Hey Buffalo Cov Members!

Greetings in Christ!

We had a great 2011 at BCC, and I am looking forward to a great 2012 as well.

Here are a few highlights from last night's Membership Meeting:

STAFF UPDATES

Each of the ministry staff shared some highlights from the past year and some special events upcoming. As I reflected on the overall impact of these presentations, I came away with a feeling of great satisfaction at the quality staff which God has provided for this church. Each of them (as well as the Support Staff) are hardworking and faithful to their calling to serve Christ at this church. There's not a slacker in the bunch! You can be grateful to God for His provision of under-shepherds to serve the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20).

ELDER LEADERSHIP

We have a solid bunch of Elders at this church who take their role of leading the church forward very seriously. This past year they have been active behind the scenes and instrumental in forwarding many of the positive changes and ideas which we have experienced this year. The good momentum happening now (by God's grace) is also because the Elders are doing what they have always desired to do, which is to focus upon the large, directional issues of the church, while trusting the Staff and Council to fulfill their callings to pursue the many details of ministry. 

A few staffing changes and decisions which the Elders have done this past year are the following:

• Moved Pastor Max up to full-time now, with responsibilities for preaching, and leading SALT
• Changed the Executive Pastor title to Lead Pastor, to clarify role responsibilities
• Removed the 'interim' from Christine Passig's title so that now she is simply the Contemporary Worship Director. (Karin Wickman, Marsha Kirkpatrick, Pastor Max and myself will continue to give leadership to the Traditional Service.)
• Decided (along with the consensus of the Ministry Staff) to make plans to hire a full-time Discipleship Pastor this year, who will be responsible for adult classes, small groups, and men's & women's ministry oversight.

2012 BUDGET

The 2012 budget was presented under the able leadership of Dan Riley, who is an exceptional Church Treasurer. Through his guidance the church is now setting aside special funds for major expenditures which we know will be happening in the future as related to building, vehicles, large technology, and other major expenditures. The budget for 2012 is balanced, plus it includes provision to pay down our loans in an accelerated fashion. The financial condition of the church is very solid, due to the continuing generosity of God's people at BCC.

CARE & PRAYER COMMISSION

The Congregation approved the creation of a new Commission, Care & Prayer, which will be represented at the Council level. This Commission gathers together a number of important care and prayer ministries of our church into one team which can work together to share the love of Jesus with the Buffalo community. Such ministries as DivorceCare, GriefShare, Trusted Friends, the nursing home visitation and services team, as well as Concerts of Prayer. This team will be led by Pastor Doug Whittlef, as well as a Deacon to be selected by the Personnel Commission.  

THANKS AND APPRECIATION TO THE REMODEL TEAM

One touching element of the meeting was the chance to thank Dwayne Kettenacker and the entire Remodel Team for all of their hard work over the past 12 months. In particular we were able to thank Jan Peterson for the faithful service of Roger this past year before he went into the presence of the Lord. They were each presented with gift cards to a nice restaurant, so that they could get re-acquainted with their spouses! We also gave Jan some flowers as well as a gift card.

So, it was a good meeting. Membership Meetings are an important part of our life together as we all strive side-by-side for the sake of the Gospel (Philippians ch. 1), in our common service to Jesus Christ.

Thanks for being a member, and keep praying to and serving Jesus! 

Pastor Bill