Church Council

Meeting Minutes of March 17, 2011
Recorder: Robin Reinhold

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

Opening: Nancy MacLean opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Robin offered a reflection about how the proverb “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” applies to our church.

Meeting Minutes: from the February meeting were reviewed and approved.

MINISTERS’ TIME:
John - reported that there will be a fundraiser on Saturday evening, April 2nd in the sanctuary. It will be a musical program by 3 groups to raise money for the medical team that is going to Konbit Sante in Haiti. Tickets are $15. John said that it was heartwarming that we can and want to make our space available for the wider community.

Elsa - reported that there are now 17 people going on the Maine Seacoast Mission trip this July. She reported that the group is planning a Spaghetti Supper fundraiser on Saturday evening, March 26th at 5:30. The ticket costs are $7 for adults, $3 for children, and $20 for a family. There will also be an auction at the supper. Tickets will be on sale in Wright Pavilion on Sunday.

Elsa also reported that she is working on arranging for camperships for the people that will be attending Pilgrim Lodge this summer. She sent a letter last week to parents of kids she knows are interested. The Church Council is responsible to hand out money for these camperships from the interest earned from 3 endowment funds (these are listed in the segregated funds in budget). In addition, the Hilltop Guild and the Holly Daze Bazaar each donated money for camperships. Elsa requested authorization from the Council to distribute the funds, and all members were in agreement of this.

Elsa also began a discussion about how we can create a larger sum of money for camperships in the future. Suggestions included:
1. Ask the parents of the children who are planning to attend Pilgrim Lodge to organize some fundraisers. Elsa said that other churches in the area do this.
2. Host an “Adopt a Camper” program where sponsors are found who would be willing to donate money to send a child to camp. This would be a tax-deductible contribution.
3. Host a “Winter Picnic” in Guptill Hall where box lunches are sold.
Questions were raised about how to get the word out about opportunities (perhaps an announcement from the pulpit?). Perhaps Elsa should form a committee (like the Scholarship Committee under CF&G). Or should CF&G oversee this committee? Council decided to look at this again next year.

OLD BUSINESS UPDATES:
Emergency Guidelines - Nancy reported that these guidelines are complete and are in circulation. The Administrative Team is working on signage, elevator access, and phone access. The User Guidelines for Emergencies document was modified and a line was added in the middle of the guidelines specifying that, in case of an emergency, all Sunday School children would be evacuated by their teachers to the Church parking lot. Other issues (from last month’s minutes) concerning fire drills, the fire alarms, the phone system, and the elevator were presented by Stan Jordan to the Administrative Team and are currently being looked into.

Discovery Center Legal Status - Andy reported that he reviewed the documents for the Discovery Center and they appear to be in order. He explained the history of how the Discovery Center Corporation was established and that the Church Council is responsible for electing the members of the Board of Directors of the Discovery Center.

UCC Conversation (Part 2), The Association - Elsa shared information about the history of the United Church of Christ. She explained the difference between contracts and covenants and helped to clarify how Biblical covenants are instituted by God whereas historical covenants are instituted by people. Elsa then shared a diagram of the origins of the UCC and explained how the two entities (the Congregational Christian churches and the Evangelical and Reformed church) came together to form the UCC.

Elsa explained that there are currently 37 churches in the Cumberland Association, of which we are a part, and that each church contributes to the energy that goes into the association. A portion of our per capita dues goes to the association through the conference. Churches are assessed per member, and the association uses this money mostly for administrative costs.

Financial Futuring Tasks - Nancy and John met to discuss the role of a Working Group and what its mission would be.

John proposed the question: “Do we want the Working Group to generate next steps or just come back to the Council with information and have the Council decide what to do? In other words, do we want only information or do we want recommendations, too? This was discussed, and it was suggested that the Working Group should gather information, report to the Council, and then based on discussions and feedback, come back with recommendations. This should be done in steps, with conversations happening throughout the process.

A timeline for the process was discussed, and it was decided that, if we identify the task and ask people to be in the group, realistically they probably would only get to meet once before the summer and then would pick up the work again in the fall. The hope is to engage the congregation with some questions to help the group determine what direction they will be going in. It is anticipated that the recommendations will not be ready for the 2012 budget process.

The next step is to decide who is to be in this group. Several names were suggested, and Council members were asked to forward any recommendations to Nancy.

Filling Vacancies:
Four members of the Council are finishing up their term (Andy, Sally, Phil, and Nancy). New members need to be found for the Council and for the Stewardship Committee. Council members were asked to come up with 5 people they would like to recommend for these vacancies and forward the names to Nancy by next Wednesday, March 23rd.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Next Meeting: April 28th; Carl Murphy will be the opener and recorder.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of February 17, 2011
Recorder: Bob Morse

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

Nancy MacLean, Moderator, opened the meeting at 6:35 p.m. Bob Morse read a reflection questioning whether meaning and enjoyment in life can be found solely by keeping score.

January Minutes: Reviewed and Accepted.

Usher Emergency Guidelines: Reviewed a draft created by Rick Angell and Stan Jordan.

Broad areas: Fire Emergencies, Medical Emergencies and Security Emergencies.

Guidelines to be simple and streamlined so usher can readily see them.
• A laminated copy will be located at the back of the church for ushers.
• Not necessary to post on wall anywhere

Concern: There is nothing about the Sunday School in these Guidelines.
• Evacuation drawings no longer located in each room. Important to replace them - refer to Admin Team.
• Teachers are given "fire drill" guidelines - they lead children to parking lots.
• Parents need to be informed that they are not to go to classrooms.
- If a parent removes a child, the child’s teacher or emergency personnel may have no idea where that child is.
• Concern that rotating parents in the nursery have never been given instruction on what to do in case of fire. They need to be informed.
• Question: Do Fire drill guidelines go to parents? Just to teachers?

Editorial suggestion for Usher Guidelines:
• Decision: Reference to separate Sunday School Guidelines needs to be added to Usher Emergency Guidelines near the bottom. " See separate guidelines for the Church School".
• Add a set to Actions by Ushers: Notify Worship Leader that a problem exists if they are not in a position to see it.

Suggestion to identify ENTs and doctors in advance who might be in church when a medical emergency with a parishioner occurs.
• Reflection about possibility of training some members in CPR.

If the church loses electrical power:
• Does the fire alarm system have a battery back-up? Yes. Who checks it? How often?
• If a cell phone were used to dial 911, would it be possible to know where the person calling is located? Yes. South Portland has a GPS system for just that reason.
• If people were in the church elevator, could they get out? Need to mark where key is located.

With power, would someone be able to successfully operate the church telephone?
• Suggestion that instructions need to be placed on each phone on how to use them for emergencies. Refer to Admin Team for signage.

Thanks and appreciation given to both Rick Angell and Stan Jordan for their excellent work with these Emergency Guidelines. Stan will prepare another draft incorporating suggestions.

Web Page: John McCall reported that work for the past three weeks has been intensive with a goal of working out every bug. It is very intuitive, adaptable, and flows well. It should be ‘live’ on Monday, February 21. Possibility of demonstration at some time in Davidson Lounge to show how it works.

