New Palestine United Methodist Church
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Disciple * Win * Serve * Celebrate

Church Committee Meeting Minutes

This page contains minutes from the past two month's committee meeetings that have been submitted to the church offices for publishing by each committee's secretary.  Please contact the church if you have any questions or concerns about the information published here.
 
 
Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
May 15th, 2012

Members present: Pam Komendo, Justine Handley, Denny Woods, Jenny Greiner, Lance Aschermann, Steve Enochs, Greg Wells

Lance passed out current statements and were reviewed by the committee.

Lance is going to look into why the security expense is so high.

Pam talked about moving $40,000 from the second parsonage fund into the general fund. This was something that was discussed a while ago, but never actually happened. Lance said he would take care of the entry.

Jenny cannot send e-mail statements. She will have to print them. They will be put on the table.

Fundraising ideas that were brought up:
Paper drive
Bowling night (sell tickets ahead of time)
Talent show
Goodsearch

Pam said that she would be giving up her position as the President at the end of the year.

There was no other new business.

Greg closed the meeting in prayer.

 
 
Staff Meeting Minutes for 14 May 2012
In attendance: Tisha Myer, Terri Dunn, Mary Ann Crisman, John Thomas, Linda Quick, Mandy Shaw, Robin Lewis, Steve Harding, and Roger Holder
The staff met in the NPUMC Library, starting the meeting with JT’s prayer at 12:35 PM. 
 
IN A REVIEW OF OLD BUSINESS:
There was nothing to review in old business
 
TISHA:
-         The office has received no information on the graduate breakfast. There has not been a request from UMW for a bulletin item mentioning the need for graduate names. Steve was able to provide some names (Thanks!), so Terri will put all of the names they have in next week’s bulletin. Tisha will send Linda the pictures and names she has received.
-         Muegge has been called out 7 times in the past month, and frustration is growing. As this is a matter for the Trustees, Steve will call Denny Woods and let him know we need a point of contact on the Trustees to deal with any further calls (perhaps Denny). Steve also recommended that they speak to Kent Muegge.
 
LINDA:
-          Choir is done for the summer.
-         August 5 is UMW Sunday/Children’s Sabbath. Mary McCarty wanted the children to take part, so she may be contacting Mary Ann.
 
ROGER:
-         Georgia Cassell is at Cyprus Run in Morristown for rehab.
 
TERRI:
-         Thanked the staff for the wonderful gifts on Administrative Professional’s Day.
 
MARY ANN:
-          Is considering adding another teen to the 2’s room as back up and a safeguard (2 adults per room).
-          There will be a transition meeting on Sunday, May 20 for kids moving up to the Red Letter Youth. 
-          Wants to run a VBS “commercial” during services. Linda asked her to wait until June.
-          There will be a “Back to School” picnic on Sunday, July 29 at 6 PM. The gym, shelter house, church yard, and kitchen C have been reserved for this.
-          Will not be at the next staff meeting. She will be on vacation with her husband.
 
ROBIN:  
-          Asked Mary Ann for the specific dates the buses will transport children to a special camp for foster children. Mary Ann will let her know.
-          Encouraged everyone to donate to the Relay for Life Buckets. This Friday, the winning class will throw cream pies at Steve! 
-          Pre-school graduation will be this Wednesday. There are 42 children graduating!
-           
STEVE:
-          Brayton Baker’s funeral is bringing up many questions from the kids. Steve asked for prayer to help his work be more of God and less of him.
-          The Courageous study has ended; next Sunday will be the Resolution signing for 25 men.
 
The meeting adjourned at 2:30 PM. The next meeting will be Monday, June 11 at 12:30 PM in the NPUMC Library.
 
 
 
Library Committee April 2012

The Library Committee met at 7 p.m. April 25, 2012 in the church library. In attendance were Justine Handley, chair, Shirley Emsweller, and Barb Snyder.
 
Many, many thanks to Justine and Cory Collier for cleaning the library April 21 during Church Clean-up Day. It really sparkles! Thank you!
 
