Thursday, December 21, 2006

Fellowship Hall Allocation

After discussion with Gregg and Kent, we have made the following changes to the allocation of the building so that the LCF / Mars Hill / Coffee Shop can have more locked storage and the table and chairs can be kept closer to the location where they are used. Tatesbrook agrees that this is good situation for all of the users.

However, we need for each user of the building to return the tables and chairs to this location in order for us to clean the rest of the building. We have already attempted this a few times, so we recognize that this adjustment will take time.


Education Wing Allocation

After discussion with Gregg and Kent in early December, we have agreed on Gregg's proposal that none of the classrooms be allocated to Mars Hill since they don't have locks. Since they are community territory, Kara has begun the process of cleaning them up.

In December, Kara scraped black stains off of the floors and moved the chairs and tables to their new area twice, but the chairs and tables still make their way back...

In order for Tatesbrook to do the next step ( strip and wax floors so they can be mopped easily by one person ), we will need for all the owners to know that the tables and chairs belong in the LCF/Mars Hill/Coffee Shop storage in the fellowship hall as Kent and Gregg proposed.

Now that we have reduced the clutter, we will also be reducing the size of the lost and found tables. Two of the three pieces of furniture in the hall will be gone in January. If anyone would like to have them, please let me know.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Brothers Meeting Minutes - December 16, 2006

Attendees:
Dr. Scott, Donovan Lakes, Matt Hind

Next Meeting???: January 20th ( 3rd Saturday of every month??? )

2006 Purpose of the Brother's Meeting:
Men getting together to share with each other. Ministering to one another and sharing encouragement from individual areas of ministry

2007 Purpose of the Brother's Meeting:
????

2007 Ideas for the Brother's Meeting:
- Mission trips ( projects [ Work Days, Habitat for Humanity, etc. ] )
- Breakfast ( bacon & eggs instead of donuts or bananas )
- Retreats ( Friday night / Saturday [ like Corinth in 2005 ] )
- Fishing Trips ( Donovan casting his vision )
- Need a leader to organize and communicate

Meeting Minutes:

Brothers testified as to what God is doing with the various challenges we face in life:

Matt:

  • Commitment is the topic
  • Why do we do what we do?
  • I'm stuck in the "principle of the cross" ( infinite loop )
  • Walking the line between "helping people help themselves" and "enabling them to stay where they are"
Tim:
  • Care what God wants
  • Jesus draws the line based on his own attitude. "In a hurry" vs "Important"
  • Are you at the Brother's meeting for the body or for you?
  • Is the Brother's meeting a blessing or a burden?
  • Choosing the path of least resistance is not the right choice.
Donovan:
  • How do we change?
  • If I was half as committed to the church as I am to work, I would be doing it all.
  • Tim offered Romans 12:2 as a place to start.
    Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

    And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.


Kevin:
  • Shared many concerns that are common with Matt's ( shared specific examples )
  • Looking forward to mowing tree nursery and digging trenches for downspouts
  • Change is something we can't do, but God wants for us.
  • Drawing the line is very important.


Grace and Peace,
Kevin

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Administration Meeting Minutes - December 2, 2006

Attendees:
Matt Hind, James Davis, Dan Leahy, Michael Harrington

Next Meeting:
Saturday, January 27, 8:00 AM

Purpose of Administration Meeting:

Developing leaders that can follow through with excellence in all of the five fold ministries as we coordinate body wide activities and serve each other as unto the Lord

  • Discipleship
  • Evangelism
  • Worship
  • Service
  • Fellowship


Specific Topics discussed this month:

Administrative emphasis for 2007:
Discussion surrounding the direction for 2007. In 2006, the Administration team was focused on increased communication with our peer churches and working together through the "Make-a-mess" project and eliminating the physical clutter that required energy to maintain each time that we entered into the physical building. In 2007, we should have more time to apply to other areas of the five fold ministry. We will wait for confirmation from Mike and from the Lord through prayer, but Dan's initial perspective was that we should focus primarily on Discipleship as God is already beginning to work in that area through the Sunday morning teachings. Secondarily, would be Evangelism, where we have traditionally had a weakness. Worship, Service and Fellowship are all functional.

Finances:
Reviewed 2007 Budget proposal that was distributed. The group suggested the following changes:
  • Increase Youth budget from $2,000 to $4,000 ( Conference, More mileage accounted, Increased activity, scholarships )
  • Increase Children budget from $1,000 to $1,500 ( VBS has worked hard to keep expenses below $1,000 in 2005,2006 but fallen just short )
  • Add $5,000 for community basketball court to 2007 wish list
  • Confirm with Cindy that increase in tithes from 2003,2004,2005,2006 will continue to 2007


Job Posting:
One of the goals of this team was to identify jobs that could make our ministry better and to better utilize some members that would like to contribute time and service but just don't know where to start. We have made some progress but still have a few roles to fill:

  • Maintaining a list of small repairs around the building ( need volunteer )
  • Mercy administrator ( need volunteer )
  • Maintain a rack of pamphlets in the bookstore (see Mike if you are interested)

Building: ( Kevin/James for Donovan )
Windows remain the top priority. We also added a few new items to the bottom of the list.

  • A few windows in rear of building at dangerous point of falling out (LCF suggested sliding windows with screens instead of crank windows or fixed windows)
  • Need to repair drywall and paint in entry way.
  • Plumber: Repair the outside faucet in the rear of the building
  • Plumber: Repair the leaking faucet in the upstairs men's restroom
  • Plumber: Repair baptistry heater ( water heater or jacuzzi heater instead of current system)
  • HVAC ( Install air return for the sanctuary, Ventilation for Sound room for equipment, workers and most importantly the thermostat )
  • Lighting: Sanctuary and foyer
  • Remove brick mail box - replace with a normal mailbox in one of the community's cluster of mail boxes. Safer for drivers pulling out of driveway, elimination of an eye-sore. (need volunteer)
  • Need to rebuild shed or tear it down ( need communication with users and neighbors )
  • Need to replace ceiling tiles in basement
  • Move tables and chairs to carts in the fellowship hall
  • Finish mudding and painting in the CAT Closet

Youth: ( Matt )
Intends to take larger number of kids to Dare2Share and camps this year. This will require more transportation budget and would like to have scholarships as well for first time attenders that have trouble justifying the cost. Is working with Michael on the possibility of having an outdoor basketball court for the community. Kids are already gathering in the parking lot so it would be good to provide a more visible place to play away from the backyards of the neighbors. Just discussion at this point, but Michael and Matt did proceed far enough to get a rough estimate of the material costs.

Calendar
We added the following dates to the church calendar:
January 28: Celebration

Main Church Calendar


December--
2 - Administration meeting
3 - Lord's Supper
16 - Brother's meeting
17 - Christmas Caroling

January--
7 - Lord's Supper
20 - Brother's meeting
27 - Administration meeting
28 - Celebration

Friday, December 01, 2006

Progress towards Cleanliness

LCF cleaned out the sound room this last week while Kara took ThanksGiving week off. After touring the building this evening. I agree with Kara that we are done with the organization phase and ready to move to just cleaning and maintenance.