Scholarship Committee: They have done excellent work. Council unanimously agreed that special approval is not needed for Committee to request donations to the Scholarship Funds.

Budget Adjustment: Nancy Foran will be taking a Sabbatical from mid-June to mid-October, and will not be paid for her Sabbatical. However, one month of the four months is her vacation, for which she will be paid ($474.25). There was a mix-up in the budget. It will not be changed to reflect the additional vacation payment: we will simply be aware of this over-ride at the end of the year.

UCC Conversation, Part I: At the Council’s request, John McCall shared a diagram of “The Covenant Partners in the United Church of Christ” - individual, local, state, national. Emphasis was placed on the importance of covenant, since lack of hierarchy might suggest we can do whatever we want, thus losing track of meaningful relationships within the larger UCC. “Our glue is covenant.” We make mutual promises to each other, and hold each other “gently accountable.” John talked about the UCC as the merging of 4 historical denominations, but emphasized this does not change the reality that each church remains autonomous.

Financial Futuring:
Questions:
• How do we manage to live with a limited amount of money and do everything that we want to do?
• How do we fund what we want to be as a church?
• How do we apportion our resources? How do we decide to do that?

Realities and Questions:
• Membership trends are down in progressive protestant churches.
• Who will be in the pew in 2015, and how will they be supporting the church?
• We need to be thinking of the long-term. What is a realistic change in our income in the next five years?

Defining Role of a Working Group to be set up to consider facts and trends:
• Financial forecasting through fact gathering from similar churches
- Percentage of staff compensation.
- Percentage of budget for mission outreach.
- Personnel Committees and what they deal with.
• May find reluctance to share, protectiveness, and a level of resistance.
• Will quite certainly be a need to look outside Maine for comparisons and trends.
• What about alternative worship services? How do we attract new members to the church?
• How to we think about and look into the possibility of renting out more space?
• Possible exploration: Tolerance for a congregation to spend money from endowment
• What time line are we thinking about for this to take place? December 2011 for the 2012 Budget year; AND 2015 long term.

Need for sharp focus on what we are asking the Working Group to do -- a Mission Statement.
• John McCall and Nancy MacLean will meet to prepare a draft for the next meeting.

Gratitude and Appreciation: Nancy passed around a thank-you card from three Harle siblings for financial support which enabled them to attend camp at Pilgrim Lodge.

Meeting Adjourned: 8:30 p.m.

Next Meeting: March 17; Robin Reinhold - Opener/Recorder

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.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of December 17, 2010
Recorder: Roger Addor

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

The meeting was opened at 6:30 p.m. by Nancy MacLean followed by a poem and prayer by Roger Addor.

The November minutes were approved. Clarification was requested for the statement to support the July Seacoast Mission “using the offering on Mission Sunday, February 13, 2011”. The part of the offering going to this cause will be revisited at the January meeting, probably to include a special appeal and dedication of the loose plate offering.

John McCall was welcomed back after his successful back surgery and recovery and expressed a thankful sense of rejuvenation. He reported a few delays in getting the much improved website up and running, but expects it to be serviceable about mid-January.

The nomination of Scott Ayre for a one-year term and Tom Hamerski for a two-year term to Education, Growth, and Fellowship was unanimously approved.

In the absence of Budget Chairperson Matt Early, Andy Ellis reported for the Budget Committee. Business Manager Cyndi Alden was invited to the meeting to interpret the printed proposed budget, the current financial status, and the projected income and budget for 2011. The situation as it was presented shows a $17,000 deficit likely in closing out the 2010 fiscal year. The budget as proposed for 2011 of over $500,000 would appear to exceed projected income by about $27,000, at the lowest. There is about $38,000 existing in a “rainy day” fund accumulated in past years, but this amount is insufficient to cover both of these contingencies, assuming it was used for this purpose.

• We talked about the need to contact all people who have not renewed their pledges for next year. John Shoos reported that the Stewardship Committee has plans for phoning. Some Council members volunteered to help with the calls. John McCall suggested, and it was agreed upon, that following the next meeting of the Stewardship Committee on January 6, a letter should go out to the congregation describing the financial situation and asking for people to reconsider their financial commitment. The Council needs more information on estimated income to make final decisions about the budget and may be faced with making budget cuts.

• John also asked the Council to put on next year’s agenda an effort to divine longer term projections of membership, income, costs, programs and whatever might impact on moving ahead more predictably.

• The legal status of the Discovery Center: Council members agreed to set up a sub-committee to research this (hopefully, Matt Early, Andy Ellis, with consultation by past Moderator Dan Cummings, who worked on the by-laws during the change in governance).

Bob Morse and Peggy Murray will recruit church members to attend the Cumberland Association Installation meeting on January 20.

Elsa Peters was asked to take a few minutes at several Council meetings starting in February to inform Council members on the organizational set-up for the United Church of Christ. How are we interconnected with the other churches locally and beyond?

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Next meeting is January 20, 2011.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of November 18, 2010
Recorder: Phil Whitney

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

The meeting was opened at 6:30 p.m. by Matt Early followed by a prayer by Phil. The Oct. 21 Minutes were approved after correcting the word MISSION with the word VISION in paragraph 5 on page 1.

MINISTER’S TIME: Elsa gave a follow-up on John’s progress since surgery. His return to work is anticipated for Monday, November 22.

The anticipated start of the UCC new website will be delayed by several weeks. New start up date is uncertain.

SEACOAST MISSION: (Refer to Mission Meeting Sunday E-mail from Laurie Cary distributed to Council members on Nov. 18.) Elsa is organizing a mission trip to Downeast Maine. She asked for Council approval of this plan which will take a volunteer UCC group to the Millbridge/Cherryfield area for one week – July 24-29, 2011 - to support the Seacoast Mission with their care and support of children and the aged. Activities, not yet specified, will be mainly refurbishing. She also wishes approval of using the offering on Mission Sunday, February 13, 2011 toward helping defray the coast of travel, food, supplies etc. estimated at $5,000. The Council unanimously approved this request. The Rev. Scott Planting who administers the Seacoast Mission will give the sermon here on Mission Sunday.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Matt, who heads the budget review sub-committee of the Council, welcomed John Shoos as the sixth sub-committee member. Matt expressed optimism regarding the pledges received as of Nov. 18. when compared with pledges received at this date in past years. Four more meetings are scheduled before a final statement can be presented to the church on 1/30/2011. Scheduled meetings are 11/29/10, 12/13/10 (first draft for Council review), 01/10/11 and 01/13/11 (final draft for Council review).

Morgan Stanley, investment advisors for the church, have reported total worth of church equity holdings as well over one million as of 10/31/10.

Fuel costs so far for 2010 are down from 2009 due to a more energy efficient system and a warmer year.

DELEGATES: Matt pointed out that the Council is responsible for naming six delegates per year. Last month Peggy Murray and Bob Morse volunteered as delegates for a meeting in New Gloucester; the topic was “Providing a Safe Church” and both were impressed with the presentation. The Council encouraged Peggy and Bob to prepare a summary for the Council and Bob was asked to continue recruiting Delegates.

