JULY 2020 BOARD MEETING

July 13, 2020, 3:30 p.m., Gregg Fellowship Center 

Moderator Judi Meister called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Opening prayer by Mary Ellen Dawson Also present were David Howell, Rick Speck, Satch Wierenga. Absent (with notification): Bev Vicstein, Ralph Williamson. 

Additions to agenda:  None 

Minutes of June meeting. Motion by David to approve as submitted, second by Mary Ellen. Unanimous. 

Financial report for June was presented and discussed by Rick, Business Manager. A Benevolent Fund offering was brought up – this will be discussed under new business. Motion by David to approve as submitted; second by Judi. Rick abstains. Motion carried. 

Worship and Music: 

    1. Discussion re: services. It has been suggested that our church service feels like it is very disconnected and not very welcoming. There was a suggestion that we serve cookies and coffee outside during fellowship timea.. We will try it starting next Sunday with a sign-up sheet for future Sundays. 
    2. Communion: It was felt that we definitely should do communion. After discussion, will do communion and will figure out how we will serve it. David and Judi will talk about the format. 
    3. An e-mail was received from a visitor regarding the idea of how we should welcome people as they go into church. This was discussed, and it was felt that under the current situation we are trying to do the best we can. 
    4. Another issue that was discussed is how we might invite people from Lighthouse Fellowship. A good approach is to ask them personally and send them an invitation to our church. It would be helpful to get a list of their attendees. 

Building and Grounds: 

    1. Ramp for storage shed – will be done in the near future. 
    2. One dead pine tree – Levi Conner will be contacted. 

Old Business: None. 

New Business: 

    1. Annual meeting: August 30, Ralph had agreed to be chairman of nominating committee. 
    2. Nomination process: 
      1. Schedule 
      2. Terms expiring: Judi, Bev; also need to fill Jean’s unfinished term (2 years). 
      3. Nominating Committee: at least one board member as chair, at least one member of congregation, one additional. Nominating committee announcement will be Sunday, July 1. 
    3. Benevolent fund offering: Motion by David, second by Mary Ellen, that we should put off this offering until December instead doing it in July. Unanimous. 

Round robin: 

    1. Mary Ellen spoke at length about how this Covid virus and pandemic is affecting our church. Judi thanked her for sharing her thoughts with us. 
    2. Judi said that Alana was asking about the Women’s Circle annual bake sale. It was mentioned that this is a Women’s Circle issue and they should decide what they will do. 
    3. Judi asked permission to use the Gregg Fellowship Center for daughter to put on a Pampered Chef Show. They would do it probably outside on July 26. The board felt that if it was outside there will be no charge, but if bad weather and they had to go inside there would be a $50 fee. 

Next meeting: August 17 at Gregg Fellowship Center. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:50. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Kathy Speck, Recording Secre

JUNE 2020 BOARD MEETING

June 8, 2020, 3:30 p.m., Gregg Fellowship Center 

Moderator Judi Meister called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Opening prayer by Bev Vicstein (on phone). Also present were David Howell, Ralph Williamson, Rick Speck. Absent Satch Wierenga; Mary Ellen Dawson (with notification). 

Miscellaneous info: None 

Additions to agenda: None 

Minutes of May meeting: Motion by David to approve as corrected, second by Ralph. Unanimous. 

Financial report for May was presented and discussed by Rick, Business Manager. Rick reported a correction on the fund balance – should be $39,178. Motion by David to approve with correction as submitted; second by Judi. Rick abstains. Motion carried. 

Worship and Music: 

  1. Many areas of discussion including: When we will start church services again, how many people in church, how to set up seats, hand sanitizer stations, masks required, order of services, use screen to project hymns and readings, etc., 6–foot social distancing, signage, offering collections, etc., etc Motion by Rick, second by David, that we go with 50% of seating capacity according to the Governor‘s executive order. Motion carried

The Board decided that David and Judi will do a “dry” run on June 14th, with regular Church services starting June 21s. Also discussed was opening the Church again for other meetings, such as Bible studies, AA, etc. Motion by David that we allow this as long as they maintain what we expect and follow our guidelines and wear face masks, and use hand sanitizers. Second by Rick. Motion carried.

