The Midlands Churches of Christ

MINUTES OF THE SHEPHERDING GROUP
MONDAY 15TH MARCH 2004

ATTENDEES: Scott Bryden, Jimmy & Deborah Ogunshakin, Andy & Helen Torbet, Trevor Dennis
IN ATTENDENCE: Ade Desalu, Liz Palmer, Vicky Redgrave
APOLOGIES: Duncan & Juliette Lawrence

The meeting began at 7.45pm and opened with a prayer.

  Topic Action
  SB opened the meeting with a brief explanation of the purpose of the Shepherds group for the benefit of LP & VR and they were warmly welcomed to the meeting.  
1. Matters Arising from Previous Minutes  
 
  • AT had contacted Brian Davis, who had confirmed that he and his wife were hosting the house group in Erdington on a fortnightly basis every Thursday at 7pm.
 
 
  • All the prospective Shepherds had been invited.
 
 
  • It was noted by JO that more volunteers needed to come forward from outside of the Shepherds Group for the role of trustee. A deadline was suggested for the end of the month with regard to presenting the prospective trustees to the church. SB added that the draft Trust document also needed to be made available for perusal by members of the church by this time.
  
 
  • HT confirmed that the brother, mentioned last week, who was in need of financial assistance with his college fees had received the appropriate help. AT would continue to monitor the situation.
 
 
  • The Minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a true and accurate account.
 
2. New Shepherds  
  Current Shepherds who were willing to continue as both Shepherds and Trustees were AT, and TD. SB & JO wished to be Trustees only. It was noted by JO that we were still awaiting confirmation from the Leicester Church on who the trustee would be from their congregation.

EP & VR were invited to share why they felt they would like to be Shepherds. EP explained how she just wanted to help, and be of use to God by being there for people. She was fairly flexible in her hours of work, has a car which would enable her to make visits on occasions as necessary, and her experience in life also enabled her to relate to other mature ladies. She just wants to be more than ‘the lady at the back who makes the tea’.

VR also shared along similar sentiments. She wanted to be proactive and help where she could.

Current Shepherds were then invited to share how the role had been for them. For all it had not been quite what they expected. The role had been more of an administrative role, rather than the pastoring role they had expected. However, they had not regretted this and felt joyful to have served thus far. With the new prospect of the role being split between Shepherds and Trustees, this was gladly received as a relief all the same.

The debate continued generally about the roles of Shepherds being basically pastoral leaders and Trustees being more the ‘legal’ leaders, dealing with governance and administration.

SB encouraged the group that this whole process needed to be moved along with more haste and hence suggested that if any one in the congregation had issue with any of the nominated Shepherds they ought to speak to with SB or JO. If they had an issue with one of the nominated Trustees they should speak with Warner. This was agreed and was to be announced on Sunday.

 
3. Finance  
  JO raised the ongoing issue for the need for AD’s role as Treasurer to be made more specific. Such issues as setting a budget, development of financial procedures and banking arrangements. It was suggested that a budget be developed as a joint venture between the Treasurer and the Trustees.

The point was also raised by SB that the requirement for an office needed to be justified. It was noted that for the reasons of protection for both the Treasurer and the congregation that keeping the church business separate from his personal affairs was best all round. This also applied to any other volunteers working on church business.

It was noted that the Treasurer was expected, as an expert in his field, to guide the Trustees as appropriate.

 
4. Martin Doe’s Letter  
  AT mentioned the letter, which he had received from Martin Doe. This letter had been emailed to all Shepherds prior to this meeting. There was some debate regarding the contents of this letter, which obviously needed further discussion, and it was agreed to defer this matter to the next meeting.  
5. Signatories on Bank Account  
  It had been previously agreed that Bob Truman would be removed as a signatory from the church bank account as soon as was practical. SB agreed to replace BT. AD asked if another signatory could be added. Carol Edmondson was suggested (subject to her agreement) as she lives fairly near to AD. TD was suggested, but JO felt that there may be a conflict of interest with him also being both a Trustee and a Shepherd.

It had been noted that the office space was rented under a licence agreement under which either party could give as little as one months notice to quit. In light of this, it was agreed to trial the office for the time being. The address for the office is: Edgbaston Business Centre, Crest House, 7 Highfield Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3ED. Telephone: 0121 454 4440. Fax: 0121 455 0324.

  
6. Shake a Can for HOPE Worldwide  
  A brother from Coventry (Ade) contacted DO again regarding the issue of ‘Shake a Can’ again, and wanted to know whether or not we were participating this year. It had been agreed at a previous meeting that for this year we would not be participating and that we would consider it again next year.  
7. Benevolence Committee  
  AT reported that he had pulled together a group to discuss benevolence in the church generally and that they had met last Sunday. Those involved in that meeting were Chris & Judy Vasey, Paul & Allison Bourke, Andy & Helen Torbet, and Vicky Redgrave The outcome of this meeting was:
  • To give financially to projects abroad.
  • To give physically to local needs.
  • To give both financial and physical support to those in need within the congregation.

A presentation would be given in due course regarding these three key areas.

 
8. Christian Copyright Agency  
  Christian Copyright Agency had been in contact regarding renewal of our copyright licence. HT had investigated what would be required in order to fulfil our legal obligations in this matter. The licences that we would require were as follows:
  • The Church Copyright Licence (CCL)
  • The Music Reproduction Licence (MRL)
  • The Copyright Licensing Agency Church Licence (CLACL)
  • The Video Licence (VL)

In total these licences would cost £276 for 12 months. HT would organise the payment of this as soon as possible.

 

Helen Torbet

Church Secretary

^top^