Economic Development Ministry Meeting



Economic Development Ministry Meeting

December 14, 2007

The meeting opened up with prayer at 7:10 p.m. by Pastor Gee.

EDM Vision and Purpose – Pastor Gee

Coming to the table lacking the money is frustrating. We hope to never come to the table again without the finances. Many ministries have failed – not because of lack of vision – but because of lack of money.

We are bringing the missing part of the ministry into focus. Many times the enemy has tried to keep us from doing this by embarrassing us and making us ashamed that we have so much money. The enemy uses so many tricks of the trade to keep us in lack. However, we have upwards of 3,000 members and we are moving forward!

This is a ministry of the Lord just like any other ministry, and we are going to approach it with the same fervor that we would any other ministry. We have a vision and purpose and we are going to proceed accordingly.

“Exposure” Aftermath and Follow-up

Brother Pete Windless gave a report on the Business Networking Alliance event that was held in November. It was attended by 120-140 people and was very successful as supported by the results of the evaluation survey. Participants were able to conduct business, although they wanted more networking time. Action Item: We will be planning a calendar of events for upcoming sessions probably to begin during the latter part of January. In addition to fellowship and bonding, a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce has also resulted from this alliance.

WOCC Business Directory – “Keeping it in the House”

Evangelist Beverly Murphy demonstrated the EDM Business and Services Directory, now available from the EDM blog. It lists information of WOCC members by type of service or business with alphabetical arrangement by name of company and individual. Included are addresses, phone numbers, and brief descriptions, as well as interactive links for email and Website access. Verifying membership for inclusion has been an issue, but with the clarification of Pastor Andy’s vision for membership, that is being dealt with. In the next update, a legal disclaimer will be added.

EDM Curriculum Status

Sister Angela Burroughs gave an update on the curriculum planning activities. In November, the curriculum planning group held a meeting and came up with name Wisdom In Stewardship Education (WISE) subcommittee. Currently they are in the process of finalizing plans for 2008 educational offerings to include the following:

▪ Monthly schedule

Action Item: Some training dates will be set up once we get some feedback re: fasting dates

▪ Quality speakers and teachers in the areas of personal finance (basics, intermediate, home ownership, etc.) and entrepreneurship (aspiring, growing, and established)

▪ Collaboration with EDM Business Networking Alliance events as relevant

▪ Seasonal offerings (i.e. tax season, summertime, holiday spending, etc.)

Based on Pastor Andy’s vision for 2008, a potential kickoff theme for EDM could be: Positioning Yourself for Favor in Your Finances.

We don’t want to reinvent the wheel, so we will be making use of resources already available including:

▪ North Carolina Institute for Minority Economic Development (NCIMED) – offers free training; can pull a person’s credit report onsite; will not contact creditors for the person but will provide templates to write letters to creditors

▪ Crown Ministries – based on biblical principles; may provide training to a limited number of people

▪ Rapid Debt Reducer Software – month by month tracking software for getting out of debt; practical tool in which you enter your debts and get help in determining how to pay things off; cost approximately $16

Accomplishments for 2007

Evangelist Murphy gave a report on the activities of the EDM in 2007 and a peak into the plans for 2008.

EDM Blog

Created in July, the blog helps us to keep up with events, activities, minutes, action items, and includes Kingdom Principal teachings from Pastor Al and other resources. It is archival in nature, interactive (people can comment on any item), and has links to Websites and documents.

Brainstorming Session

At the second meeting of this group (July 26th), we had a big brainstorming session where everyone had the opportunity to give their feedback and ideas based on the 3 prongs of the ministry – personal finance, entrepreneurship, and economic development for the Church.

Financial Wellness Survey

In September, we implemented a survey designed to gauge the financial temperature of the membership. Added to the responses received online, we had a total of 1,142 responses (75% rate) from which to gain insight. Debt Elimination, Savings and Investments, and Budgeting were the top three items that were most important to the respondents. The results are being used as an assessment tool for future training and other assistance for our members.

Logo Designed

As we began to market ourselves more, we needed something graphical to be identified with, so in October, we created a logo.

Harvest Festival

Thanks to Jill Coleman and her family, we were able to have a booth at the Harvest Festival on November 3rd. The kids made glittery and buttony hand puppets and had loads of fun.

