Board of Deacons (“BoD”) Meeting Minutes

January 18, 2014

中文翻譯在段落D.

1. In Attendance:

1. Attendees: Joshua Chang, Christopher Cheng (Secretary), Lawrence Liang-Shang Gan, Chun-Yi Hu, Lance Pan, Phil Sailer, Loren Shih (Head Deacon), Ji-Yong Wang (Treasurer), Ruike Wang, Xin-Wen Wang, Haiguo Wu, Jimin Xiong
2. Invitees: BoE members: Pastor Caleb Chang, Liqin Chen (Chairman of the Board of Elders), Timothy Lu (Board of Elders)
3. Absentees: none

2. Location: Conference room, church office building.

3. Meeting Agenda & Minutes

1. Meeting started at 9:08 am
2. Opening Prayer - Deacon Loren opened in prayer.
3. Board of Elders (“BoE”) Sharing (Elder Liqin Chen)

1. Elder Liqin highlighted key points from the January BoE Meeting.  For more information, please refer to BoE January 2014 meeting minutes.
2. Elder Timothy further shared his desire for strong teamwork and unity as we seek God’s specific guidance and wisdom for our church.
3. On January 26 at 2:00p, Chinese Bible Church of Greater Lowell will celebrate their 25th anniversary.  All CBCGB members are invited to attend.

4. Senior Pastor Sharing and Update (Pastor Caleb Chang)

1. 12/15/2013: Church was cancelled but a small group still showed up for worship service.  No offering was collected.  Because of the cancellation, the 123th baptism will have one additional member (although some EM members will be baptized later due to being away for school break)
2. After reviewing the 12/22, 12/29, and 1/5 joint service attendance rates, it may be worth reviewing whether it is worth maintaining the second service.  That time could be used for a general congregational gathering, baptism, or some other joint celebration.  However, future decisions should avoid adversely affecting English Ministry.
3. Chinese Missions Conference 2013

1. CBCGB had the highest attendance of any church; however, church members also volunteered to serve in many capacities besides just attending.
2. The conference was an opportunity to meet many potential speakers.
3. The church should look into outreach towards the “Post-90” generation of Chinese international students.  The U.S. offers a lot of student visas but not a lot of work visas.  We have a duty to counsel/advise these students as many return to China.

4. Concert of prayer was well attended and well organized.
5. A search committee for Children’s Ministry is being formed, while the search for a Chinese ministry fellowship pastor continues.  Prayers are needed to confirm called pastors.
6. Special speakers date changes

1. MGM-Spring’s event is moving to 3/21-23.
2. Rev. Wendell Friest’s visit is moving to April.

7. Senior Pastor appreciates BoD approval of fixing the heating system in the church office.  Because only the four circulator/pumps were replaced (and the hot water heater was not replaced), the cost was lower than what BoD originally approved.  A request for quote still needs to be put out for a natural gas boiler in the future.

5. Introduction for new BoD members (Loren Shih)

1. Loren went over BoD general procedures and standing agenda items.
2. Loren also shared about the English Ministry focus: Using our vocations for God.

6. IT Update (Joshua Chang)

1. Josh proposed creating both private and public wireless networks where bandwidth would be prioritized for the private network to ensure that critical services don’t go down.  BoD supports the idea, but expressed concerns about ensuring that the private network stays online, keeping the private network restricted, and preventing inappropriate use of the public network.
2. In order to make it easier to maintain the network, all church members are requested not to make any modifications to the architecture without contacting the IT deacon and ensuring that proper documentation is updated.
3. BoD discussed the idea of possibly outsourcing all IT to an external company who would do a monthly check up of all components including staff machines to ensure reliability and security.
4. BoD suggested looking into forming an IT committee of interested church members.
5. BoD discussed updating the church staff laptop upgrade policy to be in line with industry best practices.
6. BoD discussed how decisions regarding updating church website capabilities should be made as people request the ability to host new types of content.
7. The website team is working on creating a method for authorized individuals to access the church membership list through the website without compromising security or privacy.

7. Stewardship Update (Lawrence Gan)

1. Lawrence gave an overview of stewardship ministry members and stewardship council responsibilities.
2. The stewardship ministry is considering Wi-Fi remote controlled thermostats to enable remote monitoring and updating of thermostats.

