Church Council Agenda

April 20, 2015 "May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you to live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.” — Romans 15:5;

1. Time in Prayer and Attentiveness to God

2. Meeting Minutes – March 16, 2015 and February 16, 2015

3. Financial Report and Ministry Reports a. Comments/questions as we look forward

4. Old Business a. Youth Pastor Search Committee update (FYI) b. Parking Lot payments update

5. New Business

a. Verizon Cell Tower update

6. April Calendar Events a. Regional Policy Board Meeting (Gregg attending) – April 21 – 24 b. Women of Faith in Billings, MT – April 24 – 25 c. Blake preaching – April 25

7. May Calendar Events

a. Last WOW – May 13 b. Wedding – May 16 ?? c. WOW BBQ – May 20 d. Graduation Sunday – May 24 (May 17??) e. First Sunday Summer Class – May 31 f. 5th Sunday Brunch after worship – May 31 ???

8. Other (Announcements?)

a. Please check your Ministry folders for vouchers to be signed b. Child Dedication Service – June 7 c. Youth Mission Trip – June 14 - 22

9. Adjournment

Ministry Reports due – May 10, 2015 (the 10th of each month) Next meeting – Monday, May 18, 2015

First Baptist Church Council Minutes Monday, March 16, 2015

Those Present: DeeDee Carda (Fellowship); Pastor Gregg Hemmen; Dennis Johnson; Blake Wilkes; Moderator Kathryn Sosa; Carol Misterek; Linda Johnson; Pat Parks; Connie Fallat; Karen Stordahl; Mike Woods; Secretary Angie Bilbrey, Pat Barber Moderator Sosa opened the meeting with prayer. The minutes of the February Council meeting were not available; they will be approved at the April meeting. Linda Johnson moved and Pat Parks seconded that the Financial Report be approved. Passed. There was no representative from the Youth Pastor Search Committee present for a report; however, the deadline for applying for this position is March 20. Pastor Gregg indicated that applications were out and resumes were coming in. OLD BUSINESS: *Still in need of two more members to be added to the Personnel Committee. *The Nominating Committee has three members and they also need two more members. *Nursery Committee reported that there are two new people applying for this position; Blake indicated that there was another applicant as well to be interviewed. *The plans for the meeting of the Auditing Committee have been delayed due to illness. NEW BUSINESS: *Karen Stordahl, on behalf of the Christian Education board, proposed the name of Katrina Petry to join the Ministry, taking her mother's place. MSP Karen and Mike Woods. *Troy Oldert, Building Maintenance Ministry, reported on the upcoming repair of the elevator. He will also prepare the invoices for the parking lot payments. *Mission Ministry: Jerry Fallat is spearheading the preparation of the Easter Baskets to be delivered to the families between Palm Sunday and Easter. Contributions needed: fruit. *Mission Ministry also indicated that there will be a sign-up sheet and information available about the Wasta Water Ministry (August) every second Sunday between now & August. CALENDAR EVENTS: *The University of Sioux Falls Concert Choir will be having a concert at the church on Friday, March 20. There still exists a need for housing; Vonnie Houchin is handling this activity and is confident that such housing will be found. The choir will also be served dinner prior to the concert. Vonnie has alerted all news media and other churches about the concert. *The fifth Sunday, March 29, will be having the Sunday brunch during the Feasting on the WORD. *Good Friday Service at 5:30 p.m. April 3, 2015 *Easter ARISE Service at 7:30, April 5, 2015, with breakfast following at 8 a.m. *There will be a "no-host" potluck following the Easter Sunday service for anyone interested.

* DeeDee Carda plans to purchase a new table for the church narthex, honoring her father who recently passed away. She will visit with the Memorial Committee regarding a plaque/mention of the honor to be included in a listing of the memorials in the church. Because of the urgency of the Dairy Queen visit (free ice cream cones today only), Dennis moved and Troy seconded the adjournment of the meeting...and everyone exited to line up at the Dairy Queen window!! Respectfully submitted, Pat Barber Church Clerk

First Baptist Church Council Minutes

February 16, 2015

Members present: Karen Stordahl, Linda Johnson, Carol Misterck, Dennis Johnson, Pat Parks,

Connie Fallat, Ken Wrede, Christa Boerman, Mike Woods, Pastor Gregg, Troy Oldert, Blake

Wilkes, Vonnie Houchin, Juanita Rowe

Christa Boerman conducted the meeting as requested by Moderator Kathryn Sosa who was not

able to attend. Dennis opened the meeting with prayer and Christa asked that we review the

ministry reports. The minutes were accepted without a motion.

