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| Council minutes June 9, 2009 |
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Present: Jon Boldebuck, Barb Gallogly-Turner, Kristin Gorton, Phil Haslanger, John Hilliard, Kelly Jetzer, Gary Johnson, Michael Magness, Ron Reichert, Shirley Robbins, Sonjia Short, Keith Von Der Heide. Absent: Wendy Proctor. Phil opened the meeting with prayer. Minutes of the May meeting were approved as amended, on motion by Michael, seconded by Kelly. Pastors' Reports: Phil: A baptism and a wedding during the past month. The bride's father, Helmut Ajango, was the architect of our church. He said he liked it as it has turned out along with the additions. ---Five people are ready to join in the near future. ---The Friday morning Book Group is starting a new book. ---The Strategic Planning Committee has asked for input from committee leaders to use in their discussion. ---Phil and Kristin will attend the Wisconsin Conference Annual Meeting next weekend. ---The Biloxi trip happens in two weeks, with a minivan still needed for the journey. Kristin: The Peace Pole is in progress. The kids went to a movie recently, and she finds the travel time a great occasion for discussion. Financial Report: Presented by Keith and John. John said that year-to-date figures are encouraging; also that contributions to the Building Fund are higher than projected, and we may be able to pay off Park Bank sooner than expected. Moved by Sonjia and seconded by Kelly that the report be approved as presented. Motion carried. Reports by Gary: ---Mark Moffat will be Custodian for the summer, until October, when he enters Americorps. He is reporting to Phil. Sundell, a local cleaning business, is likely to be hired at that time. Gary pointed out that certain forms and records are needed to comply with regulations. Also, we need to decide what committee (staff personnel) should hire and supervise the Custodian. Phil will supervise for now. Council expressed thanks to Gary for his work on this matter. ---Associate Pastor Search Committee: Financial figuring has been done which indicates that within our budget we can afford an Associate Pastor for at least a year with present resources. Whatever we do will involve to some degree a leap of faith. Gary explained possible sources of funding, such as the Ahrnsbrak New Initiatives Fund and our Reserve Fund, and ways to save money, such as starting an Associate on December 1 rather than on October 1, cutting $2000 from the 2010 budget, and increasing pledges. Discussion followed. We will need to make choices about our priorities, considering how we can ourselves do some of the things we want an Associate Pastor to do, if we decide we can't afford one yet. We don't want to hire an Associate and then soon have to decide we can't afford it. Question: Would we be committing a larger percentage of our pledge growth to "inward" expenses rather than to "outward" expenses? It was pointed out that we customarily give generously to "outward" programs and projects, apart from our operating budget, and this is not likely to change. We have a history of leaps of faith -- moving to Fitchburg from Madison was a huge one. Question: Is an Associate Pastor necessary to fill the needs and expectations of our growing congregation (and to avoid decline)? Reminder: In our January 2008 Annual Meeting, the Associate position was made permanent by congregational vote. A consensus was reached: We have a general sense of confidence that we can do this, and we want the Search Committee to continue their work. We will make the leap of faith. The council commends the Search Committee for their work on updating the church profile and for creating a job description and surveying some of the church leaders for input. Brief Committee Reports: ---Childrens Programming (Kelly) - Vacation Bible School planned. ---Outreach (Barb) - Discussing Second Mile changes (seasonal, new name, publicity). The Road Home pledge is short only $70. ---Worship (Sonjia) - She is now chair; Betsy Robbins wanted to step down from that position. ---Building and Grounds (Jon) - the parking lot will soon be cleaned, sealed, and re-striped. It was moved by Michael and seconded by Sonjia that this Committee be authorized to exceed their budget for this project. Motion carried. --Membership (Phil) - Our table at Fitchburg Days pretty much broke even financially. We had good visibility, but will consider whether it is worth the effort to do it again. A photographic directory by Olin Mills has not been acted upon, with no "organizer" stepping up; may wait until next year. NO MEETING IN JULY. NEXT: August 11, 2009 at 6:45 p.m. Shirley Robbins, Recording Secretary |