January 2010 Minutes

January 12, 2010

1. Call to order

Our President Pastor Robin Steele called to order the regular meeting of the San Marcos Ministerial Association at 12:07 pm.

1. Introduction of members & guest

President Pastor Robin Steele welcomed those present and asked Pastor John McComb to start the meeting with the opening prayer.  He then asked for each member present to state their name and what church or ministry they represented.

1. Minutes from last meeting                                                                                                                The minutes from our regular meeting of the SMMA that was held on January 10, 2010 was read. After the corrections, a motion was made by Pastor Robert Smith and seconded by Pastor Chad Carlton to accept the minutes. Motion carried.

At this time our president, Pastor Robin Steele gave thanks to Pastor Paul Buntyn for his outstanding leadership while serving as president during the past 2 years. He was presented with a card and a gift card from Saltgrass for $50.00 from the SMMA.

1. Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was presented by Father Bruce Wilson. He reported a bank balance on December 8^th, 2009 of $172.66 and deposits of $658.25 were made.  He also reported on the withdrawals of $250.00 which gives us a total of $580.91.

He gave us another reminder for SMMA members to bring their dues next month.

Chaplain Merlin Starr made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as it was presented and seconded was made by Pastor Jim Lanning.   Treasurer’s report was accepted as given.

1. Old Business

Report on Giving Hope –                                                                                                                    Pastor Fred Pratt reported that the event went very well.  A total of 77 families were served with a total of 351 people.  He mentioned that he was impressed with everyone that went through the lines of toys, coats, and food distribution.  It was done in a very orderly manner.  The message by Pastor Sam Montoya was very appropriate and touching.  He gave his personal testimony and offered a prayer of confession to everyone after his sermon.  The meal was provided by Fusche BBQ.  Pastor Fred also shared a story about a man that showed up to the event expressing that his family was unable to attend due to illness.  He returned his invitation and asked if someone else could use it. Because of this man’s attitude, volunteers from Giving Hope delivered groceries, food, and toys to his house. He also reported that Amy Yarbrough who was in charge of the event did a great job of organizing and putting it together. They had a total of 180 volunteers and 20 or so were turned away.  A follow up card was available at each table for families to fill out and the information will be used to evangelize those unchurched.  Each family also received a Bible in English or Spanish at the beginning of the event.  Again he was grateful for the support of this organization and looking forward for a great event next time.

Pastor Robin Steele thanked Pastor Fred Pratt for his report.

Our president reported that a letter has been drafted and ready to be sent out to all the pastors serving the San Marcos area inviting them to our monthly meeting.  He asked, “to whom do we need to send out this letter?”  Chaplain Merlin Starr said he has a mailing list that he will send out to our president for him to use.  Other pastors were mentioned like Rev. David Barker from 1^st Presbyterian Church. Pastor Robert Smith mentioned some Hispanic pastors that we could contact.  He mentioned several churches in the Redwood area like: Soul Harvest Church.  He will also send out information to our president on these churches.

Our President then directed us in conversation in our bylaws Article 2 concerning our purpose:

Article 2 OUR Purpose

2.1 The purpose of this Association shall be;

a. to promote mutual respect, support, and understanding among the pastors of       churches of San Marcos, Texas and environs:

b.     to provide opportunities for better understanding the needs and                conditions of our community to those who participate:

c.     to encourage joint action and express common concerns in areas of                mutual interest in our community:

d.     and to provide better coordination for participating churches’ service                activities in the community.

It was mentioned that according to 5.3 in our bylaws states:

The Vice President shall perform the duties of the President in the event of his absence or inability to act.  He is responsible for providing programs for the monthly meetings and for such other duties as may be assigned him.

One of his jobs is to find organizations to come and give presentations to our association on the services that offer services to the people in the San Marcos area.

Pastor Robert Smith suggested that we invite any Christian non profit organization to come share their programs or ministries. Other suggestions were the local Police & Fire Department.

A list of 501c (3) and Christian organizations was provided by the members present and given to Father Bruce Wilson.

Pastor Chad Carlton asked about prayer request and prayer concerns.  He volunteered to be the holder of that list so we can pray for the needs that are mentioned during our monthly meeting.

Our president then gave us some information about our webpage:

He said that we have a web page in place and most of the information will be available for us to view like the minutes to our monthly meetings and other information concerning the SMMA.

A calendar will be provided to post events from different churches that will be of interest to us. He also stated that there would be no personal information about anyone in this web page.  It is user friendly and open to everyone.

Our president then gave us the task to each SMMA member to think about what organization we would like to support in 2010.  The question as to who we will support in the year 2010 was tabled for discussion for our February meeting.

President Robin Steele asked Pastor Jim Lanning if he could give us a report next month on the Salvation Bell ringing.  He reported that so far $48,600 was raised.

IX.  Announcements/Adjournment

Pastor Jim Lanning reminded us about the program “Reclaim your name.”  He will be available to help anyone that needs to get a birth certificate.

Pastor Paul Buntyn announced about a parent & child workshop that will be held at his church concerning the “Hip-Hop” generation.  The date for this event will be posted on our web page.

Closing prayer was led by our president Pastor Robin Steele.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:01 p.m.