Burns Flat Cumberland Presbyterian Church: Moderator Report for Decemberf 2025

Moderator Report

December 2025

THE FOLLOWING REPORT WAS REJECTED BY THE SESSION.

This report is robust again and per the session’s desire was not sent out in advance. I continue to link earlier reports for more context. We do have some action items to accomplish at this meeting and I have engaged a prayer plan that I hope gets us to there.

Seek Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Missions. We helped 11 families with Thanksgiving Baskets and additional food, since school was out for a week for Thanksgiving Break. We helped about 25 other families with healthy portions of food in November. We are giving out Christmas Baskets plus extra food (two-week school break) for the next few days. We are blessed to be a blessing. One family was helped with food while I was away. This was a continuation of an existing relationship.

I held a Holy Fun evening on 17 December to get as many as were interested in some of the grunt work of food sorting. We also made made a dozen blessing bags.

On a looking forward note, the missions committee has been mostly the Spence family over the past few years. I have lost a couple of family members who were active in the committee. During my time here, we had as many as 9 or 10 members on this committee at one time. These were mostly new joins (Wascom, Hose, & Westreicher). Don Foust and Tom Collins would participate from time to time, but we haven’t had others interested. The Kiser and Rush families are often involved in mission work (as well as other areas). Newton Lockwood was on my mind and in my heart about possibly restarting the committee. I have asked him and some others to pray about this and not get back with me. I asked them to talk to the session after the New Year if they believe God is calling them to this.

I suggest a new reconstitution effort in 2026. I don’t want to initiate this with someone and then not be there to mentor, so the Spences will be the committee for the rest of the year. I hope you don’t let our missions work atrophy going forward. There is currently some genuine fidelity between our motto and our actions, especially in our truth-in-love approach to outreach.

Worship. We are more aware and active in the Special Music area. God is working in our local churches (offline narrative post Community Service).

Education. The quarterly Sunday School Report is due at January’s session meeting (Rodney). Fran Kiser said that she would take Sharman’s class for F-4 in 2026.

Building and Grounds. The easternmost front door is fixed. The heat was fixed prior to the 30 November Service and the cold front, so no special mitigation was required. Thanks to Phil and Ethan for pressing on through multiple challenges.

I purchased space heaters as a contingency plan in case we don't get the heat on in time, to avoid draining the sprinkler system. The heat was fixed before the first major cold front. The space heaters helped maintain the building's overall temperature but did not require emergency employment. They made about a seven-degree difference in the northern rooms when the outside temperature was in the mid-twenties. The heat was fixed (thankfully) before the heaters were put to the test. God, your grace is enough, but all the same, thanks that we didn’t turn the fellowship hall into a skating rink.

Please don’t spray the area around the outside cross or the northeast corner of the building. I sowed no-mow clover on the NE corner of the church building (so I would have results for the north and east side). I won’t go into the factors that led to my assessment, but the no-mow would be the best solution for the northern part, which is just a weed factory/tar-and-gravel repository that seems to have grown immune to Roundup. I suggest Visqueen and gravel without interspersed vegetation if the no-mow is a no-go. You probably won’t know until early March 2026. The east side of the building needs to be painted. It has fewer coats of paint than the rest of the building. The north side could use some touch-up. This might be a good spring project for a few people with no fear of getting paint in their hair. The west side differs in that it has lettering to work around, which may take a little more skill. The rest of the building might be a good opportunity for our youth to serve, with pizza, of course. I don’t want to ask the youth to do everything but while they are in this teachable spirit mode, I hope they discover the joy of fellowship in service.

We older folks experienced this with workdays bringing an old grocery store into the Reformed Tradition. I would like them to catch he idiom of fellowship in the course of outreach and evangelism.

And I don’t want them to think they can outgrow these things. Fellowship is enriched in common purpose and projects that sometimes include walking, painting, digging in the dirt, helping a shut in and so much more. Fellowship lies in inclusion. Abundant life lies in inclusion. If we don’t bring up our youth to understand this sort of fellowship, we are just filling the seats at the country club.

