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Ad Council Meeting Minutes
11-24-2024
Attendees: Andy Bryan, Steve Wall-Smith, Lis Wall-Smith, Nancy Thompson, Ray Jauregui,
Jerry Blackwell, Kevin Watkins, Cathy Todisman, Charlotte Phelps, David Phelps, Rona
Chandler, Rachel Ward, Diane Watkins, Renee McDonough, Colette Cummings
Opening
• Steve opened the meeting with an Advent Devotional and prayer.
Celebrations:
• Hanging of the Greens
• Thanksgiving boxes
• Youth Friendsgiving
• Community Unity Thanksgiving Dinner record 100 attendees
• Spencer received good news on his health concerns
• Boo Crew
• Build a Gift committee has attracted new members
• Sunday School packed ~100 winter blessing bags
• Election night communion service at Eden filled the chapel
• Second Time Around shop is booming
• 8 people were here for the first time today
• Reign of God series
Finance
• Income is ~$30k ahead of expenses
o Have a couple of big expenses coming up such as insurance but we are in
good shape
• Christmas Offering recommendation – designate to Freedom School
o Cathy moved to approve, Colette seconded, APPROVED
Freedom School
• We would like to move forward with Freedom School next year
• We have about $10k leftover from a Social Justice grant of ~$33k for 2024 Freedom
School which we can rollover to use for 2025
• Potential end of year donation coming designated for Freedom School
• If we designate the Christmas Offering we can come close to covering all of the
expense
• If we did our own program, we could partner with MRH and avoid their Summer
School dates
• Group is meeting 12/10 to further review
Trustees
• Plaster is holding in the basement
• Still investigating a leak
• Removing a fridge from the kitchen
• Parsonage is being cleared out and having roof repaired
PPRC
• Liz’s new hire paperwork completed
• Two pay periods completed since previous meeting
Technology
• Chris is reviewing live streaming links that are pointed to archived services instead
of current
Community Unity
• 100 people that attended the Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday night – thanks to
everyone that attended and / or brought food to support the evening
Pastor’s Report
• Looked at oil candles for advent wreath and are unable to get the right size in time
for Advent
• Taking a planning retreat after church 12/1 through 12/3 to plan worship for the first
half of 2025. Please send any ideas to Andy!
• Charge Conference Packet
o Local Church Officers for Election
o Full-Time Pastoral Support
o Care of Members report
o Pastor Parish Relations
o Motion to approve by Nancy, second by Colette, APPROVED
o Pending: Trustees report
• Mission Statement Proposed Update:
o Maplewood United Methodist Church creates spaces where people can
have authentic encounters with Christ, discover their Spiritual gifts, and use
them for God’s glory.
o Received feedback from two people after having this in the newsletter, and it
was positive.
o Motion to approve by Charlotte, second by Diane, APPROVED
• Requesting support to research / have further discussions related to immigrant
support.
Other Business
• Online church directory – decision was made to discontinue access to the app that
was previously used.
o Potentially move to ChurchTrac, discussions are ongoing
• Joe’s Place
o Renee is on the board and will continue to serve in that capacity
o Historically the church has sponsored ~$200 annually toward their funding
o If we hear of more students, reach out to Renee. Potentially updating to
allow middle school students in addition to high school students.
• Poinsettias
o Boy Scouts sell poinsettias, we could partner with them next year to
purchase vs handling ourselves
• Thanksgiving boxes
o $47.65 / box
o Received $1,050 toward
• THANK YOU to Steve Wall-Smith for his service as Council Chair!
Approval of minutes from 10/27/24
• Motion to approve – Colette moved, Nancy seconded APPROVED
UPCOMING MEETINGS: December no meeting, January 26, 2025
Andy closed the meeting in prayer.
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