  1. July pastors – Judi reported that some of pastors that were signed up for June were disappointed. She is sending out new letters with info for July. 

Building and Grounds: 

  1. Judi said that Mary Ellen has posted cleanup sheets for people to sign up.
  2. Dead branches in tree behind parsonage; branch overhanging parsonage. It was suggested that Levi Connor should be contacted about this.
  3. Ralph mentioned that we would like to hold off on putting the ramp on the outdoor storage shed. He will have some decking available that will work for that project that he will donate if we can put it off for a short time. 

Bingo:

  1. No bingo in June
  2. Cleaning and sanitizing. 

Old Business: 

Judi passed out copies of letter she composed in response to congregation member‘s inquiry regarding bingo and Halloween. With a small revision a Motion was made by Ralph that we send out the letter explaining the board‘s discussion and decision, and she is welcome to add it the annual meeting as discussion. Second by David. Motion carried. 

New Business:  None 

Round Robin:  Ralph said he hopes that we have covered everything we need to do with resuming our church services again and everyone will feel comfortable coning back. Mary Ellen suggested and the Board discussed the bathroom floor drains in the GFC. 

Next meeting: July 13 at Gregg Fellowship. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 

Respectfully submitted, 

Kathy Speck, Recording Secretary

 

MAY 2020 BOARD MEETING

BEAVER ISLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Board Meeting May 11, 2020, 3:30 p.m., Gregg Fellowship Center

(No April meeting was held due to Corona 19 Virus)

Moderator Judi Meister called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Opening prayer by Satch Wierenga. Also present were Mary Ellen Dawson, David Howell, Ralph Williamson, Rick Speck. Bev Vicstein was absent due to hospitalization. 

Additions to agenda: None 

Miscellaneous info: Judi read an e-mail from Alan Vicstein regarding Bev’s progress in hospital. 

Minutes of March meeting: Motion by Ralph, second by Mary Ellen, to approve as read. Unanimous. 

Minutes annual meeting (for information/discussion only) were passed out. 

Financial reports were presented and discussed by Rick, Business Manager. 

  1. March – Motion by Judi to approve, second by Ralph. Motion carried, with David and Rick abstaining.
  2. April – Motion by Ralph to approve, second by Mary Ellen. Motion carried, with David & Rick abstaining. 

Furnace Fund donations: Satch agreed to send a thank you note to Steve Boven for his participation in collecting the $1,150 for this fund. 

Worship and Music: 

  1. Worship services 
    1. Social distance: Our church will recommend social distancing pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order.
    2. Sanitizing suggestions-start by taking all hymnals and Bibles out. Set chairs out at a distance, hand sanitizers ordered, etc.
  2. Summer pastor schedule was passed out. After much discussion, a motion was made by David that the Church is canceling visiting worship leaders for the month of June. Second by Rick. Unanimously approved.
  3. Baccalaureate is tabled. 

Women’s Circle: Mary Ellen reported on the  following items: A cleaning person for tbe weekly rentals of the parsonage has been hired – Chris Heikka at $20 per hour; Mary Ellen has thoroughly spring cleaned the parsonage; the church kitchen has been freshly painted; paid for by a member of the congregation. 

Bingo: No schedule has been determined yet. 

Building and Grounds: No date has been scheduled yet for annual church spring cleaning. 

Old Business: Response to letter re: bingo and Halloween has been tabled to June meeting. 

New Business: None 

Round Robin: None 

Next meeting: June 8; location to be determined. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:15. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Kathy Speck, Recording Secretary

 

MARCH 2020 BOARD MEETING

BEAVER ISLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Board Meeting March 9, 2020, 3:30 p.m. BIRHC 

Moderator Judi Meister called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. Opening prayer by pastor Lee Bracey.  Also present were Mary Ellen Dawson, David Howell, Satch Wierenga, Ralph Williamson, Bev Vicstein on phone, and Rick Speck-Business Manager. 

Additions to agenda: None 

Correspondence: Letter from Ruth Gregg, placed under new business. 

Minutes: 

  1. Annual meeting minutes-Judi getting with Satch to track down.
  2. September 16th minutes, see above. c.
  3. February 3rd minutes, read by Rick. Motion Mary Ellen, 2nd Ralph, to approve minutes as read. Motion passed. 

