Elder Minutes For 5 December 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, George Cope, Dave Tinker, Frank St. John, George Joseph, Jim Norman, Jack Norman

ABSENT: Wray Petry,

Pastor Rick Moore, Pastor Jack Cain, Associate Pastor J Johnston, Jonathan Cashman, and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:
    > Offering was $44,300

    > Attendance was 701 in the main service

    > There are only 4 Sundays in December and we need make sure people that people are aware that Christmas Day is the final Sunday of the year.  The church office will be open on Thursday and Friday, December 29^th and 30^th, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

    >  A local Christian school is interested in renting the gym on a regular basis for some of their sports programs.

Debbie exited the meeting at 4:50PM.

Calvary will be having a Christmas Eve service and a Christmas Day service.  Both will be one hour in duration.  

Pastor Cope shared some vision and challenges that we are facing in the next couple of weeks.

Pastor Rick Moore joined the meeting at 5:15 PM to give a report concerning several ministries.  

At 5:45PM Jonathan Cashman entered the meeting. Pastor Cope noted that Jonathon will be giving oversight to worship here at Calvary.

Jonathan shared his heart and vision:

    >  I want to encourage unity and create a welcoming, family atmosphere.

    >  I believe that last Sunday (12/4) is the beginning of greater things to come.

    >  Unity is needed in all departments, not just in the worship team.

Jonathan left at 6:05PM.

The Finance Council joined the Elders to discuss budgetary items.

Frank St. John shared what he was going to present at the 2012 congregational budget meeting.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at 6:55PM.

  

Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 28 November 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, George Cope, Jack Norman, Wray Petry, Dave Tinker, Frank St. John, George Joseph

ABSENT: Jim Norman,

Pastor Rick Moore, Pastor Jack Cain, and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

>  Offering was $33,755

>  664 people in the main service

>  Praise Report: First Steps enrollment is 70 students

Debbie exited the meeting at 4:55PM.

There was a motion made by Frank St. John and seconded by Wray Petry to allow Pastor Oge’s Haitian Church to meet in the Wedding Chapel on Sundays. Calvary will retain the offerings and set aside the money as a reserve fund to address any issues that may arise from having an additional congregation on our campus.  An evaluation will be done following a 90 day provisional period to determine if the arrangement will be permanent. The motion passed unanimously.

At 5:30PM, a group of concerned Calvary members joined the Elders. Questions and topics discussed at length.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:55PM. 

Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 21 November 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, George Cope, Jim Norman, Jack Norman, Wray Petry, Dave Tinker

ABSENT: Frank St. John, George Joseph

Pastor Rick Moore, Pastor Jack Cain, Pastor Steve Sienkiewicz, and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

> Offering was $27,455

> 684 people in the main service

> There was discussion concerning the current vacation schedules for employees

> There was discussion on the progress being made with regards to Calvary’s signage package and the City of Orlando.

>  Debbie shared information requested by David Tinker for the Extreme Sports ministry and the corresponding costs, which will be covered by the participants.  

Debbie exited the meeting at 4:55PM.

There was a motion made by Jack Norman and seconded by Doug Joseph to pass the 11/14/2011 minutes, which was unanimously approved by the remainder of the Elders.

Pastor Cope shared with the Elders some of the vision for the coming year and ministry changes in the near future.

The Finance Council joined the Elder’s meeting.  

Pastor Cope began by sharing from God’s Word and praying.

                Psalms 127: “Unless the Lord builds a house, he labors in vain”

>  We seek the spiritual birthing of children in our Body. It is the Lord that increases the house, not us. It is our responsibility to be diligent and discerning.

Pastor shared some of his history over the six year period of his tenure here at Calvary.

Several questions discussed included: Who is Calvary and what do we want Calvary to become?

What does a New Testament Church look like?  The Book of Acts gives us the model for the New Testament church.

Pastor Cope shared some of the struggles and life-cycles that Calvary has experienced.  Calvary’s challenge is trying to find the new ‘life cycle’ that will infuse life into the church.  Leaders have been baffled to come up with the solution for this puzzle.   Pastor acknowledged that this is the problem of any leader in the position of authority he has assumed.

It was recognized that some of the changes in the church have been perceived as alienation to some of the older members of the congregation.

Four necessary areas that we need to focus on to bring health back to Calvary are
    1)       Staff Health

              a.       Life Group for pastors

              b.       Staff development, enhanced communication

          2)       Body Health

              a.       Focused teaching

              b.       Life Groups

              c.        Define and expand on “Health” in all areas of life

          3)       New Converts

              a.       Discipleship groups for building and growing mature Christians

              b.       John Krall is developing a plan for taking new believers from the altar, to mentoring/discipleship, to Life Groups

              c.        Evangelism/new outreach ministry

          4)       Worship

              a.       Testimonies are part of worship and we need to hear more personal stories

Pastor Cope mentioned that out of the 168 hours in each week, the church has only 4 to 6 hours to affect people’s lives.