STRUCTURE OF UCC: Council members felt unclear about the structure of the UCC local and state organizations. Elsa gave a brief review of this, but it was felt more clarification was needed. The ministers will give more tutoring on this in the next month or two.

DISCOVERY CENTER: Matt mentioned that budget timing may be a problem for the Discovery Center; i.e. their budget goes from September to June so that when they submit a budget to the church in November, they may not know what enrollment they will have for the Jan. – June spring session or especially for the Sept. – Dec. fall session. Only a few less students than anticipated will decrease their income by a significant amount.

TEAMS: For the moment all teams seem happy with their number of members. No further discussion.

The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of October 21, 2010
Recorder: Peggy Murray

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

Nancy opened the meeting and Peggy presented a meditation on honoring the saints among us.

John Shoos and Phil Whitney were introduced to the group.

Suzanne Lindner was nominated as a new member for the class of 2013 for Mission Outreach. Motion made by John Shoos and seconded by Bob Morse to accept the nomination. Unanimously approved. Scott Ayer and Tom Hamerski have agreed to join EG&F; Spiritual Life & Worship is still looking for one more member. We will act on these additions at the next meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as presented.

Ministers’ Report:
Elsa sent word that she had nothing to report.
John reported:
• that there were a number of positive comments following the October 10th service framing the Vision* Statement.
• The Web site should go live around November 5th (Friday). There is still a lot of text that needs to be created and posted, and the transition to the new process is taking some time. It does provide much more flexibility and “real time” updating capability. We will be able to upload MP3 recordings of sermons, etc. There will be a comprehensive search engine available. We have contracted with Vanco Systems (recommended by UCC) to support a “donate now” capacity for credit card donations. Chris Keiter will be our new Web Master and Aaron Scifres will be Code Master. We need to look into adding an “opt out of photograph” to our Sunday School registration form since pictures may be posted on the web site. We would not be attaching any names to pictures that are posted on-line. We also need to consider other organizations such as music groups, youth groups, etc. to determine how we obtain permissions.
• John is going to Concord, NH on Sunday, October 31st to preach at the South Parish UCC Church for the start of their 175th Anniversary celebration. Kitty Garlid, Director of Spiritual Services at Maine Medical Center and also a UCC minister, will be preaching here on that date.

Homecoming Sunday Feedback: the delay in starting classes seemed to work well for Church School, although some families were a bit confused, and the delay seemed a bit long. The pressure of preparation for a large fair was an issue in the past, but that has not seemed to bring the results expected. Elsa and John will bring options for dates to the Council next spring.

2011 Budget Committee: Moderator (Matt Early), John McCall, Cyndi Alden, Elsa Peters, Andy Ellis, plus (one additional volunteer is needed). There will be several meetings in November and December, once the Stewardship Campaign is complete, to finalize a proposed budget.

We reviewed the status of the 2010 budget. Pledges are at the level that we expect them to be at this time of year based on past experience. We generally see “catch up” at year end from a predictable number of people.

Nancy circulated a copy of the proposed “Consolidated Church Budget and Financial Reports” that contains the financial information of ancillary entities such as the Holly Daze Bazaar, the Discovery Center, etc. If it is presented as part of the budget package, it will need to be clearly noted that we are voting on the church budget only, and the other financial reports are being presented for information only.

Discovery Center Update: We included a reduced amount of $2500 for rent in the budget this year. There was an understanding that the $5000 was a loan, and that proposed budget assumed they would continue to pay the rent. Gretchen Reynolds is going to forward a copy of the most recent financial statement to Matt. They have two new students with a possible third coming on.

Volunteerism: Nancy asked that we review the “From Stressed to Blessed” document with a focus on the section “Reviewing What Is” and also the “Encouraging Voluntarism and Ministries” document. Phil is going to check with Jen in the office to see what happens with new member interest forms (“Participation Opportunity Sheet”) and how they are routed to appropriate committees, etc.

The Council is responsible for finding or serving as Delegates. The next meeting is the Annual Meeting of Cumberland Association in New Gloucester on Sunday, October 24th from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. Peggy Murray will attend and she and Bob Morse agreed to work on a list of people who might act as Delegates.

Rick Angell has asked, on behalf of the Ushers, that the emergency procedures be updated since they have not been updated since 1997. Nancy will check with the office to see who will handle that.

Meeting adjourned at 8:29 p.m.

Next Meeting is November 18th.
Phil Whitney will be the opener/recorder.

* - noted correction

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of September 16, 2010
Recorder: Carrie Skeffington

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

Nancy opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Carrie shared some reflections from Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The minutes from June’s meeting were accepted.

• There are contact sheets with the calendar of the year available for all members, along with copies of the bylaws and church budget.
• We introduced ourselves to each other and shared our occupations/skills.
• John spoke about our Safe Church Policy. Frank Knowles will make a presentation during Sunday’s worship service.
• There is feedback that members of the congregation don’t always read the on-line Beacon. Question for future discussion: How do we best communicate to our congregation?
• Gretchen Reynolds and Scott Berry, members of the board of the Discovery Center, joined us for a discussion of the budget situation of the Discovery Center. Currently there are three employees: director, teacher, and floater. Due to low enrollment, the schedule has been modified to a 3-day week. Director’s salaries will be reduced by 25% starting in January with an additional decrease for the school year of 2011. They are requesting a $5000 loan from the church, which would help them meet expenses for the current school year. We agreed to provide a $5000 loan from the unrestricted funds of the church, and requested that the Discovery Center Board provide quarterly updates and a year-end review in June.
• The church received a donation Of $1,000 from the Nancy Wynne Estate. We agreed toaccept the gift and the money will go into the undesignated invested funds.
• Homecoming Sunday is this Sunday, September 19th. Fellowship time is in Wright Pavilion.
• Our vision statement was sent to the teams and has been in the Beacon. There was a suggestion to make the vision statement the theme of a church service: FCCUCC – A Christian Family: Loving, Welcoming, Serving. We will put the vision statement in the bulletin and again in the Beacon.
• The new web page should be up and running the first of November.
• Team vacancies: SL & W: 1 vacancy; EF & G: 3 vacancies (there are 2 possible candidates.) Stewardship has gained new members since June.
• Nancy read a thank you note for the Pilgrim Lodge camperships given to one family.
• Nancy has agreed to continue as moderator and Matt will be vice moderator of the council.
• Topic for future discussion: volunteerism and the tasks assigned to each of the teams. Nancy will get copies of the document to us for a future meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m.

Next meeting: October 21, 2010
Recorder and Devotions: Peggy Murray

Stewardship Committee

Meeting Minutes of June 15, 2010
Recorder: Gretchen Reynolds

Opening prayer lead by Gretchen.

Welcomed new addition Bill Campbell.

Touched on recruiting a few more people for Stewardship.

Introduction to stewardship coupled by John McCall and John Shoos/overview of what we do after we believe. Church takes care of the poor; clothing, housing and feeding people. We, as a committee, work to invite people of the congregation to have that sense and give what they can.