Financial reports were presented and discussed by Rick. 

Motion by David to approve, second by Mary Ellen. Motion carried. 

Worship and Music: 

  1. Communion is scheduled for March 15th, Mary Ellen to setup and serve.
  2. Baccalaureate scheduled for May 24th, Pat Nugent to do service. 
  3. Lee Bracey checking into securing intern student pastors from Great Lakes Bible College, to cover for off season. However, he said student internships are scheduled for summers. Lee will try to find a professor or faculty member who could fill an openin
  4. Good Friday service to held at 5:00, Gene Drenth will be the pastor.

Building and Grounds: The Boven letter has generated $700.00 so far. 

Women’s Circle: Easter Brunch; Judi and Mary Ellen to meet April 10th, to create a list of volunteers, Easter is the 12th.

Building Use: Beth Croswhite, needs to use the Fellowship Hall for student testing April 14th to 16th Tuesday building use is from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm. Wednesday and Thursday hours are from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm. Beth will setup and take down. Use approved. 

Old Business: Preparing meals/freezing for distribution. David will think it over, some more. He has questions about amounts, prep, storage, size of audience. Ralph suggested a small run, to see how it is received. He thought the type of meals, should be soup, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. 

New Business: 

Letter from Ruthie concerning social events and BINGO, was read.

  1. Lee Bracey felt that her concerns should not divide the congregation.
  2. After board discussion, the consensus is that, these concerns are a membership decision. She should bring her concerns to the membership at the annual meeting. The moderator will respond. 

Round Robin: No concerns raised. 

Next meeting: April 13th. 

There being no further business, Judi made a motion to adjourn, second by David. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Rick Speck, Acting Recording Secretary

FEBRUARY 2020 BOARD MEETING

BEAVER ISLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Board Meeting February 3, 2020, 3:30 p.m., BIRHC 

Moderator Judi Meister called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Opening prayer by Mary Ellen Dawson. Also present were David Howell, Satch Wierenga, Ralph Williamson, Bev Vicstein on phone, and Rick Speck-Business Manager. 

Additions to agenda: Letter from Community Foundation-will discuss after Financial Reports 

Miscellaneous info: 

  1. WVBI calendar – we are not listed; we will look into why we were not.
  2. Judi got note Bob Kuehne regarding Sue’s upcoming surgery; sounds very risky. 

Minutes: 

  1. November 11 minutes – Motion by Mary Ellen to approve minutes as read, second by Ralph. Motion carried.
  2. Discussion with Satch to see if he could locate Jean’s notes from Annual Meeting and September 2019 minutes. If he can’t find Annual Meeting notes we will try to reconstruct them for minutes. 

Financial reports were presented and discussed by Rick:

  1. December – Motion by David to approve, second by Mary Ellen. Motion carried.
  2. January 2020 – Motion by Bev to approve, second by Mary Ellen. Motion carried.
  3. Discussion about Community Foundation (CCCF) letter. There currently is $16,764.91 in endowment fund, $2,554.82 in grant making fund, and $388.00 available this year. Rick is suggesting to Board that we take out $1,500 of the $2,554 from grant making fund, and $388 to help pay for the furnace. Motion by David to take the funds from CCCF in the amount of $1,888 and add the $2,000 donated by the Women’s Circle and draw $2,105 from the building fund to pay the entire cost of the furnace. Second by Ralph. Motion carried,
  4. Motion by Ralph, second by David, the financial report for November will be superseded by the approved financial report for December. Motion carried. 

Worship and Music: Discussion of list of Pastors for 2020 led to an idea presented by David to possibly work with Lee Bracy and Dan Johnson to see if we could get an intern from the Great Lakes Bible College in Lansing to help fill out open spots in the list. The Board felt it would be good for Lee to come to our next meeting and talk to the whole Board about this possibility. 

