The Midlands Churches of Christ

• Minutes from previous meeting (03/02/04) were agreed.

• Following the Lavals’ move to Lincoln it was agreed that the Shepherds should make efforts to ensure that the house group can still meet. AT will have initial discussions with Bob & Mo Truman and Glen.

• AD regretted that he had not discussed the issue of disbursements with DL. It was noted that there were general policies to be set up in this regard.

• TD had spoken to Warner Baker with regard to his involvement in the Shepherds. WB has not made a definite decision either way as yet.

• No updates on the prospect of a class being led by Trevor Gordon as JO not present.

• AT repeated the request for a consistent meeting date. AT suggested an interim solution to be a Monday evening to allow JO to attend (JO currently working away 4 days/wk for 3 months). Those present thought this would be ok but put forward Thursday as the next best alternative. AT to obtain feedback from other shepherds.

AD thought that, in line with the aspirations of the church and following the recent presentation evening, giving was due to rise substantially. The office would therefore provide a more professional approach to satisfy the authorities and to act as a centre for correspondence and accountability.

AD was also looking into new signatories for the bank account and better ways to monitor the account and membership lists to distinguish Birmingham and Leicester giving. Additional concerns were VAT issues, accounts for end of year reporting, computing systems, stationery requirements and an asset register.

AT expressed concern that the personnel to operate the office may not be available (or willing to regularly travel to the office) and that the office would end up just as a storage area. AT suggested that until the income increased sufficiently to allow a part time employee, an office could be set up at home and business affairs be run from a home base (as had been done previously in 2002 by the church). Concerns were raised with respect to the effect that health or home issues may impact upon the efficient running of the church with this proposal.

DL suggested that the emphasis be put into setting up operating procedures first to address the current state of affairs. DL suggested inquiring into the operation of a PO Box system in the interim.

There was general support for the setting up of an office but as the number of shepherds was low and AD is committing his own time to this project, AD was asked to email all the shepherds with his proposals to expedite a decision during the next week.

All at the meeting thanked AD for his exemplary efforts and his willingness to help the church succeed.

It was agreed that all the shepherds should talk to the above names to ascertain their viewpoints and motivation prior to a discussion at the next meeting. The shepherds should also inform those who wanted to be involved of what would be involved and the importance of the role.

DE left at 9:55pm.

• AT outlined a plan to set up/revive a benevolence committee. He would gather together those wishing to be involved and help to organise the first few meetings. The aim being to bring about a solid committee that understood what their remit would be and had a good line of communication with the shepherds/trustees.

• It was agreed that the recent presentation had been of great benefit to the congregation and that this should be kept up with a similar event each quarter.

• TD asked that the shepherds discuss the roles within the shepherds group at the next meeting. This would be along the lines of the thoughts recently forwarded to all from Jon Yorke.