ROAD CREW AGENDA - MARCH 4, 2012

Thanks Erin & Sean McCready for volunteering to bring lunch supplies!

1. Roots & Branches update: Evangelism Beyond Sunday and more...

2. Stewardship Team update; proposal re: "Acts 6:1-6" Benevolence Fund

Details re: Stewardship Team update:

Emmaus Road Church: Budget Handout Overview
First off, we apologize for not having this summary prepared further ahead of tomorrow’s Road Crew mtg. This handout gives a brief update of our church’s financial status. Please review this information; feel free to contact the Stewardship Team at the email addresses at the end of this handout with any questions you have. We’ll discuss much of this at Road Crew tomorrow, but we are of course available to answer and communicate about our financial situation anytime.

Cash Reserves

As the chart to the right shows, our net cash reserves have decreased slightly over the last five to six months. While we are still in a relatively healthy condition, meeting our budget, the Stewardship team has noticed slightly lower levels of giving. This highlights the need to continue to faithfully give, that we can together support our budgeted financial needs as a church and to continue to be able to support Church Beyond Sunday as part of Road Crew. Also, recall that some level of reserves is healthy for us in order to be able to manage the variability in month to month expenses that arise. As always, we will be monitoring our financial situation in the coming months and will update the church if giving and expenses start to move out of line.

Benevolence Fund
One of our action items from the last Road Crew meeting was to further develop a benevolence fund for Emmaus Road. This fund is a mechanism for us to respond to specific financial needs which arise among our members. Council met to discuss the fund and its principles and how to best implement this. The following principles were agreed to:

• We will establish a benevolence fund policy to guide council and stewardship team on benevolence fund decisions. The draft policy is to be attached as a separate document to our church blog.
• We will target 3% of our overall church budget for the benevolence fund each year. Note that this is one part of our overall 10% budgeted tithe as a church. See November 2011 Road Crew material for budget information.

What You Should Do, Road Crew

Please continue to pray for our continued financial sustainability as a church body. We are blessed with a diverse mix of families and individuals at our church who love God and have been called to this church to live life together and praise God together. We are blessed that we understand that money is a part of our lives as Christians; it requires discipline and humility. Thank you for your continued faithfulness, Road Crew, in giving to support our ministry together within our community.

Please send questions to Stewardship Team members at any of the email addresses below.
• Treasurer Ryan Engel at: rengel@gmail.com
• Elder Mike Elenbaas at: mchllnbs@yahoo.com
• Elder David Anema at: heyitsdavida@comcast.net

ROAD CREW AGENDA - NOVEMBER 13, 2011

1. Budget Proposal

· Presentation

· Q&A

· Vote

2. Children’s Ministry Update

3. Roots and Branches Update

4. Welcome New Members

ROAD CREW AGENDA, SUNDAY MARCH 13, 2011

Goals of Meeting:

1. Receive ministry updates

2. Invitation to “40 Days of Discernment”

____________________________________

12:00 PM WELCOME TO ROAD CREW

GOALS OF MEETING

OVERVIEW: GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

12:15 WELCOME STEWARDSHIP TEAM; FINANCE UPDATE

12:20 INVITATION: “40 DAYS OF DISCERNMENT”

12:25 Q&A

12:30 DISMISSAL

ROAD CREW AGENDA, SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

NOT AT NEW HORIZONS,

but at our Greenwood Office

7-9PM

corner of N.85th/Greenwood AveN.,

312 North 85th Street, Suite 101

Seattle, WA 98103

(no childcare provided; separate "play" room available)

Goals of Meeting:

1. Review Elder nomination process

2. Receive proposed budget & ministry reports/updates

3. Pray

7:00 ARRIVE

7:10 PRAY

7:15 WELCOME

7:20 REVIEW ELDER NOMINATION PROCESS

7:30 RECEIVE FINANCIAL UPDATE; BUDGET PRESENTATION; Q&A

(vote to be scheduled for future brief Sunday post-worship mtg.)

8:00 MINISTRY UPDATES

• Prayer – Sunday & Beyond
• Children’s Ministry – Sunday & Beyond
• Groundworks; Belltown Covenant
• Small Groups
• Church “Planting”

8:50 PRAY

9:00 DISMISS

ROAD CREW AGENDA - APRIL 22, 2010

7:00PM Welcome and Greetings

7:10PM Opening Prayer

7:15PM Presentation of proposed Flow Chart(s)

7:25PM Q&A discussion

8:00PM Vote to accept (with agreed upon amendments) or send back to Council for further development

8:10PM Announcements

8:15PM Closing Prayer

8:30PM Exit

Our discussion will center around how we make decisions and share ministry responsibility. Though we cannot all carry out the same tasks, nor can we make every little decision as a big group (nor even agree about everything), and although we are a body with a variety of gifts, strengths, and callings, we must own our common mission together, and support the members of our body. How can we do this better?

One crucial element has to do with habits of communication, including the manner by which we individuals seek support from our greater congregation, for instituting new ministry activities, or addressing concerns; we need to pursue consistency and fairness with one another as we listen to each other and discern how God is building and shaping us. The proposed Flow Chart is meant to be a helpful tool and guide for us as we continue to listen, learn, and experiment in ministry together. The Spirit leads followers of Christ, but not as lone individuals; the Spirit does not speak to just one person, granting them all authority and knowledge to lead everyone else; rather, the Spirit speaks to united groups of loving, listening believers. Anointed leaders have a role, but they still share their authority in the context of the church. This is how the Apostles discerned the movement toward choosing the seven deacons of Acts 6:1-7; the church elected them, and the Apostles ordained them, all led by the Spirit, as the church. Later, in Acts 15:1-29, the Council of Jerusalem considers a problem in Antioch; though Paul and Barnabas are appointed to speak to the Jerusalem Apostles and Elders, and though Peter and James speak as Council members, it is the whole group together who listens to testimony, debate, and decides to publish a letter to the Gentiles, explaining how their proposal "seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us."

