Board of Elder's Meeting Minutes For

Fifth Reformed Church Board of Elder's Meeting Minutes for February 10, 2014

Present: Pastor Paul, Bob Sieplinga, Ray Klug, Frank DeLong, Ed Wilkes, Jerry Wagenmaker Rick Werley

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm. Devotions and opening prayer were given by Pastor Paul. Devotions were from John 17:21 talking about Fifth Church being a family and talking about our earthly families and our heavenly family.

2. Approval of the minutes of January 14, 2014 meeting. It was moved, supported and carried to APPROVE these minutes.

3. Communications to the Board: Pastor received a letter from the Baruch Ministries (Hume Home) requesting a Pastor or a Lay Person to help preach and lead worship and/or Bible Studies. Due to his work load Pastor is unavailable but will check with others in our congregation to see if they might be able to help meet this need.

4. Reception of New Members and membership change requests: a. Blake & Sandy Richards came before the Elders requesting membership at Fifth. They are already very active in the church helping out with a number of things. We had a very good talk with them, confirming that they love the Lord and the Fifth Reformed Church family. Blake will be received by Reaffirmation of Faith and Sandy by Profession of Faith. Motion made, supported and APPROVED to accept their membership request. Date for public reception to be determined.

5. Baptism requests: (none received)

6. Communion: Next celebration is April 6, 2014 a. Asking of the Constitutional Question: NOT required this month

7. Discussion of inactive members, pending and potential discipline cases, and other members of concern or congregational care needs: a. Follow-up on membership review actions—letters, visits, calls, etc: Letters of notification went out to all those added to Inactive List or Removed from the Rolls (some of which have been returned to us). 1. Dan & Bethanie Swier requested a Transfer of Membership to New Life Community (RCA) Church in Muskegon. 2. Noah Swain requested his membership be dropped due to living in Louisville, Kentucky. 3. James Cooper requested his membership be dropped due to living in New York. b. Permanent Inactives: discussed changing this title to Inactive/Shut-ins. The Board felt that this was a much more appropriate title for these long-standing members. Motion was made, supported and carried to APPROVE this name change.

8. Upcoming Worship Information: a. Next Pulpit Supply—June 29. 2014. Discussed using Derrin Derrick and/or John Davidson for preaching in Pastor Paul's absence. The Elders felt this would be a good idea, and Derrin has already demonstrated an ability to do this well. We will wait to ask John until after he has completed his Commissioned Pastor preaching course with the seminary. Bob Sieplinga will talk to Derrin and John about this. b. Updated Moment-4-Mission Report schedule: Pastor will email or hand this out later.

9. Old & New Business: a. Follow-up discussion re: performing “spiritual marriage ceremonies”(i.e. no license): Received an e-mail from Howard Moths, Stated Clerk of Regional Synod, about this. After discussion about this it was decided we should adopt a policy expressing our opposing views on this matter, stating that no Pastor of Fifth Reformed Church, now or in the future, shall be authorized to perform such ceremonies, which do not constitute “legal marriages.” Pastor Paul will draft a policy for review and approval at the March Elder’s meeting. b. Further discussion on program recruitment and volunteerism at Fifth: (Item Tabled) c. Discussion re: establishment of revised policy for wedding requests: Most churches are moving towards doing weddings for “Members Only”. Pastor Paul will draft a proposed policy for this also and bring it back to the Elders at the March meeting. d. Other items for discussion: (none)

10. Adjournment and closing prayer. A motion was made, supported and APPROVED to adjourn. Pastor Paul closed with prayer at 7:30 pm. The next Elders meeting will be March 3, 2014 @ 6:30 pm.

Respectfully Submitted, Ray Klug, Clerk of Consistory