1. Options include solutions from Founten and Honeywell.
2. BoD members also suggested researching thermostats from Nest.

3. The BoD was given a summary of the many projects and maintenance items that are in queue to be implemented in the future as well as an outline of recent facility inspections that have been completed in the recent past.
4. During January 2014, the church suffered multiple electrical failures.  A subsequent fire department inspection found the following issues that need to be taken care of prior to the town’s annual inspection:

1. Smoke detectors need to be installed in the chapel.
2. A determination needs to be made whether the basement sprinkler system is insufficient since the sprinklers are behind a light-weight drop ceiling.  The church passed inspection before (since a fire would melt the drop ceiling), so further clarification from the town is required.

8. Financial Report (Ji-Yong Wang)

* Note: If subtracting church main building re-roofing budgets, the available Capital Fund will be $334,226 on December 31, 2013.

5. For the budget summary - up to December 31, our total expense is at 43.9%, and our total offering is at 62.9% of the total annual budget.
6. The total CBE pledge on December 31 2013 is $410,660 from 120 units. The total CBE pledge offering from December 1 2012 to December 31 2013 is $567,293.
7. 2014 Mission pledge:
   Total $113,302, 58 Units (42 Family,16 Sin (617)621-0550 gle), [Goal: $340,000]
8. 2014 SCM pledge:
   Total $14,892, 31 Units (23 F, 8 S), [Goal: $31,000]
9. Finance committee will sponsor a workshop for ministry leaders to discuss how to manage budgets and approve expenditures.

9. Parking lot pedestrian lane (Loren Shih)

1. BoE has asked BoD to come up with a proposal to improve pedestrian safety (specifically for those walking from Stride Rite to the church building).  BoD will continue discussion at a future meeting.

10. Miscellaneous

1. The offering box is receiving 4-5 checks on average per week.  BoD needs to make a final decision regarding its use at the next meeting.
2. The church needs to determine whether we are prepared and willing to open the church for people in the event of a natural disaster.

11. Meeting adjourned by Loren at 12:03 pm.

D.

1. 出席:

1. 與會者: 張子剛, 鄭嘉文（秘書), 甘良生, 胡中義, 潘瀾 , 施志寧 (執事會主席), Philip Sailer,王繼勇 (財務), 王瑞珂, 汪新文, 吳海國，熊繼敏。
2. 受邀者: 長老團成員: 章開第 (主任牧師),  陳利欽 (長老團主席)，盧忠信(長老團)。
3. 缺席: 無.

2. 地點:教會辦公樓會議室

3. 會議議程及記錄

1. 早上9:08開始
2. 會前禱告 - 志寧
3. 長老團分享（陳利欽長老）

1. 利欽長老簡要報告一月份長老團會議。欲瞭解更多資訊，請參閱2014年1月長老團會議紀要。
2. 忠信長老進一步分享了，在我們為教會尋求神特別的帶領和智慧時，希望團隊合作堅強並合一。
3. 1月26日下午2:00 ，羅威爾華人聖經教會將慶祝25週年，所有CBCGB成員都受邀出席。

4. 主任牧師分享及報告近況（章開第牧師)  

1. 2013年12月15日：教會取消敬拜，但仍有一小部分會眾出席。沒有收奉獻。因為取消，第123洗禮將多一個成員（雖然一些英文堂成員因為學校放假要離開，將在以後受洗）
2. 在回顧12/22，12/29和1/5聯合崇拜的出席率後，可能值得評估是否需要保留第二堂英文崇拜。那段時間可用於一般的會眾聚會，洗禮，或其他一些聯合慶祝。然而，未來的決定應該避免對英文堂事工有不利的影響。
3. 2013華人差傳大會

1. CBCGB在各教會中有最高的出席率；並且教會成員不僅僅參加， 還主動參與多項服事。
2. 這次會議為我們物色未來講員提供了機會。
3. 教會應該考慮對“90後”的中國留學生的佈道。美國提供了大量的學生簽證，但不是很多的工作簽證。因有很多學生會回到中國，我們有責任向他們提供輔導和建議。

4. 跨年禱告會的參加和組織均良好。
5. 在繼續尋找中文部團契的牧師的同時，正在籌組兒童事工牧師的聘牧委員會。需要以禱告來確定被呼召的牧師。
6. 特別講員的日期變更

1. 華語部春季佈道會移至3/21-23
2. 傅立德牧師移至四月到本教會.