Dave Tinker had a vision which he shared with the Elders: We need to unify, not in building a single service, but rather in focusing on individuals and the heart. Unity is a heart condition where everyone is working together to meet the needs of the body/community.

Jack Norman shared what the Lord had given him concerning moving the people to the ‘Promised Land’

Promised Land

(Fighting Battles) – A Victorious Christian Life

The Jordon - The Holy Spirit

Wilderness – Spiritual Growth - (Dying to self)

Red Sea - (Salvation)

[Egypt / Slavery] - (Pre Christian)

A discussion was held between members of the FC and Elders regarding the following:

>         Communication - How to “close the gap” between the pastors and the congregation and be more effective in communicating with the congregation.

>       Vision - We do not need consensus building because we should be in unity through Jesus Christ. Rather, we need a solid resounding vision which will, in turn, produce passion.  Jim Tharp recommended Andy Stanley’s book entitled “Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision.”

The Finance Council and Elders prayed together and the Council exited at 7:55PM

The Elders discussed the points raised in the meeting and committed to praying especially about ‘vision’.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:15PM. 

Elder Minutes For 14 November 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, George Cope, George Joseph, Jim Norman, Dave Tinker, Jack Norman,

ABSENT: Frank St. John, Wray Petry

Pastor Rick Moore, Pastor John Krall, Pastor Jack Cain, Pastor Steve Sienkiewicz, Pastor David Evans, and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

>  Offering was $28,500

>  719 people in the main service

>  The Force Main relocation has been successfully completed.

Debbie exited the meeting at 4:50PM.

There was a motion made by Jim Norman and seconded by George Joseph to pass the 11/07/2011 minutes. It passed unanimously.

Rebecca Darling came in and presented a proposal for a comprehensive marketing strategy of the facility. The elders encouraged Rebecca to pursue this avenue.

There were discussions concerning the budget and where we are heading in 2012.

Pastor Cope gave an update on the Dino situation.

Pastor Cope gave an update on a local pastor and church in response to a meeting that the Elders had with the pastor last week.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55PM.

  

Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 7 November 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, George Cope, Wray Petry, Frank St. John, George Joseph, Jim Norman, Dave Tinker

ABSENT:

Pastor Rick Moore, Pastor John Krall, Pastor Jack Cain, J Johnston, Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

>  Offering was $39,386

>  720 people in the main service

>  The Force Main relocation should be completed this week.

>  Some of the signage ideas for the campus were discussed in the meeting.

Though David Tinker was encouraged by the support of the elders in promoting his vision, he further explained that he was not looking for any monetary help with his new ministry. That participants would pay to cover the expense of the insurance. He asked Debbie Carrie to do some investigation for the best way to pursue this. 

Debbie exited the meeting at this point (at 4:50PM).

There was a motion made by Frank St. John and seconded by Jack Norman to approve the 10/31/2011 minutes, which was passed unanimously by the remainder of the Elders.

There were discussions concerning the budget and where we are heading in 2012.

Frank St. John made a motion that Rita Murray work with the Finance Council to determine a more realistic way of presenting Calvary’s weekly budget report to the congregation.  This was seconded by Wray Petry and passed unanimously.

Pastor Cope shared some discussions he has with several staff members concerning marketing.

George Joseph’s response to a letter addressed to the Elders was approved. Because of the clarity of its presentation, it was determined that George’s letter will be placed on the Elder’s Blog with the names removed.

Pastor Cope shared a potential ministry opportunity presented by a member of the Finance Council.

At 5:30, Robert Frye joined the meeting to provide an opportunity for the Elders to get to know him better as a potential candidate for the Finance Council. Following the conversation, the Elders prayed with Rob and he exited at 5:55.

At 6:00, a local pastor and his family joined the Elders for a time of sharing their vision and several requests concerning ministry needs. The elders listened and closed with prayer.

There were some discussions concerning the pastor’s requests.  It was determined that additional information/clarification is needed before any decisions can be made. Pastor Cope was tasked with obtaining much of this information.


November 27, 2011 has been designated as Pastor Appreciation Day.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:25PM.

  

Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 31 October 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, George Cope, Wray Petry, Frank St. John, George Joseph, Jim Norman

ABSENT: Dave Tinker

Pastor Jack Cain and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

    >  Offering was $53,810

    >  First Steps enrollment is now up to 69, which is very encouraging!  

    >  Energy savings for the month of October were approximately $4,000 due to the new A/C units.

    > ~2600 paid tickets were sold for the Amy Grant/Michael W. Smith concert.

