Board of Elders (“BoE”) Meeting Minutes

        September 14, 2013

Present: Ming-Jer Tsai (Chair), Pastor Caleb Chang, Pastor King-Fai Choi, Liqin Chen, Ke-Chieh Chu, David Ho, Terry Yang (Secretary), Loren Shih (Chair, Board of Deacons [“BoD”])

Invited for Evangelism Ministry Review: Xinyu Li, Hank Lu, Pastor David Eng

Invited for Special Devotional Sharing: Chunyi Hu

Elder Tsai opened with prayer at 9:03 am.

1. Brief Sharing

Deacon Chunyi shared about the recently completed six-day theological seminar in August by Wesley Hu on Biblical archeology. 160 total attendees, 25 registered for credit. Well-organized and received by attendees.

Elder David shared about the relationship seminar “From Dating to Marriage” at UMass Lowell that he taught with his wife Kathy last night.

Deacon Loren shared his gratification with how close and well the Chinese Ministry (“CM”) and English Ministry (“EM”) work together at CBCGB.

2. Update on State of CBCGB

Pastor Caleb provided the following updates:

• Past events to be thankful for, including Green Olive and pastors retreat and pastoral annual reviews.
• Concern about lack of missionaries coming out of the CM.
• No Concert of Prayer (“CoP”) in October; next CoP: First Night on New Year’s Eve.
• 15% increase in attendance in CM and Children Ministry year-over-year so far in September; logistical issues resulting from such rapid growth, particularly in light of the expected construction for the Church Building Expansion (“CBE”) project over the next six years.
• Need for church-wide strategic planning and leadership training to deal with expected logistical hurdles expected from the CBE project.
• Search for CM pastor with initial focus on fellowship ministry.
• Pastoral staff agreement that the Chinese worship pastor will “invite” the English worship leaders to begin preparations at 10:55 am regardless of what point in the service the Chinese worship is at.

3. BoD Update

Deacon Loren provided update on major BoD tasks (current and in planning), including meeting after the Church Council meeting next week, development of sign-off and approval process for church expenditures, possible re-introduction of offering box, installation of purchased security cameras, logistics regarding room usage on Friday nights in light of upcoming 151 Spring Street construction, and security concerns and logistics regarding special speaker during this year’s combined  Missions/Social Concerns Conference.

4. Ministry Review: Evangelism

Deacon Xinyu presented brief overview of annual Chinese evangelistic meetings:

• Typically high attendance (900 on Friday session last year);
• Historically, about 20-40 accept Christ during the 3-day event;
• Praise for broad investment of time and resources from Chinese fellowship groups in organization and execution;
• Areas for improvement:

• Follow-up for those who accept Christ during the event;
• Logistics, including adherence to fire code and flow and distribution of people during event;
• More prayer warriors.

Deacon Xinyu presented brief overview of individual Chinese fellowship evangelism efforts:

• Young Professional Fellowship (“YPF”) evangelistic camps and concerts each year;
• Challenges: Attracting young Chinese students and new immigrants (e.g. families moving to Boston from Asia so that children can attend school in U.S.);
• Geographic areas with evangelism opportunities: Malden and Quincy; BoE cautions CBCGB’s efforts should not undercut local Malden and Quincy Chinese churches;
• Campus Ministry: Joyful Heart at Brandeis (shepherded by Brother Hank); desire to expand ministry to Bentley and Babson.

Brother Hank presented brief overview of Evangelism Explosion (“EE”):

• Challenges:
• Each year, a number of seekers convert to Christianity through EE visits.

• Fewer seekers agree to visits by EE teams than in the past, even those who request more information during annual evangelism meetings;
• Fewer brothers and sisters attending EE training than in the past, and even fewer participate in field training (classroom only);
• Lost touch with some visited seekers;
• No attendees to this semester’s EE Sunday School class;
• Difficult to do “cold turkey” witnessing due to omission of that type of training in CBCGB’s EE curriculum.

Pastor David presented brief overview of EM efforts:

• Focus on grassroots efforts (through fellowships):

• Inter-Collegiate Fellowship: Large number of Gospel presentations and Christian conversions due to tangible yearly goals (e.g. “x” number of Gospel presentations this year or “x” number of Christian conversions this year) and significant growth from seekers;
• Charis: Tangible yearly goals difficult to set due to need to emphasize mandate for evangelism; recent successful small group “hangout” events where seekers are encouraged to attend;
• Compass: Fellowship in maintenance mode, so difficult to focus on evangelism;
• Home Groups: Fellowship in transition and contains a large number of young families, so time is scarce and focus difficult.