During clean-up day the key to the glass cabinets was not found, so be on the look out. It is a small key on a wire ring. It is usually under the cabinets with the library supplies. Justine will check with the church office to see if they have the spare.
 
Various committee members have been keeping the books re-shelved and straightened. It was noted that supplies for entering new books are adequate at this time.
 
Barb will put the library cart in the Welcome center the first Sunday in May, Shirley will put it out in June, and Justine will put it out in July.
 
With no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
 
Submitted by Barb Snyder
 
 
 
Minutes
Finance Meeting
April 17, 2012
 
Present: John Thomas, Steve Enochs, Troy Foster, Charles Merlau, Jenny Greiner, Robin Lewis, Denny Woods, Justine Handley, Mary Ann Chrisman & Pam Komendo.
 
JT Opened with prayer.
 
Pam passed out financials from Lance who is on vacation. Will have lance check on the high amount for the gas bill line considering the mild winter.
 
Jenny: We are not meeting our $8,100.00 per week for the general fund. She will e-mail financial statements for giving as of the end of April.
 
Old business: After discussion we have decided to change from ADP to Payroll professionals for our church payroll. Jenny made a motion and Justine seconded it. This change will take place on July 1st. it will be the beginning of the third quarter. JT is still to check with the Lantz Family on the use status of their fund.
 
New Business: VBS curriculum to include science, so it will cost more than in years past. Upward has donated $1,000.00 towards VBS. We talked about how the church VISA Card cannot be used at Sam’s Club. Will try to figure something out.
 
We talked about putting up a board with weekly stats. (i.e. money collected, number present for each week). Thought maybe it could be shown on the screen in the Sanctuary before service gets started.
 
JT suggested that everyone bring ideas for creative giving to the next meeting and we would put them on an easel to brainstorm.
 
Use "did you know snippets" in the bulletin and newsletter you keep people aware of the financial status of the church.
 
Denny Closed with prayer
 
Prepared by: Pam Komendo, Finance Chair
 
 
 
 
 
Trustee Meeting, March 13, 2012
 
 
Meeting opened: 7:08 p.m.
 
Financial Report:  
Repair and Maintenance: $10,501.52     Improvement Fund: $1462.97
 
Old Business:
  • January Minutes were approved.
  • Furnace replaced and new attic stairs installed
  • Carpet in parlor still needs to be stretched – Rick Short raised price to $450 due to base underneath.
  • Will need parsonage update next meeting
  • Need light still on the bus barn.
  • Ice Machines – Gary plans to perform PM/service as needed. Larry changed the filters in August.  Denny will follow up with Gary.
 
New Business:
  • Celebrations – Working with finance to get off church finance. Looking into payroll companies – Payroll Professionals? - $250 beginning and that is it. Around $140 per pay period – time clock included. Can’t use church’s EIN if on separate payroll companies. 
    • Action: Denny will have to check with Andy Charmstrum as to what is the correct thing to do regarding EIN status, etc. 
    • Denny - could it be possible to change church to the new system, so there is not an issue? Need to ask about what kind of contract we have with ADP.
    • Robin action: Could this new company handle two accounts under one EIN. Both Celebrations and Church are tax free.
  • Steve – mentioned that Troy Foster – Wrote the book Three Candles – offered to volunteer counseling services under “honing your gifts”. Can talk to congregations/individuals where giving is down – about “gifts” they can use plus about increasing spending.
  • Need to get someone to finance new carpet for Parlor – Sunday School? Will need to get estimates.
  • Need Trustee to inspect parsonage with Staff Parish chair. Date is TBD in January 2012 – Judy and Mary volunteered if available.
  • Denny mentioned we need a “Spring Cleaning” work day – April 14th – Denny will ask Tisha to “advertise”. Note: Becky will be out of town.
  • Volunteer custodians – Denny presented at Church Council – “Adopt” a room concept – Let families pick a room/area that they will volunteer to clean. Will try to rollout and have signup sheets at the Spring Cleaning.
  • Discussed cleaning the floor in Fellowship Hall with the Big Floor Scrubber. Denny and Larry will do this on 3/24.
  • It was brought to our attention that during the day several cars block the canopy. Decided to leave as is – table for now. 
  • Approved Member Facility rental Info letter Tisha created.
  • Larry mentioned that we need to look into pre-emergent spray to prevent dandelions. He offered to spray again.
 
