Church Council

Meeting Minutes of January 21, 2010

Present: Bob Morse, Chris Dow, Elsa Peters, John McCall, Debra Andrews, Sally Hinckley, Andy Ellis, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, Carrie Skeffington, Chris Keiter, Dave Allen.

Convened at 6:00 p.m. Dave opened with facts about Haiti and a prayer.

2010 Budget:
• Chris distributed and walked us through the proposed budget. He explained how amounts were arrived at. Cyndi Alden was present and assisted with answering questions.
• The situation and rent agreement made with the Discovery Center was discussed.
• The addition of a new income category for “Per Capita Contribution” was discussed and agreed to.
• No increase in Personnel Expenses as a result of no staff salary increases was noted and appreciated.
• Pledge revenue budget down but projection may be conservative. Difficult to know since more people pledging but for a lower total dollar amount. Growing trend of people being reluctant to make a commitment with pledge dollars even though they still contribute.
• Proposed new budget deficit is 28K. Council agreed to allow Retained Earnings to cover it. Fund raising ideas will be pursued to assist with covering the deficit.
• Proposed budget as presented was approved and will be presented to the congregation on January 31st.

Referral Directory:
• Don Russell came to answer questions related to the Referral Directory proposal document which he created.
• Questions and potential issues associated with creating and maintaining the directory were discussed.
• The Council approved the concept and the recommended approach.
• Don will chair a committee to design and implement the idea.

Pastor Parish Relations Report:
• Ken Ross and Mandy Schumaker presented.
• Ken recounted the history of Pastor Parish Relations and how they came to do the recent ministerial performance reviews.
• Mandy explained the methodology (“When Better Isn’t Enough”) and process they adapted.
• Ken provided some highlights from the comprehensive review documents.
• The committee, John and Elsa all felt the review process was valuable.
• Committee recommends repeating the review process every 4-5 years.
• Pastor Parish will check-in with John and Elsa in 6 months regarding their stated developmental activities.
• Ken distributed a summary document of results entitled “Reflecting On Our Ministry”. Chris was given a copy of the comprehensive review documents.

December Minutes:
• They were reviewed and approved.

Minister’s Time:
• Elsa communicated Nancy Foran’s plans to bring John Bell to Maine in May. Plans include having him do a singing workshop in our church on May 23rd.
• Elsa talked about the importance of lay ministry and distributed an article called “From Stressed to Blessed”. She asked the Council to review it in preparation for an extended discussion on the topic at our February meeting.
• Elsa asked us to pray for the current confirmation class.

Miscellaneous Agenda Items:
• Chris provided an update on the church website redesign efforts. Requirements have been defined and an RFP will be sent out for bid in February.
• There was no update needed on the sanctuary railing.


Adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Recorder: Dave Allen