BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE BIBLE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
to the 104th Annual Conference
The Board of Directors of the Bible Fellowship Church met at four regular meetings throughout the year. This Board attends to the corporate business of the denomination providing oversight of the fiscal and legal affairs. The brethren freely gave of their time and energies to accomplish this work for the good of Christ’s Church and the glory of our great God.
Advice and counsel were given to several churches regarding legal and financial matters:
Lehighton – temporary financing
Howell, NJ – property matters
Newark, DE – funding from Fund to Promote Church Extension and property matters
Sinking Spring – property matters
Kutztown – property matters and debt retirement
The Board also maintains oversight of the Ministers’ Retirement Fund and disburses payments to retirees and widows. Answers to specific questions raised by individual pastors have been answered or are in the process of being answered.
Moving Fund disbursements were made and the following was adopted as an operational procedure for the fund:
RESOLVED, that when a church calls an assistant pastor or pastoral assistant, the cost of moving such a man shall be borne by the calling church.
The Board also cooperated with Pinebrook Junior College in the purchase of additional property. Continued assistance was provided to the Board of the Home in that the Board of Directors of Bible Fellowship Church has taken title to approximately 55 acres of property in Whitehall Township located in the vicinity of Mauch Chunk and Rural Roads. This Board continues to work with the Home Board in obtaining the necessary financing for construction of Fellowship Manor in Whitehall. The financing will probably be by means of a tax free bond issue of approximately $6,000,000.
The funds held by the Bible Fellowship Church Board of Directors are deposited with the Farmers First Bank of Lititz, Pennsylvania. The accounts of the Treasurer and Financial Secretary were audited by Walter A. Davis.
Recommendations:
We recommend that the Annual Conference adopt the following:
1. That the annuities paid from the Ministers’ Retirement Fund beginning October 1, 1987, shall be $138.00 per year of service up to forty years of service for which an annuitant is eligible.
2. That the Administrative Budget for 1987-88 be approved for use beginning October 1, 1987.
3. That the Administrative Budget for the 1988-89 year be approved for circulation to the church in solicitation of their pledges by April 15, 1988.
4. That the rate of mileage reimbursement be .18 per mile effective 10/15/87.
5. That the revisions to the Rules of the Ministers’ Retirement Fund (pages 20-23, 1986 Yearbook) be adopted at Second Reading except paragraph B-1 of section V on page 21, 1986 Yearbook which should be amended to read:
1. A percentage of each member’s annual salary and supplemental benefits, excluding medical insurance and excluding parsonage allowances for pastors providing their own housing, shall be paid into the Fund. To maintain his continuity of service, the contribution shall not be less than a percentage of the minimum salary currently prescribed for a pastor by the Annual Conference. The percentage of contribution shall be established annually by Annual Conference by a two-thirds majority vote at one reading.
6. That Annual Conference approved the change in the Charter of Pinebrook Junior College and approve Pinebrook Junior College taking title to the property located at 428 South Main Street, Coopersburg, Pennsylvania.
Board Members: Jansen E. Hartman, President; Carl C. Cassel, Vice President; James A. Beil, Secretary; Horace A. Kauffman, Financial Secretary; Robert W. Gehret, Treasurer; Alva C. Cassel, Bert N. Brosius, Jay H. Fasnacht, L. James Roberts