Meeting closed at 8:30 p.m. by Denny.
 
Respectively submitted by Becky O’Dell.
 
Evangelism Meeting Minutes                                                
 
Date: March 19, 2011
Location: Church Library
Members attending: Holly Hilton, Janet Hilton, Cathy Jones, Barb Woods and Kathy Wilson
 
The meeting was opened with prayer by Barb Woods.
 
Bi-Annual Methodist Class: 
 
            Evaluation: Liked having there pictures taken ahead of Membership Sunday to
                                show on the big screen during the service. Next time we need to
                                have the new members introduced at the luncheon and a special table
                                designated for them to sit at.   New member’s names would be given
                                to Member Care committee to make sure that they are connected with
                                a small group.
 
Ask Me Sign Up:
 
            We decided to just have people in the CMC to greet people.
 
Third Time Newcomers: 
 
            At our May meeting we are going to have Roger Holder talk on what we are
            currently doing to make sure these people are getting connected and what else
            we might need to be doing.
 
Muggers: 
 
            We have established our new 2012 schedule and we decided not to order new mugs due to the current status of the finances.
            We are just going to be creative on our own and put the church business cards with our own name on them with the worship times and contact info.
 
Coffee Fellowship:
 
            Seems to be going fine with volunteers.
 
Second Sunday Restaurant Fellowship Dinner:
 
            New Name:    SUNDAY LUNCH BUDDIES
            We are not going to meet in April due to Easter and May due to Mother’s Day. 
            Our next scheduled lunch will be June 10th. Location to be announced later.
 
Upward:
 
            Letter went out to all families who did not designate a church home. A schedule
            was also included with the Easter worship opportunities.
 
Membership statistics:
 
            Cathy Jones report about her meeting with Tisha at the church office about what
            information we can get from our current system. We are going to start working
            on getting our membership and constituent lists updated and work on some type
            of form that can be given to the office with the information.
 
Vacation Bible School: July 16th – July 20th
 
Newsletter:
 
            Pictures of new members and information about Sunday Lunch Buddies
 
Next Meeting will be May 21st at 7:00 p.m.
 
Cathy Jones closed the meeting with prayer.
 
 
 
 
Finance Committee Meeting
3/20/2012

Members present: Pam Komendo, Justine Handley, Denny Woods, John Thomas, Lance Aschermann, Cory O'Dell, Jim Petro, and Greg Wells

JT opened the meeting in prayer.

Lance distributed the statements and they were discussed.

Pam mentioned that Red Letter did not want to use their line item and that the amount that was showing in their line item needed to be taken out of their fund.

Pam asked JT if he had made any progress in talking with the Lantz family about what their fund is to be used for and JT said that he had not.

Lance said that we are making progress on the negative balance in the general fund. We also are having some good income for the building fund.

Pam asked Jim if he had met with the new bookkeeper for celebrations. He said that he had and it went really well. He said that they have been helping Robin a lot.

There was discussion around when Celebrations would be taking over their own payroll. Pam thought it was in April. Denny said that Robin and Steve came to Trustees and were concerned because they were told that they would need to get a different EIN number. JT said that he would talk with Burt Kite and see if he has any ideas. Pam said he would wait until we hear about the EIN number to do anything. He also will talk to the conference business development officer.

Pam mentioned that there was someone who was interested in joining the finance committee and she asked that JT forward it to nominations.

Denny closed the meeting in prayer.
 
