Minutes from June 2011 Meeting

Church Council Meeting
June 13, 2011

Attendees: Charlie Yund, Bob Kaiser, Paul Sipson, Chris Hipp, Tom Burkman, Nate Lange, Ginny Thies, Mark VonWald, Laura Mason, Sue Kaiser, Gail Conschafter

The TUMC Vision Statement was approved as follows:
Vivion is not about present reality. Vision reflects our dreams and aspirations. We envision sharing the Good News of Jesus with unchurched friends and people in the community and around the world.
We envision enriching the faith of established and new believer through worship services, Bible study, other study opportunities Sundays and weekdays, prayer, special events fellowship and small groups.

We envision creative, inspiring, reverent worship that shares Jesus’ message for today’s world.

We envision helping children, youth, and adults to discover their gifts and talents, and equipping them to grow and serve Christ in ministry within the church and community. Our goal is for all members to be disciples and share God’s word with others. We will provide opportunities to express the presence of Jesus in our lives through fellowship, music, and service. We will build and encourage our intergenerational community to love and care for each other.

We envision recruiting and training disciples and leaders to support inspired worship, effective education and service near and far.

We envision a church community where people of all ages feel welcome and become messengers of God’s word to all persons they meet.

We envision our church facilities fully utilized and accessible for the sharing of the Good News. We will provide space and resources to accomplish this ministry.

This is our dream, our vision of what could be.

Rally Day is second week in September. Still putting committee in place.

Dates were discussed for Fall Festival. September 30 and October 1. Paul asked for help with obtaining housing for choir on June 24 (Friday).

Dates for church celebration were discussed also.

Trunk or Treat will be in October close to Halloween.

Holiday House tour used to be done by Historic Trinity. Looking for someone to take over, and unless that happens, the tour will not take place. The UMW were asked, but declined. If any group is looking to raise funds, this is a good one, and available to run. Discussion followed about what is involved.

Mark suggested we begin to document what is involved if you are heading up an event. This will make it more likely for someone to take on an event if there is an outline to follow and know what has been done in the past.

Attendance in Worship: There hasn’t been a number published in a few weeks. Charlie will check with Linda about this. There will be a combined service again on July 3.

Budget: Chris reported we are still paying our apportionments. We should finish the year in good shape. Finance committee meets Tuesday, June 14.

Tidings are due one week from Friday – June 24. Linda will be doing this, so please submit as soon as possible. There will not be a Tidings in July, so plan ahead!

SPRC:
(From the Blog) The Staff-Parish Relations Committee continues to coordinate many functions for the smooth transition of pastoral leadership at Trinity. Plans are in operation to express gratitude to outgoing Pastor Childs and to welcome Pastor and Mrs. Baird. Trinity people will be on hand to help in the moves and show hospitality to the Bairds. The Trustees are seeing to needed parsonage renovations and cleaning.

The congregation is responding generously to a gift project for Pastor Childs, which includes a personal gift and three charities of his choosing.

A new, part-time Child Care Coordinator has been hired: Ms. Wendy McCaffery.

The SPRC has begun a process of evaluation of church staff members, which will occupy the Committee for much of the coming year.

Because of SPRC Chair will be working out of the country in the fall, Charlie Yund, former chair and presently Associate Chair, will serve as Interim Chair from August 1 through December 31, 2011.

The SPRC encourages church officials and members to work in a spirit of unity in this time of transition.

Important dates
Sunday, June 19. Last Sunday for Pastor Childs; reception after church
Sunday, July 3. First Sunday for Pastor Baird
Friday, July 8, 6 p.m. Meet the Leaders cookout at Burkman's. SPRC, Church Council, Trustees, Staff, and significant others.
Sunday, July 10. Reception for Bairds after church

Tom reported that transition matters are going smoothly. Jeff has been a tremendous help, and Tom openly thanked him. Tom also reminded us as to how we deal with dissent within the church. Please be in prayer and if you see dissent, please encourage those that are having trouble with the transition, seek a committee member from SPRC. It was suggested that something to that affect be put in the Tidings and/or bulletin reminding them to seek them out. It might even be a good idea to put all committee members in there as well. Tom will write something for the Tidings and see that the committee members’ responsibilities are posted as well. Charlie suggested all committees do this at one time or another come this fall. Discussion of the danger or dissent and asked that we keep our eyes and ears open to this and then help where necessary. Wendy McCaffery is our new child care. Thanks to Mary Dowd for her help! Tom reminded us all of the upcoming dates! If anyone would like to donate a dish to pass, let Tom know. Pastor Nate is in charge of the DVD. Equipment is ready to go and is Nate is hopeful that it will go out before Pastor Larry’s arrival. Tom thanked Charlie for serving as interim Chair for SPRC while Tom is out of the country.

Other Committee:
Trustees:
(From Blog) Both the 8’x10’ metal storage shed in back and the 10’ x 16’ St. Paul clothing shed at the edge of the parking lot are in place and in use.

We approved spending about $150 for a 2’x3’ outdoor direction sign pointing the way to key functions (services, offices, ministries) in both church buildings. The graphic design and sign material are being finalized.

A trial 4’x8’ panel was mounted on our property along the I-190. It was found that the view from the road was unobstructed over an adequate distance, but the sign, of the max allowable size, appears quite small. The next step is to attach trial lettering to determine its readability.

We decided to award a $13,000 contract to A-Best Roofing to re-roof both sides of the gym. Though only one side was damaged by wind, the other side is in poor condition. We expect our insurance to cover $6000 of the cost.

Necessary painting in the parsonage and porch are well underway. A detailed plan has been developed for the many final housekeeping tasks, but vacation plans etc are impacting volunteer signups.

Trustees decided to replace roof on Historic Trinity. It is less expensive to do the entire roof vs. half at a time. A Best will do the work. There is a signup sheet for the parsonage clean up. Ellie Robinson put the list together. If anyone would like to come at a time not “officially” on the signup sheet, Saturday mornings have been added. Come for a few hours and lend a helping hand.

Church Council is an empowering body and does not need to approve all items. The committees are supposed to take care of their areas, and do not need to bring every item to the Council for a vote.

Bob reported that there is a need for storage for the Heritage room. This will need to be brought up at a later date.

Motion to approve May’s meeting as reported on the blog was made by Chris and seconded by Sue Kaiser. Approved unanimously.

Tom said Charlie and Paul had a meal with Pastor Larry and shared that Pastor Larry and Brenda would like to be invited to dinner at members’ homes. Worship is providing dinner on June 25 and SPRC is stocking the refrigerator!

A cake was presented to Pastor Jeff as a token of appreciation for all his work, dedication and effort here at TUMC.

Next meeting July 18 at 7 PM with Pastor Larry. Time may change depending on VBS; Charlie will notify us as to the time decided upon.

Meeting adjourned with the eating of cake.

Respectfully submitted,
Gail Conschafter
TUMC Church Council Secretary.