Trinity Baptist Church

Trustee Meeting Minutes

September 18, 2017

Small Dining Room, 6:00 PM

Attendance:

TRUSTEES PRESENT: : Dave Ballard, Jerry Carnahan, Anita Foster,Joe Gill, Wayne Grant, Terry Green, Gary Higgs, Les Hollon, Lane Mitchell, Jill Parker and Andrea Schaper.

ABSENT Randy Fields, Ginger Nicholas

STAFF: None present

Lane Mitchell called the regular meeting of the Trustees to order at 6.02 pm.

Prayer and Devotion: Gary Higgs opened the meeting with prayer and devotion.

Opening Remarks from Chair: Lane Mitchell opened and introduced Pastor Les.

Pastor ‘s Report: Pastor Les opened his remarks by saying that before the meeting ended Lane would ask those members rolling off the Trustee team what they felt about being part of the Team and any take-aways they would like to express. Pastor Les said that there were 9 capable people nominated from whom 4 would be nominated to serve a 2 year termbeginning in October. Pastor Les said that the absence of the general congregation members at Trustee’s meetings shows the confidence that the congregation has in the Trustees and the decisions they make on behalf of the church body. Pastor Les thanked the Trustees for serving at the Lord’s Table and for their faithfulness. The meeting went into executive session

The meeting resumed with Pastor Les commenting that The Town Hall Meeting was a healthy gathering and was a stepping stone into the annual Business Meeting on Sunday where the Ministry Plan for 2017-18 and the budget will be formally voted on by the Congregation. The budget, in particular, and the ministry plan will be formally voted on by the Deacon body at their meeting tomorrow, September 19th. Good decisions are being made for Christ at TBCwith Mason a 5th grader this week, Mackenzie Carnahan last week, and the baptism and rededication of Tom Egbert in a few weeks. There are always issues and problems, but the church is heading in the right direction. The new roof is progressing. The lower level of the CLC renovation is complete and classes will start there on October 1st.There will be a Dedication and Open House for the TBC family on October 15th. Logsdon Seminary at TBC is the fastest growing seminary satellite in the country. Also on October 15th TBC will be hosting the Annual meeting of SABA with vendors present in the Fanning Foyer, a business meeting at 5.30 followed by a service. That same night the Billy Graham Festival is being held, but due to late announcement of the date for the Festival, TBC, who had hoped to be participant,will be unable to be part of the gathering as a church. Gary Higgs said that he felt the Pastor’s report and the well-being of the church and its ministries deserved an “Amen. Rejoice” to which all joined him in Praise and thanksgiving.

Approval of August Trustee Meeting Minutes. Joe Gill, who was absent in August, commented that the minutes were thorough. Pastor Les commented that one of the candidates for one of the open Staff/Pastoral positions had also read the minutes and made a similar comment. Terry Green said that a sentence to do with the position of Tripoint did not read well and a rewrite will be made. “Owing to losses in the operation of Tripoint changes were made in the Spring to the staffing to cut costs and a review of the use and mission of the facility was made”. A Motion to approve the minutes with that correction was made by Terry Green and Seconded by Anita Foster. All present affirmed.

Review of Changes to Ministry Matching team (MMT) Policies and Procedures. A rewrite of the Policy and Procedures of the Ministry Matching Team was reviewed. Anita said that the language concerning the appointment of the Team Leader and also the paragraph concerning appointment and term of the Team members were now very clear. A motion was made and Approved by Anita and Seconded by Joe Gill. All affirmed.

Lane reported on the Pastor Review Team. He said the Team had met with Pastor Les 3 or 4 times over the course of the year and were charged with evaluating his leadership and effectiveness as the Pastor of TBC. The results were all very positive, Pastor Les was doing a good job as our leader and in recognition of a job well done received a well- earned bonus. All the Trustees seconded and applauded the sentiments. Pastor Les graciously thanked those present.

