Leadership Council Minutes

5/20/24

Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Denny Blessing, Kathy Heistand, Phil Howard, Jack Mc Mahon, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Jeff Wright

1. Jeff Wright opened the meeting with prayer.

2. Attendance Report—Melissa Truelove

· Stones Crossing Campus

a. April Avg. Worship Attendance 242 (9am 179, 10:30am 63)

b. Year-to-date Avg. Worship Attendance 236 (9am 176, 10:30am 54)

c. April Avg. Facebook Attendance 43, Year-to-date Average 55

d. April Sunday School/Life Group Avg. Attendance173 (18 children, 5 youth)

e. Year-to-date Sunday School/Life Group Avg. Attendance 172 (22 children, 5 youth)

· Trafalgar Campus

Leadership Council Minutes

4/22/24

Members Present: Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Denny Blessing, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Jack Mc Mahon, Audrey Miller, Kim Peters, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Jeff Wright

1. Jeff Buck opened the meeting with prayer and the council members discussed the Culture Statement.

2. Attendance Report–March

· Stones Crossing—Average Attendance for March is 263 (9am 192, 10:30am 63), FB 55, Sunday School/Life Group 160 (children 26, youth 4)

· Stones Crossing –Average Attendance year-to-date is 235 (9am 176, 10:30am 52), FB 57, Sunday School/Life 173 (children 22, youth 5)

· Trafalgar—Average Attendance for March is 46

· Trafalgar—Average Attendance year-to-date is 39

Leadership Council Minutes

3/25/24

Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Kim Peters, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove

1. John Thompson opened the meeting with prayer and led the meeting in the absence of Denny Blessing.

2. Attendance—February Averages

· The average worship attendance for Stones Crossing is 233 (9am 177, 10:30am 56), Facebook 54, Trafalgar 34.

· Sunday School/Life Group attendance is 182 (20 children, 4 youth).

· During February we had 12 first time visitors and 2 second time visitors.

3. Pastor’s Report

· Pastor Jeff presented our 5-Year Vision Goals developed with leadership and our consultant, Mark Meyer.

1. 500 Weekly Engagement in Worship

2. 150 Kids and Youth

3. Our Church Leadership will be diverse and mirror our community.

4. We will be a one location, one service style church clear on our unique identity.

5. We will be the “First Call” for community care and resources as we establish strong community partnerships.

· Pastor Jeff announced that for the summer months (June, July, and August) will be going to one worship service only at 9:30am, followed by life groups (some life groups might choose to meet before the service) and Sunday School. We will review in July.

Leadership Council Minutes

2/26/24

Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Denny Blessing, Phil Brewer, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Phil Howard, Audrey Miller, Kim Peters, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Jeff Wright

1. Rick Allison opened the meeting with prayer.

2. Pastor Report

· The Lent season, Lenten Encounters, and dinners have been a success and are well attended. The congregation wants to invite friends and one new couple has already brought friends.

· The Solar Eclipse viewing will limited to Daycare and Scouts only. Carolyn Patterson is teaching a lesson before the viewing and coordinating with the Scouts and Daycare.

· The 3 consultation goals are going well. All staff and lay leadership job descriptions have been completed by John Thompson. Communication is being worked on and the main focus is inviting others to key services.

· The February average worship attendance for Stones Crossing is 233 (177 at 9am, 57 at 10:30am). The children are no longer being counted with worship at 10:30am so the numbers and averages will reflect this. The average attendance at Trafalgar is 34.

Leadership Council Minutes
1/22/24
Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Denny Blessing, Kathy Heistand, Phil Howard, Kim Peters, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Jeff Wright
1. Denny Blessing opened the meeting with prayer.
2. Pastor’s Report (given by Denny Blessing in absence of Pastor Jeff)
• Denny Blessing introduced the new Leadership Council Members (Kim Peters and Denny Blessing).
• The Lay Leadership Movement is in process. The council is encouraged to attend the Leadership Training Meeting on January 27 at 9am.
• Discussion is underway regarding the plan for Scouts and Daycare for the Eclipse in April. Safety is a priority so more information is to come in next month’s meeting.
• MAMM will be suspended on February 1 unless leadership steps up to lead this ministry. Larry and La Theda Noonan will be honored in the January 28th worship service.

Leadership Council Meeting

11/27/23

Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Denny Blessing, Valerie Blessing, Phil Brewer, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Phil Howard, Audrey Miller, Kim Peters, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Jeff Wright, Mike Womack

1. Mike Womack opened the meeting with prayer.

2. Pastor’s Report

a. Stones Crossing

· October average attendance: 216 in worship (153-9am, 63-10:30am), FB Live 46, 158 in Life Groups/Sunday School (17 children, 7 youth).

· 4 first time visitors, 2 second time visitors in October.

· Pastor Jeff gives thanks for the Mizo Church, Trinity Hall updates, new guests, and Youth Alpha.

· Update on the 3 goals set by the Consultation: Our marketing and communication is continuing, the database search is narrowed to two databases, staff job descriptions are complete and lay leadership job descriptions continue to be worked on.

· 2024 Goals: Develop and Advent Charge with an invitation atmosphere, develop lay leadership and how they relate to staff, evaluate the church building, and bring in an architect to address security, a sanctuary, and church layout.

