Church Council

First Congregational Church, UCC
South Portland, Maine
Meeting Minutes of January 20, 2011
Recorder: Andy Ellis

Present: Matt Early, Sally Hinckley, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, John Shoos, Robin Reinhold, Carrie Skeffington, Elsa Peters, Cyndi Alden, Carl Murphy, Bob Morse, Andy Ellis, John McCall.
Absent: Peggy Murray, Nancy MacLean

The meeting was opened at 6:30 p.m. opening by Matt Early followed by a reflection and prayer by Andy.

The meeting minutes from the December meeting were approved.

Minister’s Time:
Elsa reported that she had checked in with pastor parish relations committee as part of the ongoing 360 review process and had very good conversation.

John described current progress on website. There is no “go live” date yet, but Chris Keiter is working with web developers and we will be updated on progress.

Discussions:
A special fundraising request was brought to the Council for the Maine Seacoast Mission trip in July. A spaghetti dinner and auction is planned for the 26th of March. Elsa anticipated that there will be about 20 people on the trip. There is an enthusiastic group planning the dinner and auction and they are hoping to raise enough money so that all interested people can go without paying out of pocket. The Council approved the request.

The Mission Team has decided that half of the Christmas offering will also be used for the Maine Seacoast Mission trip. It has also been requested that there be an additional special offering for the trip on February 13th in which people can designate (by noting in subject line on check, or on the outside of pew envelope) that the offering should be used for this special purpose. The Council approved this request as well.

Discussion of Proposed Budget:
Matt Early reviewed work of the budget committee with input from Cyndi Alden and the other Budget Committee members (John Shoos, Andy Ellis, Elsa Peters and John McCall).

Income: Actual pledges seem to be holding steady. The pledge number in budget is has been increased by 6% (over pledges received so far) based on historical performance of budgeted pledges vs. actual. Rental property figures are based on rents from current tenants. Expected interest income / endowment support is based on a formula that has been used in the past (may be slightly optimistic, but endowment has seen some recovery in past year). The “Revenue Other” line includes rummage sales, Holly Daze bazaar, and other gifts. The Per Capita contribution campaign was successful last year, so this income line was raised vs. last year’s budget.

Expenses: The Committee reviewed expenses trying to trim where possible. Matt discussed long-term examinations that we will need to undertake in order to establish a balanced budget in the future. Mission had asked to have budget raised back to 2008 levels, but committee proposed staying at current level. Matt discussed OCWM Conference giving, and the fact that we may not be able to maintain current levels in the face of declining membership and revenues.

Other than Mission, Personnel is the other major expense category. For the second year in a row, there are no staff pay increases slated for this year. The overall Personnel expense line is fairly static despite increases in benefit costs because of some other changes (the Youth Minister position has been eliminated and Nancy Foran, the Elder Chaplain, is taking leave of absence.) It was suggested that the Congregation will need to take the opportunity to examine personnel and expense issues over the next year before we draft our next budget.

It was noted that we are very fortunate to be in such good financial shape compared to many other churches in Maine.

Teams have done a very good job of cost containment. Education Growth & Fellowship has reduced their budget request from last year. The Budget Committee will recommend that a few line items in the Music budget draw from designated funds (Easter Brass, etc.) and suggest that monies requested for chair replacement in the rehearsal room be drawn from Major Maintenance. Phil Whitney also reported that the Eskimos will be donating money from their annual fudge and cookie sale for replacement chairs. Expenses for Spiritual Life & Worship are budgeted to be in line with last year.

It is expected that heating expenses will go up this year, along with benefit costs.

Actual revenues were well above what we forecasted for 2010, leaving less of a deficit than we had expected for the current year. The budget deficit for 2011 is projected to be slightly under $15,000.00 with the ability to support from retained earnings (now at $31,746).

Matt Early discussed the packet that will be presented at the Congregational budget meeting, including informational reports of past year activities related to the endowment, the Major Maintenance Fund, and Community Crisis Ministries. Reports for the Discovery Center, and Holly Daze Bazaar will be included later in the Annual Report.

The history of the retained surplus and current income trends were discussed. The retained surplus had been approximately $100,000.00 at its height several years ago. Current giving has leveled off as expenses have trended higher generally and the retained surplus has diminished over time.

The Council approved the proposed budget.

The Council discussed the relationship of the Discovery Center to the Church. Nancy MacLean had reported in an earlier email that Dan Cummings has offered to speak with members of the council about the history and intent of establishing the Discovery Center as separate corporate entity. The Council looks forward to that hearing the details of that conversation.

Roger Addor suggested that we thank the Stewardship Committee for their hard work this year and John Shoos thanked those who assisted in making calls, including Roger Addor, Phil Whitney, and Bob Morse.

Matt Early discussed current financial status of the Discovery Center and the Council reviewed balance sheet and profit and loss. The Discovery Center has suggested a repayment plan for their earlier loan in which payments would be made during the school year only as tuition revenue is received. The Council accepted the plan.

Bob Morse reported on the selection of delegates to represent the Church at Association and Conference meetings:

We now have 6 potential lay delegates to UCC meetings. Rick Angell, Peggy Murray, Dick & Barbara Merrill, and Adam & Jean Siulinski.

John discussed future series of discussions about structure of UCC, Maine Conference, and Cumberland Association. These discussions could help the Council to understand some of the issues in the budgeting process such as our Church’s giving to OCWM. The Council agreed that they would like to have these discussions, and they will start in February.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.