Church Council

MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

OPENING:
Moderator Chris Keiter called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. All members plus John and Elsa were present. Chris spent a few minutes reviewing the agenda and asking members to introduce themselves by telling a brief story about a summer experience. Chris thanked Council members for their work at Homecoming Sunday on Sept. 13.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
A handout listing Council members’ e-mail addresses and phone numbers was distributed. This will allow Council members to contact each other and church members to contact the Council. This handout also included time and place of meetings and invited church members to participate in meetings with questions and/or concerns. The handout was available on Homecoming Sunday.

BACKGROUND ON COUNCIL:
To help ensure that Council members have a common understanding of the role of the Council, Chris Keiter distributed the following information: an updated version of the article published in the Beacon this spring, an extract from the Church By-Laws, and the Council policy statements 1-9 (first published in February, 2008).

MINUTES:
The minutes of the June 18, 2009 Council meeting were approved.

MINISTERS’ TIME:
John thanked those who helped with running the church during his Sabbatical from May – August. The 275th anniversary celebration has prompted the process of replacing all church member name tags. (The $400 cost will be paid for from the Council Merrill fund, as previously approved by the Council to support the 275th celebration). The Pastor Parish Relations Committee has been and will be very helpful in planning John’s future years with the church. John described a series of generic email accounts that are being set up to receive emails and send them to the appropriate people in the Church (more to come on this)
Elsa brought up the question about funding adult camperships at Pilgrim Lodge. This will be discussed in detail in the spring of 2010.

VISION STATEMENT:
The Council decided to pursue discussing the concept of a vision statement and what it should include. A subcommittee of Chris D., Elsa, Dave and Debra was formed to work out talking points for future meetings. Elsa will chair the committee.

BUDGET REVIEW:
The budget through mid-September was reviewed comparing actual earnings/expenses with budgeted earnings/expenses. No large discrepancies were noted. The rental property is now rented by a business group with stability anticipated. Several large pledges are not yet in but are anticipated by Cyndi Alden.

The Maine Conference is suggesting that individual churches send a letter to their members requesting the members pay for their conference per capita dues separately. This would replace the current approach of paying conference per capita dues from annual pledges. This topic was tabled pending feedback from the Maine Conference annual meeting.

FUND RAISING GUIDELINES:
A subcommittee of Nancy and Debra handed out a proposal for fundraising guidelines. This handout included thoughts and discussion about fundraising, a draft considered in 2005 and a sample fundraising application. This will return to the October Council meeting for discussion and vote. All agreed this is a good outline from which to work.

GROWTH GROUP:
Dave provided a handout detailing the purpose of this group: to attract newcomers with the support of a welcoming committee. This eight member committee is currently a work in progress. They meet monthly and the contact person is Rick Angell.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.


Submitted by Phil Whitney