A meeting of the elders council of New Life Christian Ministries was held on Tuesday, July 9, 2008, 8:35pm, at The Bridge, 102 Bay St., Penn Twp., Butler. 

Attendance:  Elders Pat Fecich (ex officio), Chuck Matus, David Norris, Frank Relihan.  Excused were elders Jim Brown and Pastor Chris Marshall (on mission trip).  Elder Frank Relihan provided leadership for the meeting.

The meeting was opened with prayer and discussion with the Nehemiah Team on New Life’s vision and what it means to be socially responsible.   

Personnel:  Upon review of compensations for the ministry staff, it was decided to grant a 3% compensation increase to the ministry staff, effective July 1, 2008.  (Nursery coordinator Ali Campbell is exempt from this increase since she has not been employed for one year and is an hourly employee.)  The ministry staff did not receive any compensation increase from January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.  The elders also expressed their appreciation for the effective leadership shared by all staff members. 

Carry-Over:  Pastor Chris and Pat will review the by-laws.  A working budget was presented to the elders at the May meeting and discussion will be held with the elders board at the August meeting.

Moraine Park Summer Festival with Steve Wingfield:  The Wingfield leadership group took out a $155,000 loan to meet the financial obligations of the Festival.  They are requesting that each church consider a gift of $2,000 in order to help retire the debt.  The elders discussed this and would like more information as to the expenditures of the Festival before deciding on a payment.  The request was tabled. 

The three Tapestries of Life Mission Teams had a food booth at the Festival.  Total proceeds for the weekend were $1,139.12 and were divided equally to each group.  The two teams serving at TLM will use the monies for their mercy mission day in Mexico and the For God SEW Loved Quilt team will use the monies to purchase supplies to prepare quilts for the orphanage.

Corporate:  Follow-up is being completed with those individuals who have yet to sign their covenanting disciple cards.

Lord’s Supper:  Since Pastor Chris will be on mission trips in July and August, the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated on the second Sunday in July and third Sunday in August. 

127 Knoch Rd.:  Clinton Township approved New Life’s application for conditional use of 127 Knoch Rd.  The elders thank the township personnel for their assistance in this process. 

Upcoming events include Power Lab Community Vacation Bible School, July 14-18; outdoor worship and fellowship picnic on July 20; overnight camping on July 25-26; Relevant Student Ministries paintball activity on July 26.

Reassessment Ratio Change for 2009 was received.  The changes are:

Knoch:  We have received approval to use the Primary School through August 31.  We will have outdoor worship and a picnic at 127 on September 7 and return to Knoch auditorium on September 14. 

Calling of Elders/Deacons:  David Norris has agreed to move from youth ministry to outreach ministry leadership.  Other calls and changes in leadership areas are to come.

CLUB:  Working with the Nehemiah Team on building design, financial plan and site preparation. 

Attendance and Financial Reports:  Attendance average (through first 27 Sundays) is 179.26 (169.78 in 2007).  Balance in sharing fund, as of July 9, 2008, is $21,159.87.  Balance in CLUB is $47,274.74 and $66,672.60 in CLUB savings.  Interest earned in June was $187.72.

Next Meeting:  The next meeting of the elders council will be on Wednesday, August 13, following the Nehemiah Team and elders board meetings.

There was no additional business and the meeting was adjourned with prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Fecich