January 2012 Finance Report

Finance Committee Report to 1/23/2012 Church Council

Trinity finished 2011 with about $10k in the General Fund (as has been recent practice) and having paid $40.7k toward our $52.6k Apportionments commitment. The Capital Fund finished with a $33.4k balance.

Going forward into 2012 we have the following:

2012 pledges from 123 giving units (including 21 new pledges) for $265.9k to the GF (similar to 2011) and $26.6k to the CF. We also have 19 giving units which pledged in 2011, but have yet to do so in 2012. In 2011 they pledged $46.9k. Non-pledged 2011 income was $40.3k.

While there is uncertainty in the level of support the congregation will provide to Trinity, we do have a mechanism which will enable us to estimate year-end giving based on weekly giving patterns. The 2011 estimate became quite accurate as we approached year-end and was predictive by the end of June.

We also have an initial budget created by assembling requests. It is $388k, which is too high. The Finance Committee recommends that we target a $360k budget and carefully monitor giving patterns with the expectation of making a mid-year correction if necessary. A number of potential reductions have been identified, including a $1k reduction in Postage & Postage Meter and at least a $5k reduction in natural gas expenses.. Work remains to identify additional spending reductions.

Chris Hipp – Chair Finance Committee

January 2012 CE Report

CE REPORT

We are coming off a very busy but good holiday season, and we are still on a growth trend. God has been good.
After meeting with our teachers we have come up with a list of possible dates that we lay out for your consideration.
Activity Calendar to be Proposed to Council on Monday January 23^rd, 2012:

CE upcoming possible dates:

January 29^th - Bible Sunday- Presenting Bibles to children
Friday, February 10th 6pm until February 11^th 9am CE sleepover.
February 5^th
Fun-day or bring a friend to church Sunday.
Also CE teacher training 12pm-1pm----VBS meeting 1-2pm
March 4^th 12pm- 1pm Teacher meeting -----VBS meeting 1-2pm
March 18^th 12pm Children’s Ministry spaghetti dinner (to be served by the children)
April 1^st Fun-day or bring a friend to church Sunday.
Also 12pm- 1pm Teacher meeting -----VBS meeting 1-2pm
April 8^th Annual Egg hunt 9:45 am
May 6^th 12pm- 1pm Teacher meeting -----VBS meeting 1-2pm
May 12^th 9am Mother’s Day breakfast served by the children.
June 23^rd- Moving up ceremony for 5^th graders.
VBS Sunday July 21^st- Thursday July 26^th 6pm-8:30pm.  (Operation overboard)

Liz and Mark VonWald

January 2012 Trustees Report

TRUSTEES REPORT – JANUARY 2012

 At their January 12, 2012 meeting the trustees duly elected George DeGlopper as Chair of the Board of Trustees and Sharon Nichols as Co-Chair, effective immediately.  Bob Kaiser continues on the board through 2012, but had asked to be relieved of the Chair for personal (though not private) reasons.  Bob is thankful for the privilege of having served as Chair and grateful to all those who helped and supported him in so many ways.

 The mid-December gas leak in the main church cost a total of about $4200 for A-Plus HVAC services, repair parts and rent of auxiliary heating equipment.  Many thanks to Don Mason for his tireless handling of the problem and to all who helped him.

A basement wall of the parsonage that exhibited crumbling around a support beam and several other cracks was repaired by Sam Long for a bargain $400.

 A serious water pipe failure above the kitchen ceiling in Historic Trinity on Sunday afternoon, Jan 15 was found by several Islettes Elites who luckily were there practicing.  They notified Pastor Larry who called Ron Domagala and George DeGlopper to shut off the water and assess the damage.  Don Mason and Rob Domagala repaired the burst pipe, replaced several soaked ceiling tiles with spares on hand and cleaned everything up the following morning--all at virtually no cost.  It could have been much worse.

Bob Kaiser

January 2012 SPRC Report

The SPRC continues to work with Pastor Baird on issues of adjustment to
his ministries at Trinity.  At the meeting on January 9, time
utilization by the Pastor and Associate Pastor were discussed in a
positive spirit.  Pastor Baird explained the upcoming time demands
brought on by his representing the Upper New York Conference at the UM
General and Northeast Jurisdictional conferences.  The SPRC affirms the
Pastor's participation in these church bodies, and will seek to assist
in informing the Trinity congregation concerning these happenings beyond
the local church.  Never in recent memory has a Trinity pastor been
elected to these positions.

SPRC continues the processes of staff evaluation and reviewing job
descriptions for all staff.

The SPRC needs to replace two members stepping down from the Committee.

