250317 Elder Meeting

Mark Organ

Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

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Transcript

Call to Order/Opening Prayer: The meeting was called to order by Chairman George Gans at 1:02pm and he opened in prayer

Attendance: George Gans, Dan Organ and Mark Organ were in attendance

Devotions: George read James 4. Dan Organ scheduled to give the next Elder Meeting devotional on April 7th

Agenda: Additions or Corrections: Mark made several recommendations, involving the Chairman’s report, Member meeting minutes, Quarterly Business Meeting scheduling, assignment of leadership responsibilities during the Prayer Time in Mark’s absence and preparing backup sermons. George moved and Dan seconded that the updated Agenda be approved. Carried.

Minutes: Mark read the minutes from March 3rd, 2025. No adjustments. George moved and Dan seconded that the minutes be accepted, carried.

Financial Report: Dan presented the revised financial statements from February commenting that the difference in figures related to the benevolent gift given to the Taylors. George moved with Mark seconding that the Revised Financial Statements be accepted. Carried.

Pastor’s Report: Mark discussed his upcoming travel plans to Israel and confirmed that Jeremy Simmons had agreed to facilitate the new Men’s Evening Bible Study. He also made positive comments about the recent conferences he had attended. Mark also updated the Elders about the recent developments in youth ministry, involving additional musical accompaniment during youth group and the good participation and engagement with the kids at school during the weekly prayer meeting.

Ministry Concerns: Dan updated the elders about the recent memorial service for Gary Buzzel and the gift given by Katie Organ on behalf of the church. Discussion took place regarding Gail Law’s recent return home and needs she likely will have to ready her home for her ongoing convalescence. Mark also mentioned that the recent profession of faith by Logan Morgan needs careful attention and prayer, advising that Mickey Beuhrer had volunteered to disciple him as he has the best relationship with this young man.

Old Business: The old business discussed was the regathering of keys from the recently departed former members. While several keys from Dan Brown, Gary Taylor and Ruth Brown had been received we do not yet have the keys from Heidi Mattheney or Alice Brown.

Discussion then turned to revising the Constitution for several issues, such as mandatory resignation of membership by the pastor upon termination of employment, annual confirmation of the Pastor by the membership, revising the elder and deacon standards to align with Biblical requirements, and adding agreement to the Doctrinal Statement not just the Constitution and By Laws. Further discussion was tabled until the April 7th Elder Meeting.

Lastly, Dan provided the copies of the revised Membership Roster to Mark and George. George to bring original member resignation communication to next meeting on April 7th.

New Business: Discussion took place as to scheduling the New Member Induction during the March 23rd Service and if it might be necessary to change plans based upon the recent illnesses of the Morgan’s. The decision was made to proceed with Pam Zoeller alone if the Morgan’s were unable to be personally present. George committed to giving a report after each Elder meeting to the congregation. George further committed to disentangling the commingled Elder Meeting minutes and Member Meeting minutes. The Elder decided that a potluck would make an appropriate addition to the April 13th Quarterly Business Meeting because we have so many recent additions to the congregation and this will enable them to get to know one another. Dan committed to communicating to Katie the Eldership’s desire for a potluck. The elders then discussed discipleship roles and the necessity of selecting qualified elders with Mark volunteering a book written by Dave Deets on the topic.

Adjourn: The meeting was closed in prayer by Mark Organ at 2:35pm

Increasing the size of the elder board

It was discussed that we are to begin incorporating men into the elder board as “trainees.” Mark mentioned that he was already discipling Jeremy Simmons toward this role and recommended that we take a more rigorous approach to vetting than previously done by the Elder Board. Additionally Mark suggested that it was preferable for those that teach children to actually be elders and George agreed with that.

Requesting that Keith Morgan speak as a resource to the elder board

Keith did make a recommendation that at the next member meeting the discussion regarding Mike Kretschmer’s letter will require care so as to not exacerbate an already difficult situation

Discuss Dan Organ’s role as treasurer and whether he retains his role as an elder

Mark and George both asserted that Dan Organ’s role as treasurer is still needed and will be retained - there was some discussion as to whether or not he can remain as an elder and not participate on the elder board. Mark committed to following up with Dan possibly with a request to have him join the next scheduled Elder Meeting on March 3rd to clarify his position and whether a constitutional amendment may be necessary

Membership application for Keith and Ilene Morgan and Pam Zoeller

Mark confirmed that he had heard the testimony of Keith, Ilene and Pam and that they were pursuing membership. He committed to reaching out to Pam to confirm that she could be available on March 3rd to give her testimony on the March 3rd member meeting. George agreed that they would be a welcome part of the membership.

Upcoming travel to Israel and related pulpit supply by Dr. Steve van Horn

Mark communicated that he had reached out to Steve and he is available to preach on 03/30/2025 and that was agreeable to the elder board.

Completing the final stage of Matthew 18:17 regarding Dan and Heidi Brown at the next member meeting scheduled in April

Mark mentioned somewhat in conjunction with the discussion from Mike Kretschmer that we need to finalize the steps of Matthew 18. It was agreed upon by all that reconciliation is still desired and that the former members return.

Amending the Doctrinal Statement, Constitution and By-Laws for elements that are no longer pertinent

Mark mentioned that there were some unbiblical elements of our Elder selection process that perhaps needed to be omitted from our Constitution and By-Laws citing that nowhere in Scripture is it mentioned that to be an Elder one must be a Deacon for a year. George advised that this was typical in many churches but both Mark and George agreed that following Scripture is required. George is going to spend the next two weeks considering the doctrinal statement, constitution and by-laws to see what else might need to be trimmed or adjusted. Later both Mark and George discussed the strangeness of the annual affirmation of the Pastor and it would make sense to revisit that concept at a later time as the annual review is another year away.

Men’s Bible study update

Mark mentioned that there has been some interest and offered resources from a congregant that is likely pursuing membership to begin a Men’s Bible Study in the evening after the current Men’s Bible Study meets. Mark mentioned that his wife was okay with this additional labor and George also agreed that as long as nothing else was being impacted that this was fine. Mark’s intent is to stabilize these Men’s Bible Studies and turn over leadership which George agreed he may have time in the future to lead in this fashion.

IFCA Doctrinal statement agreement signing

Both Mark and George signed the doctrinal statement agreement letter from the IFCA and a copy was made available after the meeting to George for his records

Upcoming Regional IFCA

George intended to attend while Mark has not made up his mind as to whether his schedule will allow for it

Church member meetings for offices

Both minimum required offices of Secretary and Elder Chairman were agreed to by Mark and George respectively

Retaining keys for folks that have left the body

George committed to following up with Everett Brown, Damien Cox, Heidi Matheney and Gary Taylor regarding any keys in their possession

Scheduling our next elder board meeting in the next two weeks

It was determined that with the large amount of work to be done that our elder meetings should be scheduled at a minimum of every two weeks and the next meeting was scheduled for March 3rd 2025

Creating a new members meeting

This discussion was tabled until April’s meeting

Doctrinal statement printouts

George and Mark discussed the necessity of printing out additional copies of the Doctrinal Statement, Constitution and By-Laws. Mark to print out additional copies

Reviewing the financial statements and updating the format to change the language of Gary’s benevolent payment

See Financial Report above

Additionally, we added Mike Kretschmer’s letter to the agenda

Mike Kretschmer handed out copies of his letter and articulated that he was open to visiting the folks that had recently left the body. He mentioned the heartache that many were feeling was not going away. It was thought that it would be good to read the letter at the next member meeting in April with George and Mark both committing to answer the questions posed in the letter.

Agenda Items: George and Mark asked that the following agenda items be added