Debbie exited the meeting at 4:45PM.

A motion was made by Jack Norman and seconded by Frank St. John to pass the minutes of the October 17^th meeting.

There were discussions concerning the 2012 budget.

David Tinker’s vision for a mission/outreach opportunity was discussed, along with funding.  Jack Norman made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Jim Norman. The motion passed unanimously.

A request was made by a pastor to utilize Calvary’s facilities for ministering to Haitian people in our community.  Pastor Cope recommended that the pastor be invited to an Elders meeting so that we can personally meet him and “hear his heart” with regards to the ministry’s goals and desires.  

The placement of the video news first in the Sunday service was discussed, with a positive consensus. It was suggested that monitors be placed in the Foyer with a continual loop of the announcements playing before and after the service.

Leadership for Life Groups was discussed at length.

A letter sent from several members of the congregation was discussed. George Joseph is gathering details and preparing a response.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at 5:55PM.

 Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 24 October 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, George Cope, Dave Tinker, Wray Petry, Frank St. John, George Joseph,
ABSENT: Jim Norman


Pastor Cain, Pastor Moore, and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church. 


Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:
    > Offering was $30,043
    > Attendance was 685 in the Main Sanctuary
    > First Steps enrolment was up this month.
    > The Force Mains Work will begin next week. Circle Christian entrance will be detoured to the other side while the work is ongoing.
    > We will be having a Veggie-Tales event in the New Year.
    > There has been substantial financial saving because of the new Air Conditioners. 


Debbie exited the meeting at 4:50PM.


There was a motion made by Frank St. John and seconded by Wray Petry to pass the 10/17/2011 minutes. It passed unanimously.


Pastor Cope gave an update on the current Dino status and ruling. 


The Elders discussed the upcoming Finance Council meeting. 


At 5:40, the Finance Council entered the meeting to discuss budget and the current financial state of the church. 


There was significant discussions concerning future activities and planning. 


The FC left the meeting at 7:50.


With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15PM. 


Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 17 October 2011

PRESENT: Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, George Cope, Dave Tinker, Wray Petry, Frank St. John
ABSENT: George Joseph, Jim Norman


Pastor Cain, Pastor Moore, and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church. 


Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:
> Offering was $27,460
> Attendance was 740 in the main Sanctuary
> Debbie expressed a few concerns that need to be addressed in next year’s budget
> We have been working with Bob Miller for new signage on I-4. Debbie gave an update on where we are and gave the Elders some examples of proposed signage concepts. 


Debbie exited the meeting at 5:15PM.


There was a motion made by Frank St. John and seconded by Jack Norman to pass the 10/10/2011 minutes. It passed unanimously with a pair of minor revisions. 


Pastor Cope gave an update on the current Dino status and ruling. 


There were discussions concerning future activities and planning. 


Frank St. John made a motion that was seconded by Wray Petry that the decision made by the arbitration committee will be followed and executed by Calvary.  


There was a lengthy discussion concerning personal situations in the church.  


The Elders discussed the Budget meeting and the ramifications with our current status.


Pastor Cope discussed future plans and vision for 2012. 


David Tinker shared a ministry that has been on his heart. 


With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at 7:15PM. 


Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 10 October 2011

PRESENT: Jim Norman, Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, George Cope, Dave Tinker, Wray Petry, George Joseph

ABSENT: Frank St. John, (Dave Tinker has been given his Proxy)

Pastor Cain, Pastor Moore, Pastor Krall, Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

After a time of prayer, all of the pastors and J Johnston exited the meeting.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

>  Offering was $21,281

>  Attendance was 748 in the main Sanctuary

> Rainaldi recommends doing the asphalt in November rather than Dec/Jan time frame (re: force main move)

>  A discussion was held concerning a corporate policy

Debbie exited the meeting at this point (at 4:55PM).

There was a motion made by Jack Norman and seconded by Wray Petry to pass the 10/03/2011 minutes. It passed unanimously.

There were discussions over some issues that came about during Pastor Cope’s absence.

There was a motion made by Jack Norman and seconded by Wray Petry to pass the 10/03/2011 minutes, which was unanimously approved by the remainder of the Elders.  


There were discussions over some issues that occurred during Pastor Cope’s absence. 


At 5:15, Pastor David Evans came in and a discussion was had concerning vision for the coming months. 
The Elders prayed over David. 


Pastor David left at 6:30PM and the elders had further discussion. 

Jim Norman made a move that Debbie Carey will be given the permanent role as Church Administrator. It was seconded by Wray Petry. It passed unanimously.

The Elders were presented with a list of new members and they were approved unanimously.

The issues concerning Dino were again discussed.

 Pastor Cope shared his excitement of the coming vision for 2012. He said that he will discuss this in more detail in the coming weeks.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:15PM. 

