2013 Annual Meeting
November 3, 2013
Agenda
- Dessert Potluck
- Opening Prayer
- Approval of Agenda
- Approval of 2012 Minutes
- Presentation and Election of Elder Board Members
- Presentation and Election of Nominating Committee
- Financial Report and Budget Presentation
- Celebration of 2012/2013
- Vision of 2013/2014
- Questions and Answers
- Closing Prayer
Table of Contents
Report Title Page
2012 Minutes, November 4, 2012 5
Staff, Elders, Nominating Committee and Report 8
Senior Pastor's Annual Report 9
Treasurer's Report and Church Budget11
Church Budget14
Kings Kid's Preschool Budget and Report13
Angel Children's Choir Ministry15
Benevolent Ministry16
Children's Ministry17
Community Outreach19
Facility Report21
Men's Ministry22
Women's Ministry23
Worship Ministry24
Youth Ministry25
Minutes of Annual Meeting - November 4, 2012
The meeting was called to order at 7:18 pm
Joel opened in prayer, then read from Acts chapter 2. He gave a reminder that we should be God’s people.
Agenda approved.
Minutes approved.
Elder Board Nominees presented. Joel went over what the attributes of Elders should be. Affirmation of Ray Wimsett and Ken Rodrigues, who they are, and things they’ve done for the church. Marc McNeil prayed for them.
Nominees for 2013 Nominating Committee: Rita McBride, Cliff Rose, Jeff Mathews, Beth Mattsson-Boze’, Steve Murray. Everyone voted. Ballots collected. 2 to be chosen. Motion to close, motion made, seconded, and it is closed. Joel gave a brief overview on when he would need to meet with them during the year.
Budget and Financial Report from Miguel Padilla: Miguel gave thanks for being able to serve as Treasurer for the last 5 years, and next year will be his last. No significant changes, except the income at the top has slightly changed to offset janitorial expenses, which will be absorbed by King’s Kids and Stellar. Cost of business insurance has been renegotiated, as has our copier lease. We’ve been seeing a good trend with our general offerings. Still not meeting projected figures. Year to date through September, we’re in the black by $11,000, by keeping expenses down. Ministries have not spent their budgets, so we should end up about $5,000 in the black. Facility accrual, anticipating year to date, $61,000. Right now we’re at $23,800. Some of these figures will be subject to changed based upon Youth and Children’s Ministry restructuring. Budget approved.
Joel talked about 2011-2012. Men’s Retreats- Men’s Retreats are a great opportunity to grow in Christ. Celebrate Recovery- Doing great. The numbers continue to grow. People are still utilizing the group well. Small Groups- Going strong. Small groups are essential for growing and maturing in Christ.
Nominating Committee Confirmed: Rita McBride and Steve Murray.
Christmas Program: Candy Alcosiba is doing an excellent job. Children’s Ministry: Doing great. They are more organized. We want that to be the best hour in a kid’s week! Youth Ministry: Nick Rodrigues has been hired part time, and he’s really stepping up and doing good work. Junior High Ministry: Junior High Ministry Leaders just came back from a Youth Ministry Conference. We need to continue to support these leaders. Children’s Choir: Great opportunities for outreach to these kids. JoJo is doing a great job, and has a great heart for the job. The kids also do a great job sharing the gospel through music. The Slum Children Project is also done through the choir, which is an awesome opportunity for outreach to make sure basic needs are met.
Looking Forward: The Elders have been reading “A Purpose Driven Church.” They are listening to what God is saying to them. God led them to the changing of our purpose statement, which is now, “Neighborhood Church is a place of changed lives as we love God, love others and serve the world. Love God: That is part of our Sunday morning, worship, sound, etc. The Worship Planning Team will play a big part in making that better and more dynamic, once the team members are finalized. To reach lost people, the message needs to be clear, powerful and evident everywhere. Love Others: Serve in the church lovingly and help others to grow in Christ. Serve the World: Look for areas outside of the church to serve others and impact their lives. Missionary work. We have an opportunity to partner with missionaries, whether it be physical, financial, or both. We need to train high school students, to help continue their excitement and enthusiasm. We can also take college students and move them into theological training and leader internships.
Missions Trip to India in February: Joel, Vince, JoJo and someone else going, whom has yet to be determined. Other mission trips are being discussed, but nothing decided yet.
It was voted in the last Elder’s Board Meeting to hire a Youth and Children’s Ministry leader. Our desire is to do an excellent job and care for these children. There are still some things to iron out. Please pray for this process.
Youth Ministry, we have Nick. We’re still working some things out. Please pray for God’s leadership in these things. God is moving in our church. We need to be ready to grow in all ways, and in all areas.
Lindsey is doing great work. He will become full time once he completes his ordination
Rich is also doing great work. Please pray for all the things they need to do to get ready for the Ukraine.
Wednesday Nights: We meet and pray. Prayer is necessary for God’s people. Lost people matter to God. How are we reaching lost people for Jesus?
