Dr. Buck gave a short history of the visioning and planning process from its beginning:

A meeting of the congregation of Collierville Christian Church was called to order by Dr. Richard Phillips at 10:10 a.m. Dr. Phillips opened the meeting by announcing that this was a regular semi-annual meeting of the congregation. The secretary notes that all appropriate notifications were made. Dr. Ron Buck opened the meeting with prayer. Chair Dr. Richard Phillips indicated that there were seven areas of discussion today, with the primary order of business being a vote on the proposed Constitutional Amendments and Elections. The seven areas were: 1) Strategic Plan Update Dr. Ron Buck 2) Attendance Update Richard Phillips 3) Financial Update Carter Tate 4) Overview of Bylaws changes Richard Phillips 5) Vote on Constitution amendments 6) Election of Elders, Deaconate, Administrative Board Dee Flood 7) Next Congregational Meeting End of year, Potluck luncheon Strategic Plan Update: Senior Minister Dr. Ron Buck Dr. Buck gave a short history of the visioning and planning process from its beginning: We started this process a little over a year ago. Dr. Richard Hamm, our consultant from the Columbia Partnership said that it takes 18 months to get started; we insisted that we could do it in twelve, and we actually started in about nine [months], because of congregational support and participation. The summary, thus far, is that we had a leadership meeting, then visioning meetings with the congregation meeting [in triads] to dream about the future of the church. Our team took all of that, with the help of Dr. Hamm, and wrote our Future Story, which was then affirmed by the congregation. Then we took the Future Story, once affirmed, and turned that into a 7-year Strategic Plan with short- and long-term goals one of the most efficient, manageable plans that I ve ever seen, as it lists, month-by-month, what we need to do in order to reach our goals and actually begin to live that Future Story. Year One is very detailed, and it started January of 2014. We have a seven-year plan approved with a detailed, one year, step-by-step Strategic Plan laying out what we needed to do each month, and what teams and committees needed to be called into being. Now, in May [2014], we are up to speed; we have made a few revisions. In February, we appointed the Worship Exploration Committee, organized a Prayer Ministry, and the Board selected three members to a Strategic Plan Oversight Committee (Lucy Phillips, Laura Seed and Rob Smith). In March, the Hospitality Team began its work; an Adult Education Team was appointed, and they are doing their work; a Children s and Youth Education Team was chosen; and we had our first Visitor Orientation, which is a regular feature of 1

the Strategic Plan, and it was a success. In April three members were selected for a committee we are calling S.O.A.R. (Stewardship of Accumulated Resources); that is kind of a long-term plan to stabilize finances and make sure that we always have the reserves on hand and that we are being good stewards. The Board has revised, slightly, the schedule for the Worship Exploration Team [Committee]; we expanded their role a little bit, so we expanded their time-length, so that they could get things done. And a Communications Task Force is in the initial planning stages. In May we appointed a Capital Campaign Feasibility Task Force, which will be the same members as the S.O.A.R. Committee, plus Dr. Richard Phillips. The Next Big Thing: throughout the seven years, and probably much longer, we will put on an Annual Ministry Planning Event, probably always in August; the Board will begin preparing for that in May and June, preparing the congregation for it. It is to provide better program coordination throughout the church of all of our activities by having one day to look carefully at the calendar and at all of the activities in the life of the church to make sure that there are no conflicts; and it should help us with communication, both internally and externally so that we can promote these events. It is also to expand ownership of the church s programming. By coming together one day and having tables set up for our various ministries and allowing all of our ministries to present what they do we will have people in the congregation say that s exactly what I feel I m needing to do, and so they can sign up that day and be added to a list to participate with those ministry activities. The scope is general church programming the things that we always do the worship services, the special holidays Easter, Christmas Eve as well as congregational meetings, board meetings, and so on. Generational activities and programs, youth ministry and children s ministry, senior adults Mission and Ministry Opportunities: Union Mission, Thanksgiving baskets, Christmas baskets; Church-wide events: kickball every May, Wednesday night dinners We want to provide an accurate 2015 calendar, and we want to do that in August. We want to identify leadership and support for the different ministry areas, and include people that may not be included in those ministries at present. In doing that, and by looking at the Big Picture, we will be able to identify areas for growth: what are we doing well; what could we improve; what do we need to start, perhaps, in order to meet some more needs? Attendance Update: Board Chair Dr. Richard Phillips Dr. Phillips presented a graph illustrating an attendance trend over the last 13 months in response to recent questions regarding attendance: (see graph below: slide 11) There was a downward trend during the summer months; May was a real peak (perhaps an anomaly?). Not considering those first three months (May-July), there is a gradual upward trend in attendance. The average attendance over the last 13 months is 132 in the combined services. Financial Update: Vice Chair and Treasurer Carter Tate 2

