Leadership Council Minutes

6/26/23

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

1. Mike Womack opened the meeting with prayer.

2. The Importance of Connectionalism

· Mike Womack presented the article by Bishop Mark Webb entitled, “The Importance of Connectionalism for Methodists.”

· Understanding connectionalism is critical to fulfill the mission of the church. Pastor Jeff and Mike Womack feel that this is important and will take intentionality.

3. Pastor Report

· Pastor Jeff gave an update on the 90-day goal report set from the consultation. The plan for communication and branding is almost done and the web site will be complete by July 12. The IT/Database goal is in process. A $10,000 donation was used to upgrade the worship sound and tech. Cindy Rinehuls and Kathy Heistand

will continue looking into new databases once all the IT equipment has been upgraded with the capacity needed. Job descriptions continue to be worked on and the roll-out is postponed to mid-July. Lay leadership will be completed during the next quarter.

· Pastor Jeff’s office was painted, and the new colors will be used in Trinity Hall and continue to move throughout the church. Estimates for new furniture in Trinity Hall are being obtained.

· The Stewardship Campaign is moving forward and will begin in late August.

4. Update on GMC Stuff

· An application has been submitted in early June to the GMC Transitional Leadership Council for permission to begin operating the Great Lakes Provisional Annual Conference (all GMC churches in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin). The application was approved, and our GMC provisional annual conference will be live on July 1.

· The first Convening Conference of the Great Lakes Annual Conference will be held in October.

5. Resolution Assigning Pastor Jeff Buck as a Presiding Elder

· A presiding elder is a volunteer position that oversees 5-10 churches in their area.

· By July 1 the GMC will have 16 presiding elders.

· Pastor Jeff is a presiding elder and also the Dean of the Cabinet.

· Mike Womack presented the document entitled “Church Resolution Supporting Presiding Elder Assignment” for discussion. By endorsing the document and acknowledging Pastor’s Jeff’s duties with the GMC, he will be covered under the church’s workman’s compensation. The suggestion was made to edit the document to say, up to 10 hours instead of 8-10 hours.

· John Thompson made a motion to suspend the rules and move forward with a vote even though this has not been a discussion topic on the agenda before. Jeff Wright seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

· Mike Womack made a motion to adopt the Resolution Assigning Pastor Jeff Buck as a Presiding Elder. Audrey Miller seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

6. Trafalgar Update

· As of July 3, the Trafalgar Campus will assume responsibilities (custodial cleaning, bulletins, slides, etc.) currently being handled by the staff at the Stones Crossing Campus except for the finances.

· Trafalgar has received a matching grant for $10,000.

· Phil Brewer requested a copy of all the Mount Auburn policies and will be responsible for ensuring the policies are followed at Trafalgar.

· Trafalgar pays approximately $4,100 per month to Mount Auburn for staff support. This amount was decided in anticipation of a full-time pastor which they do not have. Jeff Wright explained that Trafalgar has overpaid by approximately $12,000 for the year and recommends stopping monthly payments for the remainder of the year and reevaluate in 2024 as Trafalgar prepares to stand on their own.

· John Thompson made a motion to suspend the rules to vote on the Trafalgar support to Mount Auburn. Jeff Wright seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

· Jeff Wright made a motion that effective July 1, 2023, Trafalgar will no longer make payments to Mount Auburn for the remainder of 2023. In January, 2024 the payment will be reevaluated and is estimated to be approximately $1,900 a month. Audrey Miller and Kathy Heistand both seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

7. Sewer Update

· Mike Alexa explained the 2 possible solutions for the sewer issues.

· Chris Pittman has been working on the option of connecting back to Greenwood and having the old gravity fed line evaluated to see if it is viable now that Greenwood has the sewer capacity.

8. Church Wall Update

· The repair is underway and is going according to plan.

9. Daycare License Update

· Changing the EIN number when the church disaffiliated, caused problems for the daycare. The daycare is in the process of reapplication and will likely have to shut down and reopen and undergo a new inspection.

· Beth Carter and staff are working diligently to rectify the problem and prepare for the inspection.

10. Financial Report for May

· The Stones Crossing Campus had a net income of $5,562.92 for the month and a net income of $48,054.60 year-to-date. As a reminder $31,757 remains in the account from the insurance money for the Community Room wall repair.

· The Trafalgar Campus had a deficit of $(2,243.93) for the month and a deficit of $(7,398.44) year-to-date.

· The Daycare had a net income of $12,748 for the month and a net income of $36,162.28 year-to-date. The grant money has been moved to the payroll account.

11. Pastor Jeff closed the meeting with prayer.