April 2013 Council Minutes

Church Council Meeting

Monday, April 15, 2013

 

Attendees:  Charlie Yund, Fred Claus, Gail Conschafter, Sheila Rader, Jan Garrison, Mike Fonte, Laura Mason, Chris Hipp, Ann Hipp, Liz VonWald,

 Charlie called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM with the unison reading of the mission statement.

Charlie shared a prayer to officially begin the meeting and informed the group as to the explosions at the Boston Marathon. 

God sightings:  Limited injuries at the Boston Marathon.  Gail shared how the seniors at CCA just recently returned from their mission trip to the DR.  The impact was incredible.  Nate shared that Jacob and his wife are in the hospital having their first baby.

Approval of March minutes:  Minutes for the March meeting were approved as presented.  Motion made by Fred and seconded by Jan Garrison.  Minutes approved unanimously.

Changes to Agenda:  No changes

Calendar Events:      DR youth mission trip 7/10 – 7/17

                                    VBS July 28 – August 1 (evenings)
                                    Crop Walk  October 13
                                    Fall Festival                 TBD
                                    Women’s retreat  October 11 – 12 at Asbury
                                    One Starry Night 12/6-12/7
                                    Garage Sale for youth May 17 – 19
Finance:  Chris Hipp reported from the blog:
            General Fund Giving - 1st Quarter 2013 vs. 2012

2013                                         2012                                       Difference

1st Quarter Gen Fund Income        $  83,499.97                                        $  84,326.10                         $    (826.13) Easter Offering March April                       $    2,441.00                                           $    2,679.50                         $ (2,679.50)

Giving Units                                   209                                          190 Deaths                     3 1 Left  1 4 Left -                                                                                                                                                                still giving 0 3 $20 or less 17 9

Conclusions: We are close to 2012 giving levels despite the above changes We need to continue carefully monitoring giving on a monthly basis It is too soon to make major corrections in planned spending, but restraint is clearly indicated

Recommendations: Communicate this information widely Encourage spending restraint consistent with our priorities Emphasize Trinity Fair and Christmas Offering Begin 2014 Budgeting Process in September

                        A giving unit is constitutes anyone that gives and signs “in” for one Sunday.  They are not assigned a “number” until they sign in for more than two Sundays.

Discussion on attendance and how numbers for the 8 AM service is creeping up.  All other services are holding their own with a few new ones.  Numbers are stable and finances are in good shape.

CE:  Liz reported that numbers have picked up with new families. 

            From the Blog:
            Spring is in the air and our students are getting ready for school to end. Our whole staff is hard at work at finishing out our school year strong. We are consentrating on Bible basics such as the Lord's prayer and certain key Bible Verses that we feel are fondational to a Christian life. Our teachers are giving us feed back to help us make adjustments to our education style to meet our student needs. We know we cannot meet all their needs, but if we cover basics we can at least start them down the road.

Speaking of School ending, we would like to have a year in review of some mountian tops we reached this past year. At our VBS we had our highest number of participates as we had over 70 students at each event. During our Trunk or treat we had over 300 kids going through our cars and all over our campus. We had a great Christmas play this past year with some extra help from a Chris Bedell. We are also recaping our Easter egg hunt which was bigger than ever. All in all God has blessed us. It seems as the whole year was a God sighting...

God is good.

 Yours in his service
Mark and Liz Von Wald
We are also currently working hard on VBS

Nate shared the Pastor’s Report that was distributed.  There were a handful of people volunteering for new positions, and several wanting to continue to do what they are currently doing.  We are looking for people to do ministries in that area.  The necessary resources will be available for you to prepare you for the group.  Between a passion and an interest, Larry and Nate will find a place for ministry that is well suited for that person.  The surveys will be available for the next few weeks to make sure everyone has the opportunity to complete it and turn it in.  Asking people that are new to our church may not be a bad idea.  A personal invite might be just the thing they are looking for. Liz said she is looking to perhaps rotate teachers because there are some that cannot make the commitment of every week, but would like to be able to work in some capacity. 

Discussion on Right Now ministries.  Sheila questioned how to project what is on the computer to the entire group.  Nate stated that if the interest is there, we will make it happen.

It would be nice to have new faces in leadership.  Discussion on those on the attendance roster that are not attending the meetings.  Charlie will look into the list.  Gail will e mail it to him so he can follow up with the names.

Liz shared that there will be two Sunday school classes during the summer; one for the 9:00 service and another for the 10:30 service.  More teachers will be needed.

