CBCGB Church Council Minutes, Q4 of 2016

December 10, 2016

1. In Attendance:

1. Board of Elders (“BoE”): Bryan Che, Ke-chieh Chu, Yuguang He, David Ho, Timothy Lu, Terry Yang
2. Board of Deacons (“BoD”): Joshua Chang, Christopher Cheng (Secretary), Phil Sailer, Beata Shih, Xin-Wen Wang, Haiguo Wu (Head Deacon), Jimin Xiong, Jian Zhang, Tuanfeng Zhang, Shanchuan Zhao
3. Pastoral Staff: Pastor Steven Bowman, Minister Stanley Chang, Senior Pastor Caleb Chang, Pastor Steve Chang, Pastor David Eng, Pastor Jennifer Lin, Pastor Ju-Ta Pan, Pastor Jiang Wei, Minister Yuegang Zhang
4. Invitees:

1. Incoming BoE members: Loren Shih
2. Incoming BoD members: Bow-nan Cheng, Jason Lee, Zongkui Joe Ma, Ji-yong Wang

5. Absent:

1. Deacons: Chun-Yi Hu, Lance Pan

2. Location: 151 building main meeting room

3. Meeting Agenda & Minutes

1. Meeting started at 9:11 am.  Pastor Caleb opened in prayer.
2. Elder Ke-chieh welcomed all incoming church council members (new elders, deacons, and minister).
3. Reports from the pastoral staff (Pastoral staff)

1. Church-wide activities highlights

1. The church welcomes minister Stanley Chang again to the church.
2. The senior pastor succession plan has been announced.
3. The church council will finalize the 2017 church calendar today.

1. Besides the short form calendar, different ministry events have been integrated into the long form calendar.
2. The pastoral staff has requested that church council meetings and Mandarin Gospel Meeting dates be moved to separate weekends from each other.

4. "Capacity De-bottlenecking Feasibility Study" will be presented by Lexington pastors later today.
5. Thanks to the Board of Deacons for finding a new medical insurance provider for church staff members which has saved the church money without reducing benefits.
6. There are three year-end missions related activities:

1. Chinese Missions Conference in Baltimore
2. Chinese Overseas Christian Mission short term missions trip in London
3. NEWS Camp in Western MA

7. Many potential candidates are lined up for thorough English pastor search committee interviews.  Please be patient and prayerful requiring trust and prayer.  Emily Cheng has taken on leadership of the committee.

2. Lexington Chinese caring ministry

1. Stephen Ministry hopes to mobilize more brothers and sisters to join the team starting next year.
2. On Sunday, October 23, a workshop about workplace ministry was held with guest speaker Mrs. Lily Gao Yang.
3. Two Marriage Enrichment Retreat events in 2017 have already been scheduled for March 3-5 and April 7-9.

3. Lexington Chinese fellowship ministry

1. Fellowships and small groups keep growing and had Thanksgiving dinner gatherings for outreach.
2. Fellowships helped with the fall cleaning of tree leaves.
3. Evangelism Explosion training has started.

4. Lexington Children’s ministry

1. Fall Harvest Party on October 31 went smoothly; all congregations served together with 75 children in attendance.
2. The ministry held children’s programs in support of the Fall Mandarin Gospel Meeting and Missions and Social Concerns Conference.
3. Attendance peaks for 2016

1. Session 1 - 134
2. Session 2 - 138
3. Awana / Friday Night - 102 (down from 125 last year)

4. Pastor Bowman will be away from December 26 until January 1 to direct the children’s program at Chinese Missions Conference 2016 in Baltimore, MD.
5. The ministry needs core leader(s) for Sunday School, Friday Nursery, and Summer/Special programs.

5. Lexington youth ministry

1. Minister Stan Chang and his wife Christine arrived in October.
2. Passion Night (November 25) presented a significant opportunity for students to step up in  leadership.
3. Around 100 people attended youth parent noodle night on December 3.
4. Three successful parent meetings were held this semester with parents asking for more meetings next year.
5. The ministry would like to have more family worship and family activities.
6. Winter retreat planning is ongoing.
7. Many youth are attending Chinese Missions Conference in December.
8. Senior High friday night fellowship still needs two female counselors.
9. Upcoming events next semester:

1. Winter Retreats (February 2016)
2. Continued parent meetings
3. Outreach-focused event in April

6. Lexington Cross Bridge

1. The Cross Bridge name has been rolled out with a new logo, new sign in foyer, new bulletins, and a new website:  www.crossbridge.life.
2. Fall preaching:  Philippians.  Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary continues to assist in speaking duties with David.  We have received much positive feedback about him.  Dr. Arthurs has committed to help through April 2017.
3. Several new leaders have begun serving on Cross Bridge leadership core, while a smaller number of people have rotated off.
4. About 80 people attended the Cross Bridge Thanksgiving lunch.
5. Average attendance through November was 223 people (versus 226 over the same period in 2015).
6. Intercollegiate College Fellowship prepared Christmas baskets for Route One Ministries and are helping with Boston Rescue Mission this Sunday.      
7. Charis had an evangelistic outreach event at Davis Square last month.  They will be preparing cards and gifts next week for missionaries.