Also, on the north side of the building, there is a pipe/conduit for wiring that has lost its integrity. The wires are contained and shielded, but the encasing has broken and is sagging. Phil said that the power company would have to fix that.

In the minor but growing category, there has been an onslaught of spit cups left adrift in the building. I am accustomed to picking up Styrofoam water cups on Monday and Thursday mornings, as well as those I found later stashed for later use or reasons unknown. Water cups are mostly carelessness and complacency. We don’t need to hide Styrofoam cups for later use. We have plastic and ceramic cups and glasses and I usually wash a load early Sunday afternoons. That’s the stewardship part. Spit cups move us a notch towards disrespecting others who share the same spaces.

On a positive note, Libby Spence worked cleaning and organizing the attic. On one occasion, Avery Simmons helped her. The attic is a never-ending project but it is less of a fire hazard and a little better organized.

On an FYI storeroom note. I have been the watchdog of the electrical panels through these past years. I marked the area in front of them so it would not be fouled. Someone should pick up this oversight. People have a tendency to leave whatever they want to store there anywhere in the room. Also, a recurring check on the freezer is advisable as I have cleaned up rotten meat on three occasions over the years when the door was left ajar.

Fellowship. We had a very good turnout for our evening Thanksgiving service and meal. We also had Finger Food Fellowship on 14 December 2025, following the Christmas Service. This was the Christmas Team’s turn. As an exception to not repeating previously noted information, I remind your that the fellowship team list has been consolidated into two main teams: Team A and Team B.

Financial. There was an apparent spike in Local Help spending for November. There was no actual increase in spending; instead, what would have spread across November-December was expended in November to meet my discontinuation as the church's primary purchasing agent in this area. This was to ready me for departure and give you a month to institute how you will address spending for missions and local benevolence. As Ethan has come on as a co-treasurer/assistant treasurer, this might be a good time to introduce two minor and simple modifications: A transfer line and the use of charge and credit on the expense line. Both would preclude routing these via offering (income lines) so as not to have to take a circuitous route to accuracy on our annual report, as well as the transparency/accountability expected in today’s scrutiny. This transparency is the main reason we are adding a second treasurer, and we should consider other known matters at the same time.

But it is integrity, more than transparency, that prompts these requests from me. Our current accounting method requires session members to approve falsified reports with every transfer of funds routed via an offering line. I correct the numbers for the annual report, but they don’t add up without this off-the-books adjustment.

So, if I adjust the report for the senior judicatories, what’s the problem? These judicatories are not the primary target for these reports. The primary audience for this report is our own people—those who gave and trusted that the elders of the church would exercise both integrity and stewardship.

Up to this point this has been on me. As the moderator, I could have denied the motion to receive the report at any point after I learned it was false. I didn’t. I had hoped that the minor corrections required on the report would have been adjusted at some point. That didn’t happen. That’s on me. What I thought was patience and compassion on my part (the treasurer in any congregation carries some big burdens and could use a little slack from time to time) was, in fact, poor judgment. That’s on me.

I have done this before in many situations as a commander. Having the authority to do what was necessary, I often opted to give the individual time to remedy the dereliction. Leaders must allow room for mistakes. Organizations that don’t effectively eat their own young and grow few leaders and specialists.

I have no command authority here, but was willing to receive the risk of the derelictions until we got it right. That didn’t happen. Going forward, the integrity of the report is on you, at least in the short term. This must be fixed immediately. We should discuss how much in arrears the corrections should extend.

Integrity matters to me much more than the perception of transparency. If you wonder why I can’t let this go, there is no such thing as a little integrity or absolute integrity or a hint of integrity. It’s just complete—that’s the essence of integrity. There are no degrees. I hope you see the dichotomy that should result in dissonance here. Bringing on a second treasurer to enhance accountability and transparency doesn’t make sense if we (you) intend to continue falsifying and approving financial reports.

