Board of Deacons (“BoD”) Meeting Minutes

        August 17, 2013


中文翻譯在段落D.

A. In Attendance:

  1. Attendees: Joshua Chang, Howard Chen, Emily Cheng (Secretary), Chunyi Hu, Lance Pan , Wensong Pan, Loren Shih (Head Deacon), Ji-yong Wang (Treasurer).
  2. Invitees:

BoE members: Ming-jer Tsai (Board of Elder).

  1. Absentees: Pastor Caleb Chang, Xinyu Li, Philip Sailer, Ruike Wang, Xinwen Wang.

B. Location:

Conference room, church office building.

C. Meeting Agenda & Minutes

  1. Meeting started at 9:07 am
  2. Opening Prayer - Deacon Joshua opened in prayer.
  3. Pastoral Sharing - No pastoral update this month.
  4. Board of Elders (“BoE”) Sharing (Elder Ming-jer Tsai)
  1. Recap of BoE July Meeting
  1. Approved new deacon and new elder nominations.  Will be presented in BoE minutes and church council meeting.
  2. Senior Pastor requested the hiring of a new Chinese Ministry pastor
  3. Ministry review - Relationship between BoE and BoD, how to facilitate communication between two boards.
  4. New website (“Joshua project”) phase I soft launch will be announced to the congregation this Sunday (August 17, 2013), work will continue on the site during the soft launch, praise God for good fellowship and relationships built among website team.

  1. Financial Report, July 2013 (Ji-yong)

Funds

Offering

Expense

Total

Cumulation

General

$107,326

$109,724

-$2,398

-$2,398

Mission

$37,414

$29,292

$8,151

$182,297

Capital

$0

$2,649

-$1,649

$480,238 *

CBE

$20,146

$3,413

$16,732

$318,322 *

SCM

$2,350

$449

$1,900

$37,474

  1. Capital Fund Note - In July, the offering is $0 and the expense is $2,649, the deficit is $2,649 and the cumulative surplus on July 31 is $480,238, including the cumulative surplus of $482,887 from 2013 fiscal year (Note: If church main building re-roofing budget is subtracted, the available Capital Fund will be $330,238 on July 31, 2013).
  2. General Fund account resets to $0 every fiscal year.  All other accounts include cumulative surplus from 2013 fiscal year.
  3. Budget Summary up to July 31, our total expense is at 7.3%, and our total offering is at 7.1% of the total annual budget.
  4. Review of accounts that have used more than 8.3% (1 month out of 12 month’s budget)
  1. Worker’s Compensation  - compensation is paid quarterly, so using more than 8.3% is appropriate.
  2. IT Budget - includes 1-time computer purchase, however telephone expense account needs more investigation.  Finance committee & Josh Chang (IT deacon) will verify who is authorized to sign for this account. Telephone expense account includes mobile phone monthly fees.  
  3. Literature Ministry - uses this fund 2-3 times a year for limited printing.

  1. Discussion regarding spending policy issues-
  1. Issues raised - should account signing authority should be transferable? one-time exceptions are allowable, but not blanket authorization; policy needs clarification; finance committee has difficulty verifying correct signatures due to multiple accounts, changes in ministry leaders, and temporary authorizations; authorization list needs to be reviewed every fiscal year; perhaps sub-categories should be added for specific authorizations (e.g. cable bill only).  
  2. Possible solutions - move to online authorizations of financial request forms to make sure the person who signs the form is the person who is authorized for the account; BoD needs to improve the mechanism to encourage members to request approval from account owners before spending money; consider online control mechanisms;  financial committee will begin to return request forms that do not have proper signature authorization and hold checks; solution needs to include better communication as well as a better system to process expense requests; as our church grows bigger, this problem will become more noticeable - solving this problem will allow us to be good stewards; improve transition between old and new co-workers; Deacon Josh (IT deacon) will investigate an online expense request system; BoD will take the lead on this project.
  3. Action - Head deacon Loren will coordinate this effort including:
  1. Email out procedures to ministry leaders and church council
  2. Reminder to ask for approval from account line managers before spending
  3. Mechanism to make sure that the signer of an expense form is authorized to sign for that account
  1. In light of confusion over who owns which accounts during co-worker transitions, a proposal was made to consider a year all-hands meeting to understand how things operate in the church.  