Reports from Ex-Officio Chairs of Standing Teams: Below are highlights from the full reports.

  • Deacons:Dave Ballard reported that Michael Brough was to give the Devotional at tomorrow night’s (19th September) Deacon’s meeting, and then give a report on the Youth Minister Search Team progress. The Deacons were also honoring Lonna Ayres for 30 years of faithful service to our hearing impaired members. Lonna has “signed” at the Sanctuary service weekly so that all the congregation can hear the music and sermons. Dave, along with John Hale, Ken Smith and Randy Fields were going through and updating the Deacon Policy and Procedures manual. He said he felt some of the duties were better suited to the Trustees for implementation and overseeing, and that the terms Voting and Non-voting no longer applied to the service-type organization the deacon’s now were. He felt that if people were unable to serve that perhaps they should relinquish their position or take a sabbatical and if later they felt able to be an active deacon should be voted on again. As Deacon’s there is no longer much to vote on, the Ministry Plan and Budget being the exception, as the Deacon role is in leadership and to guard the unity of the church body. Another Item on the meeting agenda is the vote on Deacon Officers and Dick Foster,Chair, Ken Smith Vice-chair and Ross Johns Secretary are the candidates for 2017 -18. Dave said that thanks to the deacon body and other parts of TBC there is lots to be excited about. There was great praise for the Choir retreat held on Saturday September 16th and great praise for Jacob and the way he has used his resources by granting more scholarships so that the recipients will become part of the Chorale or orchestra which is a plus for both TBC and them and a great use of funds in saving from having to hire professional musicians for services. He has 10+ music scholars enrolled. Dave was excited about the interaction TBC is having with young families and that that T&O were $100,000.00 above last year at this time. Joe said “Amen”, and that he, too, was impressed by Jacob’s innovative and prudent use of his funds.
  • Discipleship & Education Anita said that they had not had a D&E meeting , but that a new chair would be in place on Sunday to begin in October.( Anita has had to resign due to Dick Foster’s being part of the Trustee Team in October as Deacon Chair.The Trustee Bylaws prevent 2 members of one family serving on the Trustee team at the same time) Figures for worship in August: Sanctuary Avr.460; High 8/13 472; Low, 8/27 258. Crossings Avr. 191; High, 8/6 206; Low, 8/27 173. Avr for both services 582. Sunday School Avr. 364, High 8/20 427; Low 8/27 239 Numbers were down 8/27 due to Hurricane Harvey. Numbers for 3 Sundays in September 9/3 Labor day and gas shortage. Sanctuary Avr. 460 Low.9/3 442; High 9/17 489 Crossings, Avr. 218 ; Low 9/17 200; High 248 9/10, Avr for both services 679 Sunday School Avr. 419, Low 9/3 388; High 9/17 446 ; Avr. 419

Lay Ministry Wayne reported that over the past 2 months the Lay Ministry has assisted the Ministry Matching Team in recruiting church members to serve on the ministry teams of the church. Articles have been published in the Trumpet and information has appeared on the Electronic monitors in the church. A team Leaders meeting is to be scheduled in October.

Missions. Andrea reminded the Team of the Habitat for Humanity build on the 23 September There were over 20 people signed up, many of them from the Youth Dept. In view of the needs caused by Hurricane Harvey there had been a list of places one could serve published in the Trumpet. She had also been approached today by Texas Baptist Men and was to find out more about their needs.There was a group at Taco Tuesday eager to help and an idea had been put forward that perhaps they/TBC could partner with the pastor of a church who could earmark a family in his congregation who could use help. The Jeans Drive for CAM would be taking donations through the end of September and on Thursday Sept 21 there was a fundraiser for Alpha Home where Art work by the clients would be available for purchase. Joe Gaydos who has led the Haven for Hope once-a-month breakfast ministry wishes to step down and a new leader is needed. Andrea asked all to pray for that need. We are purchasing uniforms for Mark Twain and the Listening Dinner for Faith Convening will be held on Oct. 10th at Temple Bethel. The group has expanded from just schools and churches to City Council members and other neighborhood groups interested in helping the schools. The Mission Banquet will be held Dec. 6th and Sam Harrell. Associate Coordinator of Missions for CBF, who grew up in Kenya, has agreed to come back and be the speaker. Pastor Les mentioned that he was a good friend of Elijah Wanje who was with us for a week recently. Gary said that if Andrea needed a contact for the Texas Baptist Men he had Dan Franklin’s contact information. Pastor Les said he had the information for Dan, also. Gary said that a big need was for people to just go and listen to those who had been affected. Pastor Les said that a recurring visitor to services had given him 2 envelopes with contributions in them last week, one for Elijah Wanje, and one for TBC