Also spoke briefly about the stewardship timeline. How we follow up with pledges, calling people to remind them/ask if they have given a consideration to their pledge this year (if we have not heard from them). Then the Council crafts a budget based on what people plan on giving. Build on what they feel is manageable.

We talked about a few ideas; big banquet, generous givers to come forward, photo book on what is happening in the church and pass it around and seemed to hit on one idea in particular that stuck.

A theme based on One Generation Talks to Another. Where we would have an older member of the church sit up front each week leading up to Consecration Sunday with a younger member in a dialogue of what this church means to them. Memories of the past and glimpses of the future. Print the dialogue each week in a bulletin insert. A few leading questions would be put forth before the service each week to allow the participants to better formulate their exchanges. Thoughts of starting with the older children and finishing with a younger child.

We brainstormed a few people:

• Barry Quinn / Roger Addor

• Phil Whitney

• Lauren Magnuson

• John McCall / Andy Mahoney

On Consecration Sunday restate some of the priceless comments and sum up “what does the church mean to you?”.

We also talked about creating a mural of “what the church means to me” from Sunday school classes.

Looked to meet July 13, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of June 17, 2010
Recorder: Bob Morse

Present: Roger Addor, David Allen, Chris Dow, Matt Early, Andy Ellis,Sally Hinckley, Chris Keiter, Nancy MacLean, Carl Murphy, Elsa Peters, Carrie Skeffington, Phil Whitney, Bob Morse.

New members not present: Peggy Murray, Robin Reinhold, John Shoos.

Nancy MacLean, Vice Moderator, opened the meeting at 6:35 p.m. Bob Morse read some reflections by Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Introductions - by all for Carl Murphy as a new Council Member.

May Minutes - reviewed and accepted; noted that Food Pantry is already on the list for approved fund-raising in the church.

Minister’s Time:
• John is at a community gathering as the moral voice for the future direction of the city.
• Southern Maine Gay Pride Parade and Festival will take place on Sat., June 19. Our congregation is participating. People are encouraged to meet at Noon at Monument Square.
• John and Elsa will be doing a Summer Sermon Series, “First Followers”, capturing the lives of persons following in the ways of Jesus. They are anticipating building on a theme of discipleship for the coming year.
• Elsa has shared with the Mission Outreach Team that she would like to do an intergenerational Mission Trip to a location in Maine next summer. There will be no upper or lower age limit. There is hope this can be done through the Maine Seacoast Mission. The goal will be home building, with expectations based on type of skill.

Moderator and Vice-Moderator:
• Nancy MacLean shared reasons she is not able to be the Moderator, although she continues for one more year on the Council.
• Chris Keiter shared some of the expectations & his experience in that role. He noted that budget preparation leadership is NOT automatically the Moderator's work.
• There were no volunteers.
• Decision: Nancy MacLean will continue to function as the Moderator through the summer and into the fall. Matt Early will be the Vice Moderator.
• Topic of Moderator and Vice Moderator will be re-introduced.

Homecoming Sunday:
• The Council agreed with Teams that it will be Sunday, September 19. This is one week later than it has been.
• Much discussion about the particular style it should be, primarily around the value of sign-up time at the Homecoming Fair.
• Feeling that it has lost some of its emphasis; not a valuable response for the energy it takes.
• Directions:
- Some may still want to do it; some may not. Group agreed with suggestion that each team have short announcement time spaced throughout the church year at worship services to promote their tasks and ask for volunteers.
- Supervision of refreshments will be handled by EF&G.
- Nancy will get in touch with teams. Word will go out to groups who might like to participate in sign-up opportunities.
• Brainstorms for Sept 19:
- Intergenerational Service with a parade of youth downstairs.
- Church school will begin Sept. 26. Registration will be online.

Church Vision:
• Decision: “FCC-UCC A Christian Family: Welcoming, Loving, Serving.”
• Much discussion about how this will be presented to the congregation. Decision: Report in the “Beacon” that the Vision Survey was initiated by the Council, Elsa was chair of the team, this is what we did, if there are comments we would like to hear them.

Volunteerism:
• EF&G needs three persons. Stewardship needs one person.
• Phil Whitney has made 21 calls to new members. Much appreciation expressed for all that he has done.
• Much discussion: Some areas:
- How are volunteers sought out and selected?
- Why are there often openings on some teams and not on others?
- Is the new governance approach to filling teams working?
- The structure of a Nominating Committee is relatively efficient; at least everyone gets only one telephone call. How do you prevent someone being called multiple times? Suggestion to set up Nominating Committee for filling slots was tabled to the future.
- Nancy, Phil and Elsa will get together to consult with EF&G.

Congregation Annual Meeting:
• Good feelings about it expressed.

Maine Conference Annual Meeting:
• Nothing specifically related to local churches to report.

Next Meeting will be Thursday, September 16, 6:30 p.m.
• Carrie Skeffington: Reflection and Recorder.
• All joined hands at the end with appreciation for the excellent job which has been done by Chris Keiter, Moderator, and Nancy MacLean, Vice Moderator.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of May 20, 2010
Recorder: Andy Ellis

Present: Council members Bob Morse, Nancy MacLean, John McCall, Chris Keiter, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, Debra Andrews, Elsa Peters, Chris Dow, Dave Allen, Matt Early, Sally Hinckley, and Andy Ellis. Guests: Margaret Thibodeau.

Chris Keiter opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. and Andy read an opening prayer.

April Minutes were reviewed and accepted with a few small changes regarding the list of people that met with website vendors regarding our redesign proposal (see below). Also, there had been discussion in the April meeting about utilizing Constant Contact as a mass email service, but it was decided that we will wait to see how website redesign might address this capability before committing to Constant Contact.

Minister’s Time: Elsa discussed her plan to write a book, and the possibility of making time in her weekly schedule this summer to focus on writing. She may spend one day a week writing from a coffee shop but will be available for pastoral duties and will post some specific hours when she will be available in her church office.

John spoke of some personal news items, including his closing on a new condo in Dow’s Woods, and Ben’s impending return home from 5 months in Scotland. Also, John will not be attending the June Council meeting because it coincides with South Portland’s comprehensive planning committee meeting/workshop. John has been invited to attend this meeting and to participate in the vision process for the city, representing the religious community.

Fundraising Approvals: The Council approved a request from the Food Pantry for their “extras” sale and added it to the list of pre-approved annual fundraising activities. The Council suggested that outdated food should not be sold.

Request to Move Date of Homecoming Sunday: Margaret Thibodeau of the EG and F Team visited the meeting to discuss the possibility of moving the date of Homecoming Sunday from the 12th of Sept. to the 19th. The EG and F Team has had some difficulty in the past getting volunteers together to prepare for Homecoming Sunday and the start of Church School and thought that an extra week would be helpful to the organizing process. Chris will reach out to the Teams for feedback on whether they think that Homecoming Sunday is still effective as an opportunity for the congregation to learn about and sign up for different groups in the church, and if they would have an issue with changing the date. The Council did not have an issue with changing the date. There was some discussion about Sept. 12th being a Rally Day, instead. A decision on all this will be made at the June 17th Council meeting.

