Week 3 Board Meeting

1.  The River Community Church met for an Advisory Team Meeting on January 12th 2009 and met for 2 Hours.

2.  As I sat and watched the board work through the church budget as well as some other issues facing the church I realized that there were no major decisions made during this meeting.  The church was working through some major issues with their budget since they are only a year old.  The church estimated the spending that would happen for certain areas of the budget and they were off by a good amount.  It was clear that some of the members of the board were very adamant about sticking to the budget, whereas others recognized that it was the first budget the church was working with and therefore it would have some mistakes.  The discussion on the budget took about an hour to work through.  We then transitioned into discussion on the possibility of a new location for the church.  Again, no major decisions were made but organized discussion took place concerning the issue.  Pastor Matthew would present possible alternatives to the current location and the members of the board would then discuss whether or not they believed it to be a good decision.  The board members would also present their own opinions as to the spending that would need to take place for the church to move locations.  After it seemed that everyone had the opportunity to express their feelings, Pastor Matthew talked about the vision and future of the church and how at times things won't make sense but God may be calling us to take a leap of faith.  

3.  As I sat in on this meeting I realize that at times the person with the loudest voice really led the meeting.  This is something I have recognized in my leadership courses and it proves true for the local church as well.  I am glad however that the members of the board were very conversational and civil regarding their opinions.  I honestly would like to return to another board meeting where more decisions are being made so that I could see the process that takes place.  I learned a lot about finances through the conversation that took place since that was the major topic discussed.