Meeting Time/Location: 10:00 am/Cascades Camp & Conference Center

Attending: John Prouty (President); John Tissell (Vice-President); Jeff Wolf (Recording Secretary); Dick Lundberg (Financial Secretary); Harold Ulfers (Stewardship Committee Chair); Keith Olson (Treasurer); and Bud Olson (Member at large).

Opening Meditation/Prayer: John Tissell (Matthew 5:13) "What we do as men is more important than what we say."

Agenda Approved: John Prouty discussed the agenda which was approved as presented.

Read/approve previous meeting minutes: Jeff Wolf read the minutes for September 13 and they were approved as amended.

Financial Secretary Report: Dick reviewed the finance report which was approved as presented. John P. noted that the account closeout check for the Smith-Barney account was sent to the incorrect address and returned. It will be re-mailed to the conference office and deposited into checking by next month.

Treasurer Report:

•Keith/John P. will write a check to camp for $5,695 to supplement $6,305 already forwarded by Kerm’s memorial fund to cover balance of $12,000 cabin sponsorship.

•Checks for designated missions donations supplemented by a portion of general offering will be distributed as follows: AEC- $500; KICY- $280; MARC Pilot- $120; and Village Ministries-$550.

Project Committee Report:

•John P. discussed the status of the 2004 Alaska fundraiser project to establish a christian-based substance abuse treatment at Camp Gilead near Unalakleet, Alaska. Donations in the amount of $280 have been received to date. An amount of $200 from the retreat general offering plus the surplus balance of $386 from the 2003 mission project account will be added to the account for a total balance of $866.

•Covenant men have committed to head the steam engine locomotive restoration project scheduled to start this spring.

Executive Board Report: None presented.

Camp Board Report: John P. noted that the camp is preparing a 6 minute video which provides an overview of camp operations. It does not include any discussions of the current capital improvement projects that are in the longer version of the video. It will be available this spring for use by local churches and potential campers.

Old Business:

2004 Retreat Planning-

• John Prouty will contact Michael Ryan to confirm him as the 2004 retreat speaker. Kent McDonald was suggested as an alternate by Dick Lundberg.

• John T. noted that there were too many last minute and walk-in registrations at this years retreat to keep up with the current setup. We need to encourage earlier registration and look at speeding up the walk-in registration process. Also need a money box with change and a way to easily track the "payment due" status of attendees.

•We need to encourage participation in retreat worship music rather than setup music as a performance. Also need to have a unified sound, recording and video presentation system which includes VHS, CD and DVD capabilities.

•Revised all speaker session lengths to 45 minute length.

•Revised the start time for the annual meeting from 7:15 to 6:30pm on Saturday to allow adequate time for elections and business. Will start worship music approx. 20 minutes prior to get the men headed to and ready for the meeting.

•John P. will request a 10:30am Sunday brunch.

•Need to facilitate mixing of men from other churches using self-assigned rooms; prayer times and organized games.

•Will consider requesting a "Host" church to help with retreat setup and cleanup. Need to clarify required duties.

New Business:

• John P. noted that he requested a reservation to use the new train camp facilities for the 2005 retreat.

Next Meeting: At Camp of the Cascades on November 8, 2003 at 9:30am.