August 18, 2014 Stated Session Meeting
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Stated Session Meeting, August 18, 2014, Narthex
Attending: Ruling Elders Heather Bogan, Monty Brekke (via Skype),Kristin Lavergne, Stephanie Miller, Jeff Morehouse, Butch Smith, Tina Stark, Bob Warren, Marcia Ladd(Clerk), Jerry Wehmueller (Treasurer), and Teaching Elder Rev. Mindy Douglas (Moderator)
Absent Elders: Fred Royal
The meeting was called to order by Mindy Douglas at 7:00 p.m. Bob Warren led the opening devotion, ending with prayer. Concerns and celebrations were shared.
Leadership Development: Mindy introduced the Time and Talent survey from 2012. She divided those present into 4 groups to discuss changes relevant to their committees that need to be made to use the survey during the upcoming stewardship drive. Each group was asked to compile their responses and get them to Marcia to collate. Marcia and the stewardship committee will work with Mary Donna and Nana to get the changes made in the survey in time for the stewardship drive. Going forward, stewardship will be responsible for making sure Nana is getting the information from the surveys to the respective committee chairs.
Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda
It was moved and seconded that the agenda be approved as revised. The consent agenda was approved, as follows:
a. Approval of Minutes: Stated session meeting July 21,2014; Called session July 19, 2014
b. Committee minutes –Finance 7/27, Children and Youth 7/20, Building and Grounds 7/22, Worship 6/1, 7/20
Pastor’s Report. Mindy reported she has just finished another intensive week at Duke for her Doctor of Ministry program; after this week she has 8 weeks of her online course. She applauded those who had worked on the Remembrance garden in advance of Ed Mammen’s service on the 15th.
CommitteeReports
Finance and Administration.
Jerry presented an update on the church’s financial status. July revenues were high, but our expenses were a little higher. August revenues are coming in ahead of budget. Expenses are on track for the most part, though electricity is over budget. Other line-items, however, are under budget. The committee will come back in September with an estimate of revenues and recommendations for the remainder of the year.
Heather reported that the committee would like to put a mid-year financial review in the bulletin for the next several Sundays. All agreed this would be helpful. Heather reminded those present that their budget proposals and wish list was due to her committee by September 10. A wish list item could be a one time or ongoing expenditure. Heather reported that our summer intern started working on a book to list member donations, but did not finish. Finance and Administration will follow up on this project.
Heather reported the stewardship committee was moving ahead with plans for the fall campaign. The committee has already lined up presenters for the Sundays leading up to Dedication Sunday. The committee is planning a pot luck lunch on Dedication Sunday. The finance and administration committee requested that the outreach committee distribute the unspent monies set aside for outreach ministries from both the first and second capital campaigns. Monty indicated that would be a top priority. Heather also presented the following motions.
-"that the theme of the upcoming stewardship campaign be entitled ‘God’s Children; Our Future.’ The committee also moves that the logo for the campaign will be a boat with children in it." The motion passed unanimously.
– "that Libby Boehne be approved as the preacher for November 9 Dedication Sunday and that approval be given for Haywood Holderness and Elizabeth Michaels as back up speakers should Libby be unable to speak." The motion passed unanimously.
Auditing will be done by Forrest Johnson and Josh Ladd over the next month.
Heather shared a sample version of what the QRC would look like when included in the bulletin. The general consensus was that inclusion in the bulletin would be appropriate. Stephanie asked if we could develop a vanity url that would be easier to access. The finance and administration committee will work on this.
Children and Youth
Tina referred those present to the Family Place proposal that was included in the session packet. This program plans to provide early childhood education for the north Chatham community. All agreed that the group be asked to leave the building as they found it and let the staff know if anything was out of order. A number of lingering questions about the proposal will be addressed by Tina in conversation with the program director, Dale Pomerantz.
The motion to approve the program was modified to read:
"that The Family Place proposal be accepted for one eight week session pending clarification by the children’s and youth committee on the motivation for conducting the training, insurance coverage, (if any), space needed for the program, the length of the classes, other churches approached to host this program, other infrastructure required, and the church’s requirement of all workers with children in the church to submit to a background check."
The revised motion passed unanimously.
Worship Stephanie informed the session that because of fire regulations the worship committee voted yesterday to take down the hangings in the back of the sanctuary. She further indicated that the liturgical arts subcommittee has been tasked with investigating a way the art can be re-hung as soon as possible in compliance with fire codes. The banners in the other areas of the building are the responsibility of the building and grounds committee. Fred has been made aware of this. Mindy requested that nothing further be removed until the donors have been informed about why they need to be removed.
Stephanie indicated that Jeremy informed the worship committee that the piano requires more regular tunings than we had originally anticipated, and with the Strobilus series we may need additional tuning.
The worship committee presented the following motions.
– "that an alternative worship service to be held every Tuesday night from 6:15 to 7pm from September through the first week in December, 2014. The service will be led by Mitzi Lesher-Thomas and include sacrament (holy communion), silence and song." The motion passed unanimously.
– "that CITP have two Christmas Eve services- a 5 p.m. service that will be family-oriented and a 9 p.m. service that will be a more traditional candlelight and communion service." The motion passed unanimously.
OutreachMonty presented the following motion:
– "that a book fair to benefit Take and Read be approved (the same book fair was approved last year) on November 2 and 9." The motion passed unanimously.
Monty said that Chatham Community Church has invited us to participate in their Chatham Serves outreach Sunday. Mindy reminded the session that CITP had participated several years ago in a similar effort by Chatham Community Church at the time known as The church has left the building. This year’s event will be on October 5. The individual churches participating would meet ahead of time in their own location then members would fan out to their assigned work stations. There was discussion about how CITP could participate. The consensus was to announce it to the congregation, give them the option to participate and still have our worship service at CITP that day. Mindy will make an announcement.
Monty also indicated that the group doing the Strobilus concert in February had requested that the money normally given to them as their fee would be given to The Caring House in Durham. Advertising would reflect the fact that a portion of monies raised would go to that organization. The outreach committee approved this and Monty shared it as information.
Committee Evaluation Team Report – No report. Mindy informed the session that she will be combining the two teams – Evaluation and Strategic Planning.
Strategic Planning Task Force – No report
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS
Mindy indicated she had been contacted by Keith Shaw, the architect of CITP buildings. His church, New Life Fellowship Seventh Day Adventist, might need worship space in the summer of 2015 and have requested permission to worship at CITP. Worship would be on Saturdays with a full praise band and 100-120 members in attendance. The church would pay all overhead expenses.
Jeff made the following motion:
– "that the session inform the congregation that we are open to have them use our facilities if they need them next summer."
Stephanie seconded the motion.
There were several questions about how this might affect other activities possible in summer 2015. The discussion centered on our need to be flexible as this moves forward considering their needs and other CITP needs. The motion was approved unanimously.
Mindy reminded members about the University Presbyterian Church endowment request which was in theirpacket. Each committee can bring a preliminary proposal to session who will be the ultimate arbiter of what is submitted. The deadline for submission to UPC is October 1. Committees will need to bring requests to the next session meeting for session to make a determination about what request to take to UPC. There was agreement that individual wish lists might be a place to start in determining the requests.
The next stated session meeting will be September 22, 2014 at 7PM. Monty Brekke will give the devotion.
With the completion of the agenda items, the meeting was adjourned. Mindy led a closing prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia L Ladd, Clerk
Reminders:
Remember to pray for our church each day at noon.
Next Stated Session Meeting September 22, 2014
Approved Stated Session 9/22/14