GRACE UNITED METHODIST PLANNING MEETING
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2008

With 20+ people present, Pastor Mark lead us in a time of praise, prayer, meditation and a service of holy communion as we sought to discern God's will for Grace Church. Our discussions for this planning session were based on evaluating how our objectives for 2008 will enable Grace Church to fulfill our current mission statement.

Current Mission Statement
We began our session by reviewing our current mission statement. After much discussion, it was the opinion of those present that our mission statement should be condensed; not that it's inadequate but is too wordy, and simplification should make it more manageable. Pastor Mark is asking for volunteers to meet and prepare drafts for Board consideration.

Nourishing our Church Family
There was discussion on how we can make disciples for Jesus. Suggestions included encouraging our congregation to bring their Bibles to worship services. We should also provide opportunities during worship service to give personal testimonies on what God has done or is doing in our lives. We need to be more diligent in openly expressing our praise for God's providence. We need to be more pro-active in educating and nourishing our members in developing their relationships with Jesus. This in turn would give individuals the confidence to lead others to Christ and to teach Sunday school and Bible studies. Anyone with specific ideas or who would like to lead a study, please see Pastor Mark.

Prayer Team
We have recently organized a Prayer Team at our Church. This team prays daily for our church and our community. Weekly prayer calendars are made available to the team by our Pastor. As you know everything in our Christian walk begins and ends with our relationship with Jesus Christ. Prayer is the foundation of that relationship. If you would like to join our team and commit to daily prayer, or if you have a prayer concern for our church, ministry, or community, please contact Pastor Mark.

Preschool Mission
It was consensus of this group that our Preschool is a valuable means to share God's love with our community. However, in order for this ministry to be effective there needs to be better communication between the church and the Preschool. Those present would like to see the Preschool be more open in promoting the school as a "Christian" school. It was suggested that a committee from our congregation meet with the Preschool staff to discuss ways to integrate into the current curriculum Christian principles through Bible stories and songs. Anyone interested in serving should contact Pastor Mark or Elaine Selfridge.

Wednesday Evening Family Night
In an effort to meet the needs of individuals who cannot make it to our traditional Sunday morning worship service, it was suggested that we offer alternative times for worship. Suggestions included a mid-week service in which we would come together for a light family style meal around 5:30 p.m., followed by a variety of opportunities to fellowship and study God's word.  Suggestions included a Women's/Men's Bible Study, a children's/youth ministry program, and the traditional prayer and Bible study. Our choir would then meet at their regular scheduled rehearsal time of 7:30. There was interest in providing a class for "special needs children". This would not only give the parents of these children an opportunity to worship outside the formal Sunday worship service, but would also provide us an opportunity to work more closely with these special children outside our regular Sunday School time. Anyone interested in serving on this Committee should contact Pastor Mark or Bonnie Moffatt.

Saturday Evening Vesper Service
During the summer months, a suggestion was made to have an outdoor Saturday evening vesper service. The service would be very informal and would give members an alternative to the formal Sunday morning worship service. Anyone interested in serving on this Committee should contact Pastor Mark or Bonnie Moffatt.

Property Improvements
Suggestions were made to provide directional signs and make repairs to our outside sign. The Trustees will be looking into these improvements. Anyone interested in helping should contact Sam Womer.

Philipsburg Ministerium - Heritage Days
Grace Church will be taking the lead in the Philipsburg Ministerium's participation in the 2008 Heritage Days activities. We are looking to build a float, participate in the parade, planning an outside worship service at Cold Stream Dam and conduct church tours sharing historical information on participating churches. Anyone interested in being on this Committee should contact Pastor Mark or Darlene Thumma.

Visitor Follow-up
We discussed ways to care for and follow-up with our visitors. It was suggested that in addition to greeters, we may also want to consider having hostesses. The hostess would accompany visitors to our fellowship time as well as making sure they are familiar with the locations of the various classrooms and bathroom facilities. We are also looking to develop a visitor's packet which would include an updated Grace brochure, a visitor's card and gift. Anyone interesting in assisting on this project should contact Darlene Thumma.

Grace Food Pantry
Attendees were in agreement that this is a great mission and would like to continue this ministry. We can all participate by donating to our food pantry whenever called on.

Helping Hands
Feedback on our newest mission has been very positive. With warm weather approaching we feel there will be more calls. Anyone interested in being on this team contact Norma and Frank Hassinger.

God's Clothes Closet
This mission is a definite go! We will be changing the name to "God's Clothes Closet" since a number of persons felt that "HIS Closet" was just for men. We are looking to having this event in early August before school starts. Anyone interested in participating should see DarleneThumma.

Ministry for Shut-Ins
There is a desire and need to do more visitations to our shut-in members. It was suggested that we could provide meals for people recently discharged from the hospital. There is concern, however, that individuals are being overlooked. In order for this mission to be more effective we would need to have a direct contact person. Anyone interested in serving should contact Pastor Mark.

Formation of a Praise Team
The idea of a Praise Team was well received. The Praise Team would sing the Sundays that the choir doesn't have a presentation. The Team would include all ages. The Praise Team might also be available for our Saturday evening worship services or Wed-Family Night. Anyone interested in being a part of the team should contact Bob Selfridge, Pastor Mark, or Bonnie Moffatt.

Special Music
With summer fast approaching, we would welcome anyone who would like to sing or play an instrument during our worship services. Please see Bonnie Moffatt or Pastor Mark.

Showing the Love of Christ
Discussion followed on how we could further share the love of Christ with others who use our facilities for meetings, dinners, etc. A suggestion was made to purchase an outside smoker's receptacle for the members of the NA group who meet in our facility. The purchase of the receptacle is not to promote smoking; we are simply providing them with a means of disposing of their cigarettes before entering our building and at the same time keeping the outside area clean and tidy.

Additional Ideas
It was also suggested that a brochure rack be installed in our fellowship halls. The racks would display copies of our latest newsletter, church brochure and religious tracts. These handouts would be available to anyone coming into our church.

It was suggested that when we sell food products, or provide gift baskets, we have a Bible verse sticker placed on the packaging.

There is also a need to provide babysitting and child-care for our members with small children. If we could provide this service it would encourage our young parents and give people more of an opportunity to serve and study. If you are interested in heading this up or know of anyone who may be interested in babysitting, please see Pastor Mark. We are open to paying someone for their services.

It was suggested that Sunday morning announcements be discontinued and the time be more effectively used to learn and sing new songs.