that the By-law changes should be considered as a whole, rather than piecemeal on various occasions. Discussion of Need for Additional Elders There are currently only 2 candidates willing to be considered for the office of elder. The elders discussed potential nominating committee members who could interview these candidates. The elders agreed that Drew should contact the proposed nominating committee members and, if they’re willing to serve, ask them to undertake this task as soon as possible. In addition, in light of Ben Reigle moving on and other potential changes, it was agreed that the nomination process should be re-opened. The goal would be to have one or more additional candidates who may be able to be submitted to the congregation at the annual meeting in October. Preparation for BOB meeting on 7/24 The group discussed the upcoming meeting between the elders and the BOB. Drew and Dave made suggestions and then exited the meeting, leaving the elders to discuss the goals and desires for the meeting among themselves. The elders agreed to defer further work on review pastor feedback for a subsequent meeting Dave Hardin closed the meeting in prayer.

• The elders (Greg Brinks, Harvey Curley, Dave Hardin, Jen Hullinger, Barb Meyer and Ben Riegle) met with Beau, Drew, Nate and Dave Nichols
• The group began with listening to God for His leading and discussing what was heard.
• We followed this with a lengthy discussion of the strategic priorities for the coming year based significantly on the input from the listening groups that took place earlier in 2011.  The focus was not on specific programs, but on what strategic themes should permeate all aspects of life at Genesis.  The themes that seemed to come out significantly in the listening groups and in what the elders are hearing from God revolved primarily around equipping our members, particularly families, in the ability to grow biblically and to develop other disciples, including their own children.  This is not to exclude those who are single or without children, but to include them by preparing them for marriage and raising children (should God provide for that) and/or to bless and be blessed by other families within Genesis.  Significant discussion took place regarding implications of this for various of Genesis’s ministries, including the Garden and youth ministries, small groups, etc.  There was also discussion regarding how this can fit in with and fuel continued compassion ministries that Genesis values so highly.  A second and related priority that was discussed involved leadership development.  The staff was assigned to continue developing specific plans for how these priorities will influence the various ministries at Genesis.
• We discussed further the need to focus more intensely and intentionally on youth ministry.  We agreed to communicate to the congregation the need for youth leaders and ask the congregation to join the elders and staff in praying for called and gifted leaders who can be empowered for this ministry.  We also agreed that this ministry will require more time and support from Genesis staff.
• The final topic discussed was regarding ideas for how to move forward as Genesis grows and outgrows the ability to fit all attenders in the sanctuary for a Sunday morning worship service.  Various ideas and possibilities were discussed and the conclusion was that the first step would be to develop the capability to broadcast the service in real-time into other parts of the Genesis building (the South Hall, the Lobby, etc.).  The staff was charged with the responsibility to develop specific plans for how this would be accomplished, most likely in the fall of 2011.  As growth continues, we will continue to evaluate and pray about further options.

Congregational Prayer Opportunities:

• Pray that God will lead our entire church as we seek to equip and ground members in God’s Word to enable them to disciple others
• Ask God to help us in developing additional leaders within Genesis for the various ministries to which God calls us
• Continue to pray for God to lead us to the person or people He is calling and equipping to lead our middle and high school youth
• Pray for God to continue to bring to Genesis people whom He wants to love through our congregation.  Ask Him to lead us in giving all those who attend the opportunity to participate in worship in a way that feeds them and honors Him.

• All elders (Greg Brinks, Harvey Curley, Dave Hardin, Jen Hullinger, Barb Meyer and Ben Riegle) met with Beau, Drew and Dave Nichols
• Opened with prayer and sharing what we hearing from God; included prayer with one congregation member
• Reviewed and affirmed the Covenant and Membership document and process
• Discussed and planned for up-coming evaluation of pastoral staff by elders with input from members; elders to meet without pastors to discuss the input on 6/23/11
• Met with Eric and Stephanie Scobie to discuss middle and high school youth ministry.  The Scobies highlighted the number of current students who fall in this age group and the number who will be moving into 6th grade in the next couple of years.  With the coming of a fourth child, the Scobies need to step back from this ministry, leaving a hole in the leadership role.  We thanked the Scobies and prayed with them.  The group agreed to discuss this further in the Elders Retreat on 6/4/11
• Drew reviewed the time and financial commitments required for his participation in the University of Michigan Executive MBA program.  At the elders’ request, he will develop a formal proposal for support from the church including re-assignment of some work duties and potential financial support
• The group reviewed plans for the service on June 12 celebrating students who graduate, blessing the McCarthys as they leave for 6 weeks in Israel and sending Jodi Theut with the congregation’s blessings as she moves to Brussels to begin her full-time missionary role
• The elders discussed the need to communicate more and more clearly with the congregation.  Efforts will include development of an Elders’ Blog on the Genesis web-site

Items for congregational prayer:

• Thanks to God for his provision of the Scobies and others to lead the middle and high school youth group
• Ask God to provide a person or people whom He has called and equipped to continue moving the youth ministry forward
• Ask God to lead Drew and Caren Hunter and Genesis as Drew begins his MBA program
• Request safety, health and significant advancement in Hebrew skills for Beau and Carmel as they travel to Israel
• Request God’s blessings on Jodi Theut as she makes the transition to living and ministering in Brussels, Belgium