Council Update December 30 /31, 2017
Good Evening/Morning
Welcome to our first Council President Update!
As Pastor has already been announcing, these 5 minute 5th Sunday updates are intended to update our congregation as to what things, and how things are going on here at Trinity.
Since November we have appointed 2 new council members to fill empty seats: Christine Simmonds will be the new Education Director, and Vickie Foster will be the new Stewardship Director.
One of the biggest items on the radar of the Board of Elders as well as the Council, in light of the recent event in Texas, is Church security! We have been collecting information from our Church resources, other Congregations, as well as the Michigan State Police on what policies, plans and actions we can put into place to help prevent a tragedy from happening here at Trinity. We don’t feel there is any current threat but want to be proactive! So, over the next few months we will be working to have some plans in place that will help ease everyone’s mind.
We have lots of outreach ministry items going on, and many of them could use an extra hand, so if the Holy Spirit move you in that direction, please volunteer: Coming up next week is Family Promise, also My Brother’s Keeper, the Mentoring Ministry, Quilter’s, International Friends, Services at Brookdale Assisted Living, and many more.
We have 2 different committees working on projects:
- The first one is working on getting bids for replacement of the carpet in the Lobby, Halls, Offices and Stairs hopefully in time for our Easter Services!
- The second is in the planning stages of our next big project. Some of the items they are working towards are the Real Elevator, Updating the Current Kitchen, Remodeling of the Basement to use for events, Adding New Handicap accessible restrooms to the lower level, Converting the Trinity room into classrooms and more.
Other building improvements happening: We are updating to LED bulbs in the sanctuary which are brighter. 4 have already been upgraded, so if you can see a little better in worship the last couple weeks that’s the reason!
The hot water heater and circulation system have been repaired so you can actually get warm water to wash your hands.
Consumers Energy came in and upgraded many of the fluorescent lights with LED technology, that will help save on our utility bill.
In November the voters decided to extend our Minister of Youth position! The position is showing signs of attracting the Jr. High and younger students. It is a crucial investment for our congregation; we need our youth to be active! This position is no longer a funded pilot program, and is budgeted out of our weekly income, so, please remember this is a very important ministry when you are budgeting for your tithes and offerings in 2018..
Finally, an update on the parking lot project. When we voted to rebuild the parking lot 50% of the funds $53,000.00 were to come from the Koester Estate funds, and the other 50% were to be matched by the congregation. Since May we have already matched over $18,000.00 of the congregations portion. Please keep up the good work!
Thank you for this opportunity to update you!
I will be back for our next update in April!
Until then:
God’s Blessings and Happy New Year to you all!!
