Jamieson Memorial United Methodist Church

Jamieson Memorial United Methodist Church

Program Planning Council Minutes

October 9, 2017

Present:Leigh Felton, Bev Chestnutt, Pam Evans,Teresa Swain, John Bright, and Belinda Sheppard

Absent: Laura Castle, Joanne Gilmore, Steve Hite, Linda Pulliam, and Joe Senz

Leigh opened the meeting with prayer requests and prayer.

Pastor John presented his vision statement for the church, provided a descriptive handout, and asked for comment.

“Disciples S.O.A.R. that others may follow Jesus.

S. – Say Yes…to: God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit;

O. – Open up…every day – Daily open your: Bible, Prayer Life, Heart;

A. – Actively participate… in the life and ministry of JMUMC; and

R. – Released to mission in the community and the world: discover how/where
God wants each disciple to advance the Kingdom.”

Program Council members discussed the “one new thing” that we will take to charge conference on October 22nd. It was recommended and agreed upon by Program Council members to make the “one new thing” a new program on Spiritual Gifts Inventory with 100% participation. We can evaluate ministries and teams and see where gifts can be used. We can roll this out next spring/summer to make sure we get this done by next year. We also need to measure how many participated and evaluate the feedback for results. We will keep trying until we have succeeded. We need a coordinator for this program. It would be good to have an online option for the survey and there was discussion about having a covered dinner to promote the activity or even filling out the survey during worship time. We will need to do a detailed list of opportunities for service for each of the spiritual gift categories. We have numerous spiritual gift inventories that need to be compared. We want everyone involved in the ministries of the church.

Team Reports

Communications (Linda Pulliam)

Continuing as usual with recordings being made each week and advertisements developed and posted when needed.

Education (Laura Castle)

We have met as a group and are in the process of recruiting more volunteers. The Adult Sunday School class will be doing a study on Advent Conspiracy series - A Focus on Christ – not Stuff.

Missions (Joanne Gilmore)

Bev reported on Operation Christmas Child (OCC) progress and reminded others that there is a $9 shipping fee needed for each box put together. Leigh suggested that perhaps money can be donated from the Missions budget. Our OCC packing party will be November 4th.

Worship (Bev Chestnutt)

Irene Chapman is stepping down as co-chair for the Worship Team, so we will be looking for a replacement. October 15th will be Children’s Sabbath Sunday with the theme “Moving Forward with Hope: Love and Justice for Every Child.” November 5th is All Saints Sunday to honor families of congregation who have lost a loved one this past year, with Elaine doing the candle lighting and reading the names. November 12th will be Veteran Recognition Sunday. December 3rd is the first Sunday in Advent. The Cantata will be performed Dec 3rd at 3 pm and Dec 6th at 7:30 pm.

The Trustees and Administrative Council have agreed to expand the choir to the corner by the stairs, rotating the stairs to face out into the sanctuary. They are reviewing costs and we are waiting to hear from the Trustees on the progress.

Congregational Care (Pam Evans)

A Taco meal is being planned for some time near Thanksgiving or Christmas. We still need people to regularly sign up for the fellowship coffee/snacks after worship service, so we will take the sign-up sheets to circle meetings and add a notice in the bulletin (also, see UMM below).

Discipleship (Steve Hite)

See discussion on “one new thing” with the Spiritual Gifts Inventory as this would fall under Discipleship.

UMW (Teresa Swain).

Our upcoming educational workshop is October 21st, with Elaine as the guest speaker on a program “Help, Thanks, Wow,” with Bev Chestnutt singing, and with a prayer box activity. As an effort to reach the community, a prayer box was approved for Medowview and the Town Hall and we are waiting to hear about the YMCA. Leigh mentioned Prayer Stakes for the community. Bev suggested our church have a special mailbox for prayer requests.

The Potato Supper, organized by Sally Morgan and Rolene Ramsey, made a profit of $1,146.08; where the usual $500 goes directly to St. Andrews project and the remainder goes to missions. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we will pass out mission recognition pins during worship service. Our nominating committee, headed up by Joan Roberts, submitted their new slate of UMW officers. UMW members reported that 94 books were read within the UMW Reading Program and certificates will be provided. Our church will host the World Day of Prayer on Friday, March 2, 2018 and we need someone to lead this ecumenical community activity using the program package that Debbie will receive. We will sponsor mums for Thanksgiving with donators taking their mum after service and the remainder going to Meadowview. UMW District Annual Meeting was held at New Hope Church in Randolph Virginia September 27, 2017. The guest speaker was Bishop Sharma Lewis who spoke about the power of love and how it can be used to change peoples’ lives, citing “Others are angels that carry you to your healing.”

UMM (Joe Senz)

The UMM have graciously volunteered to host the fellowship coffee/snacks every second Sunday!

MYF (Currently no rep)

Jumpey resumed Sunday the 8th. They will also meet on the 22nd and the 29th of October. They will be participating in Trunk or Treat again this year and are in need of candy donations. Also, if anyone would like to, bring your decorated trunk to the Presbyterian Church on the 31st and participate handing out candy to trick or treaters.

OldBusiness:

New Business:

Leigh reported that he has been working on evangelism training and Pastor John found an invitational program via TrueLife.org. The cost is $399 per year for our church. They provide our church with cards (see printed sample) and we pass them out to our congregation who then go out and give them to the public. Pastor John showed an introductory truelife.org video showcasing the distribution of the cards. On the truelife.org website, there are videos that address real life issues and provide answers to various questions (such as information on angels or prayer). People accessing the site can create their own channel with saved videos for their search subjects. It was suggested that Program Council members check out this website for content, search for participating churches, and provide feedback.

Pastor John mentioned he is inviting local churches and pastors to begin in 2018 to host prayer for their community at their church once a month.

Meeting Adjourned.

Respectfully submitted, Belinda Sheppard, Council Secretary

Future Meeting: Nov 16