Church 47th Anniversary Annual Meeting Minutes

October 16, 2016

  1. Location: Church sanctuary

  1. Meeting Agenda & Minutes
  1. Meeting started at 11:23 am.  Elder Ke-c        hieh Chu opened in prayer.
  2. Elder Ke-chieh reviewed the meeting agenda, welcomed new members, and reviewed the membership commitment.
  3. The seven deacon candidates who have been nominated to serve a two-year term starting in 2017 are:
  1. Jessica Chang (EM)
  2. Bow-nan Cheng (EM)
  3. Paul Huang (CM)
  4. Jason Lee (EM)
  5. Zongkui Joe Ma (CM)
  6. Ji-yong Wang (CM)
  7. Jian Zhang (CM)
  1. The three elder candidates who have been nominated to serve a three-year term starting in 2017 are:
  1. Yuguang He (CM)
  2. Timothy Lu (CM)
  3. Loren Shih (EM)
  1. Board of Deacons Report
  1. The HVAC system in the sanctuary was replaced and now uses gas instead of electricity.
  2. A new audio/video system has been put in place in the 151 building.
  3. The carriage house parking lot was widened for safety.
  4. New parking was added in front of the church office.
  5. New playground was installed.
  6. A new technology committee was created.
  7. Upgrades were made to the wireless network system, phone system, sanctuary projector, and video cabling (to support HD video in the sanctuary, room 220 and the chapel).
  8. A new video recording system for HD recording of sermons was installed.
  1. A new English Ministry brand, “Cross Bridge”, was created with the goal of building bridges across various cultures within CBCGB and building bridges with multicultural people to Christ.
  2. Chinese Ministry Fellowship Ministry Highlights
  1. Small group leadership and Bible study training was held this past year.
  2. The Memorial day retreat was held at Nichols College.
  3. Three new small group and fellowship groups were formed.
  1. Children’s Ministry Highlights
  1. All nine children’s programs are running well with over 200 children and 100 co-workers.
  2. Bible quizzing ministry has grown from 3 families in 2014 to over 30 families and 50 quizzers.
  3. Over 130 children attended the fall harvest party in 2015.  It will be held again this year on October 31 from 6:00-8:00pm.
  1. Youth Ministry Highlights
  1. Many students participated in short term missions and service trips this past summer to Hopi, Lynn, and NYC.
  2. Pastor Sandy Liu retired in September after almost three decades of service at CBCGB; Minister Stanley Chang and his wife Christine moved from Texas to Boston a week ago and Stan has begun as the new Senior High Minister this past week.
  1. City Outreach Ministry Highlights
  1. COM sent their first short term missions team to Lewiston Maine in July to work among Somali refugees.
  2. COM is searching for meeting facilities to support Bible study in Malden.
  3. The COM fall retreat will be on October 21-23.
  1. Metro South Ministry Highlights
  1. Metro-south Charter Membership was established in October 2015 with 78 members.
  2. Metro-south executive council was also established in October 2015.
  3. Metro-south celebrated their fifth anniversary on March 6, 2016 with 98 adults attending.
  4. Metro-south received all necessary legal documents for independence in May 2016.
  5. The personal loans for purchasing 383 Old Post Road were paid off in August 2016, one year ahead of schedule
  6. The new church building project is in the planning stages; the pledge drive towards $1 million has already surpassed 70% of the goal.  The mother church has pledged $150,000 to support the building project.
  1. Church Building Expansion Highlights
  1. Phase 1 Part 1 (rebuilding of 151) was completed at a cost of $1.14 million (under the budget of $1.2 million)
  2. Phase 1 Part 2 (additional upper level parking lot and parking lot exit) is still ongoing with a budget of $360,000.
  1. Historic Sunday worship attendance and general fund offering and expenses were reviewed .
  1. The largest offerings are typically in November and December.
  2. The largest general fund categories are staff salary and benefits (61%) and stewardship/facilities (14%)
  1. Pastor Chuck and Pastor Sandy retired this past year in June and September respectively.  Minister Stan was hired in October.
  2. Looking Forward
  1. Near-term
  1. The Board of Elders has approved Metro-South independence effective January 1, 2017.
  2. There are open positions for the lead English pastor and a part-time English administrative assistant.
  3. The next step for church building expansion is to complete Phase 1 Part 2.
  1. Long-term
  1. The church arrived at a vision statement earlier this year
  2. The next step to create a more detailed mission, followed by strategic goals
  3. The next phases of church building expansion.
  1. Meeting attendees prayed for the church vision and mission statement process in small groups
  2. The church secretary informs the meeting that there have been enough votes cast to make the vote official.
  3. Pastor Caleb gave an exhortation message.
  4. Pastor Caleb will step down from the Senior Pastor role by the end of year 2018, one year following his upcoming sabbatical.  Pray for the transition process and for God to continue to lead us toward higher ground.
  5. The annual report today is a summary.  You can find a more detailed and comprehensive report on the church website.
  6. Question and Answer
  1. The mission fund is depleting and is coming down at a rapid pace; does this mean the missions fund is in danger of running out?
