December 16. 2013
Church Council
Minutes
Meeting was called to order by Charlie Yund with the
unison reading of the Trinity mission statement.
Attendees: Pastor Larry, Charlie Yund, Gail Conschafter,
Sue Kaiser, Fred Claus, Jan Garrison, Bobbie Cap, Chris Hipp, Sheila Rader,
Laura Mason, Mike Fonte, Terrri Bellanca, John Jones, Mark VonWald, Paul Sipson
Pastor Larry
opened in prayer.
God Sightings: Children’s production at the services was
outstanding! Singing went better with
the piano vs. a CD. One Starry Night was
spectacular! We had 326 through both nights! Several from the church
participated and enjoyed it. The children were VERY attentive!
Minutes from November’s meeting were approved as corrected. A motion was made by Terri Bellanca and
seconded by Bobbie Cap. Passed
unanimously.
Changes to Agenda: Mark would like to make a short
presentation.
Calendar Events:
Dec. 31 New Year’s Eve Party for
children
Jan
10-11 Confirmation Retreat
ACE
weekend CANCELED???
April 18 Good Friday Fish Fry
April 20 Easter/confirmation
Nov 9,
Dec 14
Jan 25, 2014,
Feb 25, March 15
April 12 Spiritual Enrichment
Dates
Sue Kaiser wondered if there might be interest in a
Women’s “day trip” to Seneca Falls.
Possible dates were first weekend in either April or June – depending on
church calendar. Jan will approach will
UMW and report back after the first of the year.
Paul Sipson reported that the group from One Starry Night
had a debriefing meeting about recruiting volunteers. More leadership help is needed. Tear down will happen after the first of the
year. Perhaps an email could be sent out
asking for more manpower to disassemble the set. Sheila is looking December 30th at
10:00 AM.
Finance/Stewardship
Report:
From the blog:
We have 61 pledges totaling
$174.3k, about an overall 8% increase from estimated current-year giving. For
these pledges giving increased about 8% over 2013 estimated giving. There
remain a similar number of potential pledging units who have yet to
respond. It remains critical to get pledges from as many of these folks
as possible..
Below is a very rough guess
for 2013 year-end and 2014:
2013
GF on
11/30 $282.8k
Expenses on
11/30 $305.4k
GF balance on
11/30 -$11.4k
GF December
giving $42.2k $325 YE giving
forecast estimate minus giving through 11/30
December
expenses $30k
GF balance at
YE -2.2k
$42.2 minus $11.4, minus $30k expenses, minus the estimated Christmas Offering
estimated at $3k
Apportionments payments in
2013 $17.6k, the $8.6k given plus $5k from the Fall Festival, plus $1k
from targeted Apportionments giving, plus $3k from the Christmas Offering
Apportionments arrears
$34.2k
2014 Assuming that
non-personnel costs are held constant.
Expected GF
expenses $372k including $335k
in GF expenses which include$8.6k for apportionments and an additional $37.4k
in apportionments (total $46k)
apportionment
contributions $12k (Easter and Christmas Offerings
plus a Fall Festival and !4k in targeted giving)
2014 GF resources needed
$360k for current spending and full apportionments payment
2014 budget reduction
needed $20 -30k needed to comfortably cover expected expenses
Chris Hipp Chair Finance
Committee
The
committee is discussing on how to follow up with those who have not pledged
yet. Jan Garrison reported that a second
mailing went out this week. There are people
that give regularly and do not pledge.
Typically, it is January before we get a good idea as to where we are
going to be with the pledged amount! We
have not paid our apportionments in full this year. Pastor Larry reported that
on Monday, Jan. 6 SPR will meet to discuss the contingency plan. Finance will meet again on Jan 14 and have a
proposal for the Council Meeting on Jan. 20.
This may be called as a Charge Conference Meeting for the sake of the
importance of issues. The two easiest
ways to meet the budget is to ask the existing givers to give more, or to
increase attendance to hopefully increase giving. Perhaps we need to help Mark and Liz push the
Children’s program, similar to what we did with One Starry Night. Larry publicly thanked the Finance and SPR
committees for their hard work.
Committee Reports:
Pastor’s Report: Larry
shared that Bill Lee is having complication from his surgery and is at Kenmore
Mercy. Please keep Bill in our
prayers. He also commented on the fact
that he hears from some as to why some members tithe and some do not. We need to realize that there are some folks
that are absolutely unable to give more.
The new member class will be quite large after the first of the
year. We need to educate ourselves about
apportionments. The month of January may
be focused on apportionments. Larry
distributed a sheet with the breakdown of apportionments for Conference. (See
attached sheet) The amount asked for apportionment is a percentage of the income
of the church. The cabinet is all of the administration and duties related to
the administration. Not paying
apportionments is a consequence of not meeting our budget. January is an important meeting. The Christmas offering will go to
apportionments.
CE: Mark reported the past few months have
been very exciting. We have had some new
families that have come from “non-churched” families! It is very encouraging. The culture has changed a bit in that parents
are no longer dropping their kids off and going out for breakfast, but are
staying. Mark also reported that he
overhears at his second job, that TUMC has a good reputation as to being a
giving church to the community. It’s important to see who is new… perhaps
pictures – at least to the Council. Mark
will take care of that!
From the blog:
Well, its New Year’s again, around this time of year many
people think of ways they can improve or grow in. The CE department is no
different. We are looking into ways to make our message to the kids clearer and
something that they will remember for years to come.
But before you can go forward you must know where you
have been, so I would like to take time to mention so recent events still fresh
in our minds.
I wanted start my report with a heart of gratitude for
all who helped out with this year’s Christmas play entitled Christmas night
live. There were many highlights that come to my mind but it was the team work
that went into this play form all the teachers and parents that I will remember
from years to come. It was a great success for all who were involved. Thank you
once again.
Also I would like to mention our annual New Year’s Eve party
where we count down the New Year for children and their families. It is a great
event that take place early enough for kids to go to bed at a reasonable hour
and for those parents who still have other plans. In case you were wondering
yes we have a ball drop.
Thank you again. It’s
an honor to serve you as your CE directors.
Mark and Liz Von Wald
We do not charge for baptisms. It is our hope that the families will
continue to attend and bring their family to the church.
Unfinished
Business: Bobbie reminded us that
Joe Martino will be having surgery this week, and will be out of commission for
a while. Please keep him in our
prayers.
Next meeting: Monday, January 20, 2014 at 7 PM
Larry closed in prayer at 8:30 PM.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Conschafter