7. City outreach ministry (COM)

1. The fall Gospel retreat on was held on October 21-23 with 120 adults and 12 children in attendance.  6 people accept Christ at the retreat.
2. 20 candidates were baptized at the fall baptism on November 20.
3. Around 190 people attended a Thanksgiving joint dinner for three fellowships, with around 80 seekers and 40 first-time churchgoers among the attendees.
4. Church members are participating in the Hope House Toy Drive
5. Christmas caroling to be held at a senior home on December 17.
6. Preparations are underway for a Christmas outreach on Christmas Eve.

8. Metro-south (MS)

1. Metro-south is preparing to become independent on January 1, 2017.  A formal celebration will be held on the anniversary of Metro-south’s first worship service (March 5th).
2. The Metro-south congregation is encouraged and appreciates mother church support for the Metro-south building project which consists of $150,000 over three years.
3. A cell group idea was proposed by church members with respect to small group development.  The idea will be discussed and implemented in the near future.
4. The church is considering hiring a part-time youth minister next year.

9. Pastoral off-campus service

1. Pastor Steven Bowman and Pastor Jennifer Lin will be at Chinese Missions Conference in Baltimore, MD on December 27-31.
2. Pastor Juta Pan will lead a workshop at the NEWS camp on December 23 and will lead campus ministry training and preach at Baton Rouge Chinese Christian Church on March 10-12.

4. 2017 calendar review/approval (Elder Ke-chieh)

1. The fall Mandarin Gospel Meeting will be moved in September from its usual weekend.
2. The March church council meeting will be moved up one week to eliminate resource conflicts with the spring Mandarin Gospel Meeting.
3. The church will seek to synchronize Friday night breaks during the summer between on-campus adult fellowship groups, youth, and children’s ministry.
4. Elder Ke-chieh motioned to approve the 2017 church calendar.  Pastor Jiang Wei seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

5. Report from the Board of Deacons (Deacon Haiguo)

1. Technology Updates

1. The sanctuary is now using a new digital audio mixer which both Chinese Ministry and Cross Bridge are actively using.
2. An extra WiFi access point has been added to the sanctuary to improve wireless connectivity.  The team is still considering adding one more access point..
3. A new video conferencing system has been put in place in the church conference room.
4. A new website for Cross Bridge (crossbridge.life) has been launched.
5. The Board of Deacons has decided to have one deacon lead content management for the main CBCGB website.

2. Stewardship Update

1. Property projects

1. The upper level parking exit driveway has been redesigned, reducing the cost of the project by 53%.
2. New upper-level parking lights powered by solar power will be installed by Twin Pines Landscaping.
3. A new entrance parking lot project is in its design phase.  The parking lot will be located in the area between 151 and the church office.  While originally, the design proposed 28 new parking spaces, it has since been revised to 18 spaces due to safety, zoning, and drainage concerns.
4. A new church entrance sign has been printed.  A new sign with the new English ministry brand, Cross Bridge, has also been printed.  There is also a proposal to landscape the area around the entrance sign with arborvitae and rhododendron.
5. A new LCD television has been installed in the basement by the elevator.

1. It was noted that the purchase of electronic and technology equipment needs to go through the technology committee so that the committee can coordinate the church’s technology strategy and effectively maintain and support such equipment in the future.

2. Property maintenance

1. A manual has been created for how to move the basement partition walls to ensure that walls and floors are not damaged.  The manual also includes how walls, tables, and chairs should be arranged at different times of the week to support church activities.
2. New parking signs in the carriage house parking lot have been installed to reserve parking for special educational purposes.
3. Unused chairs were moved from the chapel to Metro-south.
4. Due to misuse of thermostats, the stewardship committee now has sole control over the thermostats.  Signs have been placed next to each thermostat with contact information if they need to be adjusted.

1. It was proposed that one or two members of Cross Bridge also be given access to the thermostats to better accommodate situations such as during Chinese worship.
2. Other solutions were also suggested such as creating a temporary override button next to each thermostat.

3. Property management

1. The remaining balance for the church office parking lot work has been paid to Twin Pines Landscaping.
2. Better Comfort Systems inspected pipe layout work in order to begin HVAC project.
3. Met insurance agent to talk about our property insurance coverage, since the Sharon property will be removed from our policy after Metro-south independence.
4. Eversource was contacted in order to receive electricity credit refunds.
5. Quarterly elevator maintenance service has been completed.
6. The church passed its annual state elevator, fire alarm, smoke detector, and sprinkler inspections.
7. Pest control service was done.
8. The timer for the parking lot lights was updated with the end of daylight savings time.
9. Declined space renting proposals by IT companies

4. The chapel will be off limits starting this Monday, because the HVAC system will be undergoing transition.  Hopefully, the new system will be up and running by Friday night.