Completed:
Summer - Two full dumpsters plus 6 Herbies per week or so plus overflow at times.
Week 0 - Extra clutter removal throughout the building to prepare for the debate on Oct 16th ( 7 Herbies plus overflow thrown away on 12th )
Week 1 - Sanctuary Closets / Mike's Office ( 6 Herbies thrown away on 19th )
Week 2 - Mike's Office / Supply Closets ( 4 Herbies thrown away on 27th )
Week 3 - Bookstore ( 6 Herbies thrown away on Nov 2nd )
Week 4 - Supplies / Kitchen Closets ( 7 Herbies, lots of paint and other overflow thrown away on Nov 9th)
Week 5 - Bathroom / Closet in front of fellowship hall / Classrooms ( 5 Herbies on Nov 16th )
Week 6 - Tatesbrook junk out of locked LCF Storage ( 4 Herbies on Nov 23rd)
Week 7/8 - Sound Room Closet ( 5 Herbies on Nov 30th )
Proposed:

After a short conversation with Gregg and Kent tomorrow, I think we are done! Great Job!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Water Problems

Recently, water damage was found in the closet at the front of the fellowship hall. We have had water problems over the years as we have little by little made tiny corrections in outdoor waterflow in order to get the water away from the building.

I'm pretty sure this is the root of the problem since the splashing water has erroded the concrete glaze off the side of the basement wall and the dampness has darkened the bricks above it.

Splash blocks are bad... and ugly.

Five years ago, I moved water from the corner of the building to the parking lot and planted a Lilac bush to help use up some of the water that always seemed to make its way down the hill, into the corner and eventually pressing up through the tile in the foyer outside the fellowship hall.

The black tile can be purchased for about $10 and the only tool you need is a shovel.

The downspouts in the front of Mike's office go into the parking lot drain ( when they are connected ). The downspouts in the rear corner of the building were redirected by a team of young men from LCF several years ago in an effort to get water away from the nursery.

Two years ago, Donovan graded the area outside the youth room and had concrete poured to get water away from the lower door on that side of the building.

There are three downspouts that still dump water right next to the building and the closet is that last victim of water damage.

These last two are not major contributors of water, but we might as well fix all three at the same time.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Brothers Meeting Minutes - November 18, 2006

Attendees:
Dr. Scott, James Davis, Dan Leahy, Mike Brady

Next Meeting: December 16th ( 3rd Saturday of every month )

2006 Purpose of the Brother's Meeting:
Men getting together to share with each other. Ministering to one another and sharing encouragement from individual areas of ministry

2007 Ideas for the Brother's Meeting:
- Mission trips ( projects [ Work Days, Habitat for Humanity, etc. ] )
- Breakfast ( bacon & eggs instead of donuts or bananas )
- Retreats ( Friday night / Saturday [ like Corinth in 2005 ] )
- Need a leader to organize and communicate

Meeting Minutes:

Brothers testified as to what God is doing with the various challenges we face in life:

Tim:

  • Many, many stories: Topped Mike for today
  • Hopes that 9 SEC teams will receive a bowl bid.


Dan:
  • Painting foyer with Joje on a 16 foot ladder
  • Praying about his job, he and Joje are both trusting God
  • Best Quote: "I want to go out in peace like grandpa, not screaming like the passengers in his car"


Mike:

  • Wants to see more people involved with Brother's meeting
  • Many, many stories: Tim won the contest, though
  • Mimi's birthday, Amanda's Wedding, Emily's Anniversary and Open House is keeping him busy while he holds down a few jobs.
  • Asked that we keep Eva Sergent in our prayers ( new location for cancer, will be in surgery this week to have it removed, outlook is good )


Kevin:
  • Shared that Jackie has been doing better this last few weeks
  • Encouraged about more people using their gifts, sharing a few examples
  • Likes seeing high school students learning truth in same classroom as adults of all ages
  • Pleased with the progress of decluttering the building, looking forward to reaching steady state, where less energy will be required.
  • Suggested that we have a mini-work day after the meeting to clean up and move chairs.


Grace and Peace,
Kevin

Progress towards Cleanliness

LCF and Mars Hill did a great deal of clean up on Monday. Kara cleaned and organized the Kitchen on Wednesday. Next week it is the Sound Room across from Mike's office. Kent and Gregg are working on a plan for the cabinets and their contents.
If anyone has any suggestions about where we point Kara in December, please let me know!

Completed:
Summer - Two full dumpsters plus 6 Herbies per week or so plus overflow at times.
Week 0 - Extra clutter removal throughout the building to prepare for the debate on Oct 16th ( 7 Herbies plus overflow thrown away on 12th )
Week 1 - Sanctuary Closets / Mike's Office ( 6 Herbies thrown away on 19th )
Week 2 - Mike's Office / Supply Closets ( 4 Herbies thrown away on 27th )
Week 3 - Bookstore ( 6 Herbies thrown away on Nov 2nd )
Week 4 - Supplies / Kitchen Closets ( 7 Herbies, lots of paint and other overflow thrown away on Nov 9th)
Week 5 - Bathroom / Closet in front of fellowship hall / Classrooms ( 5 Herbies on Nov 16th )
Week 6 - Tatesbrook junk out of locked LCF Storage ( to be thrown away on Nov 18th )

Proposed:
Week 7 - Sound Room Closet ( to be thrown away on Nov 30th )
Week 8 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 7th )
Week 9 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 14th )

Claim these Items by November 18th

LCF and Mars Hill made a significant contribution to the clutter clean up this week. On Monday, after Mars Hill was finished, they cleaned out their locked closet. A great deal of the contents that they were able to throw away were old, valueless things from Tatesbrook in the back of the closet where moth and rust destroy.



But in this case, it was mold and mildew... While cleaning and prepping to paint, LCF found water damage. I'm pretty sure the source of the problem is the elbow on the downspout on that side of the building.


Kara was also able to clean the kitchen ( and reorganize it, of course ). It looks great. Ladies, you need to check this out.


Since this is mostly Tatesbrook stuff and LCF has already approved it going out the door, I'm going to suggest that the Brother's move it directly to Herbies after the Brother's meeting this morning.


I really don't want to miss next week's trash pickup, because we will need the Herbies for the following week when we clean out the Sound Room.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Progress towards Cleanliness

Kara combined weeks 5 and 6 this week and will be filling the week 6 slot by working with Billy to rearrange the Kitchen, LCF Storage and Coffee Shop Storage so that the chairs can be stored near the fellowship hall.