 
 
 

Trustee Meeting, March 13, 2012

 

 

Meeting opened: 7:08 p.m.

 

Financial Report:  

Repair and Maintenance: $10,501.52        Improvement Fund:  $1462.97

 

Old Business:

  1. January Minutes were approved.
  2. Furnace replaced and new attic stairs installed
  3. Carpet in parlor still needs to be stretched – Rick Short raised price to $450 due to cove base removal and replacement.
  4. Will need parsonage update next meeting
  5. Need light still on the bus barn.
  6. Ice Machines – we plan to perform PM/service as needed. The filters were changed in August.  Will follow up!.

 

New Business:

  1. Celebrations – Working with finance to get off church finance.  Looking into payroll companies – Payroll Professionals? - $250 beginning and that is it.  Around $140 per pay period – time clock included.  Can’t use church’s EIN if on separate payroll companies.  
  1. Action: We will check with our lawyer as to what is the correct thing to do regarding EIN status, etc.  
  2. Could it be possible to change church to the new system, so there is not an issue?  Need to ask about what kind of contract we have with ADP.
  3. Action:  Could this new company handle two accounts under one EIN.  Both Celebrations and Church are tax free.
  4.  Troy Foster – Wrote the book Three Candles – offered to volunteer counseling services under “honing your gifts”.  Can talk to congregations/individuals where giving is down – about “gifts” they can use plus about increasing spending.
  1. Need to get someone to finance new carpet for Parlor – Sunday School?  Will need to get estimates.
  2. Need Trustee to inspect parsonage with Staff Parish chair.  Date is TBD in January 2012 – Judy and Mary volunteered if available.
  3. We need a “Spring Cleaning” work day – April 14th –  Tisha to “advertise”.  
  4. Volunteer custodians – Presented at Church Council – “Adopt” a room concept – Let families pick a room/area that they will volunteer to clean.  Will try to rollout and have signup sheets at the Spring Cleaning.
  5. Discussed cleaning the floor in Fellowship Hall with the Big Floor Scrubber.  Denny and Larry will do this on 3/24.
  6. It was brought to our attention that during the day several cars block the canopy.  Decided to leave as is – table for now.  
  7. Approved Member Facility rental Info letter office created.
  8. We need to look into pre-emergent spray to prevent dandelions.  

 

Meeting closed at 8:30 p.m. by Denny.

 

Respectively submitted by Becky O’Dell.

 

 
 
 

Trustee Meeting, January 10, 2012

 

Trustees:  Mary Armstrong, Denny Woods, Dr. J. Thomas, Mike Poor, Steve Stirm, Becky O’Dell, Larry Gray, Sheri Smith, Gary Jones*, Judy Willits

 

*Absent

 

Meeting opened: 7:05 p.m.

 

Financial Report:  

Repair and Maintenance: $0                Improvement Fund:  $5488.97

 

$14788 was spent in 2011

 

Old Business:

  1. November Minutes were approved.
  2. North and South hallways and Narthex have been painted by Bob Mitchell.
  3. Carpet in Parlor to be stretched by Rick Short – using improvement fund – will be $150.  He bought extra carpet in case the old carpet rips when he stretches it.  When it is in, he will come out and stretch it.
  4. Parsonage –
  1. JT taking the week off after Christmas – removed the back hall way carpet and has replaced with tile.  He needs to finish with Walt – the pieces that need to be cut.
  2. They would also be glad to paint as needed.