Charlie said that the Hand of the Plow group met on Saturday, and there were a few less in attendance than last time.  There were about 70 people with the topic being worship – how do you worship and what are the aspects of worship.  What is our mindset?   

There was a question on the “Post Christian Cities.”  Nate reported that this refers to cities where there is the least amount of Christianity.  There are very few people that claim Christianity as their faith.  The reasons are too many to even begin to discuss.  Buffalo has a large atheist think tank near the UB campus.  (Center for Inquiry)

“What do we need to do?”  How do we present the message to make an impact?  Perhaps making it multi-sensory!!!

Unfinished Business: 

Some of the things that have been brought up at our meetings have been addressed.  Ushers and Hospitality are moving in a positive direction.  Once people are coming in, we want to make sure we are welcoming and friendly church.   Charlie suggested that we contact those that we have not seen.

Next meeting May 20, 2013 at 7 PM

Nate asked for prayer for his brother and sister in law.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Conschafter

April 2013 Finance Report

General Fund Giving - 1st Quarter 2013 vs. 2012
				2013	2012	Difference
1st Quarter Gen. Fund Income				$ 83,499.97	$ 84,326.10	$ (826.13)
Easter Offering				March	April
				$ 2,441.00	$ 2,679.50	$ (2,679.50)
Giving Units				209	190
Deaths				3	1
Left				1	4
Left -still giving				0	3
$20 or less				17	9
Conclusions:
We are close to 2012 giving levels despite the above changes
We need to continue carefully monitoring giving on a monthly basis
It is too soon to make major corrections in planned spending, but restraint is clearly indicated
Recommendations:
Communicate this information widely
Encourage spending restraint consistent with our priorities
Emphasize Trinity Fair and Christmas Offering
Begin 2014 Budgeting Process in September

April 2013 CE Report

Dear Memembers of the Council,

Spring is in the air and our students are getting ready for school to end. Our whole staff is hard at work at finishing out our school year strong. We are consentrating on Bible basics such as the Lord's prayer and certain key Bible Verses that we feel are fondational to a Christian life. Our teachers are giving us feed back to help us make adjustments to our education style to meet our student needs. We know we cannot meet all their needs, but if we cover basics we can at least start them down the road.

Speaking of School ending, we would like to have a year in review of some mountian tops we reached this past year. At our VBS we had our highest number of participates as we had over 70 students at each event. During our Trunk or treat we had over 300 kids going through our cars and all over our campus. We had a great Christmas play this past year with some extra help from a Chris Bedell. We are also recaping our Easter egg hunt which was bigger than ever. All in all God has blessed us. It seems as the whole year was a God sighting...

God is good.

 Yours in his service

Mark and Liz Von Wald

 

We are also currently working hard on VBS

March 2013 Council Minutes

Church Council Meeting

Monday March 18, 2013

Attendees:  Mike Fonte, Charlie Yund, Terri Bellanca, Tom Burkman, Fred Claus, Gail Conschafter, John Jones, Jan Garrison, Laura Mason, Ann Hipp, Chris Hipp, Sue Kaiser 

Pastor Larry opened in Prayer. 

God Sightings: 

Gail shared the video of Christian Central Academy’s Worship Team’s “I Will Not Be Ashamed.” 

Beautiful swans on East River.

Approval of February’s minutes.   Minutes were approved as presented.  Motion by Chris Hipp, seconded by Terry Bellanca.  Approved unanimously 

Changes to Agenda

            Mike Fonte in Committee

            Tom Burkman will be after Calendar Events

 Major Calendar Events:

            Shrove Pancake Dinner        Tuesday, Feb. 12

            Good Friday fish Fry            Good Friday, March 29

            Lenten Luncheons

            Hand To Plow                       April 13

            VBS                                        July 28 – August 1 - evenings

            Crop Walk                             October 13, 2013

            Dominican Republic             Youth Mission Trip - July 10 - 17

            Fall Festival                            TBD

            Women’s Retreat

            One Starry Night                   December 6 - 7     

      

Hand To Plow - 4 meetings to take place.  One has already taken place.  Charlie and Terry Bellanca were TUMC’s representatives.  April 13 is the next meeting.  The next meeting is to grow the church. Lessons learned will certainly be applied here.  Meetings are from 10 – 4 with lunch provided.  There are three streams: 1 is to start new churches 1 is to start new faith communities and the last is the Hand To Plow which is a revitalization of existing churched.   