Building and Grounds: 

  1. Peak meter for parsonage to be installed by Great Lakes Energy.
  2. b. Sound system for church. Ralph discussed the work that has been done so far, and what has to be done yet, and what the Board thinks of the results. The Board liked what is happening so far and he said they will continue to work on the sound system. He gave Rick an invoice for his records for mic’s that were purchased and were a donation to the church by Ralph.
  3. The letter we received from Steve Boven was discussed. We will give him the list of Pastors and let him decide whom to send it to. 

Old Business: None 

New Business: 

  1. Appoint replacement for Jean until annual meeting. The idea was discussed and a motion was made by David to appoint Rick to fill this spot. Second by Ralph. Motion carried
  2. Appoint an additional member to the Benevolent Committee. Motion by Rick to appoint David, second by Judi. Motion carried.
  3. Since we are asking for volunteers to make meals for Satch and family, that there might be others in our church family that could use this once in a while. David that suggested that possibly once a month we could ask others to join us and together gather at Gregg Fellowship Center to prepare and pack some meals. We will talk about this at the next Board meeting. 

Discussion re church history: The Board decided to have separate meetings to work only on this document. Also they decided to give Ruthie and Lil Gregg and Howard Davis a copy what we have so far and ask for their thoughts on it. We would ask them to turn in their ideas ASAP or no later than the end of this month. 

Round Robin: 

  1. David and Ralph looked at the flickering lights in the church office; there are spare lights located in the church. Also they checked other lights around church, parsonage, and Gregg hall.
  2. Ralph said that he will not be able to the build the ramp into the storage shed until after mid-May because he is having surgery this spring. 

Next meeting: March 9 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Kathy Speck, Recording Secretary 

AUGUST 2019 ANNUAL MEETING

The Beaver Island Christian Church Annual Meeting was called to order by Moderator Judi Meister at 11:20 am on August 25, 2019.

Opening prayer given by Satch Wierenga.

Minutes of the August 28, 2018 Annual Meeting were read by Jean Wierenga. Motion by Mary Ellen Dawson and seconded by Kathy Speck to approve the minutes as written. Motion carried.

Election of Board Members: The Board approved slate of nominees; they are David Howell, Kim Mitchell, Greg Lawson and Jean Wierenga. Vote for 2.

Ballot counters were Tim Pickard and Bev Vicstein.  Absentee ballots counted by Kathy Speck and Satch Wierenga.

Moderator’s Report:

Judi highlighted many of the events of the past year. This was the 56th year for the Beaver Island Christian Church to be an active participant in the community. This was another successful year for all the visiting Pastors who continue to come. Pastor Dan Johnson has been very helpful in securing visiting Pastors.

Every Tuesday evening the visiting Pastor has a Bible study if he is able to remain on Island a few days. Sue Oole has a women’s Bible study each week. Other events include the Christmas Cantata, and men’s coffee every Tuesday morning at Dahlwinnies.

The Food Pantry, which is funded by donations, fills an important need in the community with 9 to 15 people coming to the pantry. The Benevolent Fund is supported by the congregation with offering taken twice a year. This year the board approved adding the Missions fund with the Benevolent fund. Bible School is hosted by Beaver Island Christian Church and is supported by all the churches on the Island. There were 40 children this year and 20 helpers.

120 padded chairs were donated to be used in the Gregg Fellowship Hall, and first use
was for the Thanksgiving dinner in 2018.

A big thank you to Alan Vicstein for taking care of bingo which is in its 6th year.

Thank you to Ralph Williamson for constructing the new storage shed which will be used to store the old chairs and other supplies.

Thank you to Ed Troutman who keeps the church Facebook page up and running and Bev Vicstein who puts the minutes on website and also writes the monthly newsletter. And a special thank you to everyone who volunteers.

Business Managers Report:  Even with offerings down as well as expenses over the past year, the church is doing well.

Presentation of Proposed Budget: Rick Speck presented the proposed budget for 2019-2020 with few changes. Motion by Bob Anderson and seconded by Alana Anderson to approve the financial report and the proposed budget as presented. Motion carried.

Determination of Financial Institution:  Chair will entertain a motion to recommend that the checking account remain at Charlevoix State Bank and that any certificates of deposit shall be placed in a financial institution recommended by the Business Manager and the Board Treasurer and approved by the Administrative Board. Motion by Ed Troutman and seconded by Larry Dawson to keep all accounts at Charlevoix State Bank. Motion carried.