Completed:
Summer - Two full dumpsters plus 6 Herbies per week or so plus overflow at times.
Week 0 - Extra clutter removal throughout the building to prepare for the debate on Oct 16th ( 7 Herbies plus overflow thrown away on 12th )
Week 1 - Sanctuary Closets / Mike's Office ( 6 Herbies thrown away on 19th )
Week 2 - Mike's Office / Supply Closets ( 4 Herbies thrown away on 27th )
Week 3 - Bookstore ( 6 Herbies thrown away on Nov 2nd )
Week 4 - Supplies / Kitchen Closets ( 7 Herbies, lots of paint and other overflow thrown away on Nov 9th)
Week 5 - Bathroom / Closet in front of fellowship hall / Classrooms ( to be thrown away on Nov 16th )

Proposed:
Week 6 - Tatesbrook junk out of unlocked LCF Storage ( to be thrown away on Nov 16th [no waiting period] )
Week 7 - Sound Room Closet ( to be thrown away on Nov 30th )
Week 8 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 7th )
Week 9 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 14th )

Claim these Items by November 16th

After cleaning out the 4 & 5 year old room and recleaning some other areas, Kara only came up with a filing cabinet and a storage tub as items to be claimed by November 16th.

It appears that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!


For next week, we will be removing the chairs from the hallway. Kara and Billy are working on a plan to move the chairs to one of LCF's storage areas near the fellowship hall.


There are two carts holding chairs that can fit on one cart so throwing away one cart is a definite goal of mine. Throwing things away is a lot easier than finding storage places in our constrained space.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Progress towards Cleanliness

Kara's injury did not slow her down much, so we replaced the week 4 schedule break with a cleanup of the supplies closets for the kitchen and the cleaning. She is making tremendous progress.

Completed:
Summer - Two full dumpsters plus 6 Herbies per week or so plus overflow at times.
Week 0 - Extra clutter removal throughout the building to prepare for the debate on Oct 16th ( 7 Herbies plus overflow thrown away on 12th )
Week 1 - Sanctuary Closets / Mike's Office ( 6 Herbies thrown away on 19th )
Week 2 - Mike's Office / Supply Closets ( 4 Herbies thrown away on 27th )
Week 3 - Bookstore ( 6 Herbies thrown away on Nov 2nd )
Week 4 - Supplies / Kitchen Closets ( to be thrown away on Nov 9th)

Proposed:
Week 5 - Bathroom / Closet in front of fellowship hall ( to be thrown away on Nov 16th )
Week 6 - Classroom clutter on floor/cabinets ( to be thrown away on Nov 23rd )
Week 7 - Sound Room Closet ( to be thrown away on Nov 30th )
Week 8 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 7th )
Week 9 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 14th )

Claim these Items by November 9th

Kara went through the cleaning and kitchen supply rooms and the mop room and has moved all of the paint and maintenance items to the lost and found area at the end of the hall.


On November 9th, she will fill all the paint cans with kitty litter and take them to the curb.


In my 17 years at Tatesbrook, I have never seen the supply closets so organized and clutter free. There are a few electrical items that may be valuable so you may want to look through the clutter this week.


We have been given some more red stackable chairs so we may be able to get rid of the metal chairs on bulky racks that seem to live in the hall lately.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Fellowship Hall Allocation


Education Wing Allocation

In recent walk throughs of the building with Kara and with LCF, it has become clear that there needs to be a map of ownership of areas of the building. After much discussion, this is what we believe is the current ownership of the areas in the Education wing for 2006.

Mortgage Reduction Report


As we begin to discuss the 2007 Budget, I thought it would be good to update everyone on our progress toward our goal of debt elimination. As you may recall, at the beginning of 2006, we had hoped to make extra payments to reduce the mortgage at an aggressive rate that would allow us to achieve our goal in late 2008. At times this year, we were on that pace, but after the completion of three quarters, we have dropped our pace back to the rate of 2005.

The current projection of debt elimination at this slower pace is mid-2009.

Claim these Items by November 2nd

GOOD NEWS!


We are down to one shelf of clutter for this week! That means we can eliminate a clutter collecting table from the hall next week!

The pictured items are headed toward Good Will or the curb on November 2nd.




Progress towards Cleanliness

Due to an injury, Kara will be taking it easy this week if she works at all, so I have moved the schedule back one week.
James Davis, Kent Pittard, Gregg Greer and I walked through the entire building this morning as well. After the walk through, we decided to move the Sound Room Closet to later in the month so that LCF and Tatesbrook can remove some of the clutter before Kara gets to it.

Completed:
Summer - Two full dumpsters plus 6 Herbies per week or so plus overflow at times.
Week 0 - Extra clutter removal throughout the building to prepare for the debate on Oct 16th ( 7 Herbies plus overflow thrown away on 12th )
Week 1 - Sanctuary Closets / Mike's Office ( 6 Herbies thrown away on 19th )
Week 2 - Mike's Office / Supply Closets ( 4 Herbies thrown away on 27th )
Week 3 - Bookstore ( to be thrown away on Nov 2nd )

Proposed:
Week 4 - Break
Week 5 - Bathroom / Closet in front of fellowship hall ( to be thrown away on Nov 16th )
Week 6 - Classroom clutter on floor/cabinets ( to be thrown away on Nov 23rd )
Week 7 - Sound Room Closet ( to be thrown away on Nov 30th )
Week 8 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 7th )
Week 9 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 14th )

Administration Meeting Minutes - October 28, 2006

Attendees:
Mike Brady, James Davis

Next Meeting:
Saturday, December 2, 8:00 AM

Purpose of Administration Meeting:

Developing leaders that can follow through with excellence in all of the five fold ministries as we coordinate body wide activities and serve each other as unto the Lord

  • Discipleship
  • Evangelism
  • Worship
  • Service
  • Fellowship


Specific Topics discussed this month:

Finances:
Balances are lower than normal, but no concerns. It is now time to be thinking about the Budget for 2007. Please make Dan, Mike and Kevin aware of any ministries that will need financial resources in 2007. Mike suggested that we set up another Biblical Financial Principles class soon for some of the folks that have recently joined the church.

Job Posting:
One of the goals of this team was to identify jobs that could make our ministry better and to better utilize some members that would like to contribute time and service but just don't know where to start. We have made some progress and still have a few roles.

  • Maintaining a list of small repairs around the building ( need volunteer )
  • Mercy administrator ( need volunteer )
  • Maintain a rack of pamphlets in the bookstore (see Mike if you are interested)

Building: ( Kevin/James for Donovan )
Windows remain the top priority. LCF suggested sliding windows with screens instead of crank windows. We also added a few new items to the list.