• Evangelism training courses offered: Becoming a Contagious Christian, Just Walk Across the Room
• Challenges:

• Unsure of vehicle/forum in which to emphasize evangelism; difficult to create space for evangelism due to many competing priorities;
• Perception that seekers would not find an ethnic church welcoming to non-Chinese;
• Lack of great burden for evangelism from many members;
• Little visible modeling by EM leaders.

• BoE charge to identify opportunities for EM evangelism efforts to focus on and perhaps inject more energy.

5. Church Directory

Brothers SC Chang and Edward Chen presented need for church directory, either in printed version or online (or combination), and proposed mechanisms for collecting and disseminating information, ongoing maintenance of directory and addressing privacy concerns.

Elder David moved to restart directory in principle, Elder Liqin seconded. BoE passed motion, with the expectation that the directory would be opt-in only.

BoE charges church office staff to oversee creation and maintenance of the directory, and directs Brother SC Chang and website team to assist church office staff in assembling directory team and developing and executing process for creating and maintaining directory.

6. Additional Topics

• Bylaws Revision: Chinese translation in process; final draft to be presented to the Church Council during September meeting in preparation for presentation to the congregation for ratification during the Annual Meeting in October.
• Informational Meetings: City Outreach Ministry (proposed for 12/1), MetroSouth (proposed for 1/26), EM (further investigate avenues for communication to and receive feedback from EM).
• BoE Meeting Minutes: BoE agreed to rotating assignment for proofreading translation of BoE meeting minutes each month.
• Annual Report: In process under oversight of pastoral staff.

7. Elder Nomination

• Discussed second term Elder nomination candidates to be presented to Church Council. Through e-mail, Elders Ke-Chieh Chu and Terry Yang were nominated and approved for second term 2013 BoE candidates.

8. Pastoral Staff Search Procedures

• Reviewed proposed pastoral staff search procedure proposed by Pastor Caleb for the CM pastor with initial focus on fellowship ministry opening. Per existing CBCGB Bylaws, BoE clarified that approval of the BoE is required to fill the position, and only the BoE may extend offers for the position.

Elder Liqin closed with prayer at around 1:16 pm.

長老會會議紀要

2013年9月14日

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

福音事工受邀者：李新宇，盧漢台，吳經權牧師

特別分享受邀者：胡中義

蔡長老於上午9點03分以禱告開始今天會議。

1. 簡要分享

中義執事分享了八月份由胡維華牧師提供為期六天的神學講座“從考古學看舊約歷史”。 共有160個人參加，25人個登記修讀學分。組織很精心，參與很積極。

何長老分享他和悅悅師母昨天晚上在麻大羅爾校區的關係研討會中，教導“從約會到婚姻”。

施執事分享他對於本教會中文及英文部能夠緊密、融洽地同工的感恩。

2. 教會狀況彙報

開第牧師做了以下彙報：

• 最近感恩的事項，包括青橄欖團契和牧長們的退修會，以及牧師年度評鑑。
• 對於華語部沒有人出來成為宣教士的關心。
• 今年10月將沒有合奏禱告會；下一個合奏禱告會將在新年的第一夜舉行。
• 到今年九月為止，中文部和兒童事工的出席率保持了每年15％的增幅；這樣快的增長速度對教會的後勤，特別是考慮到在今後六年中的教堂擴建項目，可能造成的問題。
• 需要全教會有一個策略規劃和領導培訓，以應對在擴堂期間可預期的後勤障礙。
• 為中文堂招募新牧師——最初的重點將放在團契事工。
• 教牧同工達成一致意見：不管中文崇拜講到哪裡，10點55分的時候，中文崇拜的牧師將“邀請”英文崇拜的領會開始準備。

3. 執事會彙報

施志寧執事彙報了執事會主要任務（當前和規劃中），包括將於下週教會聯會後的執事會會議；確立教會支出的簽署和批准程序；重新放置奉獻箱的可能；安裝已購買的安全攝像機；151號房子重整期間，週五晚上房間使用的安置問題；今年宣教事工和社會關懷事工聯合會議期間特約講員的安全和後勤安排。