SPRC – Tom reported that the limited report is on the blog.

The Staff-Parish Relations Committee held its monthly meeting on March 4. It dealt with the following issues:

 Approved revised job description for Child Caregiver

• Added two paid holidays for salaried employees
• Absence arrangements for Custodian and Set-up Manager
• Wedding coordinator
• Fringe benefits of Associate Pastor
• Event for staff recognition and appreciation

Finance:  Chris reported from the report on the blog.

General Fund results through February were reviewed. At February month-end GF giving is $49k vs. $56.5k in 2012, where there were 9 weeks vs. 8 this year. Giving is forecast to be about $340k at year-end, about $15k less than in 2012.

To get a better measure on where giving has changed; it will be analyzed by giving unit at the end of March. With three months data, trends should begin to emerge.

Several accounts were discussed. Account 440 (Church Programming) spending is about twice its annual spend rate. Jim Winter agreed to see what expenses caused this. Account 466 (Salary Custodian) is also $433 above its projected spend rate.

How expenses and revenue were reported for the recent ACE event was discussed.

After some discussion it was agreed to make an apportionments payment in March despite having only $3.1k in the GF account at February month-end. The committee agreed to discuss this subject at our monthly meetings and to authorize payments when it is financially prudent.

The committee also discussed Jim Winter’s request for remote access to our CDM financial software so that he can do more of his work remotely. We agreed to pursue this to facilitate his efforts on our behalf.

Tom asked where we are spending where we should not be spending.  Chris responded that he expenses are up, which we have no control over.  Church programming may be a bit misleading as it is a general fund that contains events that are not specifically categorized.  There may be reasons that we overspend in an account, but if it fits in our mission that may be because it is very important to our ministry.  Some of the money that was spent was for the Hand To Plow books – no other account to put it into.  There were 20 books purchased.  Charlie will check into the amount and the actual cost.  John Harbison questioned what was being done to increase membership. Discussion on attendance for other GI churches.  Sue commented that there was a Nursery School activity last Saturday and the family room was packed with families with small children.  She questioned whether we are tapping into that group to encourage them to attend our services.  Larry reported that there were several from the Nursery School that came to One Starry Night.  Larry feels that those that are already members are good witnesses to those that are not already members of our church. John Harbison said he feels we are welcoming when it comes to the Lenten Luncheons and WOW.  These are wonderful opportunities.   Larry reported that the follow up with those that are “new,” are finding they are using the internet and our website to find us.  Ann reported that when they lived in North Carolina, a personal invitation was extended to her by a nursery school instructor.  The invitation was non-threatening and welcoming.  Jan reported that all nursery schools on GI are willing to accept our pamphlets.    Question was asked if we have a Hospitality committee to look into this.  Our Sunday school program has increased 10 fold over the past few years.  Programs are in place for all ages, and help is needed to keep them up and running.  Children will bring in the adults.  Good traction is in and good hospitality is next.  Volunteers are needed to stand at the Welcome Station each Sunday.  Our membership is not in huge decline like other churches.  Laura asked that if anyone from our congregation is in Suburban, please let her know, as she would be able to stop in and see them.

Charlie asked that the Hospitality committee report to us by the next meeting as to what their needs are and where we can be of assistance to that particular committee.

Committee Reports:

Missions:  John Harbison reported there has been discussion on what the Mission Focus will be.  March’s focus is Mexico Missionary.  May will be the Youth Stock Sale.  June will be Seneca Street.  June 16 will be Tools for Hope, and July will be the Military.  There are several applications for missions, and the committee will go through them all.  We are in the stage of building furniture for Haiti.  The Rotary will release $11,000 once all furniture is made.  Hopefully the clinic will be fully operational by July.  He has received donations from members from TUMC.  There is a lot of interest of doing mission work.  Charlie commented that the Mission Committee has had their work cut out for them since they have been monitoring all the “fundraising” for missions.  Please encourage the committee. 

Organ Repairs:  Mike Fonte reported that he has been researching the organ.  He has been communicating with all music personnel.  The pipes and chimes are shot and parts are non functional, in addition to other parts that have not worked for years.  Costs for minor repairs (non-noticeable) would be approximately $3000 to $5000.  Recommendation might be to replace with a digital organ for approximately $50,000.  This is a huge difference between repair and replace.  Mike suggested if we do the repairs, get a few estimates to see how they all compare.  There is a question as to whether or not after all those repairs – the difference would be noticeable to the congregation.  Fred questioned if the organ was repaired – what might be the next part to need replacing?  Perhaps a few more estimates on something other than a digital organ might be necessary.  Sue reported that a church in Colden has a digital organ and the options and effects are wonderful.  Charlie felt that the short term solution is good for us.  Yet, we may not be ready at this point to invest a significant amount without a specific fundraising effort. What is the lifetime of a digital organ?  That question could not be answered.

