Board of Elders Meeting Minutes

        January 12, 2013

Present: Ming-Jer Tsai (Chair), Pastor Caleb Chang, Liqin Chen, Pastor King-Fai Choi, Ke-Chieh Chu, David Ho, Terry Yang (Secretary), Loren Shih (Chair, Board of Deacons), Lance Pan (Deacon Representative)

Invited: 3rd Service Core Group Representatives: Xinwen Wang, Esther Chang, Hui-Feng Lin

Elder Tsai opened with prayer at 9:00 am.

1. Personal Sharing

Elders shared their personal New Year resolutions, expectations for the Board of Elders in the coming year and prayer requests.

2. Senior Pastor Briefing

Pastor Caleb shared his desire for the congregation to become deeper in faith. Pastor Caleb also reviewed the preaching schedule for the year, office staff situation and state of Chinese Worship Ministry.

3. Board of Deacons Briefing

Deacon Loren provided updates on church information technology (Deacon Joshua Chang will assume responsibility for oversight in 2013), policy and procedures surrounding worship equipment purchases and organizational and relational direction for the Board of Deacons in the coming year. Deacon Loren and Lance expressed desire for prayer for unity as the Board of Deacons executes responsibilities.

4. 2013 Board of Elders Plan

Elder Tsai reviewed outcome of December 2012 BoE planning meeting; reviewed tentative Elder assignment of responsibilities and potential church-wide focus topics for 2013, including potential for church-wide retreat.

5. 3rd Worship Service Review

Xinwen presented on behalf of the Core Group the results of the experimental 3rd worship service. After an eight-week trial period (with minimal promotion), attendance has been less than 50 each week with a few seekers. Pros: Intimacy; high satisfaction level among current attendees. Cons: Goal of alleviating the capacity issues in the morning service, reaching the parents of children attending Sunday afternoon Chinese school and attracting Brandeis students not achieved; highly taxing in terms of resources and energy for speaker and co-workers; lack of full-service dissuading attendance.

BoE agrees to drop goal of outreaching the parents of children attending Sunday afternoon Chinese school and extend the experimental trial period for an additional three months with increased promotion. Core Group to discuss with English Ministry regarding potential change to earlier time for extended trial period.

6. Elder Nomination

BoE began initial discussions regarding candidates for nomination to the Board of Elders for 2014; Elders have been asked to recommend candidates.

7. Additional Topics

Elder Tsai reviewed current status of Missions, Social Concerns and Church Building Expansion pledges; open positions in Church Office Staff; and Off-Campus Request summary provided by the Senior Pastor.

Elder Ho closed with prayer at 12:42 pm.

長老團會議記錄

2013年1月12日

出席：蔡明哲 (主席)、章開第牧師、陳利欽、蔡景輝牧師、朱克潔、何明治、楊德禮 (秘書) 、施志寧 (執事會主席)、潘瀾 (執事代表) 。

邀請：第三場敬拜核心同工代表汪新文、張美恩、林慧鳳。

蔡長老於上午9時作會前禱告。

1. 個人分享

長老們分享了他們個人對長老團未來一年的新年新願、期許和代禱事項。

2. 主任牧師簡報

開第牧師分享了他對會眾信仰進深的渴望，並概述這一年講道的安排，辦公室職員的情况，以及華語部敬拜事工的現狀。

3. 執事會簡報

志寧執事報告執事會在未來一年，面對崇拜設備的採購、策畫和相關方向，在教會資訊（2013年將由Joshua執事負責監管）的技術、政策和程序方面的配合。志寧和潘瀾表示，盼望藉著禱告，來同心地執行執事會的職責。

4. 2013 年長老團的計畫

蔡長老總評2012年12月會議的決議結果，檢討長老暫定的責任分配，和全教會2013年可能的議題重心，包括可能有的全教會退修會。

5. 第三場主日崇拜的檢討

新文代表核心小組，報告第三場崇拜的試辦結果。經過8周的試驗期（採微量推廣方式），每星期出席率一直低於50人，慕道友也很少。優點：關係很親密，目前參與敬拜的，大都很滿意。缺點：分流早堂敬拜的擁擠、向周日下午中文學校家長從事福音外展的事工、和吸引布蘭代斯大學學生參加等，目標都沒有達到；大幅吸納了講員和同工的資源和力量；缺乏全方位的供應，阻礙了會眾的參與。

長老團同意，放棄周日下午對中文學校家長的外展事工，並將實驗期再延長3個月，加强宣傳。核心小組要和英語部討論，在延長實驗期間，提前開始敬拜，可能導致的影響。

6. 長老提名

長老團開始討論，關於2014年長老候選人的提名，要求長老們推薦候選人。

7. 其他議題

蔡長老檢討當前宣教的狀況，社會關懷和教會擴建的認獻，教會辦公室職員的空缺，以及主任牧師提出本教會2012傳道同工及職員請假外出的摘要報告。

何長老於中午12時42分作結束禱告。