4. 福音事工彙報（佈道會）：

新宇執事就年度中文佈道會作出簡短的總結：

• 通常出勤率都很高（去年週五的講座達到了900人）；
• 從歷史上看，3天的佈道會期間共有20-40人決志信主;
• 為中文團契能夠投入如此多的時間和資源參與組織和服侍而感恩;
• 需要改進的地方：

• 對在佈道會期間决志者的後續跟進事宜；
• 後勤，包括佈道會期間遵守有關人流與疏散的消防規定;
• 更多的禱告勇士。

新宇執事就個別中文團契傳福音的工作，提出簡短總結：

• 社青團契每年的福音營和音樂會;
• 挑戰：吸引年輕的中國學生和新移民（例如，爲了讓孩子在美國念書，而從亞洲搬家到波士頓的家庭）;
• 有傳福音潛力的地區：Malden和Quincy；長老團也提出關切，認為本教會的發展不應削弱在Malden和Quincy當地的華人教會;
• 校園事工：Brandeis的Joyful heart團契（由盧漢台弟兄牧養）；盼望事工能拓展到Bentley和Babson。

盧漢台弟兄簡要報告“EE佈道”：

• 挑戰：

• 每年都有一些慕道友通過EE探訪而信主。

• 最近較少慕道友同意EE家訪，包括那些在佈道會中表示希望接受更多有關福音信息的人;
• 跟以往比，願意接受EE課程訓練的弟兄姐妹也有所減少；更少人願意參加實地培訓（教室為主）;
• 有一些過去探訪過的慕道友也失去聯繫;
• 這學期EE主日學課程沒有人參加。
• 由於教會EE課程缺乏這類的訓練，很難有“突然戒掉”的見證。

吳經權牧師針對EM事工作了簡短的總結：

• 聚焦于基層工作（通過團契）：

• 校際團契：因為有具體的年度目標（如今年有“X”個福音講座或“X”個信主人數）和慕道友數目顯著增長，所以有許多的傳福音聚會和邀請人信主。
• Charis：由於需要強調傳福音的任務，難以設定具體年度目標；最近有成功的小團體聚會活動，鼓勵慕道友參加;
• Compass：團契處於維持狀態，所以很難專注於傳福音，
• 家庭組：團契在轉型中，並有大量的年輕家庭，所以缺少時間、難以強調福音事工。

• 提供福音培訓課程：成為有感染力的基督徒，只要踏出房間一步

• 挑戰：

• 尚不確定注重福音的渠道、論壇﹔由於其他事工優先順序上的安排，很難為傳福音創造空間。
• 觀察到非華人慕道友不太能融合到本教會。
• 很多教會成員缺乏傳福音的負擔;
• EM領導人也沒有起到足夠的帶頭作用。

• 長老團會協助集中EM傳福音的努力和確認時機，並要注入更多的精力。

5.    教會通訊錄

• 世珏弟兄和 台勝弟兄表示有需要製作教會的通訊錄，不論是印刷本或是網上通訊（或兩者），提出對資料蒐集，傳送， ​​通訊錄的維護和隱私權保障的機制。
• 何長老提議開始通訊錄的製作，利欽長老附議，長老團通過，但在會眾可自由選擇被列入與否的前提下。
• 長老團授權教會辦公室同工們監督整個通訊錄的製作和維護，並指示世珏弟兄和網頁設計團隊，在組織通訊錄小組和對於通訊錄的設計及維護，在策劃和執行上全力協助教會辦公室同工們。

6.    其他議題

• 教會憲章修改：中文翻譯在進行中，最終草案在九月份聯會中提出，以便於十月份年會時提交與會友表決。
• 資訊會議：城區事工（預訂12/1），南區（預訂1/26），英文堂（進一步研究與英文堂溝通和反饋的途徑）。
• 長老團會議記錄：長老團同意每人輪流擔任長老團月會中文翻譯的校對工作。
• 年度報告：在教牧同工監督下正在進行中。

7.    長老提名  

• 討論第二個任期的長老提名以交與聯會。透過電郵，長老朱克潔及楊德禮已經被提名及認可為2013年第二任長老候選人。

8.     牧長聘請的程序

• 討論了開第牧師提出的華語部以團契事工為首務的牧師聘牧程序。對於現有教會章程，長老團澄清，候選人要經長老團的同意才能被聘用，且只有長老團才能發聘書。 

利欽長老在下午一點十六分以禱告結束會議。