The workgroup met at Unity CC with 21 persons present. Rev. Dr. Gary Edens opened with prayer and a devotion on Matt. 25:31-46 about the separating of the sheep from the goats. Gary noted that the subject in this parable was judgment with the emphasis on serving the “least of these.” Gary shared a personal story from his family with the point of the story being that by living faithfully, even in the face of dire circumstances, it is best to live in such a way as to finish with no regrets. For us, the point is that we should not leave things undone that we should do. Let us be faithful in all things.

The minutes were read by Rev. Lynn Maxwell and approved by the group without changes.

Everyone agreed that Nov. 7^th would be an acceptable date for our next gathering at Richlands. Lyn Stowe noted that we should include the youth in the services, but not necessarily have a youth only service. Lyn liked the format we had last April with the 902 Praise band. Lyn noted that he witnessed both young and old tapping their feet. We will follow the same basic format for our next gathering and possibly change the format in the one to follow.

Rev. Kim Holley will contact the 902 church and coordinate with them on planning for the youth.

Gary asked the group who they would like to speak at the upcoming gathering, and there was a motion from Judy Greer and second from Danny Bailey to invite Michael Ten Eyck again if he was available. The workgroup agreed with the motion. Gary will invite him and if he is not available he will seek recommendations from DHF.

Gary asked for volunteers from the churches to help plan the upcoming gathering. Betty & Lyn Stowe from Unity CC volunteered – Judy Greer & Joan Harrell from Pleasant Hill CC – Danny Bailey from Amity CC – Kim Holley from FCC Richlands. Lynn will check with Ottway and Comfort to see if they have someone who would like to participate. Kim will also coordinate with the 902 Church.

The group discussed the make-up of the Leadership Council and how the rotation of officers would be handled. The main concern was that there needs to be adequate time to train the new members before the original leaders rotated off of the council. After much discussion a motion was made by Kim Holley and seconded by Lyn Stowe that the original four (Gary, Lynn, Roger, and Betty) would serve for two years and the additional three on the first council would serve for three years. After two years the original four would rotate off and new council members would replace them, thus allowing for overlap to train them. In order to implement this action, Judy Greer recommended that we develop an Addendum to the Constitution to cover the initial establishment of the Leadership Council since the Constitution calls for a two-year rotation. The motion was approved by the workgroup.

The members of the first official Leadership Council will be; Gary Edens from FCC Richlands, Roger Noble from Tuckahoe CC, Betty Stowe from Unity CC, Danny Bailey from Amity CC, Jack Mumford from Ottway CC, Kim Holley from FCC Richlands, and Lynn Maxwell from Pleasant Hill CC. Lynn was to call Jack Mumford to see if he would accept, and after all had been confirmed it was agreed that the Council would become effective as of August 1, 2015. Gary thanked everyone who has so faithfully worked for the last almost two years to bring us to where we are today. Many thanks to all who caught hold of the vision and dedicated their efforts to make the DHF of NC a reality. As a side note, Rev. Jack Mumford from Ottway CC graciously agreed to serve on the Council.

Lynn was asked to set up a page on our website for church announcements or possibly a calendar.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lynn Maxwell