Report of the

Committee on Examination of

Minutes of Particular Churches

            The Committee on Examination of Minutes of Particular Churches met on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at Bethel BFC, Emmaus, PA.

            The minutes of Particular Churches were examined on the basis of the suggested format for congregational meetings as stated in the Faith & Order, Article 403-3 and 403-4.

            The Committee communicated with every church reminding the pastor to send a copy of the minutes of all congregational meetings, which shall include the Board of Elders’ Report of the Membership and Annual Financial Report to:

Committee on the Examination of Minutes of Particular Churches

C/O Ralph M. Soper

418 Elm Street

Emmaus, PA 18049.

             The minutes and reports were to arrive no later than March 1, 2008. Several churches did not submit their minutes on time and we would request that you have your congregational meeting early enough to meet this date. Beginning next year (2009), we will be including the names of those Particular Churches who have not submitted their minutes in our report.

            The Committee appreciates those churches that used the checklist to make sure they were providing all the necessary information. Several churches noted on this form where the requested information could be found in the reports. This helped to streamline our work, which was greatly appreciated. The 2009 checklist will include a place to note this.

            We would remind each of the churches again this year of the need to verify evidence of a financial review and to provide a report from the Pastoral Relations Committee.

            We more importantly remind each church of the need to include a copy of the signed Elder’s Declaration of Agreement with the Articles of Faith and a willingness to follow the Principles of Order of the BFC. (see F&O §401-1.9).

            The committee found no petitions to Annual Conference.

Committee on the Examination of Minutes of Particular Churches: Ralph M. Soper, Chairman; Clyde D. Bomgardner, Jr., Secretary; C. Larry Bennett, Louis S. Curcio, Ronald C. Erb, Allan R. Vivona.