  1. Special Social Concerns/Missions Conference Security Procedures (Lance)
  1. Speaker is still working in the field and requires special security procedures
  2. Proposed safety measure procedures will be discussed with speaker team and BoE
  3. Need to have general event checklist policy in place to be used in tandem with special security concerns for this conference
  4. Action Items - present procedures to speaker, include procedures to deal with overcrowding, deacons will continue to discuss potential security concerns online, escalate these draft procedures to the BoE for consideration

  1. Stewardship Update (Howard) - no update this month.

  1. Miscellaneous
  1. Offering Box (Ji-yong) - Should we re-establish the offering box in foyer?

Discussion regarding the pros & cons regarding re-establishing an offering box in the foyer;  if we re-offer the box, it will help when church attendees arrive late, when ushers are asked to take offering on behalf of a late comer, when attendees line up in front of offering room which presents security issues; if we offer a box, offering box needs to be publically monitored; preference to have a permanent box instead of a temporary box since it is difficult for one or two people to be responsible for the box, an offering box visible from the outside window is a security risk

Possible solution: secure permanent box bolted to the floor with better lock mechanism

Motion to offer a temporary offering box available from 9:15 am to 12:45 pm beginning on August 25, 2013 and ending on December 1, 2013 by Lance Pan.   Seconded by Wensong Pan.   Finance Committee will implement this motion.  BoD will re-evaluate during the December BoD meeting.  Motion passed.

  1. Security Cameras (Joshua)

security cameras were bought in 2012, but have not yet been installed

cameras need to be installed by September 30, 2013 due security concerns for offering box and special speaker in November.

  1. Donations Policy for salaried CBCGB staff - policies are in place and have been located.
  2. Friday Night 151 Overcrowding - will be discussed over email.

  1. Closing Prayer by Loren.

  1. Meeting adjourned at 12:01.

D. Translation in Chinese

波士頓郊區華人聖經教會

執事會議記錄

        2013年8月17日


A. 與會者 :

  1. 執事: 張子剛 陳國榮劉安玲(秘書)胡中義潘瀾潘文嵩 施志寧(執事會主席)王繼勇(財務)。 
  2. 應邀: 長老團  蔡明哲長老。
  3. 缺席: 章開第牧師,李新宇,Philip Sailer王瑞柯,汪新文。

B. 地點:  教會辦公室會議廳

 

C. 會議程序與記錄

  1. 早上9:07 開始
  2. 開始禱告 –張子剛執事。
  3. 牧師分享  –本月沒有牧師簡報。
  4. 長老團分享 (蔡明哲長老)
  1. 長老團七月會議簡報 
  1. 通過新一屆執事和長老提名。將在長老團會議記錄和教會長執聯會公佈。
  2. 主任牧師要求再聘請一位華語部牧師。
  3. 事工檢討-- 長老團與執事會之間的關係,怎樣促進兩者之間的溝通。
  4. 新網站(約書亞工程)第一期完成的將在這個主日(2013年8月17日)向會眾公佈。試用期間將繼續進行在線修正。感謝主賜網站建設團隊有良好團契及相互關係。

  1. 財務報告, 20137 (王繼勇)

經費

奉獻

支出

結存

累積結存

常費

$107,326

$109,724

-$2,398

-$2,398

差傳

$37,414

$29,292

$8,151

$182,297

資產基金

$0

$2,649

-$1,649

$480,238 *

教堂擴建

$20,146

$3,413

$16,732

$318,322 *

社會關懷

$2,350

$449

 $1,900

$37,474

  1. 資產基金  --  7月份奉獻為$0支出是$2,649, 赤字$2,649。7曰1日的累積結存是$480,238, 其中包括2013財務年度的累積結存$482,887 (注:若減去教會主樓屋頂修建預算,則2013年7月31日的可用資金是$330,238)
  2. 常費賬戶每個財務年度開始時歸零。其他賬戶延續2013財務年度的累積結存。
  3. 截至7月31日的預算總和,總支出佔全年總預算的7.3%,總奉獻佔全年總預算的7.1%
  4.  已經用了超過全年總預算的8.3%的账户核查(超过平均每个月預算)
  1. 員工賠償– 賠償金是按季度支付,所以用了超過8.3%是可以理解的
  2. 資訊預算– 包括一次性購買計算機。電話費支出戶頭需要進一步調查。財務委員會和資訊執事張子剛將確認誰有權簽署這個賬戶。電話費用賬戶包括手機的月費。
  3. 文字事工–用這筆經費作有限的印刷一年2-3次