 

New Business:

  1. Denny would like someone to replace him as Chair for 2012 – we need a volunteer.
  2. Denny mentioned that we need to review the church insurance coverage to ensure we have the proper amount coverage.  He feels the daycare is ensured properly.
  3. Need Trustee to inspect parsonage with Staff Parish chair.  Date is TBD in January 2012 – Judy and Mary volunteered.
  4. We may have a furnace issue – Maggee came out today and said one of the furnaces was out in sanctuary; however, same person came out on Monday and he said it just needed to be reset.  Will have to monitor this and see if working ok.
  5. Steve Harding mentioned a leak in one of the outdoor faucets – Larry will check on it on Wednesday.  Fixed – just not all the way off.
  6. Ice Machines – Gary plans to perform PM/service as needed.  Larry changed the filters in August.  Gary mentioned to Larry that he will send someone by to look at this.  Larry feels it needs to be sanitized.
  7. Battery went dead in a faucet upstairs in the women’s restroom - $13.00 each.  Larry has an extra battery.
  8. Mike mentioned some bulbs need to be replaced under the Welcome Center canopy – Denny and Larry completed this.
  9. Denny mentioned that at Admin Board – several complaints with custodial service.  Wanted Denny to get a sub committee to get involved.  Mike mentioned performing an inspection of the work that is supposed to be getting done before we add more man hours.  There should be a checklist that we could use to verify this.  Denny’s sub committee: Wayne Beck/Mike Poor/Denny and Sherri.  Denny will also get input from Robin.  He plans to map out what the cleaning expectations are and then determine what is lacking currently.
  10. New door knob across from the stage will be replaced by Mike.
  11. We need LARGE door wedges if anyone can find some.
  12. We need to ensure that we have salt for sidewalks – we have some in the barrel in the back.  We have three shakers.  Mary will bring in a snow shovel as well.
  13. Light bulb in Narthex needs to be replaced.  Flag light bulb needs to be replaced as well.  Elevator needs a bulb as well.

 

 

Meeting closed at 7:45 p.m. by Denny.

 

Respectively submitted by Sheri Smith.

 

 

 
 Staff Meeting Minutes for 12 March 2012
In attendance: Tisha Myer, Terri Dunn, Mary Ann Crisman, John Thomas, Dave Yount, Mandy Shaw, Robin Lewis, Steve Harding, and Roger Holder
The staff met at the lovely new home of Tisha Myer. Following a delicious lunch, the meeting began at 1:20 PM. 
 
IN A REVIEW OF OLD BUSINESS:
-          Dave relayed that he had talked to a few of the Trustees regarding the suggested improvements to make the church more handicap accessible. The general sentiment was that this would not be done due to lack of funding.
-          Dave also spoke with the Trustees about cleaning of the church. In addition to keeping Hal Doty as the Supervisor (and janitor once cleared by his doctor), Denny Woods will be heading up the creation of a new volunteer list.  There was a suggestion of families signing up for a “Adopt a Room” program.
 
STEVE:
-         The July 8 Youth Mission Trip has been moved from Bay City, MI to Henryville, IN to help with tornado rebuilding. The cost per student dropped from $350 to $250, but the original mission trip planners are holding Red Letter’s $2500 deposit. Steve is working on getting this back.
-         Troy Foster is setting up a schedule to meet with people about spiritual gifts
-         Relayed Troy’s idea of a lunchtime prayer service during the week. This will need to be fleshed out more.
-         Is working with Mary Ann to show the movie “Courageous” and follow-up with a 4-week men’s study. After the summer, there would also be a couples’ study that is 8 weeks long. Several of the men agreed to help lead the small groups, but it was agreed that there would need to be several planning meetings prior to the event.
 
DAVE:
-         Gave the okay to store the tornado relief items in the storeroom.
-         Will most likely be cancelling yoga and aerobics classes by the end of April unless attendance greatly increases.
-         Needs members for the Recreation Committee. There is an item in the bulletin about this.
 
ROGER:
-         Relayed that there are many people needing prayers at this time. It seems to be cyclical that we have so many illnesses.
 
MARY ANN:
-         Is working on the Easter Egg Hunt items. She will need volunteers to stuff eggs, and a few different dates were discussed.
-         Just received the information for VBS
-         Will have a joint meeting with Steve on Sunday, May 20 for the kids entering the Red Letter worship. Lunch will be served.
 
TERRI:
-          Asked if anyone had heard feedback on the newspaper releases. The New Pal Press item is always past tense due to their deadline. No one had heard anything. 
 
