1.  Julie opened with prayer.

2.  Julie and Bonnie recapped the meeting with Janelle regarding mini-BAC.

• They shared that Janelle is interested in partnering with someone to run mini-BAC. Janelle’s preference is to be the “crafts and games” person and continue to develop her story-telling abilities. She would like another adult to partner with her to help with overall organization, overseeing the teen assistants, and telling some of the Bible stories. Two women had expressed some interest in helping with mini-BAC at the end of last summer. Julie will contact them and see if they are still interested.
• We discussed the number of crafts Janelle has organized in the past and the possibility of reducing that number. Janelle’s concern is that preschoolers tend to get into squabbles if free play lasts for more than 10-15 minutes. The idea of forming small groups with the children at mini-BAC and having teen leaders with each small group could possibly help the children play for longer periods of time without fighting. We talked about the possibility of adding game stations.
• Location for mini-BAC was also discussed. Janelle expressed her desire for mini-BAC to remain located in her home. Bonnie and Julie asked about the added stress to Janelle and her family. Questions regarding insurance liability also arose and Bonnie will forward these questions to Leroy and Tammy. We decided to continue to pray about the best location for this important support ministry for BAC2ONE.
• Janelle would appreciate knowing the memory verses as soon as possible.

3.  Julie read “The Boy Who Changed the World” by Andy Andrews. Jason suggested that we present this book to whoever is teaching drama this year. If the drama is done during the opening each day, further development of the four main characters could be expanded upon during Focus time.

4.  The leadership team then conversed regarding theme development.

• Various Bible verses were reviewed (see Google doc – if you can open it!)
• Biblical figures were suggested as well as historical figures.
• Biblical figures included: Noah, Joshua, Jonah, Ruth, David, Mary (sister of Martha), Jesus, the disciples. Each of these characters made deliberate choices which had far-reaching effects.
• Historical figures included: Joshua Chamberlain, George Washington Carver, Henry Wallace, Christopher Columbus, William Tyndale, Anne Frank. If we use both a Biblical and historical figure each day, we can emphasize the timeless quality of our message.
• Jason talked about either building up to the gospel presentation later in the week (i.e. Thursday) or presenting the gospel message earlier and talking about how that important choice frames and guides your choices that follow. We agreed that the most important choice we want campers to make is to choose Christ, to answer his knock (Rev. 3:20), but we also want to talk about what that choice means, how it plays out in their everyday life.  We decided that we would present the gospel message on Tuesday (after introducing the theme on Monday) and then help campers see how this decision will influence the rest of their lives.
• Some media suggestions for use in Focus time included: Veggie Tales Jonah movie clips, clips from the movie “Pay it Forward” and Liberty Mutual commercials  and elaborate cause & effect videos from YouTube.
• We discussed developing a pay it forward campaign to do with the campers during the week.
• Jason and Julie will meet before the next meeting to choose memory verse and begin work on developing the daily themes.

5.  Bonnie suggested that we work on memorizing the daily verses some time other than SG time. She felt that valuable time was used for this “task” rather than giving the SGL time to talk in depth about what the verses mean. She suggested that we have a booth for the campers to recite their verses and receive their prize instead of making that a SGL responsibility. We tossed around some ideas for adding this into Focus Time and at the beginning and end of the day.

6.  We decided to have orange T-shirts with a logo that combined the idea of a butterfly and roads. We also will decorate with butterflies through the church – talking about the butterfly effect with the campers on the first day and throughout the week.

7.  Bonnie encouraged all of us to get on the team 2011 Google doc and highlight in yellow those team members who have communicated how they would like to be involved this year.

8.  Tammy has encouraged us to order supplies in bulk and use the church’s tax exempt status when purchasing materials to save money. We discussed the need to have someone to coordinate this endeavor as well as how to communicate this change to our teachers. It will be a point on the teacher checklist. Knowing how much supplies cost will give us a better idea of how much money the BAC2ONE program requires. If teachers choose to donate their supplies, we want to provide them with gift in kind receipts. If teachers purchase their own supplies, it is imperative that they submit a receipt if they desire reimbursement so that the IRS doesn’t view the check given to them as a payroll transaction.

9.  Misc: Some games that would be good alternative activities include Dominoes and Mouse Trap.

10.  Assignments for next meeting, Feb. 9 @ 10:30.

• Continue work on database
• Develop (find) teacher checklist so that when we contact teachers we can remember to give and get important information.
• Put together a “packet” of information we can send out to churches inquiring about our BAC program.
• Order “The Butterfly Effect” and 10 more copies of “The Boy Who Changed the World” both by Andy Andrews. The latter to be given away as prizes during the week.

• Develop a logo
• Meet with Julie re: theme development and begin creating a daily Focus time plan.

• Find duckie choices
• Get online and highlighted those she has talked to

• Type out summary of our meeting that can be put on the website
• Meet with Jason.
• Talk to Tammy about supply coordination and purchasing and whether or not we can give out a tax exempt form to teachers for them to use.

