MINUTES, ELDERS MEETING 8/24/2017

PRESENT: Pastor Mark Farran, Randy Crowe, Mike Stockton, Barry Krause, Briana Decker, Hootie Decker

OPENING: Mike opened the meeting with prayer and Pastor Mark lead a short reading and discussion of 2Samuel 21:1-14.

MINUTES:This being the first meeting of the Elders, there were no previous minutes to review/approve.

TREASURE’S REPORT: This being the first meeting, a treasures report was not requested.

VOTES TAKEN: Randy motioned to locally ordain Pastor Mark so he may legally solemnize marriages. This local ordination will serve the purpose until Pastor Mark receives EFCA ordination. This local ordination is officially affected by being a record of the Elder meeting minutes. Barry seconded the motion and all voted yes.

OTHER DISCUSSIONS:

  1. Policy and Procedure for Ministries: Reviewed and discussed the first draft. It was agreed this is a matter of great importance and needs to be addressed with urgency but not haste. Our goal is to have the document complete and submitted as a draft to the congregation at least a week before the congregational meeting in October. A meeting was set for more discussion on 8/28/2017 at 6:30 PM.
  2. Playground: There is concern the original concept for the planned playground is too small in scope and in budget to meet the need. Pastor Mark is going to take a leading role in coordinating with Jeff Harrell (property & grounds) and Grant Stockton (missions). Pastor Mark and Barry are going to visit the local fiberglass manufacturing company to see if any playground equipment may be obtained from them.
  3. Mold in parsonage: It was agreed Cody Krause will treat the mold issue as his company is equipped and trained to eradicate mold. The mold is in the basement. There are a lot of drainage issues that all contribute to the mold problem.
  4. Buildings and grounds: Discussed concern about overload and burnout with the large work load on Jeff Harrell. This will be the first ministry we discuss with plans to design the ministry to address these concerns.
  5. Licensing Pastor Mark: In addition to the information in the “VOTES TAKEN” section above it is important to record that different counties in the state of Missouri may have different laws for the purposes of solemnizing marriages. We must check the county law prior to performing any marriage ceremonies in counties other than Gasconade County.
  6. Church marketing: Discussed replacing the sign in front of the church and on the highway. Pastor Mark discussed creating a logo for our church. All were in agreement that they really liked the design Sheila Krause made for the 150th Celebration bulletins. Pastor Mark also discussed the possibility in the future of obtaining a new website company to replace our current site.

NEXT MEETING: The next meeting is set for Monday 8/28/2017 at 6:30 PM with the explicit purpose of discussing policy and procedure for ministries.This will be the first of several special meeting for this purpose.

CLOSING: We closed the meeting with prayer led by Pastor Mark.