  • Music and Worship Arts: Ginger Nicholas was unable to attend but reported that the team met on August 21st. At the meeting Jacob reported on his progress with music Scholars program. He hoped to have 16 total, 8 vocal and 8 orchestral. There are 2 Fanning Foyer Festival Concerts scheduled and 2 Sunday Sanctuary Concerts providing excellent musical program to the congregation and community free of charge. Scheduled Events: Sept 16 Chorale Retreat, Oct 6th7 pm Fanning Foyer Festival “Songs of a Wayfarer” with Gary Fair, clarinetist, Rick Novak, Tenor and Zachary Ridgeway, Pianist. Oct 13 – 15 the Composer’s Weekend with Joseph Martin. Dec 10th the TBC Choral and Orchestra Christmas program, Dec 17 at 3pm The Heart of Texas Band Concert in the Sanctuary, Jan 19, 7 pm Fanning Foyer Festival with Classical guitarist Mark Cruz and April 3rd, 3 pm Sanctuary concert with San Antonio Mastersingers and Wind Symphony. The next Music and Worship Arts meeting will be on Sept. 25th.
  • Old Business. Lane went around the table and askedprimarily those team members rolling off the team their thought and comments on their time as part of the Trustee Team. Lane said it was his fifth year as he had been voted on twice and had also served as the Music and Worship Arts Team chair. He said he appreciated being at the heart of the church and working with Pastor Les. He said on his first term that theywere meeting twice a month and that they often went on until 10 pm as the Team formulated the Policies and Procedures. He said it was far more pleasant second time around. Anita said it was a learning experience, and it had connected her to the church. Jerry who is nominated for an At Large position said he was in limbo until the election. He said as the youngest on the team he enjoyed being mentored by the members. Dave said he was in limbo, also, as he is nominated. He, too, had served before in a time of transition. Dave said positive things were happening in the church and he said the trustees need to encourage and communicate these things and make sure that what is done helps others. Andrea is rotating off and said she was grateful for Lane’s leadership. Wayne, too, had served before and said that the original Trustee team had met every week for months. It was good to see all the moving parts working together and the wonderful spirit in the church. Joe said he was not rotating off, but felt that it was the Spirit’s wisdom that led the church to do business this way with the Trustee Team in a leadership role. Terry,who is not rotating off, mentioned that he and Bettie had left TBC for a while and that the present system of the Trustees doing the leadership and the Deacons being the service team was a good way of creating a united church. Gary said that he didn’t know he had another term and that he was learning, sharing and growing as part of the Team. I said I was pleased to be part of the team and as Mission team chair will be returning, but was glad to relinquish the duties of Secretary although I had learned a lot and retained a lot as I reread and rewrote the proceedings... I felt the church was very united and that we were a caring family of believers
  • New Business: Dave asked Lane about Year End Reports and Lane said he had been remiss and had not had the End of Year Report reminder sent out. It will be done immediately and the reports would be reviewed at the next Trustee meeting.

Prayer and Adjournment Gary closed the meeting by the singing of “Blest Be The Tie That Binds”. The meeting adjourned at 7.10 pm.

Submitted by Jill Parker

Trustee Secretary