  1. 關於支出方面的一些問題的討論
  1. 問題– 財務賬戶的簽字權可否轉讓?一次性的例外是允許的, 但不被授權。需要澄清政策。由於帳戶多,各事工負責人的的變動,和臨時授權,造成財務委員會難以核實正確的簽名授權。簽名授權清單每一會計年度需要檢討,也許個別賬戶需要增加分帳戶授權(如有線電視賬單)。
  2. 可能的解決方案- 財務申請表網上在線授權,以確保簽署該表格的人是被授權的。執事會需要完善機制,促使會員在花費之前尋求帳戶授權者的批准。財務委員會將退回沒有正確的簽名授權報銷單並扣留支票;解決方案需要包括更好的溝通,以及一個更好的系統來處理費的報銷單;隨著我們教會的不斷增長,這個問題將變得更引人注目- 解決這個問題,將使我們成為好管家; 幫助改進新交接; 張子剛執事(IT執事)將對這個網上提出開支系統進行調研。執事會將主導這個項目。
  3. 執行– 執事會主席Loren 將主持和協調這項計劃的進行,包括:
  1. 發電子郵件給各事工的負責人及教牧長執聯會各成員。
  2. 提醒大家在各項支出之前取得相關賬戶負責人的同意。
  3. 建立由項目負責人簽署支出報銷單的制度。
  1. 關於在同工交接期間誰將擁有財務帳戶的問題,提出一項動議考慮召開所有同工的年度會議,使大家都了解教會各項工作的程序。

  1. 特別社會關懷/宣教年會安全措施(潘瀾)
  1. 講員仍然在工場工作, 並需要特別的安全措施。
  2. 建議的安全評估措施將由講員團隊和長老團討論。
  3. 需要準備一份通用事件檢查清單,用於這次年會的特別安全考慮。
  4. 行動項目 – 把措施遞交給講員, 包括如何處理人員過於擁擠的措施, 執事們將繼續在網上討論潛在的安全隱患,修改這些草案並提交執事會考慮。
  1. 產物管理委員會現狀(陳國榮)本月無更新事項。
  2. 雜項
  1. 奉獻箱(繼勇)-我們應該在大廳重新設立奉獻箱嗎?
  1. 討論關於在大廳重新設立一個奉獻箱。如果我們重新提供奉獻箱,這將在下面的幾個方面有幫助, 作禮拜的人遲到,遲來者要求招待接受奉獻,參加者在奉獻房間的前面排隊產生安全問題的時候;如果我們提供了一個奉獻箱,奉獻箱需要公開監控;最好有一個永久的奉獻箱,而不是一個臨時奉獻箱,因為僅由一個或兩個人負責是困難的, 一個從外面的窗戶能看到的奉獻箱是有安全風險的。
  2. 可能的解決辦法:把永久奉獻箱固定在地板上, 並具有更好的鎖
  3. 議案-潘瀾提議提供一個臨時奉獻箱, 從20138月25日上午9:15至下午12:45開始,截至2013年12月1日。潘文嵩附議。財務委員會將實施這項議案。執事會將在12月的執事會會議重新評估。議案獲得通過。
  1. 安全攝像頭(張子剛)
  1. 安全攝像頭已於2012年購買,但一直沒有安裝。
  2. 安全攝像頭需要在2013年9月30日前安裝, 為著奉獻箱和11月的特別講員。
  1. CBCGB的受薪人員的奉獻制度 -制度文件找到
  2. 週五晚上151過於擁擠-將會在電子郵件裏討論。
  1. 由Loren 做結束禱告。
  2. 會議於12:01結束。

波 士 頓 郊 區 華 人 聖 經 教 會

Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston

149 Spring Street, Lexington, Massachusetts 02421

Tel: (781) 863-1755  |  Fax: (781) 674-2312  |  E-mail:cbcgb@cbcgb.org  |  Web: www.cbcgb.org