· January 27, 2024 will be a Leadership Retreat and new leaders will be trained.

Leadership Council Meeting

10/23/23

Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Denny Blessing, Valerie Blessing, Phil Brewer, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Audrey Miller, Kim Peters, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Mark Weatherman, Mike Womack, Jeff Wright

1. Mike Womack opened the meeting with prayer.

2. Pastor’s Report

· Pastor Jeff expressed thanks for Pastor Appreciation Month and for the great staff that support the ministries.

· The Celebration of Life for Miss Marie (daycare staff) was a blessing to the family, and they showed much gratitude for how they were cared for by Mount Auburn.

· The consultation process is moving forward. The communication plan is in place, internet updates and the new sound board are complete, and the first phase of staff changes have been implemented.

· The Convening Conference is this weekend and Pastor Jeff, Mike Womack, Kathy Heistand and John Thompson will be attending. The conference will be live streamed.

Leadership Council Minutes
9/25/23
Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Valerie Blessing, Phil Brewer, Jeff
Buck, Kathy Heistand, Phil Howard, John Thompson, Melissa Truelove, Mark Weatherman, Jeff
Wright
Special Guest: Denny Blessing (2024 Chair)
1. John Thompson opened the meetng with prayer and led the meetng in Mike Womack’s
absence.
2. Pastor Report

Members Present: Mike Alexa, Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Valerie Blessing, Phil Brewer, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Phil Howard, Audrey Miller, John Thompson (by zoom), Melissa Truelove, Mark Weatherman, Jeff Wright, Mike Womack

Special Guests from the Trafalgar Campus: Marilyn Kidwell and Paul Sturgell

1. Mike Womack opened the meeting with prayer.

2. GMC Update

· Things are going well but there is much work to be done when beginning a new church.
· The GMC is rapidly growing and there are currently 210 churches in our annual conference.

Leadership Council Minutes 7/24/23 Members Present: Rick Allison, Anne Atzinger, Valerie Blessing, Phil Brewer, Jeff Buck, Kathy Heistand, Audrey Miller, John Thompson, Mike Womack, and Jeff Wright 1. The opening prayer was given by Mike Womack. 2. Pastor’s Report – Included in status report. 3. A Status Report on the three initiatives identified during consultation was shared. Update on the 90-day progress: Communication – Clara Sjoquist shared a printed summary. The email and newsletter metrics were noted. The Stewardship campaign prototype was shared. The theme is planting seeds. IT – Cindy Rinehuts recruited an IT consultant. The new internet infrastructure is being installed. A gift of $10,000 has been given to support the improvements. The next goal is obtaining the necessary software. Sound issues have been noted in the courts. Over $10,000 has been donated to address this issue. New sound equipment in the courts should be installed by the end of August. The new sound equipment for the courts could be moved to a sanctuary later. New software should be acquired by October. If not available then, we will delay until January 2024. Staff and Laity job descriptions – staff job descriptions are at the point of being implemented. They should be in place by end of year (Goal is Oct 15). Laity job descriptions will be started soon. We need to think about the new class of LC members for 2024. We will start the process of considering what we want to do about having a sanctuary. 4. Preparing for our first GMC Corporation Mtg./Charge Conference – We must have a charge conference before Dec 1, 2023, because our bylaw became effective on Dec. 1, 2022. Since GMC has not defined what the charge conference should be, we can decide what is included. Jeff suggested having the charge conference on a Sunday after the service. 5. Sewer system status report – there is a meeting Thursday morning with Joy Bosse to review sewer information and assess grade. Next question is Greenwood connection fee. Mark English asked about purchasing the pumps from the church. The extension to raise a manhole by 2 – 3 feet is intended to raise it to just above ground level. Bricks are being laid for repairs to the damaged west wall of the church. Two bricks used only to hold down covering on the brick stacks were built into the wall and should be removed. 6. Potential of sharing property with an ethnic minority congregation desiring to become a GMC congregation. A portion of this group is currently using a UMC facility but will not be able to continue there if they become GMC. The associate pastor asked Pastor Jeff approximately a week ago about using our church space. Jeff is gathering information. We will need to determine what spaces they would need. Jeff is anticipating that they may have a congregation of 150 persons. The discussed usage time for the group would likely be Sunday afternoons. 7. Trafalgar status update – Trafalgar is fully functional with respect to bulletins, custodial responsibilities, and making slides. Mark Weatherman will be the finance chair. 8. Financial Report – Jeff and Mark will meet to share information with the plan that Trafalgar will handle their own finances starting in January. Jeff shared the financial reports. Beth has filed the grant report with the state reporting the use of all funds received from the grant. The cell tower lease is guaranteed through 2026. A letter from Crown Castle was shared. The pros and cons of selling vs keeping the tower lease were discussed. The lease should be read, and this topic should be discussed next month. 9. Staff parish note – Jeff Buck is healthy! 10. Jeff Wright noted that more counters or persons willing to take money to the bank are needed. It was noted that personal requests seem to be required to get persons to take on volunteer tasks at the church. John shared that the plan is that all laity rolls should have a representative on the LC. 11. Closing Prayer was given by John Thompson. The meeting closed at 8:50 PM.