June 21, 2021 Stated Session Meeting
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Stated Meeting June 21, 2021 – 7 PM
Present:, Paul Bolig, Sara Botelho, Tom Crosby, Keith Glidewell, Bruce Raymond, Mary Roodkowsky, Andrew Taylor-Troutman (Moderator), Tim White, (Treasurer), Serena Zum Brunnen
Excused Absence: Marcia Ladd (Clerk), Greg Behr, Sarah McCormack
Andrew opened the meeting with a devotion, ending with a prayer. Andrew offered prayer concerns, and asked others for prayer concerns on their minds.
Andrew then asked for motions on the agenda. The agenda was changed to include a motion from F&A and added Worship and F&A committee meeting minutes. Mary Roodkowsky moved to approve the agenda, it was seconded by Paul Bolig and approved unanimously. Andrew then called for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Paul Bolig moved to approve the agenda, it was seconded by Mary Roodkowsky and approved unanimously. The Consent Agenda contains the following items:
- Approval of Session minutes – Stated Meeting 5/17/21, Called Meeting 6/7/21
- Approval of Committee Minutes – Stewardship 5/19/21, Membership 6/1/21, Deacons Meeting 6/7/21, Personnel 6/8/21, Building and Grounds 6/8/21, Christian Education 6/14/21, Worship 6/13/21, Finance & Administration 6/17/21
- Approval of Staff Minutes – June 6, 2021
- Correspondence –
Andrew then convened a meeting of the Board of Trustees and asked for a motion on the Minutes from the 2020 Board. It was moved by Mary Roodkowsky and seconded by Keith Glidewell
Move to accept the minutes from the 2020 Board of Trustees Meeting
It passed unanimously.
Andrew asked for a volunteer to serve as Vice President, Paul Bolig volunteered and he asked the elders to
Move to elect the following slate of officers for 2021 – 2022 operating year –
President – Keith Glidewell
Vice President – Paul Bolig
Treasurer – Tim White
Secretary – Marcia Ladd
It was moved by Paul Bolig and seconded by Serena zumBrunnen and passed unanimously. Finally he asked the elders to
Move to elect Marcia Ladd as Clerk of Session for the 2021 -2022 operating year
It was moved by Paul Bolig and seconded by Serna zumBrunnen and passed unanimously. Andrew then reconvened the session meeting. Andrew officially welcomed the new session members.
Pastor’s report: Andrew reported that 4 high school students attended the Montreat Youth Conference last week and had a meaningful, fun experience. He will spend this week in class for his Doctor of Ministry program, then will be on family vacation the following week. Andrew will be back each Sunday to preach and lead worship.
Treasurer’s Report:
May 2021 Treasurer’s Report
Revenues:
May revenue was $30,105 or 49% ahead of May of last year. This makes our year-to-date revenue 5% greater than through 5 months of last year. Year-to-date pledged revenue is 9% ahead of last year while non-pledge revenues is less than last year’s by approx. $4,000. This appears to be primarily visitors from last year who did not pledge that are now members and who pledged in 2021.
Expenses:
Monthly operating expenses are lower than expected at $23,963 vs approx. $32,000. The biggest budget items are staff salaries & benefits which are at 38% of budget through May versus 42% expected (5/12 of the year). The Board of Pensions now requires payments on-line. Employee benefits were not posted in May ($3,602) so both May and June will be recorded in June ($7,204). The $900 for playground mulch was credited from the Remembrance Garden and charged to the Memorial Fund. The security system expense was higher than normal by $757 due to new equipment bought and installed. CITP sponsored an adult and two youths (50% funded) for a retreat in Montreat in June ($840). Committees continue to spend less as the church is gradually reopening. We have used $16,329 from the Pastors Discretionary Fund YTD to assist 40 individuals and families in Chatham county with their serious financial issues. Members and friends have given Chapel in the Pines $15,860 YTD to this fund with the fund balance at $11,130 compared to April YTD balance of $13,948. MTD assistance was $4,068 with MTD donations of $1,250.
Summary:
Total Revenues YTD of $222,717 are 49% of budget vs 42% of the year. Revenues continue to be very positive. Total Expenses YTD of $142,201 are 32% of budget vs the 42%. This makes sense since we have been closed for much of the year. See related “May 2021 YTD Revenue & Expenses Graph” for a YTD by-month snap-shot. May operating revenues were higher than the monthly operating losses by over $6,000 improving from our historical financial pattern of small monthly losses during the final 8 or 9 months of the year. Our cash flow stands at $370,000+ about $1,000 less than last month but still a very healthy amount of cash on hand to fund operations and other projects.
Committee Reports
Mission and Service
Sara Botelho also asked session to approve the following motion
Session reauthorizes the Earth Care Pledge of Chapel in the Pines
After little discussion, the motion was unanimously approved.