Review the Flow Charts below; feel free to post comments and/or email comments or questions to Pastor Eric Likkel, or Elder Rennie Araucto, one of the people who helped put the Flow Chart together for Council to consider. Rennie will be presenting these to Road Crew.

ROAD CREW - OCTOBER 15, 7PM, STREET BEAN

7PM, STREET BEAN (across from New Horizons)

Agenda:

• New Members
• Elder Nominees Update
• Budget
• Godly Play Update
• Parent Ministry
• Groundworks Update
• Belltown Force: David Anema, Americorps; Daniel Tidwell, Mars Hill Grad. Intern

There will be snacks!

ROAD CREW AGENDA - JANUARY 22, 2009

7PM New Horizons

CHILDCARE PROVIDED

7:10 OPENING PRAYER

7:15 WELCOME AND INSTALL NEW ELDERS

Richard "Biff" Gaitan, Beth DeVries, Chandra Mullenix

7:30 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

7:45 COVENANT COMMUNITY: EMMAUS ROAD AS ENSEMBLE

If you substitute a tuba for a bass, but the tuba player doesn't show...

(see below)

Presentation; table talk; large group share

8:45 CLOSING PRAYER

Emmaus Road as Ensemble – Parable of Missing Tuba Player

Once upon a time, a group of people decided to form a musical ensemble to play beautiful music, some old, some new.
Some had been part of traditional ensembles – orchestras, big bands, string quartets – with defined roles, and standard instrumentation. This group of people, however, didn’t have the right combination of instruments to form a traditional ensemble, so they decided to come together with the instruments they had, and made a bold covenant: to play beautiful music in a different way. It required adjustment, creativity, commitment, and trust. The ensemble looked and sounded different – instead of a baritone sax, a bassoon. Instead of a piano, a glockenspiel. Instead of a bass, a tuba. The violin section wasn’t very deep, but the voices of the chords were filled in by other instruments. Music was arranged around the players they had. New arrangements of old songs were scored. The most important melodic themes were preserved in a fresh setting and the ensemble was able to reach an audience uninterested in, or intimidated by, traditional music venues. A lack of instrumentation was no limitation; it forced innovation; beautiful music flowed freely.

But after a few seasons, the music suffered. The group decided to cover Miles Davis’ tune, So What, which begins with a big bass solo. There was no bass player in the group, but there was a tuba player. In rehearsal it sounded different, but cool. When the bass player didn’t show up for the gig, though, that was not cool. Pretty soon the bassoon player had doubts about the oboe player’s commitment, and quit covering the bari sax parts. Passion faded; morale sank, music suffered.

Some said it was because they didn’t have the right instruments; it was a weird, untested kind of an ensemble. But that was not the reason: the arrangements worked; the sounds were unique, wonderful; they even had an audience. It was simply this: the tuba player decided to skip one gig, then another, and other players began to quietly wonder who would be next? As “silent” songs of blame and animosity crept into the repertoire, would this ensemble survive?

QUESTIONS:

Q: What are the “rhythms” Emmaus Road has established? Do we “play” them well together?
Q: How is our ministry shaped by the particular gifts and resources God has given us?
Q: Is Emmaus Road’s size an asset or liability, strength or weakness?
Q: When a “tuba player” goes missing, are we able to talk about it honestly and lovingly in Christ? Do we offer encouragement along with accountability?
Q: When it comes to planning, expectations, and vision, how is communication among leaders and members: effective, ok, or ineffective? How might it improve?
Q: As a member of Christ’s body among this group, how great is your sense of personal responsibility, to play your part, to speak up, to mentor newcomers, etc.?

ROAD CREW AGENDA - OCTOBER 30, 2008

Goals of Meeting:
1. Welcome New Members
2. Discuss Community
3. Approve Budget
4. Elder Nominations – begin process
5. Pray
__________________________________________________________________

7:00 PM Arrive

7:10 PM Worship/pray

7:20 PM Welcome New Members

7:40 PM Emmaus Road: Making Trail Mix
• Brief presentation
• Table Talk
• Reflect

8:10 PM Budget
• Brief presentation
• Q&A
• Vote

8:40 PM Nominating Elders
• Brief Introduction to process
• Current challenges, proposals
• Next steps

8:55 PM Concluding Prayer
• Table Prayers

9:00 PM Sing Old 100th; Dismiss

AGENDA AUGUST 28, 2008

7:00 PM Arrival

7:10 PM Worship/prayer

7:20 PM Welcome New Members

7:40 PM Emmaus Road: Purpose and Identity Statements
Brief presentation/explanation; Q & A

8:00 PM Vote to Adopt/Reject updated version of Statements

8:05 PM Green Space; Follow-up plans

8:20 PM Looking to October
Leadership Changes
Community Health
Budget

8:40 PM Worship/prayer

9:00 PM Dismissal

ROAD CREW AGENDA - JANUARY 31, 2008

Goals of Meeting:
1. Welcome New Members
2. Discuss Ministry Initiatives
3. Prayer


7:00pm Arrive. Mingle.
7:15 Welcome - Review meeting goals (above)
7:20 Reading. Prayer.
7:25 Receive new members

7:35 Presentation of Ministry Initiatives
• Spark Plugs & Glue
• 5th Sunday Greenspace
• Belltown Covenant
• Leadership possibilities

8:00 Growth in Giving: Stewardship Team Update
8:10 Open forum related to Growth in Giving plans
8:40 Vote: approve, reject, revise Jan-Aug. ’08 Budget
8:50 Prayer
9:00 DISMISS