LINDA:  As read by Tisha from Linda’s e-mail
-          The March 18 Unified Service will include video on the screen of the new members during the ceremony. This will help those in the back of the Sanctuary see the ceremony.
-          Kyle Brown confirmed that Quest is organizing the Maundy Thursday service.
-          The Roman guard costume is in for the Easter weekend service. Jason Lewis will be the lucky wearer during the drama.
JT:
-          Will be taking 2 weeks of work in the summer to writ the sermon topics for all of 2013. Stave asked to join in on having the same topics for Red Letter. The topic list may also be used in Quest. They will come from different angles, but be the same general theme.
 
The meeting also included wonderful conversation about the transition from a “little church” to a “big church”, changes in small groups, and youth groups.  The meeting adjourned at 2:35 PM. The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 9 at 12:30 PM in the NPUMC Library.
 
 
 
 
Staff Meeting Minutes for 9 January 2012
In attendance: Tisha Myer, Terri Dunn, Mary Ann Crisman, Linda Quick, Dave Yount, Mandy Shaw, Robin Lewis, Steve Harding, and Roger Holder
The staff met at the NPUMC Library, with the meeting beginning at 12:45 PM.  
 
IN A REVIEW OF OLD BUSINESS:
-          There was nothing to review in old business.
 
STEVE:
-         Asked for prayer for his two grandchildren (Lincoln and Caymen) that are sick. One was being transported to UCLA medical center.
-         Introduced Troy Foster. Troy is offering to help at NPUMC. His gift is helping others discover their spiritual gifts and talents and then provide counseling to help enhance them. This will be available to all of the staff and Celebrations employees. This program may be rolled out to the rest of the church. Steve will let JT and Staff Parish know about the program.
-         Questioned who decides the budget amounts. In the past, committees were asked to submit a budget to the Finance Committee and then learned what their budget would be. This did not happen this year with Red Letter and (it appears) several other committees.
 
DAVE:
-         Equipment is wearing out. Dave is buying replacements as well as new items.
-         Classes are going well. Yoga and aerobic are not paying for themselves. The 10 classes for $30 punch cards are going over well.
-         The gym walls and floors may need to be repainted soon.
-         Discussed the need for handicap accessibility. Both Dave and Steve want to talk to the Trustees regarding door accessibility, access to the ramp under the awning, and other items.
 
ROGER:
-         Relayed a conversation about the custodial “problems” at NPUMC. Robin advised Hal Doty is not yet medically cleared to do janitorial duty, but there are 2 ladies cleaning in the evening. Other Celebrations staff members have pitched in as well in the cleaning. Dave made a case for hiring a cleaning company. He is going to speak to the Trustees.
 
ROBIN:
-          Stated that there are conflicts with groups being assigned a room and then moving to a different room without contacting the office to change the schedule. This causes the Celebrations staff more work because the original room (ie Fellowship Hall) is to be torn down by them. When it is not used, the people that were supposed to be in the room do not set it back up.
 
LINDA:
-          Needs to know if March 18 is going to be a combined service. She is unable to get a reply from anyone involved. People that are not in charge of such things are telling Linda this has to be a combined service.
 
TISHA:
-          The new copiers are working well. 
-          The directory has been proofed and a corrected proof should be here soon.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 PM. The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 12 at 12:30 PM. Tisha will be hosting at her new home! The address is 821 Dream March, Greenfield.
 