Church Vision Statement Update: The Council discussed some of the compiled results of the Vision Statement survey project and some of the suggestions of the subgroup (Elsa, Dave, Chris Dow, and Debra) that were created to showcase the most popular concepts and ideas. The Council discussed several aspects of these statements, noting that the word “God” did not appear in any of the suggestions. There was also some discussion of adding the word “open” into the statement to convey the idea that the congregation is open and affirming. It was decided that there would not be enough time between the Council meeting and the Annual Meeting of the congregation to decide on a statement and bring that to the congregation for meaningful review. The Council will continue to discuss and each member will bring a suggested version to the next Council meeting in June. Email them to Elsa ahead of time.

Volunteerism Ideas: The sub-group on volunteerism (Sally, Phil, and John) reported from their email conversations and suggested that it might be worthwhile to consider utilizing a nominating committee process again. Some Council members had served on the nominating committee prior to the change in governance structure, and thought it worked well. John suggested that one benefit of a nominating committee is “personalizing the ask.” Currently there are openings on several of the Teams that need to be filled, so it would appear that the current method of Teams finding their own members may not be working as well as originally hoped. Dave suggested that we should focus on volunteerism as well as nominating and find ways to help members (particularly new members) find ways to contribute to the life of the congregation. Phil offered to make some calls to members who have joined in the past year to see if there were ways that they would like to become more involved. Discussion of ways to encourage volunteerism will continue at the June meeting.

Website Redesign: Chris, John, Dana Wiggins, Aaron Scifres, and Guy Gledhill have been involved with the Website Redesign project. They have met with and reviewed two vendors who could do the work. The vendors and their proposals are very different from each other, but the end result of either one should be a dramatic improvement from where we are today. They are characterized as follows:
• A less established company; uses the open-source tool Wordpress; project cost of about $3,500 and annual costs of about $150; tool is less tightly integrated and we would need to fill in more of the content (we have people ready to help with this).
• A more established company; uses proprietary tool Aptuitiv; project cost of about $7,000 and annual costs of about $540; tool is more tightly integrated and we would need to fill in very little content
After some discussion, the Council approved going forward with the less expensive alternative, primarily due to the lower cost. Funding would come from a $2,000 contribution which has already been received, additional donations that will be requested, and the balance coming from the Loraine Merrill Cabinet fund.

Annual Meeting of Congregation: Chris, John and Elsa discussed order of items and speaking assignments for the meeting.

Maine Conference Annual Meeting: The meeting will take place June 11, 12, and 13 in Farmington. Our Church has a number of open spaces, and as of the discussion, only John, Andrea, and Elsa were planning to attend.


The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Next Meeting: June 17, 2010
Opening/Recorder: Bob Morse

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of April 15, 2010
Recorder: Sally Hinckley


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

Chris Keiter opened the meeting at 6:35 p.m. Sally read from her top ten list on being one’s best self, followed by a morning prayer.

March Minutes were reviewed and accepted.

Minister’s Time:
John and his family are moving to a condo in South Portland. Due to added cost of housing, John requested that the Council reallocate his 2010 compensation of $73,705, by boosting his housing allowance to $42,000 and reducing his salary to $31,705. Currently, $37,413 is designated as housing allowance and $36,292 as salary, by vote of the congregation at its January budget meeting. This was approved by the Council and will become effective May 1, 2010.

Church Vision – Update:
The survey garnered 125 responses resulting in a twenty-two page document. Things are moving forward and the Council will be informed as things progress.

Stressed to Blessed – Continued:
A myriad of suggestions were made on how to increase volunteerism within our church. The lengthy discussion came down to a first step in what will no doubt be an ongoing process. For now, ideas from the council members will be sent to Chris Keiter via e-mail. Chris will filter then pass on to Sally, Phil and John for review. Their recommendations will be presented at the May Council Meeting.

Maine Conference:
Annual Meeting will be held in Farmington from June 12 to June 14. Our church is entitled to six delegates with only two presently committed. Contact John or Elsa if you are interested in attending.

Reminder: Annual Meeting Sunday May 23
The Council is now taking nominations for new Council members. Typically the term is three years, however, one may stay as long, but not longer than, six years. Please send names to Dave ASAP via e-mail, and he will compile a list. Also, a new Council Moderator will be chosen at the June meeting.

From time to time there are items stored in hallways, egress paths and other areas of the church building that constitute a hazard. The Administration Team will be given the task of addressing these safety concerns and shall create a policy regarding same.

Website Redesign: Update
Elsa met with two vendors who meet our requirements for web design, with another meeting in the works for next week. Elsa will report back to the Council in May. An early August completion date is anticipated. A $2,000 donation has been made specifically for this project.

Mass e-mails from the Church:
How many are too many? This question arose not because of complaints, but because sending these reminder e-mails regarding upcoming events and other issues is time consuming for our Church office personnel, and may not be that worthwhile. There is a method for unsubscribing that each recipient could implement if so desired. This enhancement would cost the Church $15.00 per month and may be worth trying. The council said yes.

Fundraising:
Putting the fun back into fundraising and tying it all in with the birth of The Vision Statement, may be the way to launch some unique celebrations and raise some money. More on this process as it develops.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of March 18, 2010

Present: Bob Morse, Nancy MacLean, John McCall, Chris Keiter, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, Carrie Skeffington, Matt Early, Debra Andrews, Sally Hinckley, Elsa Peters, Andy Ellis and Chris Dow.

Chris Keiter convened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Chris Dow opened with two readings by Ann Weems followed by prayer.

The February minutes were reviewed and accepted.

Minister’s Time:
- Elsa attended an interfaith gathering sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland on the healthcare crisis.
- John announced that Rev. Larry Greer will be the guest preacher at both services on Sunday, March 21st.

Discussion on article “From Stressed to Blessed”:
- Elsa asked the council to read this article in January and she asked us what we thought was being accomplished through the current volunteer ministry of the congregation.
- Responses included church community engagement, Habitat for Humanity, mentors for confirmation, church school teachers, YM volunteers and soup kitchen. In essence, a tremendous amount of work is accomplished by our volunteer ministry.
- Other key points made were the secular culture is changing and that affects church culture.
- The new governance structure was designed so the teams would not be doing all the work. However, that is not the case in some instances.
- We have a low expectation for church membership qualifications which is working against us when it comes to volunteerism.
- Frustration exists with some of the teams having to fill the vacancies on their teams due to the absence of a nominating committee.
- Ideas for helping the teams engage members included utitilization of perhaps a revised Participation Form, new member dinners, announcements in worship, Beacon articles and most importantly personal outreach.
- Discussion will continue next month and hopefully we will have Dave Allen’s input from the Growth Group as we develop an action plan.

Church Vision:
- Elsa reported 80 responses to date on the survey questions according to Survey Monkey.
- The Committee on Vision will meet again after April 5th.
- The council asked Elsa to send out the Survey Monkey link again to the congregation.

Pilgrim Lodge Camperships:
- Elsa told us Pilgrim Lodge camperships are funded by $850.00 from the Holly Daze Bazaar and segregated funds.
- The council agreed that camperships would be available to both children and adults.
- Through Beacon articles and announcements in church, we will encourage those wanting assistance with funding to let us know.
- The church will solicit members of the congregation to help with camperships via the Beacon.