Christian Education Serena Zum Brunnen provide insight to CE’s on going struggles with how to move forward as the church tries to move to more indoor activities. A survey went out to approximately 30 families to try and determine needs and desires for child care and children’s Christian education. Vaccination of children was a big issue. Some suggestions that may be incorporated as we being to welcome children back to church was the elimination of Godly Play (before church service “Sunday School”), incorporating the Sacred Art table as it was prior to the pandemic (children in church service till the Children’s Sermon and then exist with Joelle to the Scared Art Table). CE continues to work towards a plan.
Worship Mary Roodkowsky indicated that her committee wanted to take back responsibility for the flowers and offered the following motion
Restore the flowers to the purview of the Worship Committee by amending the Worship component of the Manual of Operations to read:
- Arrange for flowers each week in the sanctuary, presentations of poinsettias during Advent, lilies during Lent, and a Chrismon tree. Deacons will after the service, if the donor agrees, take the flowers to someone who could use some cheer.(approved by Session June 2021)
After little discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Mary detailed that this summer, singing would be done outside, but not inside. The bells will be rung inside
F&A Paul Bolig initially brought the following Motion from F&A
- Any additions to the dropdown tabs in Realm must first be approved by F&A.
After discussion it was decided that F&A should have total control over Realm tab decisions. As a result, the Motion was removed.
Ongoing Business Andrew invited a discussion among session about outdoor and indoor services:
Outdoor Services – After discussion the following motions were introduced:
- Starting July 2021 the 9:30 outdoor service will no longer incorporate chalk circles in the parking lot and the Covenant will state that social distancing will remain.
- Discussion: It was felt that the worshipers at the 9:30 service “know the drill” and many forgo the chalk circles to sit at the east end of the parking lot to get into the shade.
- Mary Roodkowsky moved to have the motion voted, Paul Bolig seconded. The motion passed unanimously
- Session thanks Vicky and Bruce Raymond for all work for maintaining social distancing during the outdoor services.
- Mary Roodkowsky moved to have the motion voted, Serena Zum Brunnen seconded. The motion passed unanimously
Indoor Services – After discussion the following motions were introduced:
- Masks will be required for indoor services
- Discussion – feed back from the Strike Force indicated that mask wearing was the most noted complaint heard. The need to model mask wearing for children and to show solidarity to our immunocompromised church family members was thought to be important enough to continue the mask wearing component of indoor worship service for now.
- Paul Bolig moved to have the motion voted, Serena Zum Brunnen seconded. The motion passed unanimously
- We wear masks to model support for unvaccinated children and immunocompromised church family members
- Discussion – As noted above the need to model mask wearing was considered important. It was also noted that an explanation as to why Session moved to continue mask wearing at the indoor service should be provided, hence the second motion.
- Paul Bolig moved to have the motion voted, Sara Botelho seconded. The motion passed unanimously
It was noted that the table setup outside the church for the indoor services was a bottleneck. On the table is bulletins, hand sanitizer, extra masks, name tags and appropriate flyers. It was decided that was a logistical issue that the usher and greeters could resolve.
Andrew then turned his attention to the Presbyterian Campus Ministry and the motion from them
Approve the updated Presbyterian Campus Ministry By Laws and Covenant Agreement of the Presbyterian Campus Ministry of Chapel Hill contained in the pre-session packet
After minimal discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
New Business
Session Schedule 2021 – 2022
Andrew called on Paul Bolig to present the following motion
In 2022, Session will meet on the third Monday of each month with the exception of May when it will meet on May 23 (4th Monday) and August when it will meet on August 22 (4th Monday).
Rationale: If the first Monday of the month falls on the 1st or 2nd day of the month (this happens twice in 2022), the third Monday falls on the 15th or 16th day of the month. This results in the Finance and Administration Committee meeting on the 11th or 12th day of the month and this is particularly problematic for Janet Askew (the CITP Accountant) to have the financial reports ready by that early in the month.
Mary Roodkowsky seconded the motion. There were minimal questions and the motion passed unanimously.
Paul Nixon and Planning Work Andrew feels it is important for Session to be behind the work we will do with Paul Nixon. He asked someone to make the motion
Session endorses an on-site consultation, September 10 – 12, 2021, with Paul Nixon
Serena Zum Brunnen made the motion, it was seconded by Paul Bolig and passed unanimously.
Andrew then asked for the following motion
Session endorses the use of the congregational assessment instrument, Readiness 360, in preparation for the on-site consultation
Serena Zum Brunnen made the motion, it was seconded by Tom Crosby and passed unanimously.
Finally, Andrew asked someone to make this motion
Session commissions the Vitality Team to work with Paul Nixon to make recommendations to session about the church’s strategic plan. The Vitality Team will consist of the following members
- Emily Williams
- Sarah Whitney McCormack
- Mary Donna Pond
- Barbara Strange
- Stan Campbell
- Paul Isom
- Andrew Taylor-Troutman
Serena Zum Brunnen made the motion, it was seconded by Sara Botelho and passed unanimously.
There being no further business, Andrew closed the meeting with prayer at 8:35 PM.
Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
There were no new members, no baptisms, weddings or funerals.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce Raymond,
Acting Clerk of Session
Approved session 7/19/21