7. 主任牧師感謝執事會批准了修理教會辦公室的加熱系統。因為只有四個循環器/泵被更換（並且熱水加熱器沒有被更換），花費比執事會原核准的更低。仍然需要對未來的天然氣鍋爐進行詢價。

5. 向執事會新成員介紹執事會議程序（施志寧）

1. 志寧簡介了執事會的一般程序和現有的議程事項。
2. 志寧也分享了英文部事工重點：以我們所呼召的工作來服事神。

6. 資訊設備近況（張子剛）

1. 子剛建議建立內部和公共無線網絡，頻寬將被優先用於內部網絡，以確保關鍵服務不中斷。執事會支持這個想法，但提出對確保內部網絡暢通，設定內部網絡的權限，防止不當使用公共網絡方面的關注。
2. 為了更方便地維護網絡，所有教會成員在未聯繫IT執事並確保適當的文件被更新前，不應作任何架構上的修改。
3. 執事會討論了可能外包所有IT到一家外面公司的想法，能夠每月檢查所有組件，包括職員的機器，以確保可靠性和安全性。
4. 執事會建議有興趣的會員組成一個IT委員會。
5. 執事會討論了有關更新教會職員筆記型電腦的升級政策，使之符合業界最佳做法。
6. 執事會討論了當人們要求教會網站有承載新類型內容的能力時，如何做出網站功能更新的決定。
7. 網站團隊正在設計一種方案， 在不影響安全或隱私的前提下，使授權的個人可以通過網站查詢教會成員名單。

7. 產物管理委員會事工近況（甘良生）

1. 甘良生簡要介紹了產物管理委員會成員和產物管理委員會職責。
2. 產物管理委員會考慮安裝Wi-Fi遙控溫控器，以便於遙控監控、調節溫控器。

1. 擬選擇以下兩個公司的產品：Founten 和Honeywell。
2. 也有執事建議研究Nest溫控器。

3. 向執事會報告了需要在將來一一施行的若干計畫和維護項目，以及一份有關在前不久結束的設施檢驗的報告提綱。
4. 2014年1月教會設施發生了多次電力故障。消防部門隨後進行了檢查，發現了以下在鎮政府年檢前有待解決的問題：

1. 需要在副堂設置煙霧探測器。
2. 鑒於地下室噴淋系統設置被輕質天花板遮擋，這個噴淋系統是否有效，對此需要作出判斷。教會設施以前通過了消防檢查（因為吊頂在起火時會熔化），因此需要向鎮政府有關部門再確認。

8. 財務報告（王繼勇）

*注：如果除去教會大堂更換房頂的預算，截至到2013年12月31日，資產基金累積餘額為$334,226。

5. 預算結算，截至到12月31日，我們的總開支占43.9%，我們的認獻總額佔年度總預算額的62.9%。
6. 截止到12月31日，教堂擴建認獻額合計$410,660，來自120個奉獻單位。從2012年12月1日到2013年12月31日，教堂擴建認獻奉獻額合計$567,293。
7. 2014年差傳奉獻認獻額：合計$113,302，來自58個奉獻單位（42個家庭，16名個人）。目標：$340,000。
8. 2014年社會關懷奉獻認獻額：合計$14,892，來自31個奉獻單位（23個家庭，8名個人）。目標：$31,000。
9. 財務委員會將為事工負責同工組織一次研討會，討論如何管理預算及審批開支。

9. 停車場人行道（施志寧）

1. 長老團要求執事會提交一份有關改進行人（尤其是要從Stride Rite步行到教會建築的人）安全的建議書。執事會將在以後的會議中繼續討論這一議題。

10. 其它事項

1. 奉獻箱平均每個禮拜收到4-5張支票。是否繼續使用奉獻箱，執事會需要在下次會議作出最後決定。
2. 執事會需要決定，在遇到自然災害時， 我們是否準備好並且愿意開放教會設施讓人進來避難。

12點03分施志寧宣佈休會。