Filling EG&F Vacancy:
- Jennifer Fetting was approved to fill a vacancy on the EG& F Team.

Schools on Wheels Fundraising:
- Maureen Clancy, a member of the Mission Outreach Team submitted a request to the council for a fundraising activity ($500 to $1000 to benefit the Schools on Wheels Project sponsored by the Azande Organization).
- Council decided we didn’t have enough information to make a decision on this. Chris K. will get more details and communicate with each of us by E-Mail.

Check-in with Teams and Committees:
- The question was raised as to whether the council thought there was any benefit to having a meeting with the council and the teams.
- It was decided that the council should make the option available to the teams. Chris K. will be in touch with the teams.

Website Update:
- John reported that the committee working on the re-design of the church’s website has narrowed the choice down to two providers. These providers differ somewhat in the tools they recommend. The committee will meet with them before making a selection.

More Comprehensive Church Budget:
- Chris K. reported on the meeting on having a more comprehensive church budget.
- A sample budget was circulated showing what a comprehensive budget might look like.
- The point was made that the reason for including these other groups with the church budget (Holly Daze Bazaar, Community Crisis Ministries, Discovery Center and Investment Oversight) was for transparency and awareness, not for control.
- Consensus was that this was a good idea but should be reports instead of budgets for the other groups and might be more appropriately titled “Proposed Church Budget and Financial Reports”

Fundraising Activities:
- Report of the subcommittee on fundraising was distributed.
- A variety of fundraising activities were discussed.
- Decided to table further discussion until next month.

Adjourned: 8:32 p.m.
Recorder: Chris Dow

Church Council

Meeting Minutes - February 25, 2010

Present: Chris Keiter, John McCall, Andy Ellis, Bob Morse, Chris Dow, Matt Early, Elsa Peters, Sally Hinckley, Dave Allen, Carrie Skeffington, Roger Addor.

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chris Keiter. Roger opened with a short essay on the use of the 86,400 seconds we are allotted each day, followed by a prayer.

Minutes for January were reviewed and adopted.

Minister’s Time: John was pleased to report that Sue Stevens, a long time active member of our congregation, is starting a formal process to become a Commissioned Minister within the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ.

Elsa reported that the Adult Faith Formation class is using a new curriculum during the Lenten season.

Budget: Chris reported on the successful completion and congregational acceptance of the 2010 church budget.

The Budget Committee, as a follow-up to the budget just passed, is working on a way to incorporate into the 2011 budget an accounting of monies raised and used by groups not currently included, e.g. the Holly Daze Bazaar and the Discovery Center. There was a lot of discussion about what this change means. Chris will develop a sample of what that might look like to help further the discussion.

The Budget Committee is also entertaining ideas for new fund raising possibilities. Sally Hinckley and Carrie Skeffington will work with Chris on this.

Website Design: Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for updating our website were sent to six website companies. Responses are due back by March 5th.

Annual Meeting: The date agreed upon is May 23. The meeting will be held immediately after service.

Sanctuary Railing: Eben Marsh, from the Administration Team, took us to the sanctuary to describe the railings that have been proposed for the stairs that go from the main sanctuary level to the first level of the chancel. The Council liked the design and thinks that it is a worth while effort. The projected cost is $2,500. A total of $1,300 has already been pledged, including $1,000 from Dick and Barbara Merrill (many thanks!) The Council discussed and approved having the Administration Team solicit the remaining funds from the congregation.

Bulletin Boards: A request through Bob Morse by the Eskimos to be able to set up an easel to publicize events was turned down. This means of communication has been considered before by the Council and rejected as being too intrusive. The need for a review of effective use of current bulletin board space, with the agreement that space should be offered to the Eskimos, was recognized. Elsa agreed to pursue the review.

Christ Kids Club Fundraiser: Elsa submitted a completed Fundraiser Form to allow the Club to sell tickets for a church dinner to be held on Saturday, May 1. They will be in charge of ticket sales and in the preparation and serving of the meal. Proceeds are to go to Haiti relief. The Council gave its approval

Church Vision: Elsa reported that the Vision Committee has come up with a set of six questions which will be presented to all church members. The Committee plans to use the responses to draft a vision statement, with fall homecoming as a completion target.

Pastor Parish Relationship Report: The document “Reflecting on Our Ministry,” which had been distributed to Council members by Ken Ross and Mandy Schumaker at last month’s council meeting, was opened for further discussion of the evaluation process. The consensus appears to be, both from the minister’s and the Pastoral Parish Relations Committee point of view, that this newly developed format, although quite exhaustive and time consuming, served as an effective means of refocusing an array of attributes central to an effective ministry and to the better incorporation of the laity in achieving goals. Parish Relations has recommended a four or five year interval for repeating the process; they will check in with John and Elsa about every 6 months regarding their development objectives.

Other Business: Spiritual Life and Worship submitted the name of Frank Arsenault to become a member of the Class of 2012. Council approved.

The Food Pantry requested approval to distribute brochures on healthy eating. This allows them to apply for a $500 grant, to the benefit of the Pantry. Council approved.

Discussion of the article “From Stressed to Blessed,” distributed by Elsa for discussion this month, was postponed until the March meeting.

Adjourned: 8:27 p.m.

Recorder: Roger Addor

Visioning Committee

Meeting Minutes of January 25, 2010, 7:00 p.m.

In attendance: Dave Allen, Deb Andrews, Chris Dow, Elsa Peters.

Opening Meditation: Joel 2

What is a Vision?
• We understand vision as both a noun and an action word.
• A vision explains who we are, but may be bigger than our church.
• Ideally, a vision is in everything we do.
• It’s something we check in with to see if we’re living up to.
• It is limited to a few words so that it can be easily repeated.
• As a group, we understand a vision is: a goal that we seek to do in our daily life as well as in community.

Why do we need a Vision?
• We need a vision because:
- Helps the congregation appreciate core values
- Suggests direction the congregation might go (projects, activities, etc.)

• It was challenging for us to understand how we would use in the life of the church. We articulated it’s most obvious gift is to be used as an evangelism tool (inviting new visitors, etc).

Where does the Vision come from?
• We understand that a vision comes from:
- God
- Bible (though we’re not totally sure how)
- From the congregation

• We agreed that this is not something this committee can decide but will look toward the congregation in finding information.

What do we need to discover our Vision at FCC UCC?
• We decided that a process of 3-6 months would work best.
• We agree that there are a number of venues we can use to explore this conversation of what our vision is, including:
- Team Meetings
- Small Groups (Eskimos, Guild, Women’s Circle, Choir, YM, etc.)
- Email/Survey Monkey
- Paper handouts on literature tables
- 3-4 facilitated after-church discussions
- Moments in worship: Announcements? Sermon? Prayers?

• These group conversations (including the written formats of paper and email) would follow a questionnaire that is adapted for each setting. (There would be fewer questions for large group conversations.) There would be a few ground rules, including:
- There is no right or wrong answer.
- You can participate in as many of these conversations as you wish.
- You don’t have to answer all of the questions but may answer those that are most interesting to you.

