December 3, 2019 Governing Board Minutes

In Attendance:  Chair Savannah Jewell, Kenny Jones, Eric Danz, Kay Franscoviak, Kristi Evans, Norma Singley, Allegra Smith, Dinah Dalder, Pastor Tracey Leslie, Conference Superintendent Rev. Lore Blinn Gibson, Pastor Amber Traeger, Susie Riley, Melissa Kramer, Lisa Nielsen, Frank Cederquist
 
Pastor Tracey opened the meeting with prayer at 6:32 PM.
 
Kristi made a MOTION to accept the minutes of October 22, 2019, Governing Board meeting.  Eric seconded and all approved

​Ministry with 21st Century Families
Melissa covered what she learned in a class she attended called Ministry with 21st Century Families. She asked what family ministry means to us. Families have changed and are not “traditional” i.e. a mom, dad, kids. Melissa asked us to consider what families at Trinity look like and discussed the demographics in our church. Melissa has noticed steady participation in children’s worship but they are first grade and younger. Trinity does provide personal and intentional relationships which is what matters to families right now. Trinity already offers a variety of age-based groups but they don’t often “cross over.” Oaks and Acorns is one example of how we have done this. 
 
Trend for churches is to reduce programming they offer because families are busy and can’t always attend events. Other churches in Lafayette see families 1-2 times a month so churches are cutting down on programs. One way to reach these families is to reach beyond age-based and intergenerational events and realize faith development happens at home. Melissa is going to share relevant articles for families to see online to be connected to us and to resources.
 
To better serve families at Trinity, Melissa asked us to merge the youth and children's ministry accounts in the budget to better reflect a ‘full family’ ministry. Kay made a MOTION, to merge the children’s and youth accounts. Kristi seconded. Motion passed. 
 
Visioning and Strategic Planning Retreat
Pastor Tracey proposed a Saturday retreat in January or early February 2020 to do more in-depth strategic planning. It will be attended by 3-4 board members, 3-4 staff members, and 3-4 church members who are actively engaged. The goal is to evaluate our current ministries to assess how we can best fulfill our mission and vision. Goal of the day is to identify three ministries to intently focus on. 
 
Board members interested in participating should let Pastor Tracey know. 
 
Confidentiality Review
Pastor Tracey reviewed Trinity’s confidentiality policy. Kristi moved and Kenny seconded to add this policy to the staff handbook. Motion passed. There was also discussion of asking the governing board members for 2020 to sign a confidentiality agreement.
 
Trustees
Kristi made a MOTION to pay $694.50 to Advance Tech to repair a leak in the boiler system. Norma seconded. Approved. 
 
Vinton Woods HOA Dues
Standard dues are $199.50 per year. Kay moved to pay the standard dues for the HOA. Kristi seconded. Approved. 
 
Snow Removal
Kay asked about this year’s snow removal. We are using Just Plow It. Cost will be approximately less than $300 per snow event. This is a savings over the previous company. 
 
Basement Flooding
Water has been coming under the doors in the basement along North St. The city has not been very responsive. Frank is getting bids to repair the door threshold to make it more water tight. The stairwell needs to be cleaned out weekly.  Discussion of whether to ask Ediz to assist with this.  Since her hours are full, we’ll utilize volunteers through the Caring Fund for this task.
 
Dish Machine
Machine not keeping pressure. Snuffy’s tested the pressure and will diagnose. 
 
Building Security
There was a building security incident that prompted us to reevaluate building keys and access to the elevator door. A discussion was held about how to best manage building access with keys and door codes.  Kristi will further discuss with Lisa the possibility of utilizing a keycode for choir members to increase security. 
 
Property Management
After reviewing proposals, Kristi recommended LINK Management (Tom Walter) to manage Trinity’s properties. There will be a one time fee of $2,500 to tag all equipment that would have some kind of maintenance (i.e. smoke detectors, boilers, air handlers, etc.). Once tagged, we would simply call and give the tag number for the item. The ongoing contract is $672 per month and will cover the church building and Lily house with inspections of the buildings no fewer than two times per week to observe any issues and insure all systems are operating properly. If repairs are needed, LINK Management will review all bills/proposals prior to any major repairs. Contract is for a one year period. 
 
Kristi moved to accept the LINK Management proposal. Kay seconded. Approved. 
 
Kristi moved to pay the $2500 for tagging out of Building Endowment. Kay seconded. Approved. 
 
Finance 
Eric provided an overview of the proposed budget for 2020. Pastor Tracey
proposed some updated changes for staff salary related to professional expenses. 


Eric will update the budget and send out to the Board to vote on by e-mail.
 
Staff Parish
Dinah moved to purchase 14 $50 gift cards for staff Christmas gifts to be paid for out of the Program Endowment funds. Mary Jo seconded. Approved
 
Christmas Open House
Pastor Amber updated the board on the Christmas Open house that will happen Friday, December 6 at 5:30 PM. 
 
The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 6:30.  Savannah closed in prayer at 8:32 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted,
Ryan Wynkoop