CALL TO ORDER FAREWELL TO OUTGOING … · The only lyrics issue we had was the ... (SPRC) Charlie Bates (16) 1. ... Numbers continue to grow each week

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church December 13, 2016

Church Council Meeting Minutes Approved: February 21, 2017

Substitute Chair: Tom Lyon Secretary: Deb Fullhart Page 1 of 7

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to at 7:30pm in the Fellowship Hall by Tom Lyon who substituted as

Church Council Chair. There were 17 members in attendance.

FAREWELL TO OUTGOING CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERS

1. Tom thanked the outgoing members and highlighted new members for 2017.

a) Members outgoing: Laura Carmines (Co-Lead Worship), Della Shelton (Finance

Chair), Mary Ellis (Lay Member, Annual Conference), Charlie Bates (SPRC Chair,

who is still remaining on SPRC thru 2018), Keri Houser (Lay Leader Council), Tom

Lyon (Trustee Chair).

b) New Members 2017: Liz Rowe (Co-Lead Worship), Tom Lyon (Finance Chair),

Megan Collins (Lay Member, Annual Conference), Jim Elliott (SPRC Chair), Bill

Miller (Trustee Chair).

HOUSEKEEPING MATTERS

1. Members signed in on the Attendance Roster and to provide the Devotion or Refreshments

for 2017.

2. The list of 2017 Church Leadership was provided.

3. Calendar planning meeting: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at 7:30pm in Room 314.

a) Ministry leaders should provide the information requested on the emailed form for

each requested event for the 2017 calendar year.

b) Rooms for requested events are assigned based on the size of the group.

c) Requested fundraiser events are subject to prior approval by Church Council before

going on the calendar.

d) Return completed form to Administrative Coordinator, Joyce Wilson in the church

office or at [email protected] by January 10, 2017.

4. Next Church Council meeting: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 7:30pm. Due to Valentine’s

Day this meeting will be on the third Tuesday.

a) Deadline to submit action items and ministry reports: Monday, February 20, 7pm.

b) Devotion – Pat Wilhite

c) Refreshments – Emily Howdyshell

DEVOTION Megan Collins

Megan shared a story about what it would look like if the twelve days of Christmas gifts were given today

and then closed with prayer.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Minutes from the October 11, 2016 meeting were APPROVED as written.

2. Minutes from the October 27, 2016 Annual Charge Conference were provided as

information.

mailto:[email protected]




ITEMS REQUIRING DISCUSSION FOR ACTION / APPROVAL

(Note: when a Committee is comprised of Co-Chairs, both Co-Chairs are entitled to vote)

1. Request from Cub Scout Pack 122 (Keri Houser)

a) Cub Scout Pack 122, which includes several children from St. Luke’s, would like to

request the use of the Fellowship Hall on Friday, January 27 from 5-9pm and on

Saturday, January 28 from 8am-1pm to use for its Pinewood Derby.

b) The Pack has used the Fellowship Hall for this event in the past.

c) As of now, the space is free but because we are an outside group Church Council

approval is required prior to reserving the dates and space needed.

d) For planning purposes, we would appreciate approval consideration prior to the

January calendar planning meeting.

Motion was APPROVED

2. Motion from the Committee on Finance: Request that the following church members

be approved as Counters for counting Sunday offerings as previously approved by

the Committee on Finance.

Rachel Pace Diane Zeimet

Motion was APPROVED

REPORTS / ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

York River District News

Details for the upcoming “Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches” workshops was

provided as an attachment.

Financial Report Bill Boyer, Business Manager

1. The Financial Report through November 30, 2016 will be provided as information. The

income and expenditures comparison against the approved budget, and “Deeper Roots for

Fuller Fruits” update is as follows:

2016 2015

Deeper Roots for Fuller Fruits

Income Expenses Income Expenses Interest Principal Additional Principal

Mortgage Balance

October 62.9% 75.1% 65.2% 69.9% $ 7,188.65 $6,372.93 $438.42 $2,024,451.13

November 70.2% 82.2% 73.1% 77.7% $7,406.51 $6,155.07 $438.42 $2,017,857.64

2. Spending for ministry areas are at appropriate levels for this time of year.

3. Currently seeing an increase in contributions.

4. All apportionment payments are being made on time.

5. Bill thanked Della Shelton for her service on the Committee on Finance.

Committee on Finance Della Shelton (16)

1. St. Luke’s can now be selected as a charity when making purchases through AmazonSmile

(https://smile.amazon.com). Information will be available in the January newsletter.

https://smile.amazon.com/




2. Work continues on Vanco Payment Solutions as an alternative means of giving.

Worship Branch Laura Carmines (16) and Andrea Svendsen (17)

1. The hanging of the green service went well and it seemed to work to have the rehearsal

directly before the service instead of the day before. The only lyrics issue we had was the

people that signed up still not showing up early enough.

