At Bethany Place, we call business meetings “fests” which is short for festivals.

In the Old Testament, you will find major festivals or celebrations.  These were times for people to come together for specific purposes.

So, at Bethany Place, we designate 4-four times a year (Fallfest usually in November; Winterfest usually in February; Springfest, usually in April; Summerfest, usually in August) that our members will come together on a Monday night to celebrate the good things God is doing in our church.

When we can meet in person, we begin this time with a covered dish dinner where we get the opportunity to sit around tables and fellowship with each other.  After that time of fellowship, we move into Ministry Reports where those responsible for various ministries at Bethany Place share what God has been doing over the past number of months in that ministry.  This gives us the opportunity to celebrate these things.  These reports cover items such as mission trip reports, evangelistic events we have hosted such as Trunk or Treat, music events we have provided, new Bible Study opportunities we have started, just to name a few.  After these ministry reports, we go into our church business session. 

After we make sure there is a quorum of church members present for the business session the Moderator, who usually is the Chairman of our Elder Team begins by presenting those who have joined our church over the last quarter through completing the Membership Matters class and signing the Church Covenant. 

After the Membership Report, there is a presentation of the current financials of the church by our Finance Team.  Sharing the current financials provides oversight to the church body of where we stand in regard to income and expenses.  Details are explained as to any area that a member may have a question on. 

The Financial Report includes a Detailed Analysis of Income and Expenses, a Bank Statement Report showing exactly what the church has in all bank accounts, and a Tellers Report that shows the giving report for each week broken down in areas that donations were contributed to.  When this is complete, we then allow for measures to be brought up that need church body approval.  These measures can be anything from the approval of a major project to a large expenditure of funds for a non-budgeted church project or any other item that the Elder Body determines that needs the church body approval before proceeding. 

To receive approval for any measure, we allow our members to privately mark on a ballot whether they approve or disapprove of a measure being presented. 

Ben Haygood

Elder for Discipleship and Administration