Election Results: David Howell and Jean Wierenga elected to board.

Motion by Larry Dawson and seconded by Satch Wierenga to adjourn meeting at 12:15pm. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,
Jean Wierenga, Recording Secretary

ANNUAL MEETING 2018 MINUTES

The Beaver Island Christian Church Annual meeting was called to order by Moderator Judi Meister at 11:10am on August 26, 2018.

Ed Troutman opened the meeting with prayer.

Minutes of the August 27, 2017 meeting were read by Jean Wierenga.  Motion by Ed Troutman and seconded by Mary Ellen Dawson to approve the minutes as read.  Motion carried.

Vote on amendment to by-laws:  The by-laws (Article 5, Section B) contains the sentence, MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY ARE NOT PERMITTED TO SERVE AS VOTING MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.  The board believes that this seriously short-changes the board, and more importantly, the church by automatically excluding qualified, capable people from membership on the board.  The board, therefore, makes the recommendation to the church membership that the by-law be changed. Recommendation by church membership to remove the word (NOT) from the by-laws. Motion by Bob Anderson to modify wording that members of the same household are permitted to serve on the board.  Seconded by Alana Anderson. Motion carried. Votes to be counted by Mary Ellen Dawson and Tim Pickard. Change in by-laws passed, vote was 23 to 3.

Women’s Circle Report:  Successful year reported by Rose Spershott:  All planned events, Bake Sale, Trunk or Treat, Easter Brunch, Thanksgiving Dinner and Cookie Carnival went very well. Rose offered a special thank you to everyone who helped make these events a success.

Election of Board Members:  The Board approved slate of nominees are Doug Amstutz, Kim Mitchell, Satch Wierenga, and Ralph Williamson.  Vote for 2. Ballot counters: Rose Spershott and Larry Dawson.

Reports:

  1.  Moderator’s Report:  Judi highlighted many of the events of the past year.  This was the 55th year for the Beaver Island Christian Church to be an active participant in the community.  Was another successful year for all the visiting Pastor’s who continue to come. A Bible Study is held each Tuesday evening with the visiting pastor.  Sue Oole holds a Thursday morning Bible Study also. Baccalaureate for the graduates of Beaver Island Community School was held again this year. Other events included men’s coffee at Dahlwinnies on Tuesday mornings, and the summer picnic after church in the Gregg Fellowship hall once a month. The Food Pantry serves 20 to 25 people per month.  A grant thru the Charlevoix Community Foundation provided funding for holiday food baskets thru the food pantry. The Benevolent Fund same as before. Bible School which is hosted by Beaver Island Christian Church and also supported by the other churches on the Island, had 35 children and 20 volunteers. Bingo now in the 5th year.  Judi also thanked the church board members, and many, many volunteers who help during the year. She also asked that everyone continue to pray for Beaver Island Christian Church.  At the conclusion of the report, Alana Anderson offered a big thank you to Judi for all she does. She received a standing ovation.
  2. Business Managers Report:  Even with offerings down, as well as expenses were less over the past year, the church is doing well.  

Presentation of Proposed Budget:  Rick Speck presented the proposed budget for 2018-2019 with few changes.  Motion by Mary Ellen Dawson and seconded by Bob Anderson to approve the financial report and the proposed budget as presented.  Motion carried.

Determination of Financial Institution:

  1.  Chair will entertain a motion to recommend that the checking account remain at Charlevoix State Bank, and that any certificated of deposit shall be placed in a financial institution recommended by the Business Manager and Board Treasurer and approved by the Administrative Board.  Motion by Ralph Williamson and seconded by Ed Troutman to keep all accounts at Charlevoix State Bank. Motion carried.

Election Results:  Ralph Williamson and Satch Wierenga elected to the Board.

Member Comment:  Bob Kuehne asked about doing the history of Beaver Island Christian Church.  He stated he is very interested in doing it. He was asked to attend the next Board meeting to discuss his proposal.

Motion by Larry Dawson and seconded by Ed Troutman to adjourn meeting at 12:40pm.  Motion carried. 

Respectfully submitted,

Jean Wierenga, Recording Secretary