Committee Updates & Church Council Meeting Highlights

Church Council Meeting Summary

March 26, 2025 Church Council Meeting Summary

Submitted by Ruth Reilly

Planning Update: Pastor Danny shared an update on planned activities within key areas of his job description as Executive/Associate Pastor in the following areas: Spiritual Leadership and Teaching, Strategic Leadership, Children, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, Worship and Creative Media Arts, Pastoral Care and Counseling and Community Engagement and Outreach.
Harvester Community Church Policy Document: The draft policy document was reviewed highlighting areas of edits since the last review. A subcommittee consisting of Rusty Nisbet, Gary Evans, Ruth Reilly and Greg Hodson made recommendations for paring down and simplifying the document to better meet our needs as an independent church. Still in progress are edits to the Child Protection Policy. It is hoped that both documents will be voted on for approval during the April Church Council meeting.
The Purpose Driven Church Book Discussion: Instead of opening our meeting with a devotion, the Church Council over the next 5 months will begin our meeting with discussion of a section of Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Church. Members of the congregation are invited to join us in reading and discussing this book. The book is available with a free PDF download and/or additional hard copies are available through the church office. Contact the church office or Pastor Russ if you are interested in reading and discussing this book with the Church Council. The next three Church Council meetings are scheduled on April 23, May 28, June 25 at 6:30pm in the Adult Sunday School Room. The discussion will take place during the first 20-30 minutes of the meeting from 6:30-7:00pm.
Increasing Transparency: The Church Council discussed feedback recently received from church members expressing a desire for more transparency and input into church planning and decisions. We discussed the possibility of hosting quarterly town hall meetings for the purpose of providing updates and giving members an opportunity to ask questions and share input.

Finance Report: Jerri Allison

Finance Team Update - Submitted by Jerry Allison

Operating income is up $26,127.70 or 21.4% year-over-year through February. Fran indicates March is up as well. God is good!
As a result of increased operating income, our operating deficit shrank by almost $10,000 and is at $65,901 as of February 28th.
We will need to transfer Pastors and staff to new credit cards to remove UMC from the accounts.
We are working with OnlineGiving to remove references to UMC from our account.

Membership Report: Greg Hodson

Membership Secretary Report - Submitted by Greg Hodson

New Harvester Members:

Candace Haqq
Stephen Weston
Gloria Weston

Transferred/Withdrawn Members:

Celia Nichols - Hyde Park United Methodist Church
Allison Pollock - Refuge 16 Methodist Church
Bill Zakel - Land O' Lakes United Methodist Church
Pat Zakel - Land O' Lakes United Methodist Church

Retirements:

Gary Hallam
Holly Hallam
Sheila Fitzgerald

New Staff Members:

Jennifer Royal Smith
Bethany Esposito

Teller Team New Members:

Tyler Mills
Velma Maitland
Carol Notarnicola (Waiting List)

11:00 AM Worship Attendance:

Gary Hallam

Children's Ministry Report: Holly Hallam

Children's Ministry Report- submitted by Holly Hallam

Weekly attendance varies. One time we only had two children! On an average we have 8-10 children attending Sunday School. Our December theme is Christmas Playlist - Let Heaven and Nature Sing. We have been busy learning about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and the wonderful Christmas story. We have been practicing our song for the 4:00 Christmas Eve service and have been making ornaments for our Christmas tree. The children will be enjoying a Happy Birthday, Jesus! celebration in Sunday School on Christmas Eve after we have finished singing.

We are still looking for more volunteers for our Children's Ministry Team. So far, these are the people who have volunteered to serve on this team: Ruth Reilly, Karen Nick, Sarah Jones, Holly Hallam, and Gary Hallam.

Congregational Care Report: Deborah Alexander

Congregational Care Committee Report- Submitted by Deb Alexander

For the past month Congregational Care has been busy sending cards, making phone calls and sharing meals with our congregation.

I'm looking for a few more people who are not on Congregational Care to provide meals in the new year.

Mission/Outreach: Robin Phillips

Mission Outreach Team Update - Submitted by Robin Phillips

There was no formal meeting this month. The team continues to work on assignments related to

fundraising to support our many missions. Next meeting scheduled for April 2nd at 6:30 pm.

Sisters in Spirit: Linda Smith

Sisters in Spirit Update - Submitted by Linda Smith

We had nine ladies at the Sisters in Spirit meeting on March 22nd. We assembled Easter eggs for the

children's ministry, played a game and had some prayer time. It was a great time of fun, food and

fellowship. Next meeting will be the Tea Party on April 26th.

Staff Services: Chuck Kanaar

Staff Services Update- Submitted by Chuck Kanaar

We had our immersion baptism with the need to hire a new associate pastor, children's minister, and an office administrator in the first couple months of the new year, and all positions have been successfully filled. We have been very fortunate to have the people to fill these positions either in house or with recommendations from church members.

Now we can settle down and begin reviewing our Staff Services policy, Child Protection policy, and

continue to review and develop our benefits package for staff. We will be contacting Rusty for his input on the S.S. policy and the protection policy. We have been planning the retirement celebration for Pastor Gary and Holly during our 5th Sunday family get together on March 30th.

Trustees Team: Denny Johnson

Trustees Team Update - Submitted by Denny Johnson

We passed the preschool follow up inspection! We were actually given a "good job" compliment by

one of the inspectors. Thanks to Kailee Reitberger, George Alexander, Lloyd Evans, Bruce Kitchen and Fred Bennett for making this happen.

The Christian work ethic was truly on display Saturday March 22 here at Harvester! A small army of nearly 40 workers, aged from 5 thru the 80s, converged here to give our church a thorough spring cleaning. Inside and out, we've never looked better! Thanks to all who helped and especially to those who provided donuts. We will be holding a second 2025 workday in September. More details to follow.

The Trustees are seeking bids to repair our church driveway and parking lot. If you know or have

had experience with an asphalt paving company, please contact Denny Johnson at 813-431-7939.

Youth Ministry: Pastor Danny Esposito

No updates at this time.