Business Networking “Exposure” Event

Held on November 9th, this after hours mixer was positively received as the official kick off for the EDM Business Networking Alliance, which will serve to stimulate entrepreneurial connections.

Business Networking Alliance Evaluation

To gauge the success of the networking event, we designed and implemented an evaluation form for the attendees to complete. This gave us immediate feedback as to the satisfaction of the participants and provided information for improving the next events.

Business and Services Directory

This interactive directory is hot off the press. It’s currently accessible from the EDM blog and is designed to list information of WOCC members by type of service or business with alphabetical arrangement by name of company and individual. Included are addresses, phone numbers, and brief descriptions, as well as interactive links for email and Website access.

❑ Business and Services Directory Form – Web accessible and first point of contact

❑ Business and Services Directory Database – backend piece that receives input from the form and produces the actual Directory.

Bulletin Announcements

Submitted various announcements for the Bulletin including 2 sheets of Holiday Spending Tips

Future – Peak into 2008

❑ Seminar(s) based on feedback from the survey

❑ Incorporating seasoning training

❑ Resuming Business Networking Alliance sessions

❑ Designing an EDM membership database to easily search for specific skills of members, instructors, etc. It will be a working tool for us.

❑ Designing an additional logo that may be a part of a pin or some other kind of insignia that we could wear to our functions, etc.

❑ Adding more Resource content to the EDM blog

❑ Resume the redesign of the brochure

Thanks to Anthony Holt, we already have the files. They just need tweaking.

❑ With the latest acquisition – we have no idea how that will impact this group!

Action Item: Brother Patrick Roberts suggested that we might want to trademark our logo so no one will snatch it up and use it. Cost about $40.

First Annual WOCC Seminar

Action Item: If you want to work on the committee to put this seminar together, please contact Sister Jill Coleman.

Pastor Gee reiterated that we will need the help of everyone to accomplish our goals. He let the members know that if they hadn’t had a chance to get involved, they would certainly have an opportunity in the future.

The new members were then introduced and welcomed: Sisters Melody Covington and Nicole Diggs and Brothers Pete Reams, Barton Shuler, and Robert Harris.

It looks like Pastor Gee will be at the table as things roll out, unfold, and develop about the new property acquisition. He will let us know what’s going on as he finds out. We don’t yet know how this will impact our ministry, but we will most assuredly have to step up and enlarge our dreams.

Formation of Legal Team

Pastor Gee has talked with Brother Patrick Roberts about formalizing a legal team. Because this is a litigious society and because we have more visibility, we may attract more risk. Therefore, we want to cover our Pastor from our standpoint - legally and in every manner. As things unfold, we are going to need more advice, and this group will assist in that.

Grants Writing Group

Sister Cherie Crum is going to be formulating a grant-writing group. Action Item: If you’re interested in working on this team, please let Sister Crum or Evangelist Murphy know.

Investors

Many investment options have been coming across Pastor Gee’s desk (i.e. restaurants, oil, etc.), so he would like to put a group together to scrutinize some investments. Action Item: If you’re an investor or interested in being a part of this group, please let Pastor Gee or Evangelist Murphy know. Brother Patrick Roberts and Sister Delphine Kearney expressed interest in joining. We don’t want to miss a good deal, but we do want to pass on a bad deal. We were also reminded that Sister Jill Coleman has an investment club.

Christian Millionaires

Pastor Gee has talked with William Lockett, whose aim is to help people retire in five years. He offers a practical, systematic program but some investment and ongoing financial commitment is needed to participate. Pastor Gee would like for people to hear him. His background is in the Church of God in Christ. We follow some people because of the faith they have. We follow other people because of their experiences. Abraham didn’t have a child for many years, but people followed him because of the faith he had.

Year End Tax Tips in Bulletin

For the holiday season, we had spending tips in the bulletin. Since we’re coming into the tax season, we would like to include some tax tips in the bulletin before the year ends. Action Item: If you know some good tax tips, please send them to Sister Angela Burroughs at kingdomchild7@.

Brother Bernard Torain presented a love offering to Pastor Gee on behalf of the ministry to let him know just how much we love and appreciate him.

The meeting closed with prayer by Brother Winslow Thornton at approximately 8:15 pm.

Recorded by Evangelist Beverly Murphy

murph005@mc.duke.edu

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