2. We are now preparing for Christmas Eve and Christmas day services. Christmas Eve

services are 5pm and 7pm in the grove and 9pm and 11pm in the sanctuary. Christmas day

service is at 3pm.

3. We still need lots of people to be communion servers for all the different Christmas Eve

services!

Outreach Branch Leigh Goddard (17) and Pat Wilhite (18)

1. Newcomers’ Coffee and Dessert, November 14 – Six newcomer attendees

2. Coffee Time Fellowship – Seems to be going fine. Any feedback from Council?

3. 2016 Drive-through Nativity

e) Friday night number of vehicles 214

Saturday night number vehicles 291

Total vehicles 505

f) Assuming average of 4 folks per vehicle – 2,000+ visitors

g) Members working one or both nights – 200 (best guess)

h) Cookies baked, bagged and distributed – 3,000+

4. Thanks to all who supported this gift to our community! To God be the Glory!

5. Our committee is always open to new ideas for outreach. Call Leigh Goddard or Pat

Wilhite.

Board of Trustees Tom Lyon (16) and Bill Miller (16)

1. Happy to report that the Trustees financial report shows we will come in under our 2016

Spending Plan target of $216, 820 despite several large outlays for unseen repairs. The end

of November report shows current expenditures for the year total $203,730.80.

2. We continue to struggle with the roof leaks in the Grove. The next step will be to apply a

sealant to the two brick firewalls between the old building and the Grove. This will be done

self-help with only the sealant costs borne by the Trustees.

3. The bus fuel gauge is inoperative. Repairs require the bus to be sent to N.C., fuel tank

dropped and the sensor replaced. The estimate for this repair is $400. Ray Farley will

coordinate this effort.

Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) Charlie Bates (16)

1. SPRC met on November 15 and will meet again in January 2017.

Women in Fellowship, Service & Mission (WFSM) Ginny Potts, Representative

No report.




United Methodist Men (UMM)

No report.

Nurture Branch Megen McMichael (17), Devon Hoff (18) and Natalie Hall (18)

1. Nurture last met on Monday, October 24, 2016. Teams in attendance provided the

following reports:

a) Martha’s Ministry – Donna Dorenbush reported that two receptions have been

provided and that Pastor Clara remarked that everyone really appreciated their

work.

b) Cards Ministry – Julie Lucy reported that 22 cards had been mailed out to the

congregation, several of which were to families with new babies, what a JOY.

c) Homebound Communion Ministry – Betty Frenald reported that there were 12

servers, 2 subs, 0 deceased, and 1 member that is stopping communion for awhile.

d) Advent Dinner – Natalie Hall reported that plans were underway for the Advent

Dinner and that many Sunday School classes and individuals were stepping up to

lead areas that needed volunteers to make the evening successful.

e) 3h (Hands, Heads & Hearts) will begin an 8-week guided discussion series relevant

to moms that includes brunch on Thursday, January 5.

2. Blood Drive – Thursday, February 16 at 2pm.

Service Branch Stan Scott (17) and Jenn Small (18)

1. Spring break, mission-oriented trip to DC for college students will be March 3-5

Education Branch Sherry Schregardus (18) and Catherine Murdock (18)

No report.

Communications Branch Brad Frecker (17) and Rachel Pace (18)

1. December is a busy time for Communications. In addition to regular worship A/V support,

we support all of the special services (Hanging of the Greens, Advent Dinner, Preschool

Christmas Program, Blue Christmas, four Christmas Eve services, and the special

Christmas Day service) as well as rehearsals for these events.

2. With the changing of leadership in some areas, this is a great time to update your website.

Please look at your ministry’s area on the St. Luke’s website and let us know if you have

any corrections or changes. We need your help to keep it updated and fresh.

([email protected] or [email protected])

3. If you need online sign-ups for events or activities please let us know and we will get those

online for you. If you are considering using a volunteer sign-up web service

(SignUpGenius, VolunteerSpot, etc.), please let us know. We can link to that site from

our website to help volunteers find it easily. ([email protected] or

[email protected])

4. If you need a place to share documents or files for your ministry area, please let us know.

We can provide Google Docs or Dropbox file sharing locations that will allow easy access

and smooth transitions of leadership.

mailto:[email protected]




Director of Communication Ministries Megan Collins

1. The deadline for the January newsletter is Thursday, December 15.

2. Megan noted that her first semester at seminary was coming to a close and thanked the

congregation, leadership and staff for their support because she could not have done it

without their support.

Director of Children’s Ministries Josie Turner

1. St. Luke’s Preschool

a) Christmas Program was Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 6:00pm in the sanctuary

followed by a cookie reception with the “Elf himself” in The Grove! It was

fantastic!

b) Christmas break begins after school on Tuesday, December 18, 2016. School will

resume Tuesday, January 3, 2017!

c) Registration for church members and currently enrolled families will begin

Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at 9:00am. Registration for the public opens

Wednesday, February 1, 2017.

