Minutes from Church Charge Council January 24, 2011

Church Charge Conference Meeting
Monday, January 24, 2011

Confirmands introduced themselves and were welcomed by Charlie Yund.
Pastor Jeff announced the meeting and called the meeting to order at 7:09 PM.
Two items are to be addressed. Election of officers will take place. One Trustee to be elected is Mike Cap and has agreed to fill the open position on the Board of Trustees for TUMC for the class of 2011 – which is a one year term, and may be re-elected. Mike’s name was lifted up to Church Council. Vote called. Motion carried unanimously.
Kathy Stisser was listed as an At Large Member, however, Jill Kephart agreed to be that At Large Member. Jill’s name was lifted up as At Large Member to replace Kathy. Finance Committee’s newest member is Lee Bortalow, and Cemetary Committee has also added Dave Cole. Question posed to Pastor Jeff to explain what the Member At Large is responsible for. Pastor Jeff then explained the position. Motion to accept the above three to above offices as written. Motion carried unanimously and all were elected.

The budget was distributed and briefly reviewed. Part of the budget has already been voted on. Pastor’s and Associate Pastor’s salaried have previously been voted on and passed at Dec. 1 Charge Conference. The remainder of budget is before group tonight for approval. Nate questioned how we ended 2010 financially. Jay explained that pledges are not our only source of income. Pledges were paid up to 93.2%, which was a bit above last year. Unpledged giving was about $10,000 for 2010. John Harbison questioned line 471. Lines 470 and 471 have been combined. Apportionments were explained by Pastor Jeff. Some does go to mission work. Pastor Jeff explained that some of the pieces of the budget are pretty fluid. Question as to what our carry over balance from 2010 was? Is it included in the budget? Practice is to carry over $10,000 each year, and this year, we are carrying over $13,000. John Harbison questioned as to why there is not a line item for Mission work. Jeff explained that if there WERE a line item, it would be used to promote mission work. Raising money for missions is one of the easiest things to fundraise for, and the dollars are raised fairly easily. Charlie pointed out that TUMC traditionally supports missions to about 10% of our total budget! Question as to whether this budget is distributed to the congregation? Jay Martin stated that the Mission line of $0 does not show up as a zero balance account. Amounts for church properties were questioned about different line items for each of the four buildings we own. Gas prices have decreased, hence a lower amount was seen in the budget. Youth ministry has been cut, and Ginny questioned how to increase the amount for programming and retreats. The Youth does fundraising for Work Camp, (which does not come out of the budget) but nothing else. Fred would like to see the MS Youth groups come back into fruition. Ginny asked for her line to be increased. The line item is used for programming for the year. (Parties, SS Curriculum, activities, fellowship times, guest speakers, and concerts) Last year’s money was not spent, which is the reason this years’ amount was cut. Keep the Council informed as to what programs the Youth would like to implement, and perhaps the money may be “found.” Stay in dialogue so everyone is informed! Jim questioned keyboard maintenance – some expenses were paid for through the Capital Fund. (which is 20% less this year!) Discussion about piano and keyboard tuning and expenses. Bob Kaiser addressed Jim’s concerns. Fred asked about Line 413 – did we save money by not buying things… looking into different copier and doing less color copying. Mark questioned line 409.a and 409.9 on Health Care – Retired Pastor’s Health Care – and went up since last year. Active Pastor’s Health Insurance also increased by about 25%.

When posted, it will be clear that the budget is unbalanced. Will we have a formal look at the budget in a few months. This can be adjusted, amended, ect to coincide with “reality.”
Nate called the question. Elaine Johnson seconded the motion. Motion to call the question was passed. Motion made to accept the proposed budget for TUMC for 2011 carried unanimously.

Pastor Jeff closed with prayer at 7:55 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Gail Conschafter