Submitted By Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 3 October 2011

PRESENT: Jim Norman, Dave Tinker, Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, Wray Petry, George Joseph, George Cope

ABSENT: Frank St. John,

Pastor Cain, Pastor Moore, J Johnston, Pastor Krall, Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

After a time of prayer, all of the pastors exited the meeting.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

>  Offering was ~$44.2k

> Rita has transferred $200,000 from several reserve accounts to the operating account.

>  First Steps Preschool and Childcare is reducing staff hours to compensate for the drop in attendance.

Debbie exited the meeting at this point (at 4:45PM).

There was a motion made by Wray Petry and seconded by Jim Norman to pass the 9/26/2011 minutes. It passed unanimously.

Because of Frank St. John’s absence, we decided to table the decision to make Debbie Carrie permanent in her position. All of the elders responded favorably to this decision.

There were discussions concerning Dino’s meeting with Pastor Cope. The Elders have been actively pursuing resolution to this situation.

There were discussions concerning Pastor Cope’s meeting with Dino. The Elders have been actively pursuing resolution to this situation.


The Elders have created a blog that will have an abbreviated version of the minutes which can be accessed at www.CalvaryElders.Blogspot.com.


[10/3/2011] Action Item Doug Joseph

·         Get Debra Farish / Rebecca Darling / Jonathan Hendricker to add this link to our website

·         Possibly discuss how to advertise it so people know it is there

·         Place it in the email that goes to the congregation.

Pastor Cope spent some time sharing about his experiences during the past 60 days. 

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:15PM.

Submitted by Doug Joseph

Elder Minutes For 26 September 2011

PRESENT: Jim Norman, Dave Tinker, Frank St. John, Doug Joseph, Jack Norman, Wray Petry, George Joseph

ABSENT:  George Cope

Pastor Cain, Pastor Moore, J Johnston, Pastor Krall and Debbie Carey joined the Elders to pray for the needs of the church.

Debbie Carey provided the administrator’s report:

  Tithes and Offering were $24,600.

>  In light of the current financial constraints, the Elder’s approval is needed to transfer $200k from the reserves to the Operating Account.

>  Administration is looking at ways to reduce expenses in First Steps.  

>  Debbie updated the Elders concerning the mission’s money given to John James.

>  There is a plan to move the tractor trailer.

George Joseph made a motion to take $200k out of reserves to cover the tithing loss. This was seconded by Doug Joseph and unanimously approved.  

Debbie exited the meeting at 4:45PM.

The Finance Council joined the Elders at 5:00 PM.

>  The Council presented 3 bids for moving the force main.  

>  A motion was made by Jim Tharp and seconded by Dell Rhue to hire Rainaldi Plumbing to do the work. The Elders and FC passed it unanimously.

>  The $200k motion was presented to and approved by the Finance Council.  

>  The FC presented some recommendations for changes that should be implemented to improve Calvary’s financial position.

>  A joint meeting with the FC was scheduled for October 24^th to further discuss this presentation.

There was a motion made by Jim Norman and seconded by Wray Petry to pass the 8/22/2011 minutes, which was unanimously approved by the remainder of the Elders.

Discussions were held concerning the FC’s recommendations, Pastor Cope’s return, and other matters that need to be prayerfully considered.

With no further items, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15PM.

Submitted by Doug Joseph

Welcome To The Elders' Corner

Welcome to the Elders’ Corner!


Much is taking place at Calvary Assembly! Lives are being transformed, sick bodies are being healed, and we are sensing a new wind of the Holy Spirit in our services. Calvary’s vibrant church family has a wide spectrum of ministries and activities to enjoy during the fall months and the upcoming Christmas season. 


Over the past while, the Elders have been contemplating new venues for providing the congregation with insight and visibility into what is happening at Calvary. This site has been created for the purpose of keeping the body aware of the various issues that the Elders and Pastors face on an ongoing basis so that you can pray for us as we make vital decisions. We do not take our role lightly and earnestly fast and pray over the decisions needing to be made. 

The following is a list of Calvary’s current Elders:

Pastor George Cope

Jack Norman

George Joseph

Frank St. John

David Tinker

Wray Petry

Doug Joseph

Jim Norman

Each of these men was elected by the body and serve in their role on a volunteer basis. Every three years, their names are presented to the congregation for a vote of re-affirmation.
We are constantly looking for new Elders to add to the group, which is a recurring theme in our weekly meetings.


Please check out the site and feel free to post comments and/or questions. The Elders will periodically place abbreviated editions of our meeting minutes as well as post articles written by various Elders. 


Thank you for supporting us with your prayers as we seek God’s wisdom and direction for this great church.

God richly bless you,


The Calvary Elders