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.