11. Julie closed in prayer.

Six months and two and a half weeks from today, BAC2ONE 2011 begins. Yesterday, the leadership teammet and began the process of planning. Our first priority is to develop our theme for the week and we’reexcited to share with you the results of our meeting.

CHOICES

Every day, numerous times a day, everyone makes choices. What we choose affects not only us, butan infinite number of others. Recently, I learned about “The Butterfly Effect”, which is formally knownas “The law of sensitive dependence on initial conditions”. In easy to understand terms, an exampleof this law would be: when a butterfly flaps its wings it moves air molecules, which in turn move moremolecules, which all move more molecules, etc. etc. ; therefore, a butterfly flapping its wings in one partof the world can cause a hurricane in another. For people, this law also applies. One choice to act or notto act affects those around us, sometimes in ways we’re not aware of and for longer than we expect.
The ultimate choice we as humans need to make is to respond to Jesus knocking at the door of ourhearts (Rev.3:20). This choice guides us as we make daily decisions regarding our actions, words, non-actions, thoughts, attitudes, responses, etc. We desire that campers make the choice to open the doorto Christ and then daily choose to follow him.
The theme of choices relates very well to art. Adding a spice, shading, color, stitch, wood piece,character, or arm or hand motion can completely change your work of art. A single choice has thepotential to transform something good to great. Unfortunately, the reverse is true as well.
Although six months and two and a half weeks may seem like a long ways off, July 25 will be herebefore you know it! We urge you to prayerfully consider how you would like to be involved at BAC2ONE this summer. Then please let us know ASAP. We will be using an online registration form again whichmeans we need establish what classes we offer by May 1. The number of small group leaders we havedetermines how many campers can attend. Many other volunteers are also needed. We ask that youchoose to be involved as we urge campers to choose Christ for a lifetime.
Blessings to you all!
Julie De Haan for the BAC2ONE Leadership Team

Jason has done a boatload of technical work getting the registration form online. People will be able to register online as well as pay through Paypal. Jason is also going to indicate that if they don’t want to pay through Paypal, they can send a check via mail. There will also be a note that scholarships are available upon request. Registration should be live by the end of the week.

Focus times: do we want to do anything with artists during the Focus Times? We don’t have anyone definite yet. Julie had a really nice talk with Eric Timm (a “Jesus Painter”); Bud is questionable; Phil Terborg knows an elderly gentleman who has been a long-time educator in the arts; Gary Harbo is another possibility. We would want someone to help the campers dream about how God might use their artistic abilities. If we do this, Cal’s portion will be smaller during the Focus Times. That might be better anyway, as the campers don’t typically have a 30-minute attention span. It would be a challenge – a good one – to limit his time to 10 (?) minutes to deliver the “image” of the day. Calvin will have to rework the Focus Times to figure out where we can incorporate artists and who we would want.

After I left, the others continued to meet. Following is what I have gleaned from their notes:

There will be Small Group leader training sessions on July 7 and July 22, both from 7:00 – 8:30. I’ll just assume that Jason will lead this again as he did last year.

There will also be a BAC Open House on July 22. From 11:00 – 1:00 and 4:00 – 7:00, the church will be open to volunteers. They’ll be able to pick up their T-shirts, class lists, map of the church (as in, class locations) and supplies. There will also be “tips for teachers.” We will strongly encourage them to sign up for mini-BAC so that Janelle will know how many campers she’ll have in her house and on what days they’ll be there. Finally, there will be food signups and Barnabas team assignments.

Currently, we have 27 small group leaders covering 26 small groups. WONDERful!

Our next meeting will be on May 26 at 10:30.  We’ll need to finalize Focus Time ideas (as in, get going Calvin!) and determine what other committees need to be formed. We’ll also get updates on where we’re at with our shirts and registration. Since we’re going to be forming some of the other committees now, our first meeting in June will need to be an evening meeting so that more people will be able to attend.

To all who spoke today, thank you. You touched my heart and filled me with desire to see what God is going to do this year.

To all who were present today, thank you. Your presence and your prayers made the testimonies possible.

To all who are signed up for this summer’s Camp, thank you. Your readiness to follow God’s calling in your life is a gift to our congregation and our community.

To those who are already planning the coming Art Camp and mini-BAC, thank you. Your labor of love – while hidden from view – is so necessary to open up the possibilities for what God will do.

But most of all, to our God who is always faithful, always gracious and always reaching out, thank you. Your grace and love and power displayed in and through us is truly humbling.

Potluck on 25th: testimonials; videos from past years; presentation on Wonder theme; most of it is about sharing the excitement that we’re already beginning to feel. Run the videos while we’re eating. Then start testimonials, presentation on theme, etc.

Class list and small group leader list look totally awesome.

Money:

In response to last week’s small group visioning meeting, we opened in more of a small group format. Julie opened with reading from “Thriving as an Artist in the Church” by Rory Noland, in particular the section on How to keep your passion alive. (The second link I’ve included will allow you to read it on Google books.)

Deb is going to be meeting with Mystic Riders soon to ask for a donation. We’re so thankful for Deb and her willingness to get out there and hustle up donations.