Old Business:

Youth Pastor Search Committee Gregg and Ken gave an update on the Youth Pastor Search Committee. It was reported all documents were approved and will be sent to the central office for candidate screening. Ken stated there will be a meeting of the search committee and a subcommittee will form to decide on interview questions and to be the interview team.

Council Committees Kathryn Sosa has the information for nominating, personnel and audit committee

and will report to the council at the next meeting

New Business:

5th Sunday, March 29th, potluck was approved to be held. Dennis Johnson made the motion and it was seconded by Juanita Rowe. The motion carried.

Ministry Training was very successful in the eyes of everyone attending this council meeting

Harmony Night – March 1st, 4 – 6pm. People attending are asked to bring a snack to share. Blake will oversee the preschool through 5th grader.

USF choir concert will be March 20th at 7pm. There is a need for one night of housing for the choir students.

There was a motion made by Troy Oldert and seconded by Dennis to extend Josh Bond’s license to minister for another year. The motion passed.

Calendar Events:

Maundy Thursday, no service

Good Friday Service at 5:30pm April 3rd

Easter Sunday April 5th

Easter Breakfast after sunrise service

5th Sunday potluck May 31st

Child dedication June 7th

Troy closed the meeting with prayer and a motion to adjourn that was seconded by Linda

Johnson. The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Parks (substitute secretary)

Pastor’s Report Prepared for Church Council - April 2015

“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you to live in complete harmony

with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:15; New Living Translation)

In the early part of my dad’s working career, he was a barber. The barber shop in our

small town was a place where men got their hair cut, but it was also the hub for information

sharing. If you wanted to know what was going on, you went to the barber shop. Community

groups and individuals would take information to the barber shop if they wanted to publicize an

event, sell a piece of farm equipment, and yes, learn the latest gossip. The barber shop was a kind

of community square. Social media has become a bit of a “community square” for sharing

information. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, have become the modern-day

barber shop. There’s a delocalization of our communities now because geography doesn’t always

determine the parameters of that community.

So what? What’s it mean? I decided to test out our church’s Facebook page as a

marketing tool for the USF Choir Concert that we had on March 20th. At the time I placed the ad,

we had 215 people who follow our church’s Facebook page. Facebook offers a “boost” option

where for differing amounts of money, you can get the word out about an event or opportunity to

a larger audience in the community so I decided to spend $15.00 and see what this might do to

get the word out about the USF Choir Concert. By the way, you can spend as much or as little as

you want and I decided to spend a small amount since we haven’t done this before. The

parameters I chose for this advertising included: sharing on the side panel on pages of those who

follow the church, and secondly a sharing with their friends. I chose to run this ad for four days

beginning on March 10th. During the first 24 hours, over 1,000 people saw the ad and some

shared it on their Facebook page. In the next 24 hours, the number of people increased to

approximately 1,800 people with 7 new people who started following our Facebook page.

When the ad quit running, we had reached 3,430 people with 14 people sharing this event

on their Facebook page, 93 “likes” which ends up being visible on their Facebook page if

someone “likes” an event, 163 clicks on our Facebook page which has resulted in 11 new

followers to the church’s Facebook page.

What impact did this have on the concert? That is the most difficult to assess. I did hear

from several USF choir members that the number of people we had at the concert was the largest

of any church they’d been in up to that point. They had not yet had their First Baptist of Sioux

Falls concert which assuredly would be their biggest crowd.

I talked with the deacons about this advertising at our March 23rd, 2015, meeting and they

think we should continue to do some advertising like this. So, I placed another add on Facebook

advertising our Easter weekend services. I spent $20.00 and changed the parameters for

advertising to be people in Rapid City. The ad was placed on Tuesday, March 31st and would run

through Friday, April 3rd. The ad contained information about our Easter services and reached

3,940 people. More importantly, I was able to begin conversations with a few different people

who didn’t have church homes. Also a number of new people are now following our church’s

Facebook page with a total of 230 people currently following it.

Does all of this mean anything for us as a church? If you look at effective ministry, most

of the time it’s meeting people where they are, not where you want them to come. People are on

social media. How can we meet them there and effectively minister to them there? Churches are

doing all kinds of things with social media and we’ll need to figure out what is the best approach

for us. Thank you for the privilege of serving among you.