  • A few windows in rear of building at dangerous point of falling out
  • Need to repair drywall and paint in entry way.
  • Plumber: Repair the outside faucet in the rear of the building
  • Plumber: Repair the leaking faucet in the upstairs men's restroom
  • Plumber: Repair baptistry heater ( water heater or jacuzzi heater instead of current system)
  • HVAC ( Install air return for the sanctuary, Ventilation for Sound room for equipment, workers and most importantly the thermostat )
  • Lighting: Sanctuary and foyer
  • Remove brick mail box - replace with a normal mailbox in one of the community's cluster of mail boxes. Safer for drivers pulling out of driveway, elimination of an eye-sore.
  • Need to rebuild shed or tear it down ( need communication with users and neighbors )

A few work items that occured during October:

  • Repair of Thermostat in back section of education wing (Thanks Billy)
  • Stripped and waxed floors ( Thanks Tim )
  • Removal of clutter ( Thanks to all, especially Kara )


Youth: ( Matt )
No report this month, Matt in Texas for his grandmother's funeral.

College: ( Mike for Josh/Kent )
Kent has a vision for college ministries in homes of Tatesbrookian's. Someone that can understand that college students stay up late... and minister to each other best at that time.

Calendar
We added the following dates to the church calendar:
November 12: Thanksgiving Dinner ( Pot blessed meal )

Main Church Calendar

November--
5- Lord's Supper
12 - Thanksgiving Meal after church
18- Brother's meeting

December--
2 - Administration meeting
3 - Lord's Supper
16 - Brother's meeting
17 - Christmas Caroling

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Brothers Meeting Minutes - Oct 21, 2006

Attendees:
Dr. Scott, Paul Baker, Duane Keaton, Fred McKinney, Tony Jones, Mike Brady

Next Meeting: November 18th ( 3rd Saturday of every month )

Purpose of the Brother's Meeting:
Men getting together to share with each other. Ministering to one another and sharing encouragement from individual areas of ministry

Meeting Minutes:

Brothers testified as to what God is doing with the various challenges we face in life:

Tim:

  • "Blue Like Jazz" - Story of Ron Rabbit chasing a carrot all his life, then....
  • "Forgotten Children" - Story of children ripped from families, trained as warriors in Uganda
  • Confirmed River of Life plans to build at least one well in Africa ( .., I'll be, It is .., Make me ..)


Tony:
  • lots of schoolwork
  • naming of gray hairs in his beard
  • 22 girls over for Abby's slumber party


Duane:
  • Duane's nephew, Andrew Morgan left for Iraq yesterday. His wife and child live in Texas.
  • Asked about the purpose of the Brother's meeting as it relates to the direction of the church. Discussion ensued:
    1) Weekly Prayer on Monday ( corporate meeting with God )
    2) Monthly Brothers Meeting ( corporate meeting with each other )
    3) Monthly Administration Meeting ( dealing with physical, administration needs )
  • Prayer is the backbone of all the ministries. It places our focus on Christ.



Mike:
  • Reminded everyone to pray for Paul Wilkerson
  • Up late with friends from out of town after attending Lafayette/Henry Clay football game
  • Returned to the house to put his guest to work


Kevin:
  • Encouraged about God's work in the community
  • Plea for brothers to provide feedback to Mike & Dan
  • Requested prayer covering for our ministers dealing with youth


Fred:
  • Good to be on fall break
  • Enjoying life in Missouri
  • Delivered HTML of church website on CD
  • Officially established as a Tatesbrook Stream


Paul:
  • Relating to Carmen's 15th birthday, Paul shared of his childhood experience of stealing his grandmother's car before he had his license and being chased down by the police.
  • Sunday School has boosted the worship service:
    1) Prepares the people for worship
    2) Reinforces the message ( many times it is the same message )
  • Paul votes for Sunday School to continue after these topics are complete


Grace and Peace,
Kevin

Friday, October 20, 2006

Strip and Wax Floors

Tim Padget will be stripping and waxing the floors in the fellowship hall on Friday, October 27.

He has reserved the church from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

The floors will ready for use by 5:00 PM for the coffee shop that evening.

Tim will also be providing the church with a few industrial grade vacuum cleaners that are still in good condition, so there will likely be a few old residential grade vacuums appearing in the clutter pile for November 2nd.

All vacuums should be labeled as to where they are to be used, who they belong to, and where they are to be stored.

Plans for progress toward Cleanliness

In an effort to help people know when the clutter was collected and removed from the building, I have taken pictures of what we are throwing out as we go.

If you are missing something valuable, please check the lost and found area first... to see if you can rescue it.

If it is not in the lost and found area, then please check the pictures on the following website:
Cleanliness

Our intent is not to throw away anything valuable to anyone. Our intent is to provide a clean and safe environment for all users of the building. As you attempt to clean up the clutter, I would encourage you to continue to use the shed as a temporary staging area as the clutter moves toward the trash, but please be aware that it is also a very unsafe place that will need to be torn down in the not too distant future.

As you prepare to remove clutter, please be considerate of others and do not simply move it to other areas of the building as a shortcut.

Kara is working with me to choose the next areas to address, so please provide me with any input about areas that you feel are off limits. Right now, our plans are to proceed as follows:

Completed:
Summer - Two full dumpsters plus 6 Herbies per week or so plus overflow at times.
Week 0 - Extra clutter removal throughout the building to prepare for the debate on Oct 16th ( Seven Herbies full plus overflow thrown away on 12th )
Week 1 - Sanctuary Closets / Mike's Office ( 6 Herbies full thrown away on 19th )
Week 2 - Mike's Office / Supply Closets ( to be thrown away on 27th )

Proposed:
Week 3 - Bookstore ( to be thrown away on Nov 2nd )
Week 4 - Sound Room Closet ( to be thrown away on Nov 7th )
Week 5 - Classroom clutter on floor ( to be thrown away on Nov 16th )
Week 6 - Bathroom / Closet in front of fellowship hall ( to be thrown away on Nov 23th )
Week 7 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Nov 30th )
Week 8 – Please provide input to Kevin ( to be thrown away on Dec 7th )

Communication is a key to this being successful. Please let me know if there is anything we can do better!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Claim these items by October 27th

Kara has cleaned out the first week of clutter and left the table for the second week. This set of clutter came from the two supply closets in the back of the fellowship hall.

Some really encouraging observations so far:
1) Kara is making good progress toward being able to clean
2) LCF spent time last Thursday to clear out a few things from the hall and stairs before Kara got to them. This will take a few weeks off of the total time to clean the place up. Thanks!


Saturday, October 14, 2006

Claim these Items by October 19th

Lost & Found






Please claim these items by October 19th before they are taken to GoodWill!

Saturday, October 07, 2006

There is a new Sheriff in Town

Carol Davis has found a very special person to fill the cleaning role that we have been looking for. This is a great answer to prayer. The search took on a higher priority after two different users of the building complained about the cleanliness over the summer.

Carol and I took Kara through the building to show her the ropes and she was stunned at the clutter. She will be working two days a week until she gets the place in shape, and then will go down to one day.



She is starting with the sanctuary this week.