Tom Burkman, Chair, SPRC

Minutes from December 2011 Council Meeting

Church Council Minutes

Monday, Dec. 19, 2011, 7:15 p.m.

Present:  Rev. Larry Baird; Charlie Yund, Chairman; Rev. Nate Lange; Jan Garrison, UMW President; Paul Sipson, Worship Committee Co-Chair; Chris Hipp, Finance Committee Chair; Anne Hipp, Sr. Adult Ministries Coordinator; Sheila Rader, Hospitality and Outreach Committee Chair; Bob Kaiser, Trustees Chair; Elaine Johnson, Lay Leader; Liz Von Wald,  Mark Von Wald, Christian Education Directors; Tom Burkman, Pastor Parish Staff Relations Committee Chair; Fred Claus,  John Jones, Council At Large Member Ginger Mason, Communications Committee Chair  

 Minutes

 I.           Charlie Yund called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m., followed by a unison reading of Trinity’s Mission Statement: Empowered by God, Trinity Church will Follow Jesus, Develop Disciples, and Transform the World.

II.       Rev. Baird opened the meeting with prayer followed by recollections of God Sightings by those attending: Mark Von Wald - Children’s presentation & taking the kids to Elderwood for Christmas caroling; Jay Martin’s Memorial Service;  Tom Burkman – a Singapore Methodist immersion baptismal service

III.    Major Calendar Events: Dec. 31, 2011 New Year’s Eve youth event, 5-8 p.m., and a bowling trip in January, date TBD, Von Walds; Jan. 8, 2012 Laity Sunday – all three services; Feb. Jr./Sr.Youth Overnight, date TBD, Nate and Angie Lange; ACE weekend, Feb. 25, 2012, 9 a.m. to noon. Fred Claus and ACE committee organizing.

IV.    OLD BUSINESS:

a.       February ACE weekend. Fred Claus spoke about plans for the Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 ACE (Adult Christian Education) Event weekend. Tom DeLoughry to speak on the spiritual benefits of reducing stress. Elaine mentioned making an effort to entice teens (12+) and their parents. There will be an optional follow-up session on March 24, 2012. Child care will be provided, if needed. Estimated costs are expected to be minimal: Speaker, printing, childcare, and will be covered/supplemented by ACE budgeted $$ and registration fee. Elaine Johnson so moved and Mark Von Wald seconded. VOTE: Passed unanimously.

b.      Clarification – 2015 is Trinity’s celebration of the 50^th year anniversary of the dedication of the new sanctuary.

c.       Bob Kaiser, for Sue, requested the council’s support to commit Trinity to one or two 24/7 prayer vigils in 2012.  Five churches in the Grand Island Ministerial are expected to support this state-wide effort. A motion was made and seconded. VOTE: unanimously passed.

V.       REPORTS:  All reports are available on the Church Council Blog @

http://trinitychurchcouncil.blogspot.com/

a.       SPRC - Charlie Yund highlighted items from the online report:

                                i.      Joseph Martino has been hired as Music Ministries Director effective January 2012.

                              ii.      Trinity has higher staff expenses than similar-sized UM churches.

                            iii.      Need for more volunteer help for the custodial staff, especially set-up and break-down for events.

                           iv.      Beginning in January 2012 half-time staff will no longer have health-care allowances.

                              v.      Job descriptions are currently being reviewed and updated.
b.      Finance Report: Chris Hipp reiterated the Finance Committee’s work to learn and perform all the tasks that Jay Martin did so efficiently. He reported that as of this date there are 102 pledges of which 19 are new. Several 2011 pledges have not yet been renewed for 2012. The 2012 budget will be presented to the council at the January 2012 meeting, and will be balanced.

c.       Christian Education: Mark V.  is planning a Passover Celebration with the youth.

VI.       NEW BUSINESS:

a.          Liz Von Wald requested approval of a subscription to Ministry-to-Children.com @ a monthly fee of $5/month. Liz and Mark have found it useful to for on-line resources - lesson plans and event planning. They will look into whether or not the fee allows access to others on the Christian Education team. The recommendation was made and passed, with the stipulation that all copyright restrictions be honored. 

b.      There is not yet a date for 2012 Vacation Bible School.

c.          The Council requested that the ACE committee meet in March 2012 to plan for the February 2013 ACE event.

VII.          Rev. Baird reported that he is enjoying his ministry at GITUMC, and that he and Rev. Lange are working well together.

VIII.      All committee heads are asked to bring scheduled and prospective event dates, through December 31 for the 2012 church calendar

IX.    Next Church Council Meetings:  January 23, February 20, March 26, 2012

X.       Rev. Nate Lange closed the meeting with prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Ginger Mason, secretary pro temp