  1. The simple answer is no.  A few years ago our missions fund had a positive balance of more than $200,000.  The Board of Elders had instructed the missions committee to spend down the excess funds, which began 4-5 years ago.  The committee has achieved this goal; the financial report for September indicates that the mission fund balance is about $60,000.  Elder Ke-chieh expressed faith that God will provide and that by the November/December time, more offering will be made to the mission fund.  He noted that offering for the mission fund has not decreased; it’s only that spending has increased.  The missions and social concerns conference will be next month in November during which the church will run its annual faith pledge for the missions fund, during which we hope to achieve our pledge goal target.
  1. The church website appears like it is largely being been ignored with many blank pages.  Even this meeting is not mentioned on the site; nor is the missions conference.  Do we need a new web site?
  1. The website in comparison with others is old.  It requires a lot of manpower to support.  The church hopes to improve on it in the next year.
  1. English ministry has provided leadership with a new name, web site, and vision.  What is the church’s long-term strategy; what is the church’s relationship with EM; and what is the most realistic future: will the church be separated into independent congregations?
  1. The short answer is‘no.  There is a very close relationship between English Ministry and Chinese Ministry.  It has been true in the past and will be true in the future.  The annual report articulates that the new English Ministry web site is for the purpose of expanding our whole church.
  1. The fall harvest festival celebration at our church appears to be just a repeat of what happens in the rest of the world.  Is there a better strategy?
  1. The fall harvest festival started with Pastor Sandy.  The celebration of Halloween is clearly non-Christian and the festivities at our church are to provide an alternative for our children.  Instead of going door-by-door for trick-or-treating, the church seeks to celebrate what God has provided for us.  If there are any suggestions about the content or activities in the event, please approach the pastoral staff with suggestions directly.
  1. Why is the church building a new or expanded building in Lexington when it seems more logical to build other churches in other communities to reach them, and not to be a poor neighbor to those on Spring Street by creating more traffic?
  1. The resolution passed in 2012 and corresponding communications about the church expansion plan should answer that question.  In 2012, the church had done quite a bit of church planting (e.g., COM), but the capabilities of the mother church seemed to have dwindled.  The church is saturated and over capacity in terms of its physical facilities.  The space available for the youth and children is currently very limited.  Through the membership meeting, it was passed that the church should build new church buildings on this site.  To expand outward, the church must also build strength at the mother church.  It is with God’s blessing that the church has been able to acquire the land and house from its neighbor to allow the expansion on that site.  It is a very challenging task and we will see how God will lead.
  1. Pastor Choi was once an acting senior pastor of this church.  Given the upcoming vacancy of the senior pastor position, should the church consider inviting him back?
  1. Pastor Choi is doing very well at Golden Gate Church in San Francisco.  If you’d like to invite him back, you may ask him yourself.
  1. What is the church’s plan to appoint a new senior pastor?
  1. The Board of Elders will discuss this at their November meeting.  One possibility is to begin very quickly with a senior pastor search committee.  The Board of Elders would like to ask for the congregation’s patience during this transition.
  1. The church’s attendance in 2016 has reached a plateau.  COM expressed a desire to expand their ministry to Malden, but it’s been over half a year.  Has COM found a place yet.  There is tremendous need, especially regarding students from China.  What is the plan?
  1. Pastor Pan and the COM co-workers have been vigorously searching for a place to begin a Malden fellowship.  The church has heard the calling and vision from the Malden Chinese and has been actively looking for a place to expand its ministry to that area.  The congregation’s patience is requested.
  2. Elder Chaw-Bing Chang added additional information about Malden since he is personally part of COM and has observed how COM is trying to find a place   If anyone has any contacts or leads on a location, please let church leadership know.  Pastor Pan and the COM co-workers have knocked on many doors and tried many churches; it has not been easy.  Renting a place is very expensive, and no churches have expressed any interest in supporting the initiative.  He requested patience; just like Ruggles church, the doors will suddenly open and we must continue to have faith.
  1. Pastor Caleb prayed at 12:41pm and Elder Ke-chieh adjourned the meeting.
  1. Addendum
  1. In a congregational vote on the same day, the motion to approve the following seven deacon candidates to serve a two-year term starting in 2017 and the following three elder candidates to serve a three-year term starting in 2017 was passed.
  1. Deacons:
  1. Jessica Chang
  2. Bow-nan Cheng
  3. Paul Huang
  4. Jason Lee
  5. Zongkui Joe Ma
  6. Ji-yong Wang
  7. Jian Zhang
  1. Elders:
  1. Yuguang He
  2. Timothy Lu
  3. Loren Shih