She will be moving on Mike's office and the Tatesbrook Sound Closet the following two weeks. ( October 16 - 27 )

In November, she will be moving to the fellowship hall, kitchen, stairways and the classrooms.



Kara is a pastor's daughter so she understands the needs of a church body. She is also aware of the sensitivity involved in dealing with other people's things, but none of the members of the church bodies that share the building want her to be moving things around in order to be able to clean.

If this table belongs to you, please take it home. We will be taking it to the street soon, tables do not belong in the hallway.

The pictures in this blog are the "Before Kara" pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing the "After Kara" pictures in 2007.

This final picture is a picture of the designated "Lost and Found". I don't believe any of it is "Lost and Found", so Kara will be cleaning this off. If the item looks valuable to Goodwill, she will take it there, otherwise it is headed for the trash.


Saturday, September 23, 2006

Administration Meeting Minutes - September 23, 2006

Attendees:
Matt Hind, Kim Hind, Dan Leahy, Donovan Lakes, James Davis

Next Meeting:
Saturday, October 28, 8:00 AM

Purpose of Administration Meeting:


Developing leaders that can follow through with excellence in all of the five fold ministries as we coordinate body wide activities and serve each other as unto the Lord

  • Discipleship
  • Evangelism
  • Worship
  • Service
  • Fellowship


Specific Topics discussed this month:

Finances:
Not much to discuss this month. No unusual expenses. Offerings are modest.

Job Posting:
One of the goals of this team was to identify jobs that could make our ministry better and to better utilize some members that would like to contribute time and service but just don't know where to start. We have made some progress and still have a few roles.
  • Greeting ( Brenda Jones, DonnaMarie, Kim Hind, others?!? )
  • Maintaining a list of small repairs around the building ( need volunteer )
  • Mercy administrator ( need volunteer )
  • Moving Trash to curb on Thursday night ( need volunteer)
  • Maintain a rack of pamphlets in the new bookstore (see Mike if you are interested)
  • Organizing a Preventative Maintenance program for cars and homes for members in need of help ( need volunteer )

Building: ( Donovan/Kevin )
Windows are the top priority now that the steeple is repaired. We also added a few new items to the list.

  • Need to repair drywall and paint in entry way now that steeple is repaired. ( Entry way is dry this morning! )
  • A few windows in rear of building at dangerous point of falling out
  • Repair the plumbing leading to the outside faucet in the rear of the building
  • HVAC ( Install air return for the sanctuary, Fix second upstairs thermostat for youth room, Ventilation for Sound room for equipment, workers and most importantly the thermostat )
  • Remove brick mail box - replace with a normal mailbox in one of the community's cluster of mail boxes. Safer for drivers pulling out of driveway, elimination of an eye-sore.
  • Baptistry is in need of cleaning and repair
  • Need to rebuild shed or tear it down ( need communication with users and neighbors )

A few work items that occured during September:

  • Trailers and cars have been cleared from the backyard and parking lot! (Good Work)
  • Parking Lot stripe painting has finished ( Thanks Theresa )
  • Removal of LCF storage ( Thanks Kent )
  • Repair of the Steeple ( Thanks Donovan & James )


Youth: ( Matt )
No report this month, meeting pre-empted to help Mike.

College: ( Josh )
No report this month

Calendar
We added the following dates to the church calendar:
Oct 6- Fifth Quarter after Henry Clay (@ Henry Clay)

Main Church Calendar

September--
24- Paul Wilkerson Testimony
29-Oct 1 - Youth campout

October--
1- Lord's Supper
6- Fifth Quarter (after Henry Clay)
13- Fifth Quarter (after Scott County)
11- Mayoral Debate at Tatesbrook
11- Church Planter from India at Living Hope Fellowship
20-22 Bob's Fall Retreat
21- Brother's meeting
27- Fifth Quarter (after Woodford County)
28- Administration meeting

November--
5- Lord's Supper
21- Brother's meeting
28- Administration meeting

December--

Thursday, September 07, 2006

New missionary called from Street ministry

Many of you know that we have supported Jeff and Tonda Street and their family as they minister to the French speaking communities throughout Quebec and in their summer mission projects around the world.

I received the following email from Jeff and thought I would pass it along to all of you so that you know that God is at work in the missions we are supporting and so that you can pray specifically for Christina.


Greetings from Quebec!
I want to thank each of you for your continued prayers for our ministry and take a few minutes to tell you more about one of the young people from our youth group.

Below you’ll see a picture of Christina. She is 19 years old. She is the youngest of 5 children from a christian family, however the 3 oldest children are not believers.

It has been exciting to see how Christina has grown spiritually over the years. We met her when we came to Quebec in 1997 to start learning French. She was a member of our first youth group and participated in our first overseas trip in 2000 (to the France & The Czech Republic). It was during this trip while distributing copies of the “Jesus” film and inviting children to attend our VBS in Toulouse, France that she was attacked by a muslim teenage girl who kicked her in the stomach. I’ll never forget as I walked her away, crying, from where she’d been kicked I asked her, “Are you ok?” Her response? “Yes, I’m not crying because I’m hurt; I’m crying because I want to hit that girl back, but I know that’s not what God would want me to do!” Later that day the same muslim girl returned and asked our group for a copy of the “Jesus” film. I’m convinced that that girl had already seen a little bit of Jesus in Christina and wanted to see more.

After finishing high school in in 2003 we helped Christina organize a year in Brazil to attend the Word of Life Bible Institute in Belem. While there, God did great things in her life, including calling her to full-time missions. Today she is going to college back here in Quebec City and preparing for how God will lead her into full-time ministry. She is also our most faithful attendee at our monthly prayer meeting for world missions.

Please pray for her as she goes about her studies here. Her older siblings discourage her from serving the Lord and the vast majority of her college professors are atheists and antagonistic towards spiritual things. Also, please pray for her ministry in her local church as she is heavily involved in the children’s ministry. Lastly, please pray for direction to where the Lord wants her to minister in full-time missions.

Thanks for your participation in Christina’s life!

Blessings!
Jeff (& Tonda) Street

Monday, August 21, 2006

Samuel's Sluggers

Would you like to be one of Samuel's Sluggers?

I received this letter from one of the streams of Tatesbrook in Houston, TX. Many of us know Tony and Allie from their time at UK and Tatesbrook and have visited them in Houston and watched their growth as Christian parents and leaders in their church. I know Samuel gets his bravery, strength and discipline honestly from his parents.

Please be in prayer for the Lucas family

Grace & Peace,
Kevin


Here is the letter:





Dear Friends and Family,

Samuel turned three on March 3rd this year. On March 7th he was diagnosed with Type I Juvenile Diabetes. Samuel had just been potty trained, when he started going to the bathroom every few minutes. We initially thought he was just playing and having fun with his newly discovered accomplishment.

Then we noticed he was drinking water heavily and looked very skinny.