2. Nursery

a) Numbers continue to grow each week – We’re going to need more space!

d) We provide nursery coverage for any group/committee that has meetings scheduled

on the calendar. BUT, it is important that when you schedule your meetings with

Joyce, please make sure you request nursery. If nursery is not requested when you

put your meeting on the calendar, I need at least a two week notice to find

appropriate coverage.

3. Pre-K through 5th grade Education

a) The Advent Workshop was on Sunday, November 27, 2016 and was well attended!

b) Children’s Church is going strong! We have on average 8 (8:30) - 15 (11:00)

children participating each Sunday.

c) 2nd Graders to receive Bible’s at the 9:45am service on Sunday, January 8, 2017.

d) Clara and I will rotate teaching them how to use their Bible’s on that same day.

e) Wednesday Night Bible Study/Activity hour was a success! We have finished out

first 8 week session and plan to start the second eight week session on Wednesday,

January 4, 2017.

f) We will be looking to purchase a set of chimes for the children to learn to play

during this eight week session.

Director of Emergent Ministries Emily Howdyshell

1. In November we hosted our first pub theology event with approximately 35 in attendance.

The purpose of these events is to discuss topics that are sometimes taboo in a safe setting.

Our Next Pub Theology event will be January 9 at Joe and Mimma’s the topic with be

Human and Sex trafficking. Pub theology will be offered the Second Monday of odd

months.

2. Tonight kicks off the official start to the indoor field hockey league. Please make sure to

swing by the grove on your way out. Greet these folks and welcome them to our building!




3. New or Revised events for 2017:

a) St. Luke’s Day of Service - January 16 (MLK Day) – The hope is that this will

become an annual event. Church members will have the opportunity to sign up to

help at one of several volunteer opportunities in the community. As of right now

we have work lined up for roadside trash pickup, beach trash pickup, bingo at York

Convalescent and muffin distribution at CNU. Please share this information with

your groups. If you have an idea for a service project on that day please contact

me.

b) We will host a cooking and craft camp again in August of 2017. This year it will

be a good bit different with fewer available spots, shorter days and more volunteers.

c) We are also looking to add a sports camp to the calendar in 2017. This camp would

give kids the opportunity to experience many different activities. Volleyball,

pickleball, futsal, etc. We will limit participation numbers, and offer a quality

program as always.

d) St. Luke’s 50’s drive-in – This event is modeled after the 50’s drive-in held at my

home church in New Hope Virginia. The event will be September 16 and will allow

the church to be in community with a lot people. There will be a car show, 50’s

diner experience that will include 50’s foods and 50’s prices and a sock hop. I’m

looking forward to this and if this is something that interest you please contact me

now. I will be reaching out to several groups for help.

4. Mark your Calendar:

January 13 Movie Night in the Grove – 6pm February 25 Community Talent Showcase

March 25 Basketball Clinic May 6 Community Carnival – 11am-3pm

July 9-14 Basketball Camp August 7-11 Sports Camp

August 14-18 Cooking and craft Camp September 16 50’s Day

Minister of Congregational Care David Hampton

No report.

Youth Pastor Tim Craft

1. The youth council met and we have come up with the following tentative event dates for

the Spring Semester and looking into Summer (this is beyond our regular Sunday night

youth group)

January 16 PORT

27-29 Ski Trip

February 5 Superbowl Parties

19 Exile Night (overnight) Exile Night is an opportunity for churches, youth groups and

student groups to identify with their persecuted family

members in a tangible way, experiencing a small piece of what

displaced believers face every day. Participants will eat what




June 4 Confirmation Sunday

24 – Jul 1 ASP Trip

July 2-7 Camp Overlook

23-28 YouthWorks Mission Trip ( Middle School Trip)

Associate Pastor Clara Gestwick

No report.

Senior Pastor Doug Gestwick

No report.

ADJOURNMENT

1. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05pm.

2. Praises and concerns were lifted up by members and Pastor Clara closed with a prayer.

___________________________________

Deborah Fullhart, Church Council Secretary

they eat, sleep how they sleep and be inspired that faith in

Christ is what matters—even when it costs everything

23 Winter Jam

March 3-5 Senior High Trip – Planet Wisdom (Washington DC)

10-13 Confirmation Retreat to Lake Junaluska

17-19 Middle School Retreat – Journey at Camp Rockbridge

April 15 Easter Lock-In

May 21 Season Finale of SLY Sunday Night

Documents

CALL TO ORDER FAREWELL TO OUTGOING … · The only lyrics issue we had was the ... (SPRC) Charlie Bates (16) 1. ... Numbers continue to grow each week