Blake Wilkes

Interim Youth Pastor

April Report

The end of March and beginning of April was busy but great none the less! We had all

kinds of fun in the end of March we had a mini lock-in/birthday party, which was a blast and full

of fun and fellowship! We also finished our series on Colossians in Cross Training. This series I

feel bared great fruit and great discussion, thoughts and growth came from it. We are now

starting a new series to finish out the rest of the school year. We will be looking at some of the

smaller more skimmed over books of the New Testament Titus, Jude and Philemon. I’m excited

to see what will come out of these books and where it will take us into the summer.

To finish out March and start April the youth prepared and lead Arise Service on Easter

Sunday. Wow, was I impressed with how well the students did. They really brought things

together and carried things out impressively. We also brought in two helpers to guide us in the

music part of the service Lucas Michelson (Pianist) and Jenna Flatten (lead Vocalist and Music

major at BH with intent of going into Music Ministry) between the leadership of both of them

they put together a beautiful arrangement of music and brought the best out of us.

We also had another fundraiser going on during March. This was the Thirty One

fundraiser, which after all is said and done raised $300, which will greatly help our in-town

mission trip and will go towards blessing bags and the possible VBS that we will be doing with

the mission for the families there as well as the projects we do for this community we live in.

Now that we are in April, we will be starting our last fundraiser one that I hope will go

beyond or church family and out into the community that we will be serving and spreading the

light of Christ to. This last Fundraiser is called Flocking. For $25 the youth will “Flock” a yard

of your choosing with 13-20 Flamingos with a note of why this flock has graced this yard with

the hope of spreading our message. The Flocked will have the option of passing it on for another

$25 or sending it home free of charge. Another opportunity if people do not know of a yard to

flock they can sponsor a Flamingo for $5. With this $5 they get to name and decorate a Flamingo

for the Flocking season. It is quite cold here compared to the flock’s normal spring home and I

know they would appreciate some cool duds!

Things are moving forward and I thank God for the opportunity to fellowship, teach and

grow with these students and I look forward to what May and this Summer will bring!

Music Notes April 2015 Council Meeting

Music work and plans for the coming month:

1. Thanks to Blake and the youth who planned, rehearsed, and presented a great

Arise service on Easter morning.

2. Choir

Taking a deep sigh of relief after the music for the Good Friday and Easter

Services

Planning the last few weeks of this season

Looking at patriotic music for our last Sunday on Memorial Day weekend

3. Praise Team

We welcome John Wrede who is adding his bass guitar to our mix!

4. Bells

We played with a full group on Palm Sunday

Looking at one more song in service before the summer break

5. Kid’s Music

Wednesdays Jim Collins & Lucas Michelson provide music time

On Sunday during Feasting, we continue to sing, dance, and enjoy a few

minutes together!

6. We will be wrapping up this “season” of music at the end of May.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Vonnie Houchin

Diaconate Minutes—March 23, 2015

Present: Gregg, Mike & Jeannene, Mike Brewer, Jerry & Linda Ross, Mary Hull, Gary & Judy

Oldert Absent: Roger & Annette Pryor

The meeting was opened with prayer by Gary.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Benevolence Fund Report: $4099.45

Communion Calendar: Gary & Judy for April

Membership:

Upcoming Events: Good Friday service at 5:30 -- will need greeters/ushers

Palm Sunday (5th Sunday) Brunch after worship

Easter: Arise Service at 7:30

Breakfast at 8:00

Worship at 9:00

Feasting on the Word at 10:15

Old Business: USF concert—good attendance. Offering was about $400.

Some discussion about using social media to market events. It was suggested that we continue to

use Facebook as the fee is nominal.

New Business: Graduation and Memorial Day coming up

Adjourn: MSP by Gary & Jerry

Secretary,

Judy Oldert

Mission Ministry Report - 3/18/15

Present: Pat Parks, Cheryl Wiebers, Gregg Hemmen

Cheryl opened with prayer.

Old Business:

Easter baskets will be packed after church on March 29th. Jerry has done a wonderful job. We

voted to give him a gift card to Colonial House. Jerry did come after our meeting and we

finalized some plans. Pat will pick up the milk, bread, eggs and butter.

New Business:

1. ABC of Dakota’s Mission Conference—September 11-13 at Camp Bentley, ND. This

year’s theme is “Blessed to be a Blessing” Proverbs 11:30. Our guest speakers are Revs.

Taku & Katie Longkemer, Susan hall, Jim Wiegner, Sally Rice and Rev. Randy

Rasmussen. Cheryl will get the poster and registration forms out. She will also have

Angela put the information in July newsletter and bulletin insert in July.