After researching this on WebMD.com we didn't want to believe what we had found, but after his condition worsened and he began vomiting, I took him to the pediatrician. It was very sobering and scary to hear we were right, diabetes. The pediatrician checked Samuel? blood sugar and discovered that it was off the charts and over 800. We rushed to Texas Children's Hospital and spent a few days there in the pediatric intensive care unit mostly so that Tony and I could learn how to take care of a diabetic child. After just one eight hour class and several sleepless nights, we brought our son home. To say the least we were nervous about taking care of Samuel. It felt like bringing home a brand new baby with all the nervous anticipation of a new way of life.

Samuel gets 5-8 finger sticks a day and two insulin injections. We closely monitor his diet, exercise, sugar levels and insulin dosage. He is the bravest little boy I have ever seen. He chooses where he receives his insulin and which finger gets stuck. He even prepares the monitor and sometimes pushes the insulin syringe himself. He takes a very active role in monitoring his diabetes. He even reminds mommy and daddy when we forget to check his blood. He is incredibly smart and brave.

It's been about 6 months since Samuel got diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. These months have been an adjustment, but we are trying to make it as much of a way of life we can. God has definitely held us in his hands and given us strength. Samuel has received almost 1,000 finger sticks and 400 insulin injections. As these numbers continue to increase so will our efforts to manage his diabetes.

One thing that continues to concern us is that Samuel, along with millions of children living with Type I diabetes are innocent victims of their own autoimmune system. Their own bodies destroyed the cells that produce insulin. Insulin is the key that opens the cells of the human body and allows nourishment from the blood to enter. Without insulin the cells will starve and die. Without insulin a Type I diabetic will die. Injected insulin is not a cure but merely a life support system to keep Samuel alive.

Our family along with many others is teaming up with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to raise money to find a cure for this disease. JDRF is the world's leading non-profit founder of diabetes research. The goal for this year is to raise more than 86 million dollars for diabetes research. JDRF is very close to finding a cure for this very scary and potentially life threatening disease.

We have decided to swing in to action and do something to help Samuel be cured. We have created a team named Samuel's Sluggers and are swinging for the fence to raise $1,000 for the cure of juvenile diabetes. On Saturday, October 14, we participate in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes held at the Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas. The money raised will go toward research to find a cure for Samuel's disease.

There are two ways you can help us make a difference for Samuel and all those living with diabetes:

1. Join our Family Team Samuel's Sluggers which consists of family & friends who collect pledges and walk with us. Simply register on-line at: http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=86396507


2. Make a tax-deductible contribution of any amount on-line at: http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=86396507


3. Or mail a contribution, made payable to JDRF (write Samuel's Sluggers in the memo section) to:

Samuel Lucas
16726 Schooners Way
Friendswood, TX 77546


Thank you and God Bless,
Tony, Allie, Samuel & Nora Lucas

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Administration Meeting Minutes - August 26, 2006

Attendees:
Josh Wilson, Scott Faulkner, Cindy Faulkner, James Davis, Matt Hind, Kim Hind, Carol Davis

Next Meeting:
Saturday, September 23, 8:00 AM

Purpose of Administration Meeting:




Developing leaders that can follow through with excellence in all of the five fold ministries as we coordinate body wide activities and serve each other as unto the Lord

  • Discipleship
  • Evangelism
  • Worship
  • Service
  • Fellowship


Specific Topics discussed this month:

Finances:
Offerings down for the summer, but still above our budget for the year. No extra payments on the mortgage the last few months and our checking account balance is going down, but nothing out of the usual.

Job Posting:
One of the goals of this team was to identify jobs that could make our ministry better and to better utilize some members that would like to contribute time and service but just don't know where to start. We have made some progress and still have a few roles



  • Sound Mix ( Joe Joe and Josh have begun training )
  • Greeting ( Brenda Jones, DonnaMarie, Kim Hind, others?!? )
  • Maintaining a list of small repairs around the building ( need volunteer )
  • Mercy administrator ( need volunteer )
  • Moving Trash to curb on Thursday night ( need volunteer)
    When I returned from weekends in Indiana during July, I found all seven herbies were full and most of them had the lids open. This makes it difficult to roll them up the hill while they are full of rain water. We could really use someone to do this on a weekly basis.
  • Maintain a rack of pamphlets in the new bookstore (see Mike if you are interested)
  • Organizing a Preventative Maintenance program for cars and homes for members in need of help ( need volunteer )

Building: ( Donovan/Kevin )
The Steeple repair is the top priority and windows are a close second. The administration team decided to tear it down at the work day in July. That did not occur and has not occured yet, but plans to repair it are still in the works. We also added a few new items to the list.

  • Number of trailers is shrinking (good work!) but the one legal trailer needs to be parked next to the shed to keep the place looking a little better
  • One more window at dangerous point of falling out
  • Repair the plumbing leading to the outside faucet in the rear of the building ( one of the other churches used it again not knowing that it would flood the nursery )
  • HVAC ( Install air return for the sanctuary, Fix second upstairs thermostat for youth room, clean out the Mars Hill refrigerator so it can be moved, clean out junk from cleaning supply room, Ventilation for Sound room for equipment, workers and most importantly the thermostat, check out condensation in cleaning supply room )
  • Remove brick mail box - replace with a normal mailbox in one of the community's cluster of mail boxes. Safer for drivers pulling out of driveway, elimination of an eye-sore.
  • Baptristy is in need of cleaning and repair

A few work items that occured during August:

  • Parking Lot stripe painting has begun ( Thanks Theresa )
  • HVAC ducts have been repaired above Mike's office ( improves cooling capacity, reduces electric costs )
  • Toilets have been repaired ( reduces water costs )


Youth: ( Matt )
The first 5th Quarter went well, but flyers did not seem to work. Our church is relational and will always depend on relationship for growth in any area. Considering breaking up middle school and high school. Considering hooking up with First Priority to have closer relationship to Tates Creek.

College: ( Josh )
College group will be going to Bob's Fall Retreat. Josh also observed that the magnets, flyers, cards are not effective in reaching people. To be successful integrating college students into the church, we will have to have them over for lunch and start relationships with them.

Calendar
We added the following dates to the church calendar:

Fifth Quarters:
Sept 1 - After Madison Central
Oct 13 - After Scott County
Oct 27 - After Woodford County

Main Church Calendar

August--
20- First day of College Shuttle
21- First Children's Church
25-27 Church campout
26- Administration meeting at campout

September--
1 - Fifth Quarter
3- Lord's Supper
16- Brother's meeting
23- Administration meeting
29- Fifth Quarter
29-Oct 1 - Youth campout

October--
1- Lord's Supper
13- Fifth Quarter
16- Mayoral Debate?
20-22 Bob's Fall Retreat
21- Brother's meeting
27- Fifth Quarter
28- Administration meeting

November--

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Fifth Quarter


The first Fifth Quarter will be at the youth room this Friday night after the Tates Creek Football Game.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Peter Lord Weekend (Time/Location Update)

There have been a few changes to the times and locations for the Peter Lord meetings this coming weekend, so please note the changes and be on time as we join together with other church bodies that may not be as loose as we are in regard to time.

