President John Hargraves opened the meeting with a reading from Romans 8 and prayer at 9:35 am.

Minutes Approved

The first order of business was to approve the minutes from the May 12, 2007 Voter’s Meeting.

Treasurer Report

The treasurer’s report with a brief explanation was presented by Beverly Hargraves. Several line items were explained in detail at the request of members.  It was moved and seconded that the treasurer’s report be accepted as presented. The motion passed by unanimous vote.

Board Reports

Executive Board reports were included in the printed hand-out that was distributed at the beginning of the meeting.

New Sound System

Rick Rosch (head elder) provided information about the new sound system (microphones, speakers, and control panel) that were installed in the worship sanctuary.

Consecrated Stewards

Craig Oechsel (board of stewardship) reported the results of the fall Consecrated Stewards program.  Ninety-one households (out of 170) have completed the Estimate of Giving Cards.

New Business

The following resolution was passed by a majority of the voting members (43 yes, 1 no):

“The Board of Elders moves that the congregation establish the full time position of Minister of Assimilation.  The board further moves that the congregational budget line for this position be increased by $18,000.00.

Habitat for Humanity

Gus Lambeck reported on the recent completion of the Lexington Park Habitat home.

Pastors Report

Pastor Updegrave addressed the members briefly. The congregation now has three excellent organists.  The music program and choir have prospered.  He advised the members of Trinity not to become complacent.  After the completion of a major building program, there is a natural tendency to be satisfied with the status quo.  We should fight this inertia and re-commit ourselves to mission and ministry.

(Meeting Hand-Outs)

Board of Christian Education (Jill Ashenfelter/Jeannette Wolter)
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Elder's Report (Rick Rosch)
✟ The Elder’s implemented a new sound & projection system in December that will enhance the spoken word.

Fellowship Committee Report (Jeri Pharis)
✢ Fellowship has been busy this fall but less active than anticipated. The chili cook off will be rescheduled for sometime in January or February. The craft and crop group is having trouble finding a leader who will open the church on either a Saturday or one morning during the week. The advent dinner so far has been very successful and I'm sure the remaining two will also be opportunities for further fellowship.
✢ Upcoming events are the Super Bowl Sundae scheduled for Sunday, January 27 immediately after the second service. We will be serving Soup as the main course and ice cream Sundaes for dessert. Everyone is invited to wear the favorite team shirt.
✢ We are also planning a Pancake supper for Shrove Tuesday. Anyone interested in helping please contact Jeri Pharis.
✢ A fellowship board meeting will be held on the second Sunday in February to plan spring activities.

Property (Hal Willard, Sr.)
✔ To keep our heating bills down, please do not adjust the thermostats. They are set to the specifications that are recommended by the manufacturer. To help us conserve energy and keep our electric bills down, please turn off lights when you done in a room.

Public Relations (Terri Bowles)
✰ Public Relations has ramped up the advertising for Trinity Lutheran Church. The weekly ads in the Tester were discontinued in favor of once a month. Once a month will still hit new people moving into the area but we save some advertising budget. The continuous run ad in the Enterprise has also been discontinued. The same style of ad was running continuously and that becomes wallpaper after a certain amount of time. Instead, PR is focusing on running larger ads in different venues. For example, we ran a full-page ad in the Parks and Rec Guide. People save these guides so that's money well spent. We also did a half-page ad in the Fair Guide which has a large distribution.
✰ For the new Community Gospel Choir, PR managed to get two articles written, one in the County Times and one in the Enterprise. An email and letter also went out to local churches.
✰ For Advent and Christmas, display ads are being run in the both the Enterprise and the County Times.
✰ It's the goal of Public Relations to use the funds wisely to let the community know Trinity is here in the community worshiping and working and reaching out.

Social Ministry (Cindy Pavis)
✾ As of the end of November our Pantry has served 498 families with 86 of them being 1st time visitors. We welcomed the Lysaght family, Melissa Outman and Stan Shelton to our list of wonderful volunteers. With the money we raised from the donut sales on Sunday mornings, the November Pie Sales and with Thrivent matching the funds we were able to purchase a new Advent Candle Holder for our new Christ Candle. Thank you for all the support you give to our food pantry. Without you it wouldn't run so well. Merry Christmas everyone.

Stewardship (Craig Oechsel)
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Treasurer (Beverly Hargraves-will attach report.)

Youth Group Report (Rob& Lucille Winston)
 The Youth Group spent last weekend (December 1 & 2) decorating the church and setting up & decorating numerous Christmas trees. We have nine youth signed up for the Middle School Quake in Jan 2008.