CHURCH COUNCIL MINUTES

2/26/08

Attendees:  D. Blood ex officio, M. Rollins, C. Mottram, K. Goetjen, K. Colvin, D. Brunner, U. Dang, R. Bunker, S. Goetjen, C. Wilson.  Roger called the meeting to order with a prayer from Pastor Deb.  Ursula read #6 of the Behavioral Covenant which asks us to be tolerant, patient and seek to understand our differences.  She used a passage from Ephesians 4: 1-7, 11-16 to illustrate “Unity of the Spirit”.

Minutes:  MSV to accept the minutes of 3/25/08.

Dialogue with Pastor:  May 10 is Part II of the Annual UCC Conference.  MSV to add Matt Rollins as a delegate.  Pastor Deb attended the Bloomfield Education Foundation fundraiser and has asked to be advised of community events she should attend.  Funerals:  Ben Joseph, Sally Whittaker, and Bob Painter.  On April 30 she will be going to the Hartford Association Committee on Church and Ministry which holds periodic sessions for support, consultation and self-care strategies.  Attendance is part of a pastor’s covenantal obligation.  She presented a handout with her remaining 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 vacation proposal and sabbatical planning ideas.  She is entitled to sabbatical leave now, but would like to defer it until early 2010, take a shorter time than she would entitled to at that time, and use the accrued extra weeks in 2008 and 2009 for continuing education/retreat/spiritual renewal/study/relaxation and sabbath.  Logistic and financial planning should be started now.  MSV to accept the proposal.  She reported on her Wider Church Ministry activities in Indianapolis and Cleveland during the past few weeks. (See council minutes of 3/25/08.)  UCC has directed that pastors should preach on racial issues on May 18.

OLD BUSINESS

Sexton/Project Manager:  The sexton position has been eliminated in favor of use of an independent contractor, John McGuire, for building maintenance.  The cost is projected to be $3,000/month after an initially higher amount to cover Samuel’s severance, insurance and unused vacation as well as some badly needed initial upfront deep cleaning work.  This will put us $10,000 over budget for this year.  Next year the budget projection is $37,000 plus lawn mowing.

Economic Stimulus Rebate Tithing:  Specific projects suggested by various committees/boards will be publicized in the Spire and Bulletin over the summer.  People will be asked to consider tithing/donating a part of their rebate check toward these projects.

BOARD REPORTS AND NEW BUSINESS

Council:  Sacred Partners (New Dollars/New Partners project) Pastor Deb, Roger, Carol, Oz, and Charlotte attended a two-day training conference in East Haven last weekend.  It was the first of two sessions, the second one to be held in Sept.  The focus of this session was to learn how to identify our assets (human, physical, financial) in order to better use our religious property, allow for better interaction with the wider community and how to fund preservation of the building and programs through grants and capital fund projects involving both the congregation and wider community.  The process will take about ten months to do the groundwork and will involve several teams to do the various assessment pieces.  More information will be forthcoming…The Pastor’s annual evaluation will begin soon.  At the May council meeting we will review and assess the job description, goals and objectives, as well as the feedback from the various boards.

Missions:  Matt reported that they are about to do their annual budget planning and will need to sit down with Kent to discuss it.  They are also working with the Music Board to plan the joint music event for next year.  Roger asked to come to the next meeting to discuss New Dollars/New Partners (Sacred Partners project).

Diaconate:  Brainstormed ideas for the coming year such as having the chapel open for meditation during the week, sponsoring a potluck supper, having a Christmas fair, parade, day-long retreat.  The budget will need to be increased to cover substitute ministers fees.  The Floral Committee reports that there will need to be new people for the Christmas decorating committee.  Cecelia Simmons has agreed to be nominated as the chair for next year.

Christian Education:  Ursula reported that Vacation Bible School will be held in July.  We will participate in the Memorial Day parade with the hay wagon.  There was a question as to whether there needed to be special insurance for the Sunday School to be in the parade.  We will check with the insurance company.  The committee is preparing for Dorine’s evaluation.  Sunday School is going well.

Communications:  Larry is away and communicated his input by email.  The problems with the speaker system in the meeting room have been reported to Larry.  He noted that it was a fairly new system, but we definitely need to have more people familiar with how it operates.  Looking into having sound piped into the baby room.  Larry would like to add a DVD/CD recording system and build a cabinet to house the equipment in the choir loft.  CE asked if it would be possible to get another laptop for boards and committees to use for projector presentations.  Currently everyone uses the Pastor’s laptop.

Facilities:  Bathroom update:  The ground floor bathroom is underway at a cost of $19,000+.  The first floor bathroom quote is $29,000 and $2,850 for the partitions.  They are hoping for a decision by the end of this week.  Therefore it is not known how much will be left over for additional window replacement…They are seeking further bids on the needed tree work and lawn mowing…The contract with John McGuire is being worked on to include the work that Samuel used to do for the Nursery School (cleaning bathrooms, removing trash, mopping floors).

Finance:  Year-to-date pledges are a little behind.  Reminder letters will be sent out…Expenses:  Minister – on budget, Deacons – close, Music – over, Mission – on,  CE – under (because Dorine was hired later in the year), Sexton – over by about $10,000 (see above under Old Business), Office – under, Facilities – under to date (insurance savings, less snow removal and fuel than anticipated).  About $125,000 spent on major repairs to date.  The expected deficit will be 0-$20,000. We will know more by the next meeting.  John McGuire thinks we may need a new roof on the connector and part of the Gale at a cost of about $60,000…Roger questioned where in the budget the line items for OCWM (Our Church’s Wider Mission) and Per Capita Fee belong.  They are currently in the Deacons’ budget, moved from Missions…Deb Huebner will bring the Nursery School budget to the May meeting.  Kent needs input from all boards/committees by the May meeting as well.  The preliminary stewardship results will be available at the next meeting.

Human Relations:  Annual reviews for Eustace and Leona are needed.

Music:  Charlotte reported that the joint town wide choir concert to be held in 2009 will be coordinated by Music Board and Missions Board.  Pastor Deb is contacting other clergy to find out who will participate.  The organ was tuned before Easter.  The pianos have been deferred until fall.  The Music Board will plan and provide special music for summer services.  Eustace has talked to John McGuire about improving the lighting in the choir room.  Estimates are needed.  The board talked about budget planning for the coming year.