Board of Stewards January 13th, 2026 Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Erin Brady, Celeste Tolbert, Patty Olbrantz, Dessa Boynton, Aaron Byrd, Stephanie Knapp, Bill Hansen, Donna Galloway, Aaron Davis, Sharon Blythe, Ed Garrison, Les Swick, Joe Tarpley
Meeting called to session at 6:00pm. Quorum was present with all in attendance.
December Minutes review and approval
Motion by Dessa Boynton, seconded by Stephanie Knapp to approve 9-Dec-2025 minutes; motion carried.
Welcomed new 2026 Board Members, Patty Olbrantz, Donna Galloway and Sharon Blythe. New working team assignments reviewed. All members given BOS Covenant, Guiding Principles and 2026 nomination document.
2026 Working Teams and Leads:
| Name | 2026 Assignment | Other roles |
| Celeste Tolbert | COM | Lead for COM; Lay Delegate |
| Patty Olbrantz | COM | |
| Dessa Boynton | COM | Missions Liaison |
| Aaron Byrd | Finance | |
| Stephanie Knapp | Finance | Lead for Finance; Treasurer |
| Bill Hansen | Finance | |
| Donna Galloway | SPRC | Bridges Liaison |
| Aaron Davis | SPRC | |
| Sharon Blythe | SPRC | Lead for SPRC |
| Erin Brady | Trustees | Chair |
| Ed Garrison | Trustees | Preschool Representative |
| Les Swick | Trustees | Lead for Trustees |
Pending assignments for 2026 – Vice Chair and Recording Secretary
Nominations for 2026 reviewed – still need to fill communications and coffee lead
Town Hall Meeting dates set for 2026. Discussion held to schedule meetings on one service Sundays to hopefully increase attendance.
Town Hall Meeting Dates for 2026
- March 29th at 11:30
- May 3rd at 11:30
- Sept 13th at 11:30
- November 15th 10:00
Preschool update – February 9th is the next Board meeting.
Working Team updates
SPR – Discussion held regarding Bridges program staffing. Reviewed status of current job search for children’s ministry and discussed making updates for additional postings.
COM – Suggestion to initiate notifications for stewardship a week earlier this year due to transitions in January vs. February.
Finance – Ended the year well with monies to carry into 2026..
Trustees – Replaced the fire alarm panel ~ $10k for this repair work was done in 2025 but will need to be paid in 2026. The water heater in the kitchen is not working, and Les is getting repair work done.
New meeting February 10th 6pm
Actions and Decisions:
Action – Erin Brady review Guiding Principles for 2026 and circulate for updates. Once finalized and approved by BOS, updated document to be adopted at the next charge conference.
Action – Working teams (WTs) to meet prior to next BOS meeting to review goals and update 2026 WT approval thresholds for BOS approval. WT Goals to be posted to SharePoint.
Action – Work with Jennifer Blanton to update the nominations spreadsheet and post to the website. Updates requested – update CHOW lead, add missions chairperson and Family Ministry Team. Final copy to be posted to the website.
Action – SPR team to review the current children’s director job description to see if it can be more streamlined and reposted.
Decision – Update nomination guidelines that Board members are not on nominations (exception is lay leader).
Meeting adjourned at 7:40pm.
Minutes submitted by Erin Brady.