• This committee will work on the questionnaires to be submitted to the congregation in the venues mentioned above. To do so, we will each brainstorm 5 questions that should be asked under the theme “Where do we want our journey to go?” Elsa will collect these questions and organize them on Tuesday February 9.

Additional Thoughts:
• We could resist brainstorming a little on our own. We shared these things that are most important about our church.
- Open & Affirming (accepting of all people, including anyone that is different)
- Peace for everyone, including other faiths
- Community = church family
- Music
- Social justice

The committee will meet again on February 16 @ 6:00 p.m. in the Laity Room. We will meet as many times as we feel necessary to nudge along this process.

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

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

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of 12/17/09

In attendance: Nancy MacLean, Bob Morse, Chris Dow, Elsa Peters, Debra Andrews, Sally Hinckley, Andy Ellis, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, Carrie Skeffington, Chris Keiter, Cyndi Alden, Matt Early.

Opening – Matt prayer for God’s blessing and Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Review Agenda – accepted.

Review November Minutes – accepted.

Minister Time – Elsa. John absent due to illness. Christmas time’s busy schedule going along well. Sunday service 12/20 at 11:00 with Children Christmas Pageant at 9:00.

Discussions –
1. Vote on SL&W Nomination – Tex Haeuser accepted.
2. Fundraising Criteria – Nancy MacLean led discussion. Will incorporate last month’s changes, distribute to Teams, and publish in the Beacon after the Holidays.
3. Business Referral Directory – Chris Keiter provided update that it is being worked on by Don Russell and Chris with follow up in January after Holidays.
4. Website Redesign – Committee consisting of John, Elsa, Chris Keiter, Dana Wiggins, Rod Redstone, and Guy Gledhill held meeting and are waiting for draft request for proposal to be submitted by web consultant.
5. Sanctuary Railing – No further update from Administration Team at this time. Follow up after Holidays.
6. Church Vision – Nothing further to report at this time. Follow up after Holidays.
7. Budget – Chris Keiter reported and presented draft 2010 budget. Budget Committee consists of Chris Keiter, Chris Dow, Matt Early, John McCall, and Cyndi Alden. Committee has held three meetings to date. Further Committee meeting scheduled 1/11/10 with goal of printing final proposed budget 1/20/10 with presentation to Council for discussion and approval 1/21/10 with print to congregation on Sunday 1/24/10 and congregational vote on Sunday 1/31/10. Pledges still anticipated for 2010 which will drop current operating deficit forecast of approximately $56,000 to approximately $16,000. Committee to closely monitor pledge progress between now and final budget proposal. Stewardship sending out letter to non-pledging households for support. Pledge revenue formula based on actual pledges less 4% shrinkage plus 7% unpledged based on historical collection experience. Proposed total expense decrease of $10,000 from 2009 budget with majority of line items maintained flat with prior year budget or actual spending, including staff salary. Savings primarily in heating fuel and youth minister and church secretary staffing changes. Budget assumes Discovery Center capable of continuing to pay rent of approximately $5,600 annually. Adjustment of this rent, including ½ rent being evaluated and considered for final budget proposal. Brief discussion surrounding Discovery Center and short term and long term plan. Further discussion on January agenda. Consolidating financial statement to include the Discovery Center, Rummage Sale, Holly Daze Bazaar, and CCM to be considered at later date along with plans to establish a committee that will review with the congregation ideas on how to close the budget gap in the future.

Other Business – None presented.

Adjourned at 8:00 p.m.; Next Meeting January 21, 2010; Recorder: Dave.

Respectfully Submitted: Matt Early

Church Council

Meeting Minutes of November 19, 2009
6:30 – 8:30 PM


Opening (Debra, from the Holy Qur’an and Chinese proverb)

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

Review agenda: approved as presented.

Review October minutes: approved as presented.

Minister’s Time:
John - Shared document “Realities of the World in Which We Minister”, highlighting the following points:
 Total membership has declined 60%, while budget has increased by 16 times since 1961.
 Change in worship attendance.
 2008 Trinity College Study on Religion shows fastest growth in “none of the above” religious group.
 Maine is the 3rd least religious state of all US states.
 Challenge: All forms of organized religion are on decline.
 Maine UCC conference fact: FCC is one of three with highest attendance.
 Where to go from here? High vitality churches have vision, strong lay leaders and recruitment/evangelistic strategies/plans.
 Building the church by building the message – importance of defining vision.
John’s document will be shared with Growth Group, Visioning Subcommittee, and Pastor Parish Relations Committee.

Elsa - Advent, overwhelmed, very busy.

Discussions:
 Fundraising Criteria (continued from October) – Nancy presented the Guidelines and the reworked fundraising form; discussion re: placement of Hilltop Guild catering and Discovery Center in Guideline #6; decision not to include Discovery Center on list; Christmas Gift Appeal is for Community Crisis Ministries; Long Creek is the Giving Tree; Sub Sale is by Youth Ministry. The form was approved and will be distributed via the Beacon, the Teams, and Church office.

 Business Referral Directory update – Don Russell drafted a concept paper that presents the intended policy for this project. Council recommends that document be simplified and reviewed at a later date with Don present.

 Annual review by auditors - Council recommends that Discovery Center and Holly Daze Bazaar be included in Annual Review.

 Budget Committee - Meetings to be held on 11/24, 12/7, 12/14, 1/11. Will consider more comprehensive budget.

 Rosella Loveitt bequest - Chris will ask Budget Committee to explore ways in which to use remaining 80% of funds; it will be included as part of the budget proposal that will be presented at the December Council meeting.

 Discovery Center (pre-school) budget update - No church help is being requested by the Discovery Center’s board at this point; they have had a discussion of using one less classroom to save rent.

 Website redesign discussion is in process. Administration Team is involved.

 Sanctuary railing discussion - Administration Team is in process of getting feedback from Congregation.

 Discussions on how businesses may promote to church members – Should this type of activity be encouraged? Comments from Council members: It could be a slippery slope, shuffling boundaries of what church membership means; there is a general discomfort with concept – too materialistic regarding some ideas, but ok with Community Crisis Ministries/Holly Daze Bazaar silent auction enterprise. Decided to not pursue at this time.

 Sanctuary rental discussion – tabled until future meeting.

 Update on Church vision discussions – group will meet in January.

 Vote on additional nominations - tabled until future meeting.
SL&W: 1 vacancy
EG&F: 1 vacancy

Other Business: none at this time.

Adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Next meeting: December 17th; Opening/Recorder: Matt

Recorder: Debra Andrews

Church Council

MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 15, 2009

Opening: Moderator Chris Keiter called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

Members present: Chris Keiter, Nancy MacLean, Roger Addor, Deb Andrews, Chris Dow, Matt Early, Andy Ellis, Sally Hinckley, Bob Morse, Carrie Skeffington, Phil Whitney. Ministers present: John McCall and Elsa Peters.

Guest: Pam Howard

Minutes review: September meeting minutes were approved.

