Minutes considered “DRAFT” until approved at the next regular meeting.
Bishop’s Committee Meeting, November 8, 2015
The November 8, 2015, Bishop’s Committee meeting of St. Thomas a’ Becket in Cassville, Missouri, opened with a prayer by Father Tim Coppinger. Those in attendance included: Jim Craig, Warden; Herb Primrose, Junior Warden; Anita Philbrick, Clerk; Cheryl Laughlin and Les Chapman.
Remarks from Father Tim:
Father Tim reported that Fr. John Burton has agreed to do the Christmas Eve Mass this year. The first Sunday of Advent will be Morning Prayer, and Fr. Tim and Fr. John will be taking turns acting as celebrant for the rest of the Advent services. For our meditation during Advent, he will be providing adults with an Advent devotional and calendars for children.
Minutes of August 2, 2015, Meeting: Anita Philbrick
Anita discovered she had printed the wrong minutes and didn’t have copies of the correct ones. She apologized for her error and promised to send them by email for approval by the Bishop’s Committee online.
Treasurer’s Report: Jim Craig
David Samuel was unable to attend due to illness. The Bishop’s Committee discussed the problem with our shortfall, including some possible solutions. Jim reported that the problem with the loss of all the files when his computer crashed is being resolved with help from the staff at the Diocesan office, who are assisting him to find software to reconstruct the budget. Jim reported that the issue with one check that had not cleared had finally been resolved by David. In addition, he suggested that we need to select a date in the near future for a stewardship meeting to discuss our financial situation.
Junior Warden Report: Herb Primrose
Herb reported two problems with water leakage. First, he and Les discovered water pooled on the floor against the east wall. Thinking it might be due to a backup in the sewer line, which they subsequently discovered was almost totally blocked, they flushed it and found several items obstructing the flow. Secondly, they discovered a leak in the bathroom wall, which they could hear dripping every few seconds. The next step will be to get into the wall in the bathroom and see what is causing the problem.
Old Business
A. Chili Cook-Off: Cheryl Laughlin: Cheryl reported that the Chili Cook-off booth sponsored by the congregation was successful in many ways. First, by having the booth, we let the town know of our presence in Cassville and that we are a friendly, active, and caring church. Secondly, several people commented that we had the best chili on the block, though we did not win any prizes. Third, we enjoyed working and fellowshipping together. The consensus was that this type of outreach was successful for our congregation and that we should continue with a booth of some sort next year. The major drawback of the experience was that we were so far away from the other chili cooking booths that we did not get the number of visitors we would have liked. Thanks to Jim for being front man and sending people to our booth. Cheryl said she would let the Chamber know that being so far from the other chili booths was difficult and to ask them to put all those cooking chili together in one area. Finally, Cheryl presented a bill for $218 for supplies used.
B. Daughters of the King: Cheryl Laughlin, President: Cheryl thanked the church and Father Tim for making the service installing our chapter a very special one. Grace and Cheryl took the money from the DOK boxes to the bank and wrote a check to the Endowment Fund of the National Order of DOK, who were very surprised to receive it. We will be meeting on the 1st Wednesday evening of each month. The next meeting will be December 2, 2015, at the Keeter Center. Anita reported that Marilyn McAfee had received the Bishop’s Shield at Convention.
C. Convention Report: Anita Philbrick. Anita presented some of the highlights of Convention and promised to write up a short summary and email it to all members of the committee.
D. Gravel: Herb reported that the bill for the driveway gravel had been paid. We had a $200 credit from when we built the church, which was applied to our account.
New Business
A. Outreach: We discussed some possible ways we can do more outreach to the community. Cheryl suggested marketing of our Christmas Eve Service in the “Cassville Democrat.”
B. Boot Camp: Boot Camp, a once-a-month intensive leadership training facilitated by the Diocese, will be held at St. John’s in Springfield on the last Friday or Satur day of each month for the next 6 months, starting January 22nd or 23rd.
C. Bishop’s Day with Wardens and Vestries: Bishop’s Day will be held Saturday, March 5, 2016, at 10 p.m. at Christ Church. This year, it will be three-tiered (e.g. level 100 classes for first year vestry members; 200 level for second year, etc.).
Herb moved we adjourn and Les seconded. Adjournment was at 12:08.
Respectfully submitted,
Anita Philbrick, Clerk