2. The National Biennial Mission Summit is in Overland Park, KS June 26-28. Pat will get

this information out. Information needs to in the next newsletter. Pat is interested in

attending. Council will have to approve of any delegates.

3. Cheryl read an email from the region office for Rev. Ken Hunt of the Church of Hope.

Ken was encouraging churches to come and worship with them on Saturday nights. He

also said that they could help with the service. We put this on next month’s agenda.

Next Meeting: April 8, 2015 at 3:15

Submitted by

Cheryl Wiebers

Substitute Secretary

Christian Education Report: April 2015

The Ministry of Christian Education (CE) met as scheduled on April 06, 2015. CE Board

Members also discuss business via email, phone, text, and informal meetings as needed between

the established first Mondays of the Month Meetings held at church.

Current members are Jerry Fallat, Juanita Rowe, Pat Parks, Danni Koskan, Carol Misterek &

Katrina Petry. Blake Wilkes is Staff FBC Staff Representative to CE.

Present were Jerry, Juanita, Carol, & Blake. It is a pleasure to serve on this committee together.

Opening prayer was offered.

Item of discussion: Nursery

No known physical needs for nursery at this time. Discussion of Galaena’s ability to cash her

check due to transportation problems.

Item of discussion: Wednesday Night Program/WOW

April 08th is the Pottery to Paint Outing. Costs are split between Fellowship & Youth in CE Fund

Blake is to take the lead on this activity. Discussed that last class for WOW is May 13th; May

20th is the church BBQ. Blake will be in charge of any games for the night.

‘Item of discussion: Library

Carol noted that there are quite a few donations of gently used books and materials; less of new

materials. Carol repurposed a shelf that was not needed by others, for the library; this is used for

donated books. She will set up new tables in the foyer, as well, to display books. There is some

use of the library, but still less than desired. It is a goal for Carol & CE to market use of the

library.

Item of discussion: Sunday School

Sunday School Kids Offering money was not used for Easter Baskets as originally planned; CE

agreed to use this for Christmas Boxes for Operation Christmas Child (Franklin Graham’s

project).

For the ongoing teacher recognition, CE will prepare Jelly Bean Jars for teachers recognized at

Sunday Service. Children’s Grades 3 to 5

Graduation Recognition will take place in a very brief ceremony, also on Graduation Sunday on

May 17, 2015.

Summer Sunday School will use Veggie Tales, and Jerry has purchased these for CE. Blake is to

help with the Summer Sunday School; this combines all ages. May 31st will be the first Sunday

for the Summer Class. Blake may occasionally need a substitute teacher.

Item of Discussion: Other

Teacher Expectation Form that will be signed by all FBC teachers, is pending final development

until the Constitution Committee has completed work and Constitution changes are approved.

Dani is the person of contact for any other recommendations for kids who may need Summer

Camp Scholarships. Some have already been identified; there are funds available. Prior

participants can earn $50.00 off their tuition if they bring a new participant.

CE supports the Bible Battle Event after Sunday School has ended, which will allow Sunday

School participants (perhaps pairing up an older child/youth with a young child). The topics will

be in part related to what has been learned in Sunday School in the Summer. CE approved a

“prize”; Blake will be in charge of finding the prize and the Bible Battle with CE assistance.

Item of discussion: Blake Notes

Blake reported that FBC Staff agrees to CPR Class for our church members who wish to

participate; Blake will check to see if another church wishes to go in with FBC for this.

VBS Planning continues to progress for summer Bible School; there is a challenge as Blake

learned that the RC School District will no longer approve the informal arrangements of past

years, when this was held at South Middle School. There would now be a charge of $10,000 to

$15,000 for the space. Blake will go to the next RC School Board Meeting on 4/13/2015. This is

not affordable for the now 4 and perhaps 5 churches going together for the VBS. Work is

underway to try to find another large enough venue; only one of the participating churches has

enough space as far as is known.

CE brainstormed various ideas and welcomes all ideas from others. Some of the pros and cons: if

held at one church, it may be associated with that denomination or church; churches with larger

spaces may be reluctant to have the group VBS if viewed as competition to their own VBS; must

consider a place that has liability insurance for this event. Next VBS meeting is 4/9/2015. VBS

proposed dates are 6/28-7/1/15, but may have to be adjusted now.

