Draft minutes
Present: Pastor Phil Haslanger, Josh Gormley, Betsy Robbins, Jeanne Prueher, Damon Smith, Sarah Fritz, Jan Klawitter, Janine Bessemer, Rebecca Malke.
Present for financial/budget portion of meeting: Gary Johnson, John VanOverbeke.
Absent: Jacy Boldebuck
Pastor Phil opened the meeting with a prayer.
The minutes for the December 2015 meeting were approved with the following changes: Outreach: Outreach met Dec 6, 2015. … the loose plate offering took about $1,000 away from the Operating Budget. Outreach recommended continuing the loose plate offering, but four times (quarterly) next year, rather than one time per month. Under Old Business: Correct spelling of Jeff Falkner.
Financial Report (John VanOverbeke): Actual 2015 budget was $1,795 in the red, which is better than recently anticipated. Income was $3,220 short but most departments were under budget for expenses. Large donations to Pastor’s Discretionary Fund were given in December. Endowment Fund issued $500 for purchasing bread, corn, and salad dressing for Luke House due to decreased donations of these items. $5,200 for UCC Campital Campaign was collected and this was matched with $2,500 from the Endowment Fund, for a total of $7700. $4,050 was collected in 2015 to Giving Locally Fund to be used in 2016 by the Outreach committee. Motion was made by Jan to receive the financial report; Sarah seconded. Vote passed.
Budget (Gary Johnson): Only minor changes were made to 2016 Budget since presented in December, 2015. Budgeted 2016 total income: $257,209. Total expenses: $260,409. Janine made motion to recommend this budget, which will be presented to congregation at Annual Meeting for approval. Jan seconded. Vote passed.
Pastor’s Report (Pastor Phil):
- Craft and Cookie sale was very successful.
- Longest Night service this year included interfaith leaders from Muslim and Jewish traditions. This drew a large number of people (85) and was very well received. Christmas Eve Services at 5:00 and 7:00 also had more participants than in past years. Attendance at Sunday services in 2015 averaged 125 people, which is an increase compared with 2014. Thirteen new members joined in 2015, and there were 2 deaths. There will be new members joining this month.
Director of Faith Development report (Rebecca Malke):
- Our Whole Life (OWL) is being offered for 7-9th So far only two kids are signed up from MUCC and there may be 3 interested from the Quakers. John Rosch and Rebecca will be the teachers for OWL.
- The SPIFFY group met to discuss the Teen Summit on Race Relations. They received a grant from Wisconsin Public Television for their work.
- Julie will be leaving her position in the nursery. Ads were placed on Craigslist with four candidates beginning interviews soon.
- The second session for Sunday school has begun and teacher positions are all filled.
Committee Reports:
Trustees: See above financial report.
Faith Formation (Sarah) : See Rebecca’s report above.
Special Events (formerly Adult Programming) (Janine): Chili Cook-off will be held Jan 17, 2016. Sign-ups are in the Narthex. Jacy Boldebuck has agreed to head the Silent Auction this year with help from her mother and Amy Boutelle.
Membership (Jeanne): A gathering for new members will take place Jan 10 after the 10:00 service. Membership will be providing refreshments for this event.
Outreach (Jan): Outreach will be collecting various items for the Dane County Jail Ministry in January. A box is placed in the Narthex. Jan offered to purchase items with any monetary donations. Christa Fisher, a jail chaplain, will be preaching this Sunday.
Worship (Betsy): This committee did a beautiful job with Christmas decorations and planning. They will be preparing for Lent and Easter.
Buildings and Grounds (Damon): No meeting has been held recently, but snow plowers have been contracted.
Old Business: The nominating committee has recommended the following persons to run for Council: Jacy Boldebuck (2nd term), Sarah Fritz (2nd term), Ryan Estrella (1st term), Orion Jetzer (1st term). Jan made a motion to accept these nominees be presented to the congregation at the Annual Meeting. Jeanne seconded. Vote passed.
Annual Meeting is set for Jan 24, 2016. Agenda was discussed. Nursery staff will be available for childcare during the meeting.
New Business: Phil reported that Redeemer City Church, a local start-up church, will be in need of temporary worship space during 2016 summer months. They have been using space at a Madison school, but won’t have access during summer due to remodeling. Council is in favor of exploring potential of them using our space this summer, but would like further information regarding their needs. Phil will talk with them and report back to Council.
Next Council meeting: Feb 9, 2016.
Jan moved to adjourn.
Minutes submitted by Janine Bessemer