We ended up on a really positive note a little over $35,000 to the positive. Our Regular Giving was $358,000 and our Expenses were $348,000, so we actually came out $10,000 ahead from an operational standpoint. Earmarks brought us up another $20,000 to a total of $35,000 in the black for 2013 very, very positive for us. (see below: slides 13, 14, and 15) This is in contrast to 2012, where we were obviously going through a transitional period in our church life; we were actually about $70,000 under and had to dip into our Capital Funds about $50,000 just to pay our bills. On our Refinance: (see below: slide 18) After working with and having our mortgage with the Board of Church Extension (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ) for many years, our mortgage was up for renegotiation at 5.50 %. They were going to require us to have a Capital Campaign sooner than our leadership felt that we were ready to have a Capital Campaign. They were also going to require us to deposit all of our Capital Campaign Funds with the Board of Church Extension and expected us to pay off the loan by the original end of the term. They would require us to make extra principal payments, as we had been making interest-only payments, especially in 2012, during our period of transition. It was generally felt (especially through conversations with B.C.E.) that the Board of Church Extension was being a little heavy-handed, and discussions were opened with several local banking institutions to consider moving the loan. This was not a step taken lightly, and much discussion was had over leaving the Board of Church Extension, but we were able to negotiate a 20-year mortgage with SunTrust Bank with a payout amount at 4.98%. The mortgage won t be up for renegotiation for seven years, and there was no requirement of a Capital Campaign. They did require us to move our accounts from the Bank of Tennessee to SunTrust, which we completed in May [2014]. Our mortgage payments are about the same as the interest-only payments we were making at the Board of Church Extension, and the Administrative Board unanimously approved moving our mortgage to SunTrust Bank. If we had continued with the Board of Church Extension, our note would have been about $5,400 per month, moving up to about $5,800 per month in a couple of years. Our SunTrust mortgage is $3,800 per month, locked in for seven years. If we continue to do well financially, we hope to increase our principal amount and pay the note off earlier. Overview of By-Laws Changes: Board Chair Dr. Richard Phillips At the December, 2013, we voted to authorize changes to the By-Laws and also that the Administrative Board would make future changes to the By-Laws, keeping the congregation informed. After circulating the changes by email and posting it on the church bulletin boards, we did not have it take effect until May [2014] in case anybody had concerns or questions. The changes are: We added one more member to the Administrative Board to more effectively accomplish the mission of the church today. This also means that a quorum is now six members, out of ten. 3

It also made it possible for one nominating committee to present a slate of Administrative Board, Elders, Deaconate, Life Elders and Life Deaconate. Elders and Deaconate must now rotate off for one year after serving six years; the Administrative Board continues to have a four-year term limit (two terms). This is to allow new people a chance to come into the leadership and current leaders a chance to renew without feeling guilty for not serving another term. The minister s contract can only be terminated by a supermajority two-thirds, or seven, members. Amendments can now be made by the Administrative Board but now require a two-thirds majority to change. Some of the Ministry Teams needed be changed, so the Spiritual Growth and Development Ministry was split into Christian Development for adults and Christian Education for Youth to reflect how very busy those two areas are; Communications was split into an Internal Communications Ministry and an External Communications Ministry for the same reason; and Shepherding and Special Events have now been combined into one Ministry as they are closely related and relatively less busy. o Ministry Teams are as Follows: Worship Christian Development (Adults) Christian Education (Youth) External Communications (Marketing) Internal Communications Property Missions Shepherding/Special Events Some language changes were made to remove archaic phrases without changing the design or intent of the By-Laws. Personnel Committee duties were clarified. The term Board of Directors was removed throughout, and was replaced with Administrative Board Then we stated that the new By-Laws would replace the old in its entirety so that they would not have to make the changes page-by-page. Dr. Phillips reminded the congregation that copies of the new By-Laws will be made available to any member upon request (the church secretary can provide a copy at any time) and that they still may be posted on the church bulletin boards. On the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution: Board Chair Dr. Richard Phillips 4

The amendment to the constitution simply replaces the term Board of Directors, everywhere it is used with the term Administrative Board. This change was only executed to make sure that the language in the Constitution is in keeping with the language used in the By-Laws. Vote on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution: Dr. Phillips let the congregation know that copies of the proposed new constitution were available and present in the meeting for anyone who wanted to look at it before the vote. Larry Marquez made a motion for the congregation to vote on the Proposed Amendment, and Al Seed seconded the motion. The Proposed Amendment was unanimously accepted by the congregation. Addendum to Financials: Vice Chair and Treasurer Carter Tate Carter Tate presented the additional information that we are ahead in the first quarter of 2014, financially, and also that the board appreciates the congregational stewardship and will, itself, continue to attempt to be a good steward of the church s funds, being cautious where necessary, but not saving ourselves where money should be spent. Election of Elders, Deaconate and Administrative Board: Elder Dee Flood Dee explained that the Nomination Committee was put together by the end of January, 2014 as directed within the constitution and By-Laws, and [the committee] did go ahead, this year, and put both Elders and Deaconate together under the guidance of the new By-Laws. She mentioned that the new process [for combining the groups] works, and was easier this year. Ballots were provided to the congregation, and Dee Flood explained again that there would now be an additional board member due to the changes in ministry teams discussed earlier. Board Members remaining under their two-year term are: Sami Faddah Christi Lane Dr. Richard Phillips Tamara Steinhäusler Dawn Welker Those nominated to return or were newly nominated to the Board are: Patty Davis Betty Dawson Dan Hayes Rob Smith 5

Carter Tate The last three highlighted names are members that are nominated to return to the Board to begin their second term. Ann Turner motioned to approve the ballot as presented and to elect all those upon it. Tom Bergeron seconded the motion. All present voted to accept the ballot and elect all those upon it to their proposed positions. Dr. Phillips took a moment to thank outgoing board member, Tom Bergeron, for his dedicated efforts on the church s behalf. Next Congregational Meeting: Dr. Richard Phillips The next congregational meeting will be held at the end of the year most likely be held in December of 2014. We will be looking at the 2015 Budget, and we will have that meeting over a Potluck after the Traditional Worship Service, so that we do not interfere with Sunday School. We are trying to emphasize the importance of Sunday School and wish to avoid creating conflicts with it. Dr. Phillips called for any questions from the congregation, and none were asked. Dr. Phillips also took a moment to speak to his optimism for the church and its congregation, to celebrate the dedicated leadership (and cooking skills!) of our Senior Minister, Dr. Ron Buck, to praise our Youth Coordinator Mary Beth and our excellent new secretary, Kirsten Shelton. Christi Lane motioned to adjourn the Congregational Meeting. Tom Bergeron seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 10:33 a.m. These May 18 th, respectfully submitted by: Tamara Steinhäusler 6