CE also discussed the fellowship event after Graduation Sunday Service. The question is whether

we can combine the fellowship time with the parents of the two graduates, instead of having a

separate event in the homes of the graduates. CE suggested having a potluck on Graduation

Sunday for the graduates, who will still also set up their own tables celebrating their very special

day. This will be discussed with the parents, as well; to see if that will work for their families and

the graduates, Larry & Colby. If all agree, this will replace the 5th Sunday Potluck in May and

would be advertised regarding the change, in advance so that church members will know in time.

Blake & CE thank Lee for all of his work in the Youth Room. CE also appreciates all Lee has

done in many areas of the church that have been improvements to function and appearance.

CE approved use of the Youth Designated Fund to replace baseboard in the Youth Room, which

is needed.

CE still plans to have a meeting in the summer with WOW for planning/adjusting 2015-2016

WOW. We may include others. More on this later; have to review possible dates.

Item of discussion: Next Meetings

Jerry represents CE for the April FBC Council Meeting.

Next CE Meeting: May 04, 2015, 4:30 PM at FBC.

Christian Education Report: March 2015

The Ministry of Christian Education (CE) met as scheduled on March 02, 2015. CE Board

Members also discuss business via email, phone, text, and informal meetings as needed between

the established first Mondays of the Month Meetings held at church.

Current members are Jerry Fallat, Juanita Rowe, Pat Parks, Danni Koskan, Carol Misterek &

Katrina Petry, upon FBC Council approval. Blake Wilkes is Staff FBC Staff Rep to CE.

Present were Jerry, Juanita, Pat, & Blake. It is a pleasure to serve on this committee together.

Opening prayer was offered.

Item of discussion: Nursery

New gate for nursery is needed or repair so that the gate stays in place. This will be taken care of

out of CE funds. No other physical maintenance needs in nursery. Galeina & Tina have been

interviewed initially for consideration for nursery worker; there will be second interviews &

possibly a trial work period for each, which will be the contract or agreement the potential new

workers would sign. As of this meeting, a background check is still in progress, required before

this can take place.

Item of discussion: Wednesday Night Program/WOW

WOW teacher Jeannene Woods requested funds of $17.00 for each child to make a pottery piece

from Pottery Barn this spring. This was a great success several years ago. The item to paint will

be $10.00; the sitting fee for each child $7.00. CE approved taking this out of the Wednesday

Night Funds in CE. CE discussed having a summer meeting for WOW teachers and interested

others, including CE, to reshape the Wednesday Night Program for Fall 2015.

Item of discussion: Graduation Sunday

CE will verify date that is best for Graduation Sunday, a very special day for FBC church family.

We will coordinate with FBC staff in planning this for the appropriate Sunday Service at the end

of May.

Item of discussion: Library

Carol Misterek has visited children’s classrooms in an effort to promote use of FBC library by

children.

Item of discussion: Sunday School

Sunday School Kids snacks are going well. We will use a teacher expectation form for all

teachers in Sunday School & WOW, as soon as we have constitutional changes in place prior to

this form implementation. Summer Sunday School/Feasting on the Word was discussed. For

children, CE will investigate Veggie Tales Curriculum or similar teaching guide for the summer

months.

Item of discussion: Other

Discussed summer camp, and CE wish to support young people who wish to attend, even if they

do not have funding. CE will assist students who can attend due to funding, as much as possible.

Item of Discussion: VBS & More

Blake reported that planning is in progress for summer Bible School; we do not have dates yet,

but there are four churches working together in this regard. Hopefully, this can again be held at

the same location, South Middle School. Next planning meeting is to be held on 3/20/2014.

Blake noted that Lee is moving electrical items & storage items to maximize youth room space.

There is a suggestion that youth help operate audiovisual equipment for their meetings, with

supervision, of course!

Blake noted that there is another opportunity to sponsor a Central HS event, but he was not

certain that this opportunity offered all that it had been advertised to be. CE supports Blake in not

pursuing a second sponsorship at this time.

Blake also discussed the 5K Electric Glow Run that will be a night event. If FBC helps staff the

event, FBC can be listed as a sponsor on items including the event t-shirt. Blake knows owners

of this event so that FBC can be included in this special event. http://electricglowrun.com/

CE supported participation in the Electric Glow Run in August; Blake will advise of the date.

Blake also briefly discussed future development of FBC classes or ministry to college age

persons as well.

Item of discussion: Next Meetings

Carol represents CE for the March FBC Council Meeting.

Next CE Meeting: April 06, 2015, 4:30 PM at FBC.

Ministry of Stewardship – no report

Ministry of Fellowship – no report

Ministry of Physical Maintenance – no report