January 2007 Stated Meeting
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Leadership Team Meeting
January 4, 2007 – 6:30 p.m. – Dockside Seafood Restaurant
Attending: Mindy Douglas Adams, Moderator; Keith Glidewell, Wes and Harriet McGraw, Mary Donna Pond, Julia Trimmer, John Walkup, Jack and Joan Zollinger
The group convened at 6:30 p.m. for dinner. At 7:00 p.m., Mindy called the business meeting to order. John Walkup read from Hebrews 11 for the opening devotion and spoke about climbers who must carry their necessities with them. As we grow and climb as a church, we must continue to carry the grace God provides.
The minutes of the November 9, 2006, meeting, as recorded by Julia Trimmer, were approved by common consent.
There was no correspondence to share.
Pastor’s Report. Mindy welcomed back those who had been traveling, especially John Walkup who traveled to New York to meet his first grandchild, Jowita Jane Walkup, born on Christmas Eve. Mindy wished safe travels to those who are going away this week. She reported that she will be leaving for her week-long preaching group which meets this year in Malibu, CA. Susan Walkup, Marcia Ladd, and Bruce Raymond have agreed to be on-call in case of pastoral emergencies. Mindy asked if there were other concerns to share. Mary Donna Pond shared a concern over her sister, Carolyn. Mindy shared a concern over Mike Hammersley from UPC and inquired about the McGraw’s nephew.
Finance Report. Copies of the preliminary year-end report were distributed. Jack reported that there remain a few outstanding bills to be paid, but we are in very good shape with income approaching 100% of budget and expenses falling around 80%. The report does not include the allocation of $15,000 for property needs, but even with that factored in, we expect to put funds into reserve when all is totaled. Mindy noted how extraordinary this is in new church development as many other new churches are struggling financially. She attributed much of the success to the vision of Bob Dunham and UPC, to the willingness of 33 UPC members to move to and to support CITP, and a belief that we are indeed doing what God wants us to do. Mary Donna explained the overspending of the Mileage Reimbursement line and recommended that the Administration Committee add $1,500 to the 2007 budget to cover this item. The Property Fund exceeds $40K and is being invested in a money market fund. John Walkup was thanked for his efforts to raise funds with nearly 20 responses to the letter he sent to friends. We are making a small surplus on coffee, tea, and chocolate sales so Mindy instructed Harriet to feel free to take coffee as needed for the Sunday morning fellowship time. Jack ended his report by stating he is eager to have an audit performed soon.
Committee Reports.
Worship. John Walkup celebrated the singing of the Children’s Choir for the first time on Christmas Eve. He asked for approval of a visit on January 21 by Javier Benitz, the pastor of Roca Fuerte for whom we are building a Habitat house. The team approved the visit. The next date for a Habitat workday has not been set. Mindy suggested John contact Julio Ramirez-Eve in Durham with an invitation for the band from the Hispanic ministry to play for us after we move to North Chatham School. She suggested Julio would also come to talk with us about immigration.
Outreach. The Outreach Committee will meet January 22. No report was given.
Evangelism. Julia Trimmer reported that ads will run in the Chapel Hill News announcing the upcoming move to North Chatham School. John suggested running ads in the News and Observer, the only paper he regularly reads. Mindy explained that the N&O is not a good fit for us because of price and its lack of focus on church and worship whereas the CH News has a special worship section each week. Press releases will be sent to a variety of places. The committee is exploring the possibility of a billboard on 15-501. It was suggested that we redesign our logo so that the word “Presbyterian” is larger.
Property. Mindy reported that there will be 2 meetings in the next couple of weeks and that Inland Properties is being considered to work with us on our property needs.
Fellowship. January’s event is dinner and game night at Dockside on January 25. February will be a potluck supper at Mindy’s home February 23.
Adult Education. A study of the Israel/Palestine conflict is our next topic. Reading materials are available. A video is being considered as a follow-up to the 4-week study.
Personnel. Mary Donna Pond reported that an annual review for Mindy will be conducted in February. Two church members have been asked to write evaluations and Mindy will write a self-evaluation. She will then meet with the committee. This procedure will be used with every staff member on the anniversary of his/her hiring. Mary Donna also distributed a final draft of a Personnel Manual, drawing from UPC’s manual. She asked the group to review it, send her comments and corrections, and be prepared to adopt the manual at our next meeting.
Stewardship. The campaign has been very successful.
Membership. We continue to have new visitors, and visitors are returning. Five people have indicated a desire to join and five others are probably ready as well. Mindy will be following up with these people in the coming weeks. The next new member Sunday will be in February, following our move. Two notes (one from Mindy and another from Harriet) are sent to every first-time visitor. A New Member class will be held in February, probably at Mindy’s home.
Old Business
Mindy reminded everyone to pray daily for Chapel in the Pines as well as Church in the Pines.
There was a lengthy discussion about moving to a new location. New signs will be needed and a team should visit the site to decide how many and what kinds of signs will function best. After much deliberation, we decided to begin Sunday School at 9:15 and worship at 10:30 following the move. The details of when to set up, when to have fellowship, etc. will be ironed out in the Worship Committee meeting. If needed, we will modify our contact with the school to allow ample time for set up, Sunday School, fellowship, worship, and clean up. There will be a good deal of trial-and-error in our first few weeks and we will keep trying different things to determine what works best. Because we will not need our piano, it was decided that Jeremy Nabors may take the piano to his home.
New Business
The team determined that Mindy needs to use her cell phone frequently in her pastoral duties and therefore should be allowed to claim reimbursement from her Professional Reimbursable Expenses for the cost of her cellular phone and service.
The next meeting will be February 8, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. at Dockside Restaurant. Mary Donna Pond will do the devotion for that meeting.
A motion to adjourn was approved and the meeting ended at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Mary Donna Pond
Approved by Leadership Team February 8, 2007