Pastor’s Report:  Larry thanked the Finance committee for helping him understanding the finances of the church.  He had hoped that we would have gained overall income.  What it appears we have done is maintained from the loss of our members that have gone.  We are a far way from “being broke.”  We are in a building position and did not go backwards.  Membership in 2012 – we gained members in some services – depending on which service.  49% increase in VBS attendance.  VBS committee is committed in increasing that for this years’ VBS.  We need to sustain an overview strategy.  Please come and represent your own area in addition to the whole church.  We need to change the church culture enough so we are outward focused.  Sometimes we are too inward focused and stumble over one another.  The seeds are ready to plant, and now we need to lift up and train those willing who will engage in the areas and turn outward to draw more into our church.  “If it helped me, I now want to help others.”  We have stabilized our finance and attendance, so now we can start to grow.  We need to understand that we have one segment of our congregation that are good givers, but health crisis seems to be cropping up.  This is not going to change in the future, so we need to be better in going out to the community to bring people in and show them what we have to offer.  As a board, we need to get up in the balcony and look at the entire picture.  Overall, Larry is mildly encouraged.  We need a constant group of people to man the Welcome Station each week.  Ann Hippe is tremendous at hospitality…. Thanks for all you do and your suggestions.  Sue Kaiser remarked that the sanctuary seems darker.  It makes it hard to see pastor at the pulpit.  Larry commented that the sanctuary is dark, and it is a very challenging sanctuary.  The lighting is dated.  Mike Fonte commented on Hospitality.  Where is the course of action that was plotted out a few meetings ago?   Some of those steps have been put into action and some of it has been de-railed due to other responsibilities.  Teams that we talked about are still a possibility, but have not happened just yet.  Sue Kaiser offered to volunteer at the Welcome Station on Easter.  We need to recognize that we are not where we want to be, but we DO have a lot of great things happening and have put a lot of things in action in the last 5 years. 

Fred Claus reported that he has been asked to form an IT team.  Vision is to manage all AV equipment in church.  Main point is to do slides and sound for the service.  He asked for help if anyone knows of anyone that would be willing to help.  Slides will be made, just looking for someone to run.

Fish fry tickets need to be purchased.  Please bring family and friends.  Fish or chicken fingers with homemade desserts will be served.  The purple felt crosses are in the vestibule and “just appeared.”  Sue questioned where they came from.  Nobody seems to know. 

Next meeting will be April 15, 2013. 

Charlie shared the vision statement that was developed about 18 months ago. 

Respectfully submitted,

Gail Conschafter

Finance Report for March 2013

General Fund results through February were reviewed. At February month-end GF giving is $49k vs. $56.5k in 2012, where there were 9 weeks vs. 8 this year. Giving is forecast to be about $340k at year-end, about $15k less than in 2012.

To get a better measure on where giving has changed, it will be analyzed by giving unit at the end of March. With three months data, trends should begin to emerge.

Several accounts were discussed. Account 440 (Church Programming) spending is about twice its annual spend rate. Jim Winter agreed to see what expenses caused this. Account 466 (Salary Custodian) is also $433 above its projected spend rate.

How expenses and revenue were reported for the recent ACE event were discussed.

After some discussion it was agreed to make an apportionments payment in March despite having only $3.1k in the GF account at February month-end. The committee agreed to discuss this subject at our monthly meetings and to authorize payments when it is financially prudent.

The committee also discussed Jim Winter’s request for remote access to our CDM financial software so that he can do more of his work remotely. We agreed to pursue this to facilitate his efforts on our behalf.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Hipp

SPRC Report for March 2013

SPRC report for March 2013

The Staff-Parish Relations Committee held its monthly meeting on March 4.  It dealt with the following issues:

• Approved revised job description for Child Caregiver
• Added two paid holidays for salaried employees
• Absence arrangements for Custodian and Set-up Manager
• Wedding coordinator
• Fringe benefits of Associate Pastor
• Event for staff recognition and appreciation

Tom Burkman, chair

February Council Minutes 2013

Church Council Meeting

Monday, February 11, 2013

Attendees:  Mike Fonte, Charlie Yund, Terri Bellanca, Paul Sipson, Nate Lange, Tom Burkman, Fred Claus, Gail Conschafter, John Jones

Nate Lange opened in Prayer.