Here is the revise schedule of the weekend:

Location: Church at Tatesbrook, 3724 Appian Way
Church-wide meeting.......Friday 7:00 P.M.
Leadership Workshop.......Saturday Morning 10:00
Church-wide meeting.......Saturday 7:00 P.M.

Location: Living Hope Fellowship, 3640 Grace Drive
Church-wide meeting.......Sunday Morning 10:15 A.M.
Church-wide meeting.......Sunday Night 6:30 P.M.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Peter Lord Weekend

Dear Saints,

Please clear your calendars for the week-end of August 11-13. Peter Lord, one of the best preachers of our day will be coming to Tatesbrook and sharing with us. Peter has been at Tatesbrook in the past, and those of you who came will remember the blessing we received through the meetings. Here is a schedule of the weekend:

Church-wide meeting.......Friday 7:00 P.M.
Leadership Workshop.......Saturday Morning 10:00
Church-wide meeting.......Saturday 7:00 P.M.
Church-wide meeting.......Sunday Morning 10:30 A.M.
Church-wide meeting.......Sunday Night 6:30 P.M.


Peter has authored several books dealing with the Christian life, and I have asked him to bring several of those for us to purchase. Begin praying for Peter, the moving of the Holy Spirit in our meetings, and for our church to be changed because of this weekend. Your presence at these meetings will be an important part as to how the Lord moves during the week-end. We will have another congregation (Living Word) meeting with us which means we will have a full house, so if you operate on "Tatesbrook time" you may want to change the meeting times in your mind to 30-60 minutes earlier! HAHA!

P.S. Continue to pray for Peter's wife Johnnie. Because of her stroke, she will not be coming with him.

Grace & Peace!
Bro. Mike

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Tatesbrook Neighborhood Association - Ice Cream Social

Saturday, July 29th 11:00AM-1:00PM

Tatesbrook Neighborhood Association
First Annual Ice Cream Social

Location: The Church at Tatesbrook
Guest: Lexington Fire Department, Ice Cream, Kids and FUN

Administration Meeting Minutes - June 24, 2006

Attendees:
Mike Brady, Matt Hind, James Davis

Next Meeting:
Saturday, July 22, 8:00 AM

Purpose of Administration Meeting:


Developing leaders that can follow through with excellence in all of the five fold ministries as we coordinate body wide activities and serve each other as unto the Lord

  • Discipleship
  • Evangelism
  • Worship
  • Service
  • Fellowship


Specific Topics discussed this month:

Political Meetings:
The Tatesbrook Neighborhood Association requested to use our building for a political event this fall and Jackie passed the request on to the elders, trustees and administration team. All who heard of this opportunity were in full support of this. We should embrace opportunities like this to help us tell of our mission to spread the Gospel through relationship, sharing, community, government support and grace instead of religious traditions, sacred objects, rules or laws. It should be known that the Church at Tatesbrook is not endorsing any particular party or candidate when it allows the community to meet in our building.

Finances:
Offerings down in June, but this is not unusual. Others mentioned that June format for teaching in break out groups has broken some habits and that people may be holding all of June offerings until we take offerings again in July.

Job Posting:
One of the goals of this team was to identify jobs that could make our ministry better and to better utilize some members that would like to contribute time and service but just don't know where to start. We have made some progress and still have a few roles

  • Sound Mix ( Joe Joe and Josh have begun training )
  • Greeting ( Brenda Jones, DonnaMarie, Kim Hind, others?!? )
  • Maintaining a list of small repairs around the building ( need volunteer )
  • Mercy administrator ( need volunteer )
  • Moving Trash to curb on Thursday night ( need volunteer)
  • Maintain a rack of pamphlets in the new bookstore (see Mike if you are interested)
  • Organizing a Preventative Maintenance program for cars and homes for members in need of help ( need volunteer )

Building: ( Donovan )
The Steeple repair is the top priority and windows are a close second. The administration team decided today to tear it down at the work day in July. We also added a few new items to the list.

  • With more people being active around the building, we need to remove all of the trailers (including the one that belongs to Henderson Mowing). One possible solution would be to tear down the shed and replace with a workshop / garage that would have enough room for the trailer
  • One more window at dangerous point of falling out
  • Repair the plumbing leading to the outside faucet in the rear of the building ( one of the other churches used it again not knowing that it would flood the nursery )

We decided to let Donovan choose the date of our Summer Work Day ( preferences are July 8, 15, or 22):

  • Remove all extra trailers, cars, boats
  • Put six pews on the curb or in the dumpster ( we are really looking for a home if you know of one )
  • Weed the new tree sanctuary
  • Remove more junk from the building
  • Tear down the steeple


Youth: ( Matt )
Looking at renting a 15 passenger van for Bob's camp this year ( July 9th through 15th) in order to save money and trouble for the parents and leaders. Matt is the only leader that will be traveling down and staying there the whole time.


Calendar
We added the following dates to the church calendar:

  • Picnics
    June 4, July 23
  • Campout
    Youth - Sept 29-Oct 1
    Church - Aug 25-27 or Sep 1-4
  • Lord’s Supper--
    First Sunday of the month
  • College Move in--
    Aug 18,19,20th
    Every Sunday Tatesbrook shuttle

Main Church Calendar

June--
25- Missionaries return from Ecuador!
26-30- VBS

July--
2- Lord's Supper
9-15- Bob’s Summer Camp
15- Brother's Meeting
22- Meet with LCF ( Joint Work Day with Dumpster #3?? )
23- Church Picnic
29- Tatesbrook Neighborhood Association Ice Cream Social
30- Youth Game Night

August--
6- Lord's Supper
11-13 - Peter Lord weekend
16- FCPS starts
18-19 - UK College Move In
19- Brother's meeting at BSU ( 7:30 AM )
20- First day of College Shuttle
25-27 Church campout
26- Administration meeting at campout

September--
29-Oct 1 - Youth campout

October--

Make-A-Mess transition to VBS


Matt and his team of able volunteers of varying skills have completed the necessary modifications required prior to VBS starting. The finishing touches of paint on the walls and ceiling, bead board around the room, tile and carpet have transformed the area in one week.

Great job by all who have contributed!