Ministers’ time: From John: As part of the review process, Pastor Parish Relations (PPR) worked with Elsa and John on defining goals. In January the PPR will meet with Council to go over these goals and how they relate to the vision statement of the church (underway).

John shared a copy of an article about challenges of “oldline” churches like ours and the challenges of keeping the church vital.

Annual meeting of Maine UCC Conference: Maine UCC has changed significantly in last 2 years: downsizing, part-time pastors, merging/closing churches.

Approval of Nomination: Carolyn Foster for EG&F

Budget Committee: committee includes Moderator (committee chair), Sr. Minister, 2 Council members (Matt Early, Chris Dow), and Business Manager (Cyndi Alden).

Fundraising Criteria: There was a suggestion to have all groups complete a fundraising form, including established events (Bazaar, Rummage Sale, Eskimo cookie sale, etc). Deb and Nancy will re-type the application and include some other points for a future discussion. Do we need more structured criteria, or do we want to use the general guidelines and take each request as it comes? Email Deb or Nancy with any input/ideas. Next meeting we will plan to come to a consensus.

Discovery Center (DC): Pam Howard (the DC Director) presented information about their budget. Enrollment is down and they are looking at a $6000 deficit this year, after ending last year with a $5000 deficit. Questions for the bookkeeper: What accumulated savings/cash flow is there? Also unsure of how much Barb Adams Scholarship money is left. The question of charging rent to the Discovery Center was raised. The income from the DC rent is part of the church budget. Pam will get financial information to Chris, and he will get it to Council members through email. Decisions can then be made.

H1N1 Flu Virus: Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance to sanctuary, chapel, and in Wright Pavilion. Elsa will write an article for the Beacon: a general reminder to stay home if you’re sick, use hand sanitizer, etc.

Web Site Design: Discussion to redesign website to accommodate some beneficial changes: on-line giving, Sunday School registration, linking business referral list, newer look, appeal to younger generation, etc. Money is not in the current budget for this. One web designer is available for a no-cost consultation to look at the needs and wants of the church website. Council Fund has uncommitted funds available that could be used to fund the website redesign. The Council gave its approval to look into options and costs. Proposal: offer tutorial for seniors and others who would like instruction on accessing the web.

Business Referral Directory: Since the website cannot be modified to accommodate the Business Referral Directory at this time, we are proceeding with a paper-only version that can be moved to the website at the appropriate time. Chris collected feedback from the Council on Don Russell’s first draft of the Business Referral Directory process and guidelines. Chris will work with Don Russell to reword the proposal.

Sanctuary Railing: Discussion of need of a railing going up to the chancel. The Council approved looking into the proposal, sketches and cost.


The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Submitted by Carrie Skeffington

Council

Meeting Minutes of June 18, 2009

Members present: Chris Keiter, Chris Dow, Sally Sutton, Nancy MacLean, Carol Zechman, Elsa Peters, Jean Siulinski, Sally Hinkley, Deb Andrews, Bob Morse, Carrie Skeffington, Roger Addor, and Andy Ellis.

Guest: Stan Jordan

New members: The Council welcomed new members Carrie Skeffington, Roger Addor, Bob Morse.

Minutes review: Minutes for the May Council meeting were approved.

Minister’s Time: Elsa discussed her selection of a topic for Homecoming Sunday: Jesus’ thoughts on salt and light.

Rummage Sale: The Council revisited the discussion from the previous meeting about items for the rummage sale currently being stored in Guptill Hall, and the subsequent conversation with Prudy Wiggins who has led the rummage sale for many years. The Council agreed that Prudy’s great efforts on behalf of the church in this role have been extremely valuable and expressed the hope that she will continue to lead the rummage sale in the future. The Council suggested that a backup plan be developed so that the rummage sale could continue even if Prudy were unable to lead it. The Council understood that the items for the fall rummage sale would remain in Guptill Hall until the sale, meaning that Homecoming Sunday would not be able to use all of the hall.

Vote on additional nominations: The Council voted on the following nominations: Council: Matt Early -- Nancy moved, Jean seconded, all approved.
SL&W: Elaine Brownell replacing Ed Saxby -- Nancy moved, Chris Dow seconded, all approved. The Council will wait until September to vote on nominations for the vacancies on the EG&F and SL&W teams.

Selection of Moderator and Vice Moderator: Chris Keiter will stay on as Moderator. Nancy MacLean agreed to be Vice Moderator. Elsa pointed out that Vice Moderator does not need to become Moderator the next year and Nancy suggested that we make sure this was included in the minutes.

Follow up regarding hospitality tasks: The Council decided that Jesus’ birthday cake did not need to be eliminated, and it was suggested that this item reside with SL & W in the division of hospitality tasks proposed at the previous Council meeting.
The new suggested division is:

SL&W: Ash Wednesday Breakfast, Good Friday Supper, Elder Luncheon, Jesus' birthday cake on Christmas Eve

EG&F: Church Picnic, Confirmation Celebration, Coffee Hours

Search Committee: New Minister Welcome, New Minister Installation

Pilgrim Lodge Camperships: 9-12 campers received camperships and Elsa reported that she had received several emails expressing thanks.

Business Referral Directory update: Chris Keiter gave an update on the discussion after worship on the 14th about a future Business Referral Directory for church members. The meeting was facilitated by Don Russell and Chris Keiter. Attendees were supportive of the idea. Some concerns were expressed at the meeting about limiting any liability for the church in relation to the listed business activities, but it was felt that this issue could be adequately addressed through a disclaimer on the website. At the council meeting, some concerns were expressed about “hacking”, but it was suggested that the risks posed to this site were no greater than those posed to the church’s present website. Further logistical details, such as who will update and maintain the site remain to be determined. Don Russell has agreed to lead the project.

Discussion of Diversity Committee request: The Council discussed a request from the Diversity Committee for donation of gas cards that had been published in the Beacon without the normal process of Council approval for fundraising efforts. It was decided that the article did describe a fundraising activity that should have been reviewed by the Council. As part of this discussion, it was suggested that the Council should develop clear criteria for the Council to use when evaluating whether a fundraising activity should be approved. Sally Sutton moved that the Council address this issue in the next year. Carol seconded, and the Council approved. Nancy volunteered to work on this and Deb agreed to assist. Without those criteria, the Council was not able to approve this fundraising activity at this time and will suggest the Diversity Committee approach the Mission Team regarding use of their funds or a portion of the Social Witness Ministries budget line item.

Budget oversight: Chris Keiter reported that the Administration Team is researching the possibility of a more comprehensive church budget, and the Council will continue to discuss in September. The Council also reviewed the year to date budget vs. actual and some questions were raised regarding lower than expected revenue in the Rental Property line, and higher than expected expenditures in the Youth Ministry line. Chris and Elsa will check to make sure that the money for the Sunday School curriculum was correctly drawn from the Supplies and Equipment line, and not from Youth Ministry.

Council members ending their terms: The Council thanked Sally Sutton, Jean Siulinski, and Carol Zechman for their energy, ideas, and support over the past few years as their terms come to an end.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Recorded by: Andy Ellis
Next meeting: September 17th
Opening/Recorder: TBD