6. Report from the Board of Elders (Elder Ke-chieh)

1. Accomplishments

1. Planned annual membership meeting in October 2016
2. Approved Metro-south independence in October 2016
3. Established senior pastor search committee in November 2016; the members of this committee will be finalized later today.
4. Completed the annual staff salary review and adjustments in December 2016.

2. The Board of Elders reviewed the Chinese spiritual formation ministry review in November 2016, coordinated by Elder Terry.  The Cross Bridge review will be held today, coordinated by Elder David.

7. Quarterly Financial Report (Deacon-elect Ji-yong for Deacon Lance)

1. November financials:

2. Up to November 30, our total expense is at 30.7%, and our total offering is at 40.7% of the total annual budget (fiscal year ending June 30).  The target percentage is 41.7% (5 months of a year).
3. As of the end of November, $82,604 is allocated to the Metro-south from the MS building fund and “50% of Metro-south surplus through the end of this calendar year”.
4. Praise God that after November, the Missions fund is now positive.
5. As of December 4, there are 45 families and 19 individuals who have pledged $113,660 into Mission Fund (the goal is $360,000 and 350 units); and 39 families, 8 individuals who pledged $28,120 into SCM (goal is $31,000).

8. English pastor search update (Elder Bryan)

1. There continue to be many applicants and the committee continues to work through interviews.  There is a three stage process: 1) phone screen; 2) full committee interview; 3) bring the candidate for a visit.  There have been a few candidates that have reached the second stage, but nobody has yet reached the third stage.

9. Church building expansion requirement document review

1. Multiple campuses with live video streaming feasibility study (Elder Yuguang)

1. Elder Yuguang presented Grace Chapel as a case study for this model:

1. Grace Chapel has four locations, each offering a distinct worship experience with a wide range of ministry activities.
2. Each campus shares core components of Grace Chapel ministries, but each campus is unique and influenced by the needs of the individual congregations and surrounding neighborhoods.
3. Live streaming is primarily used to enable participation in a shared learning experience through their Sunday morning teaching.  Some campuses use a tape-delayed version of the sermon.
4. The Wilmington campus in particular started off with a team from the Lexington main campus with a pastor who had been on staff for 17 years.

2. Live streaming considerations

1. Effort

1. Building a critical mass of core families
2. Cost of campus
3. Cost of technical support

2. Benefit

1. Centralized message
2. Preaching resources shared

3. A question was raised whether the streaming model could also be used with a small to mid size fellowship group that meets remotely on Sunday (versus a large campus).  The technical equipment investment and maintenance is a concern that would need to be addressed.
4. It was noted that in essence, this model is planting a church without needing to identify new preaching resources.  The entire church would be unified around a single Sunday morning message and single vision.  However, we already have decentralized Sunday morning messages between Chinese Ministry and Cross Bridge.

2. Multiple worship services feasibility study (Pastor Caleb)

1. Pastor Caleb emphasized that the purpose of this entire discussion is to draw people who may otherwise not go to church to join us in worship to expand God’s kingdom and to enable people to grow spiritually.
2. Pastor Caleb presented a spreadsheet of possibilities for supporting multiple worship services in one campus.  Options presented included:

1. Add a Saturday evening Chinese service
2. Add a Sunday afternoon Chinese service
3. Fit three services (2 Chinese, 1 Cross Bridge) on Sunday morning
4. Add a Chinese service in the chapel at 11:15am
5. Ask both Chinese ministry and Cross bridge to both run two worship services with Chinese and Cross Bridge services running concurrently in the sanctuary and chapel.
6. Add a Chinese service in the chapel at 9:30 am, move the larger Chinese service to 11:15 am, and ask Cross Bridge to move to 9:30 am

3. All of these solutions require youth and children’s ministry to be expanded accordingly.
4. If worship services are to be held in the chapel, the church may want to renovate the chapel to improve acoustics and the overall worship experience, potentially including the area used by the side classrooms or kitchen into the chapel space.
5. There remain significant parking challenges with most of these options.

3. Church building expansion fellowship facility requirements (Deacon Joshua)

1. Parking requirements

1. One question is whether the church should be self-sufficient in parking.  If the answer is yes, then space needed for parking impacts the available facility footprint.

2. Fellowship facility requirements

1. Deacon Joshua broke out the brainstormed ideas and requirements into six categories:

1. Performances / Lectures
2. Fellowship
3. Sports / Activities
4. Food
5. Ancillary Rooms
6. Outdoors

2. In the interest of time, church council members are requested to go through the table of brainstormed use cases offline and classify them into necessary and nice to have.
3. It was noted that it is important to understand our church ministry priorities which dictate space usage priorities, because even if a use case is deemed necessary, other ministry priorities may prevent the use case from being implemented.

10. Pastor David closed in prayer and Elder Ke-chieh adjourned the meeting at 12:22 pm.