UMM Meeting Minutes 2/27/2012
 
1.    The United Methodist Men met at B. and C. Hideout on January 23 for a planning meeting.
 
2.    A decision was made to increase the amount of the annual scholarship to $1000.
 
3.   The date for the Chili Cook Off and Auction was set for Saturday, November 10.
 
4.   The United Methodist Men will attend an Indiana Pacers game on Saturday, March 17.
 
5.   The annual Steak Fry will be held on July 23.
 
6.   The United Methodist Men will investigate service projects for the church.
 
7.   The United Methodist Men will host a Lenten Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 10.
 
 
Celebrations Child Care Committee Meeting Minutes
 
2/7/12
6:30 – 8:00 (or so)
NPUMC Library
Meeting called by:
Susan Van Rooy
Note taker:
Mandy Shaw
Facilitator:
N/A
 
 
Timekeeper:
N/A
 
 
Attendees:
Roger Grah, Jenny Greiner, Steve Harding, Robin Lewis, Becky O’Dell, Susan Van Rooy, Mandy Shaw, John Thomas, Suzanne Ellis
 
Minutes
Updates:
1.    Remember to bring positive points and praise to committee meetings each time we meet.
 
Positives: 
·         The Christmas Program was a huge success. We had a great turn-out and the sanctuary was packed.
·         Celebrations’ was in charge of the January mission trip downtown to feed the homeless. We had many parents donate items towards the cause.
·         We have a great staff!
Outlook for 2012- The biggest hurdle will be trying to adapt to the new balanced school calendar.
Discussion:
·         Finance Committee Concerns – Jenny reported that the finance committee is concerned that payroll is not being paid up front before it is called in and there is not enough money coming in from the church to cover it. 
She asked if there were any suggestions or ideas and mentioned that the finance committee had discussed turning Celebrations’ portion of the payroll over to them.
Robin reported that Celebrations has already requested a price quote from another payroll company. The goal is to have Celebrations transferred over by the end of March.
There was a lot of discussion about communication problems within the church and why we weren’t notified sooner about the finance issue.
 
·         Budget- Robin mentioned that Jim Petrow asked that Celebrations change their fiscal year to January through December so it is like the churches. Jenny Greiner advised against this since Celebrations’ fees run on a school year basis from August to July. Jenny stated that she would report back to the finance committee about these issues and concerns over budget and payroll. The next Finance Committee meeting is on February 21st.
 
Robin announced that Celebrations has hired a new accountant since our other accountant now lives out of state.
   
Susan Van Rooy drafted the committee purpose.
 
 1. To aid and support Celebrations in accomplishing their mission.
 2. Act as a buffer and conduit between Celebrations and the Church to facilitate positive             relations and accurate communication.
 
  • Miscellaneous:
            Steve got everyone’s phone numbers for Susan so that a group text could be sent out for meeting reminders as well as an e-mail reminder. 
            Roger brought up that Celebrations should have a plan for grief counseling for families and children if it is needed. Kathy Mitchell was mentioned as having helped in the past. Steve is on the list at the high school and we could probably get other support from there. It was suggested that Celebrations have a checklist for emergency situations such as tornado, lock down, and grief counseling situations.
  • Future meeting dates for 2012 include:
    • May 1
    • August 7
    • November
  • Steve closed the meeting in prayer
 
 
 
NPUMC Library Committee Meeting
February 22, 2012
 
A brief meeting was held in the library following Ash Wednesday service with Justine Handley and Barb Snyder in attendance.
 
It was reported that various members have been working in the library over the past few months.  Justine will bring in some Old English stain polish to try to cover the scratches on the cabinet doors.
 
Justine reported there is a designated line item for the library for $561. Justine has requested a budget of $50 for the library in 2012. This minimum budget request is to help the finance committee reconcile church budget with funds pledged for 2012. This would be used primarily for library supplies.
 
Barb will put the library cart in the Welcome Center the first Sunday of March. Justine will put it out in April.
 
To avoid conflict with other committee meeting dates, the Library committee routine meeting date has been changed to the Wednesday prior to the Administrative Board meeting at 7:00pm in the church library. 
 
These upcoming meeting dates are: April 25, June 20, August 22, October 24, and December 12, 2012.
 
Submitted by Barb Snyder
 
 
 
Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
February 21st, 2012

Members present were Pam Komendo, John Thomas, Justine Handley, Denny Woods, Jenny Greiner, Lance Aschermann, Mary Ann Crisman, Scott Ransburg, Cory Odell, Jim Petro, and Greg Wells.

