Church Council Minutes from February 2014

February 24, 2014 Church Council Minutes 

Attendees: Mark Von Wald, Tom Burkman, Terri Bellanca, Jan Garrison, Sheila Rader, John Jones, Laura Mason , Pastor Larry Baird, Charlie Yund

The meeting was called to order with a unison reading of the Trinity mission statement and An opening prayer by Pastor Baird.

Terri Bellanca shared a God Sighting of working with her daughter at a Habit for Humanity project in San Diego.  The seeds had been planted years prior at a youth work camp.

Major calendar events:           

            - ACE weekend 2014  to be scheduled

- CE sleepover March 21

- UMW Green salad lunch March 30

- Good Friday Fish Fry 4-18

- Spiritual Enrichment Dates; 4/12

- Easter/Confirmation 4-20-14

                -  VBS July 27-31 evenings

                - One Stary night December 5 & 6

SPRC update included :

       1.) Pastor comments Associate Pastor Nate Lange will be assigned by the Conference to another pastoral appointment effective July 1.  The SPRC is now at work to envision youth ministry professional and volunteer leadership for the future.  The present worship schedule will not change.  Pastor Baird will preach all three services, but more lay leadership will be needed in the liturgical functions of all services.

2.)Senior Ministries Coordinator Anne Hipp will retire by choice, effective July 1.  Representatives of SPRC have already conferenced with Anne to envision continuing professional and volunteer leadership for the Senior Adult Ministry.  Continuation of the visitation program is a priority.

3.)    The position of Office Manager has been ended effective February 7 and the holder of that office was terminated.  A search is underway for a half-time Administrative Assistant who will work with the senior pastor in carrying out the duties of the church office.  Volunteers are filling in at the present time, and their service is exemplary.  A committee has been established to evaluate candidates for the permanent position.

     4.) The duties of the sexton in the area of setups have been reduced.  Sunday coffee will be setup on a timer and the congregation will serve as required.

    

     The church membership was informed by letter of the above staff changes.

2014 Goals were reviewed and request for additions was made.

            - Continue to support Children, Youth, Families and Senior Members growth in Christ

            - Grow our church in Faith and Commitment to Christ

            - Develop a solid financial and stewardship plan.

The Trustees committee reported that new chairs and tables have been ordered for Hidtoric Trinity.  These will allow for the chapel to be used for weddings and the east room set up for meetings.

Next meeting is scheduled for March 17at 7:00 pm

-           

Larry Baird Closed with a prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 8:40.

Respectfully submitted,

Charlie Yund

Trustees Report for March 17, 2014 Meeting

Church Council Members,

 

As you may know, a major revision to Trinity’s official Building Use Policy was developed by the Trustees and formally adopted by the Church Council in 2007.  Now the Trustees have formally developed an update to the Policy and Charlie Yund has agreed to present that 2014 update to the Church Council for formal adoption, hopefully at the upcoming March 17 meeting.

 

Attached is a copy of the 2007 Policy marked up with strikethroughs and red-letter additions to highlight the CHANGES, which are all relatively minor.  A second attachment briefly explains the reason for each change.    A few minutes spent reviewing these attachments sometime BEFORE the meeting should give you a very clear picture of what you will be voting on.  A clean copy of the updated Policy, already approved by the Trustees, is also attached for official adoption by the Council.

  

For your information, Bobbie Cap and Bob Kaiser, the two remaining members of the official Use of Building Committee (Janet Garrison has since been added) generated the updates as experience had shown to be desirable to clarify wording and correct omissions, without changing the original intent of the Policy. The Pastor and all other members of Trinity’s Staff reviewed the first two attachments, with no comments, before the Trustees made the changes official.

 

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and the Use of Building Committee will carefully consider any suggestions for improvement of the Policy--not limited to the update you are being asked to adopt at this time--that you may offer.

 

Bob Kaiser

(THE REVISIONS REFERENCED WILL BE AVAILABLE TO VIEW AT THE MEETING.  THE FORMATTING WAS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE BLOG!)

SPRC Report for March's Council Meeting

Report of Staff-Parish Relations Committee to Church Council, March 17, 2014

     The SPRC is grappling with staffing changes brought about by

1)         Need to strengthen our professional and volunteer leadership to effect the church’s mission.

2)         Church financial constraints

      The search for a part-time Administrative Assistant is underway.  Two strong candidates were interviewed last week.  Care is being taken to make sure that the congregation is aware of the vacancy.  We hope to make the final determination by early April.  Meanwhile, the tasks of the church office are being carried out efficiently through the faithful volunteer service of Alice Mock and Jan Garrison.

    Following the Administrative Assistant appointment, we intend to address the upcoming vacancies in youth leadership and senior adult ministries.

     The skilled and dedicated members of the SPRC are preparing for these changes by updating job descriptions and exploring the options of volunteer appointments and stipended appointments.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas W. Burkman, Chair

Finance Committee Report for March Council Meeting

The Finance Committee met for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on March 11^th at 6:30 pm.  Financial results through February were reviewed.  General Fund giving was $54.5k and expenses $53.3k, leaving a positive balance of $8.7k.  AS has been recent practice, no payments to apportionments were made.  They are expected to resume in April, should giving support this.

Discussion on how the Finance operation is functioning with the departure of the Secretary of Finance, generated general agreement that Jim Winter and Diane Blum had successfully  filled the void left by Linda McGuire’s  absence.  Many thanks to both and to Jan Garrison for their dedication in achieving this result.  Jim manages incoming revenue while Diane manages expenses.

The Finance Committee endorses the severance payment planned for Linda  McGuire.

Issues remain with management of the M&T Money Market account and the Methodist Frontier Fund, where the Endowment Fund is invested.  It is believed that a Corporate Resolution will be needed from the Trustees to establish appropriate management control for these two funds.  The M&T account holds our operating funds and thus should be available for routine withdrawals when needed, while the Endowment Fund requires oversight as an investment vehicle.

 

Chris Hipp - Chair

Sr Adult Ministry

Advance Care Directives Seminar Luncheon
3/16/14
We had about 50 to attend.
Thank you Fred Claus for the great tech support!
Thank you Wendy McCaffery for your volunteered child care.
Everyone enjoyed a wonderful lunch.
We will have a follow-up with Dr. Sylvia Kaplein March 30th after the 10:30 worship service.
Thank you,
Anne Hipp

Thank you Church Council

Anticipated projects:
Mark Your calendar as Trinity church kicks off one of its annual evangelistic efforts with its VBS. Last year we reached over one hundred children and their families which is a Trinity church new high in attendance. The dates for this years VBS is on Sunday July 27th and ends on Thursday July 31st.
Important additional calendar items:
On March 21st starting at 6pm we will hold our annual CE Sleepover. This is an highly anticipated event on our calendar by our CE families. We will have games, crafts, movies and other fun. This is always good event to continue to build relationships with our students and their families.
Notes of praise.
During march we had three of our regular families who had not been in attendance this past year suddenly come back to Trinity. This is good news because we have been contacting these families and praying for their return.
Thank you council for your continue support in what God is doing in the life's of these student whom you placed under our care. It is an honor to serve the children of this church and their families.
Mark and Liz Von Wald