4/14/26 ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL MEETING SUMMARY
Discipleship Training — (Terry Bolender) Terry talked about the importance of discipling team members. Terry reminded us that every meeting should begin with prayer (sharing that duty among team members is encouraged) and that the first part of every meeting should involve asking a discipleship question. She gave examples: What is God doing in your life? Where do you feel the Holy Spirit at work in your life? Where do you see God/the Holy Spirit at work in the life of our church? Where did you see the presence of God in out _______ (event)?
Finance Update — (Glen Cushman) Giving so far has been stronger than anticipated. Both the Easter offering and investments (so far) are in line with expectations. Expenses are a bit lower than anticipated in the first quarter. Finance has started a new process regarding online processing fees. Going forward, quarterly statements will have a separate category “transaction fee” so those who give can see that those fees don’t count towards their donation.
Wesley Bus – (Evelyn Reymond) Kent UMC was offered, for no charge, one of the vans currently being used to drive people to and from Wesley Des Moines on Sunday mornings. Evelyn Reymond, on behalf of Congregational Care, moved that we accept the van. Rommel Corsilles provided his expertise about the state of the van. Temporary storage is already in place. Evelyn had done research regarding initial costs. Glen Cushman amended the motion with language for the initial source of funding. The deadline to accept the van was the following day. After the discussion, the motion passed—15 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained.
Progress towards KUMC Goals — Goal 1 Growing Our Church — (Pastor Jim) Pastor Jim summarized the changes in membership numbers that we have experienced over roughly the past 10 years:
Changes in Membership Numbers from 2016 to 2025
150 new members added
150 members passed away
34 people withdrew
23 people transferred out
207 people removed
Pastor Jim says that we intend to upscale the growth we are experiencing so that our growth is significantly greater than combined death, withdrawals, and transfers. We are working on setting up a day apart where we can work together towards that goal.
KUMC Goals:
Grow our church.
Grow our faith.
Communicate who we are.
Increase social media presence.
Respect and Honor our staff
Ensure financial stability.
Maintain our facility.
Reduce our Carbon footprint.
The next Ad Council meeting is Tuesday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.