JT opened the meeting in prayer.

Lance distributed financial statements.
There was discussion around how much money we need to have to make our yearly payment for the new building. Pam told Lance that she wanted to send the presented budget (subtracting $1500) to Administrative Board for approval.

Justine asked Lance how Celebrations was doing with getting payroll to Lance ahead of payday.

Pam asked if Celebrations was aware that they will be taking over their own payroll and JT and Jenny confirmed that they will be doing that in the next couple of months.

Scott talked about upcoming items with the building loan. He said that interest payments would continue to come out and there will be a $60,000 principal payment that will come out in late September/early October. We are expecting $87,000 for the building fund this year.

Jenny talked about some statistics about current giving. The group talked about how it would be great for her to write something up for the newsletter. She agreed to do so.

Jim talked about how the financial information in the newsletter needs to be more condensed. Lance said that we had it that way originally and the Ad Board asked for more information.

Justine talked about how we need to get more people to give electronically.

JT asked if it would be helpful for him to talk about the pledges more. Cory disagreed and said that he did not think that it would help. Denny talked about how the pulpit is the best area to talk about this from.

There was discussion around the second parsonage fund and why we still need it. It was the general feeling on the committee that we do not need it there anymore because we will not need a second parsonage going forward.

Pam asked Cory if he had any other ideas about stimulating the giving. He said that we still should look at doing a summer fair. His concern right now is that people are so burnt out right now.

Jim asked about how much we earn from the paper drive. He talked about how we need to let people know about that. There was talk about letting people know that there are small things that can be done to help the church overall.

Pam closed the meeting in prayer.
 
 
 
 
Member Care meeting minutes – 1/26/12
 
Present – Maria Poor, Greg Rominger, Beth Rominger, Lee Collier, Nancy Collier, Les Brown, Erelene Brown, Mandy Shaw, John Thomas, Craig Emsweller
 
Maria volunteered to serve as Secretary of the committee.
 
Craig described the responsibilities of other committees that may intersect with the responsibilities of this committee.
 
The responsibilities of the Member Care Committee are to provide programming for members (i.e. the congregation) and to bring the Church together (i.e. promote congregation unity). JT explained the responsibilities of the committee as reaching “inward” as differentiated from the Evangelism committee responsibilities of reaching “outward”.
 
The committee agreed that the Member Care Committee responsibilities have social as well as spiritual dimensions.
 
Craig suggested that the committee responsibilities encompassed a large number of possible worthwhile endeavors, several of which are currently being assumed by other committees only because the Member Care Committee has been inactive and there was no-one else to assume the responsibility for the activities. Craig presented a sub-committee approach as a possible way to address the wide array of possible activities. 
 
It was agreed that rather than establishing sub-committees and tackling a large number of activities, the committee will address only two or three of the possible activities and endeavor to do them very well.
 
Erelene suggested there could be a weekly dinner at the Church followed by an evening of activities. For example, the activities could include a devotional service, communion, Bible study, tutoring, small group meetings, recreational activities, music, child care, etc. The committee endorsed this idea and a Church-wide small group study as the activities the committee would focus on. .
 
JT will identify Churches successfully conducting a weekly dinner/activity evening for the committee to visit. It was suggested the congregation be surveyed to gauge interest in a weekly dinner/activity evening. At the next meeting, the committee will discuss the challenges and possible contents of the weekly dinner/activity evening. It was suggested it will take approximately 6 months for the committee to adequately plan the dinner/activity evenings.
 
JT presented two possible studies to be considered for a Church-wide small group study. The committee expressed interest in 24 Hours That Changed The World as a possible Lenten study. JT will have the office acquire a set of the study books for review. The other option presented was Parables of Jesus. The committee agreed Parables of Jesus could be utilized at anytime during the year and 24 Hours That Changed The World was a more appropriate topic for the Easter season.       
 
Submitted by Craig Emsweller