God Sightings:  Beautiful snow, safety of Tim Dzierba and his auto accident.  Saturday’s event and the great attendance.  Fred reported that there were over 30 people present on Saturday morning and about 15 in the evening for the seminar on Forgiveness.  Tom reported that one of the new members that had been in attendance went home and made amends with a family member that he had been “at odds” with for several years.  Charlie reported that he and a few were at Asbury for the Hand of the Plow seminar.  There were 75 people there for the peer to peer training session.  The majority of the meeting was “people talking to people.”  There are a few openings if anyone is still interested in joining the group. 

Approval of January Meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes as presented by Fred Claus       seconded by Terri Bellanca.  Minutes were approved as presented.

Paul reported that One Starry Night will be in Historic Trinity this year.  There will be some vignettes on the sides with spotlights on them at the appropriate time as the story is told. It will be two nights, December 6 and 7 (Friday and Saturday).  As they walk across from Historic to Main building, the three wise men will guide them and speak with them as they cross the parking lot.  The double door room will be Harrod’s room and the move into the family room for the Market Place.  There will be a sign up sheet to prepare well in advance.

Paul Sipson reported that next years’ fall festival will require a better system for record keeping of finances. Charlie said he thinks there may be $500 for Mission Trip with more to possibly become available.

Changes to Agenda

Major Calendar Events:

            Shrove Pancake Dinner        Tuesday, Feb. 12

            Good Friday fish Fry            Good Friday, March 29
            Lenten Luncheons
            VBS                                        July 28 – August 1 - evenings
            Crop Walk                            
            Dominican Republic             Youth Mission Trip - July 10 - 17
            Fall Festival
            Women’s Retreat
            One Starry Night?                 December 6 - 7

            Fred reported that the CROP walk may not be in October. No date has been set as of yet.

SPRC – Tom reported that Chris Sipson was honored as office manager yesterday.  Committee met with Dave Cole as to how to manage the janitorial services when he is absent.  Details are being worked out.  As of now, Chris’ position will be replaced by volunteers.  

Youth:  Nate reported that they are on the brink of starting a second night for meeting with youth.  It has grown over the past years.  There is a stable group of middle schoolers – Wed will be middle school night and Thursday nights will be high school youth group night. 

Nate asked for a few more volunteers for Hand to Plow.

Fred asked that if anyone has an interest in a particular type of seminar, please let Fred know.  New ideas are always welcome.

Hospitality:  Charlie and Larry met with the team to discuss some of the issues.  There are a good handful of new people coming into our building and need to respond to them.  We also need to be sensitive to those members that are returning after an absence.  New visitors need to feel welcome.  Nate and Larry need the phone numbers to call after the service.  Yellow cards need to be collected so we can follow up.  (See handout for meeting outline)  More ushers may be needed to assist with hospitality.  Libby Ponton is calling weekly to find greeters.  All services have different needs.  Fred suggested that a slide be posted on the last powepoint inviting all for free coffee following the service.  We need to concentrate on being hospitable to one another.  Perhaps a once a month pot luck dinner to get together and socialize with one another.  Fellowship dinners is another way! 

Linda put together a chart depicting attendance for the three services.  WE don’t want to focus on head count alone, but we do need to see the trend.  We are doing some things, but are not getting the response we had hoped for. This is where Hand to Plow will help!  We are losing by age and member transfers.  The new folks coming in are primarily here with the kids.  Let’s be welcoming and try to meet their needs.  We also need to be growing spiritually here at TUMC… which we are doing.  “WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF OUR CHURCH?”   This is something to think about! 

Unfinished business:   No report on the organ and music committee.  Mike has not heard from anyone on the committee.  Fred said that Dennis has submitted some information regarding the costs for purchasing new vs. repairing.  Charlie will keep Mike informed.  Fred announced that he where all equipment will be locked up.  There will now be a process to follow if you need any kind of AV equipment.  A form is available on the website to reserve anything you need regarding AV.  Fred will make sure it is all set up and ready for you to use. It was suggested to put that in the Tidings.

Mark VonWald feels led to enter the United Methodist Ministry.  He will not leave his job here, but would like to follow that calling.  The process will begin, but will take about 2 years to “begin.” 

Next meeting will be March 18, 2013.
Closing prayer by Charlie.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Conschafter