I got one last snapshot of a worker. Scott is a skilled worker and drummer, so his hands are bit blurry in this photograph.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Brothers Meeting Minutes - June 17, 2006

Attendees:
Donovan Lakes, Matt Hind, Josh Wilson, Dan Leahy, James Davis, Michael Blunk, Paul Wilkerson, Tony Jones, Mike Brady.
( Dr. Scott was excused... Ecuador Mission Trip (Kim & Tim) )


Next Meeting: July 15 ( 3rd Saturday of every month )

Purpose of the Brother's Meeting:
Men getting together to share with each other. Ministering to one another and sharing encouragement from individual areas of ministry

Meeting Minutes:

After an opening prayer, Mike started by requesting that the brothers share about areas in which the church is growing and where we need to be active with God:

  • Family - Mike shared that the various groups, June teachings, work and fellowship have helped to establish our identity as a family
  • Community - Kevin shared that the community is becoming involved and we are just beginning to meet them where they are ( neighborhood association, youth room, Ron's youth group, VBS, fifth quarter)
  • Prayer - Josh shared about how key prayer is and used a few examples from the book Praying Effectively For The Lost!


Mike then called on brothers to testify as to what God is doing with the various challenges we face in life:

Tony:

  • Grandmothers facing death
  • Parents realizing how important they are to each other
  • Tony's understanding of God's role in family is growing
Michael Blunk:

  • Praying for salvation of his brother ( a super likable person )
  • Josh suggested that in praying for the lost, we need to recognize a stronghold
  • His brother has just transitioned from physical destructive habits to healthy habits to injury so God has got his attention
Matt:

  • Shared feedback from Kim in Ecuador
  • Pointed out that he believes this may have great impact on her practice when she returns
Paul:

  • Concerned about his family when he is deployed ( 3 months to Ft Dicks, then one year in Afghanistan )
  • Accepting what God has given him every day
  • Considering ROTC but dependent on God opening doors there

At this point, I had to leave to attend Adam's baseball tournament, but I am extremely blessed to have brothers like these.


Grace and Peace,
Kevin

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Make-A-Mess falling back to original schedule

On Saturday, June 3, Matt and Josh began the dry wall work with the strips on the ceiling where the walls were removed. In this picture, Matt is on a ladder and Josh is standing flat footed on the floor. Josh's height has been very effective through the duration of this project. The strength of some of the members was on display yesterday when Jackie was carrying pews and Gadis lugged drywall single handedly.

The workers are getting tired and they hit a few snags:
  • Matt and Adam cut into a power main while cutting the wall for the new serving counter
  • Gadis cut through a water drain vent pipe

but they continue to press forward to complete the project before VBS needs the building.

This last week, many people learned new skills, which was one of Matt's original goals. Emilie Thomas has had a fun time helping out with several items. I think her favorite was tearing out carpet, but I only have a picture of her cleaning the blocks that will go under the serving counter. This week, our pregnant Kresta Wilson learned how to mud a ceiling on a ladder. She claimed that her inability to create a pattern was an advantage. The results indicate that this is true.

Matt's team has also made a great deal of progress prepping the walls for a fresh coat of paint this week. The border has been removed and there are three coats of mud on the exterior walls where the interior walls once stood.

Some of the members did not want their picture taken while they were working, but that rarely stops me.

And what can we say about Scott Faulkner... This man is a blessing to our body. It is good to know that we are getting things done with quality workmanship and I particularly like to see Scott training young people about electrical work.

Tatesbrook Vision

We exist to exalt Jesus Christ as we grow in relationship to Him and to each other; reaching the world from person to person, house to house, city to city, and nation to nation

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Make-A-Mess Ahead of Schedule



If you wanted to take part in the demolition, you missed out. Matt, Gadis, Scott, Eva, Adam and Kelley have already torn down the inner walls. Matt, Kelley and Emilie have already torn out the carpet and there is not much demolition left. Eva was knocking down walls with a great deal of shoulder power, while Gadis and Matt used Matt's new tool. Richard and Robert were both there working and Richard only had one good leg.

Scott disconnected "most" of the power before we started and we found a four inch pipe with an unknown purpose in one of the walls. It was a great deal of fun and I am excited about the opportunity that will exist while youth gather there this fall and beyond.

One thing I've learned is that when Matt sets his mind on something, step back, because it will get done. He seems to collect people around him that get it done as well. I love spending time with people that make messes.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Make-A-Mess Schedule

The Administration meeting planned for this coming Saturday will be replaced by a Make-A-Mess planning session and work morning. Matt will be leading the effort.

Here is the updated schedule for Make-A-Mess. If you see something on the list that you would like to help with, please let Matt know about it.

May
- move thermostats and electric to walls that will remain
- need to talk with A/C specialist about thermostat locations
May 30 (End of Day)
- Mars Hill done with school year and Billy's office contents moved

June 3
- Demolition of flooring
- Installation of door
June 6
- Demolition of walls
June 7
- Relocation of electric
June 8
- Patching of ceiling and walls
June 12
- Prime painting walls and ceiling
June 13
- Installation of flooring
June 15
- Paint walls and ceiling

June 16
- Decorate for VBS

June 26
- VBS

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Work Day was a tremendous success



THANKS to all that contributed to the work day today, we really got a great deal done!
Everyone that likes to work on lists, likes to see them completed so I’ve added names to the items that were completed today.


Must Do:
- Removing construction debris from water retention basin and putting it in the dumpster ( Mike, Tim, Dan, Kim H., Matt )
- Removing junk from yard, shed and inside the building and moving it to the dumpster ( All )
- Clean out the current shared sound storage room for LCF/Tatesbrook ( Kevin, Mark, Kim F. )
- Mowing the water retention basin ( Mike, Tim, Dan, Kim H., Matt, Travis, Duane )
- Trimming the bushes around the building and parking lot ( Mike, Tim, Dan, Kim H., Matt, Travis, Duane )
- Trimming the low hanging branches in parking lot and yard ( Tim )
- Pulling the weeds in the landscaping in front of the building ( Carol, Emily, Aaron, Joshua, Tony, Michelle, Jacob, Abby, David, Caleb )
- Picking up all the brush and driving it to the dumpster ( Mike, Tim, and Adam )


Would Like to Do:
- Pulling weeds around the trees in the water retention basin ( Mike, Tim, Dan, Kim H., Matt, Travis )
- Mulching the landscaping ( Davis Family, Jones Family, Dan, Hannah )
- Dumpster diving for sunglasses wearing sandals ( Adam )


Will leave for another day:
- Edging the sidewalks ( Attempted by Kevin, Matt, Wayne )
- Repair or tear down the steeple ( will need to clear all cars and people from the area )
- Replace the air filters in the blowers ( anytime )
- Replacing outdoor lights as needed ( anytime )
- Level off the ground around the new cement and plant grass
- Change the "Water Retention Basin" to a lighted fountain like the one downtown
- Tear down some of the internal walls to fill the rest of the dumpster


Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Looking for a Job?

We have had a few opportunities show up in the last few months that I would like to offer up to the body.

- We need someone to clean the floors weekly ( buff / wax regularly as well )
- We need someone to move Herbies to the curb (Thursday night) and back (Friday Morning)
- We need someone to mow the water retention basin monthly
- We need someone to clean the church over the summer

If you are interested in any or all of this positions, please let Kevin Eby know about it!