I am amazed at the level of resistance to this. In fact, I know we are already defeated in this if integrtity and fidelity must be explained and elders convinced of the importance of practicing fidelity. Consider your personal finances. I suspect that everyone currently serving on the session has at least two accounts. Do you report a transfer of funds as income to the IRS? Of course not. That would be ridiculous.

While we don’t report our income to the IRS; we are telling our own people that we received more offering than we did. The deception delta hasn’t been much (SWAG $25-50K over the past 15 years) compared to total income (constructive), but how much rat poop do you want in your cookies? These are the people who elected you to the office of elder. They put their trust in you.

You might think I am making a mountain out of a molehill. If you do, try this exercise before you make your final assessment. When you get home from this meeting, tell your spouse that you have been mostly faithful in your relationship. There were one or two minor indiscretions this year, but not enough to matter. A slice off a cut loaf is never missed. We will just ignore them, and nobody will know the difference. It will all come out in the wash.

If they are good with this, then I’m spitting in the wind.

If you choose to address these matters, you might want to maintain the momentum and see whether Ethan is up to the task of managing an employee’s payment requirements. This is not a matter of integrity, but efficacy. Urgency is not attached. Why do it? It might expand the search committee's candidate pool by up to a third (peer anecdotal SWAG).

In any case, the integrity matter must be corrected now.

Other

Pastor Turnover. We are just about there. I have Christmas baskets, the final evacuation of my personal items, and office clean-up remaining. Contract compliance record is posted. I don’t have to do anything to keep the Facebook page functioning. Both Kathy Stegall and Rodney Chilton have full administrator privileges. I am in defensive mode at the moment from being gaslighted, so the discontinue page is on a hair trigger if I see signs of its migration and continuation online. I will assess the handover of the page again upon resolution of the integrity and fidelity issue.

Once I know the transition is smooth, I will step down as an administrator and figure out how to remove myself completely. Better yet, you may just want to start a new page now.

Turnovers always have things to be done early and some to follow. I hope that few fall into that category. The sine qua non here are the matters of fidelity and integrity.

The Search Committee is formed and is working. A report is due to the session monthly. I would suggest that quarterly reports to the congregation also be made. The website listed for us is no longe valid.

Tom Personal. I will leave what vanilla is left on a front table or windowsill as my gift to those in the congregation who like it. I will leave some Olive Oil Peppers in the refrigerator. If you like the peppers, email me when you run out, and I will put you on the list for my next batch.

I have received my final pay and all reimbursement due for funds expended on behalf of the church. The only outstanding transaction is for the continuation of world vision child Jesus.

I can’t stand the acrimony having to address matters that should never surface with church leaders. With all deliberate speed, I asked that financials between the Burns Flat CPC and me be reconciled and finalized forthwith. I think that the gaslighting about my salary could have been avoided with up front integrity, but that is in the past and what remains is a setting a foundation for a good solid start for whomever is next.

My copy of the PO Box 8, Burns Flat, OK key has been surrendered to the session clerk during this meeting.

I ask that such reconciliation be recorded in the minutes of this session meeting and verified in the final reading of the minutes. I would have preferred a reconciliation in whole, in the Spirit, in total harmony. I’ll take the transactional part and move on to that which the Lord has put before me, of which this body was to have benefitted. The body of Christ is at work all around you and I have no doubt will receive the fruit.

The following attachments require session action.

Moderator Report #2: World Vision Transition

Moderator Report #3: Furniture Disposition

Moderator Report #4: Fund Administrator Closeouts.

· Local Help

· Baskets

· Worship Supplies

The following attachments are for consideration without recommendations contained within. Documents for this meeting are not yet posted.

Links to information not included in the report.

Dates for Planning Purposes.

F4 Schedule

Worship Meeting Report