There are many things to do this year. There is a sense of renewal in the church. What is God asking us to do? Our purpose statement is, “Neighborhood Church is a place of changed lives, as we love God, love others and serve the world.” We need to keep that before us.
Questions:
Barbara Marques: Needs a copy of the bylaws, and has trouble hearing people if they don’t use the microphone.
Lisa Mathews: Asked about the hiring of the Youth and Children’s Ministry people. There will be one leader per ministry. There are requirements to be met, but they don’t necessarily need to be pastors. This process is being discussed by the Elders.
JoJo McCoy: Do we have funds to repair and improve our sound system? As we update our sound system, we should think about streaming video for our nursery and foyer. This would be very beneficial to families with small children. Also, the Junior High students seem to be wandering around during second service. They may not want to be in the sanctuary, so is there a group or class that could be implemented for them during that time? Funds in Worship Ministry have not been spent. They could be used for updating equipment. That process will include the Worship Planning Team.
Sue Brown: Teen parenting class has been very successful in secular schools. There is a huge need for this class to expand. Let’s get it out there.
Steve Murray: Wanted to know if we could get a worship director. That will be discussed by the Elder Board, but Joel would like to have a Children’s Ministry leader in place first.
James Jenkins: Wanted to know if we have a 5 year outlook plan for the church. It’s been done before, to some degree. We are now consulting with Phil Barton in a project pertaining to that.
Motion to close the meeting. Joel closed in prayer at 8:33 pm. Meeting adjourned.
2013Staff, Elders, and Nominating Committee
Staff
Senior Pastor: Joel Mattsson-Bozé
Pastor of Outreach: Lindsey Alcosiba
Children’s Ministry Director: Laura Haas
Student Ministries Director: Nick Rodrigues
Office Manager: Jodi Alba
Kings Kid's Preschool Director: Heather Leyva
EldersNominating Committee
Marc McNeilJoel Mattsson-Bozé
Miguel PadillaMiguel Padilla
Jeff MathewsRita McBride
Rick ElolaSteve Murray
Vince Hass
Cliff Rose
Nominating Committee Report 2013
Members of the nominating committee are: Rita McBride, Steve Murray, Miguel Padilla, and Joel Mattsson-Bozé.
We reviewed the members and those eligible for becoming elders. In the process we discovered that we have a good selection of men who are stepping up, becoming more godly and moving toward elder material. We recommend that Joel take these men and specifically develop them to become elders.
We chose two men and then asked them if they were willing to let their names stand as nominees for elder. Both agreed. The two nominees for elder are:
Cliff Rose - He is a current elder, having come on this past year in place of James Jenkins who moved out of the area. He is willing to let his name stand for another 3 year term.
Ray Hess - He has been an elder in the past. He responded enthusiastically to our request that he let his name stand as a nominee for elder.
Senior Pastor's Report 2013
This year I believe God has led me to this simple focus. "The ABC's". The ABC's stand for Alpha, Bethel, Celebrate Recovery, and Small Groups (for the’s). Let me explain a bit further.
Alpha
Alpha represents our evangelistic focus. We must be about evangelism, reaching people for Christ. A church that does not reach people for Christ, that does not have this as their priority, is not a church. Jesus has all authority, as he said in Matthew 28:19. Therefore he gets to say what we are to do. And he says, "Make Disciples." That is the focus. Making disciples begins with people who do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord. We get out and reach lost people for Christ.
Alpha is an evangelistic course. It takes everyone attending through the gospel and encourages them to make a commitment to Christ. Our current Alpha focus is led by Miguel Padilla. God led him into this focus. He is excited to work with Lindsey to make this evangelistic effort grow and work well in our church.
I want everyone in our church to go through Alpha. It's kind of like going back to the basics. Some need to go because they are not saved. Some need to go because they need reminder of the basics, what Christ has done for us. Some need to go because they need to renew their commitments to Christ. And some need to go because they need to see this gospel presentation and be better prepared to invite others to this course.
Alpha is not our only gospel focus. We want to share the gospel regularly, everywhere. We want to be gospel focused, not Alpha focused. And Alpha helps us get there.
Bethel
Bethel represents our teaching focus. We need to be Biblically literate. We need to know the scriptures. God gave us his word. He instructs us, corrects us, grows us. The main way we know and follow God is through his word.
Bethel is a foundational class for those who want to become Biblically literate, who want to know God's word. There is more to learn after Bethel, but it is a great start. It will help people read the Bible at home, get more out of sermons, grow more in small groups through the Bible study time, and have more ability to communicate the gospel.
Tim Hood has championed Bethel here at Neighborhood Church for a long time. He teaches the Bethel class, at least the challenging one. There is also a congregational Bethel class that is less challenging. I would like everyone to take Bethel. You will get grounded in God's word.
There is more learning of the scriptures than just Bethel. From Bethel, you can take other classes. Ray Wimsett teaches some of these. We want you to dive in to God's word. The goal is not more knowledge, but more obedience, a deeper heart for God. But knowledge is important.