Julie suggested that we talk to TJ about putting together the video montage. Jason and he will need to work out the details so that the final DVD doesn’t become an even bigger project for Jason.

Classes

Level 2 is full…as long as all of the classes we have on paper come through. We have some work to do still on Level 1 Electives, but we have lots of people to call on. That’s amazing! We do have some people who are willing to teach if we choose the subject and provide the supplies. The tough part for us is that some people’s schedules are up in the air right now because of questions about work and school. As we look at filling out our class schedule, we’ll be firming up the people we have and calling some who have been involved in teaching in the past.

Money

Our balance currently sits at $5,050.29. We have talked about using some of our money as “seed money” for building a garage/pole shed on site. The church would use it for storage during the year, then BAC would get it on the week we need it. Is a garage a priority? Perhaps play equipment would be more important to make this a more “family friendly” environment? Or a Welcome Kiosk for The Gathering Place? Does it need to be something that is geared more toward children’s ministries?

We’ll plan on coming to the next meeting with some ideas.

Small Group leaders

We have 12 currently and are feeling pretty good about where we’re at. We are looking at some of the younger people as well and wondering about their interest level. Mitchell, Lane, Corbin, Lindsey, Philomena, Christian, etc. We’d also like to see Bonnie leading a small group. Her concern is that she likes to have interaction time with the parents. Deanna Printy offered last year to help out with that and she has said she is interested and willing for this year. Lynn S. is also a good possibility.

Format

Do we like the schedule that we’ve been following the last few years? If not, do we want to go crazy and reformat (NOT our hard disk)? We’ll have to take this up at our next meeting. This really applies to everything: small group leader’s “free time”; special projects for the small group time; overall schedule; etc.

Our next meeting will be on March 24 at 10:30 am.

We need to set up a time to make phone calls to invite teachers and small group leaders to make an early commitment. We need to have a list of classes and teachers in order to put out a registration sheet and the registration sheet should be available by May 1st. Hope and Bonnie will brainstorm a list of people to make those phone calls and see when they are available to make calls. We’re also thinking that we could have Julie do a pre-worship announcement and appeal for volunteers. Perhaps a booth in The Gathering Place would be a good way to make it real to people that the plans are starting to come together already.

Cal contacted Linda Ippel (a potter from Grand Rapids) and Rachelle Carlson (a photographer) about either teaching a class or having some other involvement.

Julie has purchased some videos to prompt Wonder in the campers. Jason suggested that perhaps we could have a video night in which we invite leaders to view some of the videos that we have picked to pique their curiousity and creativity. We could couple this with a teacher/small group leader training.

Jason found a database template online that we think will work for BAC (with some modifications).

After all this, we’re going with a burgundy shirt for the campers and black for the leaders.

We had some discussion about the possibility of having a “famous” person send us a 5-minute video testimony of where they started from as a child, when they began to dream of God using them in public ministry and how they marvel at God today. Names that came to mind were: Eric Timm (Jesus Painter), Toby Mac, Third Day, David Crowder, Go Fish. Calvin went onto Facebook to look for pages of these people and to try to send them messages. We will also try through friends that we have that might have a better connection in the music industry (e.g. Paul Lopez, Mike King). To date, nothing has panned out.

From there, we began to bring it closer to home and thought that perhaps the “up front” leaders at BAC (Julie, Bonnie, Jason) could give a testimony of where they started from and how God molded them into who they are. These are people who are very visible faces at BAC, but don’t usually get a chance to let the kids know who they are and where they’ve come from.

In working on our logo/graphic, we came up with the idea of a cloud with light shining through it, perhaps illuminating or coming out in the word WONDER. Jason said he would work on a graphic and send it to us to look at.

Shirt color? Very important question, but not so important. It’s one of the first things the kids ask about, but in many ways it doesn’t matter. We thought perhaps a blue (if we’re talking clouds), even a royal or dark blue.

Rachelle Carlson’s name came up as a possibility for someone who could teach a photography class. Calvin will get in touch with her. If she doesn’t want to commit to teaching a class, he will ask her to be a roving photographer who will take and organize the pictures during the week.

It’s very important for us to start nailing down teachers and small group leaders. It’s also very difficult, as most people don’t even begin to think about Art Camp until summer arrives.

Our theme for this year is going to be “Wonder.” We’re going to lead the campers to wonder at God as He is revealed all around us in His creation. What fun! I love science and can’t wait to pull out our microscopes and telescopes to take a deeper look at who God is. We’ll also lead the campers to wonder at who they are – created by God in His image with creative abilities included.

We’ll once again limit enrollment to 150. In order to make this work, we’ll need:

• 7 core and 31 elective classes for Level 1
• 4 core and 16 elective classes for Level 2
• 21 small groups

Add to that the people needed for mini-BAC, setup, takedown, cleanup, cooking, helping, security, organization, administration…we’re talking about a lot of volunteers. Plans are under way to start making phone calls and use Facebook to start “the big ask.”

Cal will setup a Facebook page and WordPress website. He’ll also lay out the theme for the week. Updated information can be found here. At our next meeting, we’ll begin work also on the logo for the year (Jason).