Celebrate Recovery
Celebrate Recovery represents our healing process. People need to be healed. Many people have struggles, or, as Celebrate Recovery says, Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups. These cause problems in our lives and keep us from following Christ the way we ought to. These problems keep us from the life Jesus intends us to have and live out.
Celebrate Recovery brings people into a group meeting where they interact with other who are in the same process. Here are a bunch of people who have raised their hand and said, "I blew it and I am in trouble." That is a very hard thing to say. And they are working through the process to be healed of these difficulties.
Our God is a healing God. He heals and restores. As we work through the Biblical processes outlined in Celebrate Recovery we can find freedom in Christ from those hurts, habits, and hang-ups. We can then move on to be all that Christ wants us to be.
Jeff and Lisa Mathews have led this ministry for a long time. They have a team of leaders who come alongside them and this ministry. People have moved through this process and been healed and people are moving through it now.
Celebrate Recovery is not our only healing ministry. We have prayer teams up front after church. We have people who pray for others. We are looking to find the Holy Spirit's power to provide healing for people. We have counseling going on. Celebrate Recovery acts as the point person for this ministry of healing in our church.
Small Groups
Small groups represent our discipleship. Small groups are the way people grow the most. When someone attends a small group they enter into relationships with some other believers. They experience community. Jesus shows up in that community. They get a chance to share their struggles. They pray together. They read the scriptures together. They serve together. They build friendships.
Those are the tools of discipleship. Small groups have leaders. These leaders oversee the members of the small groups. They pray for their members. They care for their members. They look for God's movement among their people and encourage it. In a word, they pastor these people. That's discipleship.
I want everyone to be a part of a small group. Every one of these other ministries, Alpha, Bethel, and Celebrate Recovery, can act as a small group for you. But, one way or another, you need to be in a small group. If you are serious about growing in Jesus, a small group is your vehicle. You learn to pray in a small group, and worship, and study God's word, and care for others, and evangelize, and serve.
Small groups are not the only discipleship tool. But it is, by far, the most important one.
So those are the ABC's. Alpha, Bethel, Celebrate Recovery and Small Groups. It's fairly simple and straight forward. But it won't be easy. Step into this process and become the believer God wants you to be. And let's become the church God wants us to be.
Sincerely,Joel Mattsson-Bozé
Senior Pastor, Neighborhood Church
Treasurer’s Report - October 2013
The Elder board continues to seek God’s guidance when making any decisions to upcoming changesand this year has shaped up to be no different from past years. We have seen Pastor Rich Todd andKings Kids Carol Brumley step down and Pastor Lindsey Alcosiba ordained with Heather Leyva hiredas our new Kings Kids Director. Your Elder board has also heard the concerns about our youth andchildren’s ministries. Now we have Nick Rodrigues and Laura Haas leading these ministries. We alsohave Jodi Alba as our new church secretary. All of these changes have had a direct impact on ourfinances and I believe your Elder board has responded well. The Elder board and staff continue tolook for ways that will enable us to stay as efficient as possible with our day to day operations.
In an effort to streamline our financial reporting between CBNC and Kings Kids a recommendationwas made to and approved by the Elder board. Because of inefficiencies the Elder board has decidedto bring back Kings Kids financial reporting into CBNC’s overall budget. This decision was not takenlightly and the final go ahead was not made until we heard the opinions of Kings Kids advisory group,past treasurer Howard Knutson, accountants Lisa Madsen and Debbie Klosky. As a result of thisdecision the 2013/2014 budget has now taken a different look.
We still have some challenges concerning our finances and, I believe, God is still testing us. Based onthe last 9 months (Dec – Aug) our average monthly giving to the general fund was $35,596 which is$1,129 less than our projected amount of $36,725. We ended the month of August with anapproximate deficit balance of $12,481 year to date. Some of the reasons for this deficit are due tothe changes in personnel and higher than expected utilities.
Our facilities continue to be used with the Vietnamese and Chinese churches still meeting here. Wealso have Stellar Academy and King’s Kids Preschool; all making good use of the facility God hasentrusted to us. We are blessed to still have Stellar Academy using our space. Their attendancecontinues to be an issue but with our prayers and God’s blessings we are hopeful that their situationwill continue to improve. Monthly rental donations for 2013/2014 are projected to be $4,745 which isa significant reduction from last year’s budget. Now that we have brought back Kings Kids budgetinto CBNC’s their rent is no longer shown as income.
How time flies! Six years ago I was asked to serve as an Elder and provide oversight & stewardshipover our finances here at CBNC. Initially I was hesitant and felt inadequate for the position but God’sSpirit reassured me that this was part of his plan. Together we have gone through six long years oflean times. As your Elder and treasurer I’ve been placed in numerous situations where unpopular andhard recommendations needed to be made. My hope and prayer as I step down from this position isthat our overall financial picture continues to improve as our economy heals and with God’s blessingswe continue to meet our financial obligations.