June 27, 2016 Stated Session Meeting

Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Stated Session Meeting, June 27, 2016 – Narthex

Attending:  Ruling Elders Karen Atkins, Monty Brekke, Kristin Lavergne, Terry Rudolph, Al Schalk, Barbara Strange, Jerry Wehmueller (Treasurer) Marcia Ladd (Clerk), and Teaching Elder Rev. Mitzi Lesher-Thomas (Moderator)

Absent: Heather Bogan, Archie (Butch) Smith

Guests: Stan Campbell, Libby Boehne (Candidate for Ministry), Rev. Lynn Stall

The meeting was called to order by Mitzi Lesher-Thomas at 6:45 PM. A quorum was declared. Marcia led the opening devotion, ending with prayer. Concerns and celebrations were shared.

Mitzi called the Board of Trustees meeting to order to elect officers. She explained that this is a scheduled annual meeting and is usually only for the purpose of electing officers. All positions are for a one-year term.  The Treasurer and Clerk perform duties throughout the year, but the work of the President and Vice President is typically minimal. Kristin agreed to be President and Al agreed to be Vice President. Jerry and Marcia agreed to serve as Treasurer and Secretary respectively. All nominations carried unanimously. There being no further business, Lynne moved the Board of Trustees meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously.

Leadership development: Mitzi discussed the article shared in the packet on Healthy and Unhealthy Churches, noting that the healthiest churches are other oriented, focused beyond Sunday morning and open to change.

Approval of agenda and consent agenda

Monty moved to approve the agenda, it was seconded. Al raised a concern about having contract approval on the agenda before we have total information on the project, further discussion was tabled until the actual contract discussion. Approval of the agenda was carried by common consent.  Approval of the consent agenda was carried by common consent, as follows:

a.    Approval of minutes – Stated session 6/20/16; Email votes 5/25/16 Campbell Proclamation of Appreciation and Building Commission and 6/6 email vote to approve Transition Team recommendation for Interim Pastor contract; called session to approve Lynn Stall as Interim Pastor and Robert Passow as accompanist 6/12/16

b.    Committee minutes – Transition Team 5/29/16, 6/5/16; Building and Grounds 5/19/16; 6/2/16; Worship 6/26/16; Finance 6/26/16

c.    Deacon Minutes – 5/23/16

d.   Correspondence – CEDEPCA, Chatham Literacy, Montreat Conference October 17-19

Pastor’s report.  Mitzi provided an update on the choir’s week at Montreat, noting the participation of the church’s new Music Director, Rob Passow. She briefly covered things going on in General Assembly. Stan spoke on the Capital campaign wrap up report he sent to session.  Mitzi then took the opportunity to acknowledge with a Proclamation and gift card Stan Campbell and his hard work for the successful 2016 Capital Campaign.

Committee reports

Finance

Jerry went over the May financial reports, the P & L has a comfortable surplus.  Jerry also brought a new corporate resolution for the bank to be signed by the newly elected officers.  The Finance Committee would like to recommend not to disburse the money that is allocated to FVRC because of the internal conflict at the organization. Chatham United Way has decided to postpone their donation to the organization, pending some organizational stability. Monty indicated that Mission and Service is re-evaluating their donations in general and will look at this recommendation. Jerry presented a motion from Finance

To transfer $150,000 from the church’s checking account to the church’s account at Presbyterian Investment and Loan Account.

The motion carried unanimously. There was clarification on the meaning of Restricted Accounts.

Building and Grounds

Karen went over the updated wish list from Building and Grounds, including the Remembrance Garden shared in the pre-session packet. There was discussion about inclusion of the choir cabinets and risers on the list. All members were asked to go over the wish list for their committee, content and amount, and be prepared to discuss updates at the July meeting.

Membership

Barbara introduced the following motion from committee

At their request remove Catherine Trott and Tina Dickerman from the rolls of CITP.

The motion carried by common consent.

She introduced another motion from Committee

Move Marilyn Stutgart to an affiliate member at her request.

It carried by common consent.

Worship

Terry indicated that the communion elements have been changed to include bread that is grain free in addition to being gluten free. The wording in the instructions has also been changed to make it more user friendly and remove any individual’s names.

Personnel

Mitzi introduced the following motion from the Personnel Committee as included in the pre-session packet.

To establish the rate of pay for a substitute pianist at 200.00.  This breaks down to $75.00 for choir practice, $125.00 for Sunday morning.  Set the rate at $75.00 for funerals.

Personnel has amended that motion to read

To establish the rate of pay for a substitute pianist at 200.00.  This breaks down to $75.00 for choir practice, $125.00 for Sunday morning.  Keep the rate at $100.00 for funerals.

There was minimal discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

Fellowship

Lynne indicated the fellowship teams have been re-organized and starting in August there will be 7, down from the previous 11 with more members per team.

Ongoing Business

Mitzi asked session if they had prayerfully considered the working draft of the resolution on HB2 shared in the pre-meeting packet. Monty moved

To approve the HB2 resolution as it appears in the pre-session packet to be used as a press release and letters to the Governor and leaders of the state legislature.

The motion was seconded and passed. Al will put together a press release and also send the resolution to the Governor and leadership in the NC legislature.

Libby Boehne shared her faith journey with session, especially focusing on her past 22 months at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro. She has rotated through all the functions at the church and will finish this summer. She has taught and started several classes for younger adults and youth and has enjoyed this aspect. For the coming year, she has applied to some churches, not for profits and educational institutions, and is trying to determine where she wants to focus in her professional life.  Lynne made the motion to

Affirm that the session of CITP endorses Libby Boehne to be enrolled as a candidate.

The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

New Business

Mitzi drew session’s attention to the contract that was drafted for working with Keith Shaw’s architectural firm for the design and construction of the new fellowship hall.  Al raised a few concerns about the wording in the contract, and after some debate, Al moved

To approve the contract with Keith Shaw for the design and construction of the fellowship hall by substituting in Article 7 Item 1 the Design Phase generally for primarily, excluding the warming qualifier to kitchen, and asking Jerry to discuss with Keith how to include electronic infrastructure in the contract.

Lynne seconded the motion. It carried unanimously.

Mitzi indicated session would need to appoint an Interior Commission to focus on the interior of the fellowship hall. She proposed some names of people who may serve on the committee with Joan Zollinger as chair. Those names include:

Bart Holtz, Stan Campbell, Phyllis Greene, Nathan Kotecki; Alternate Lynne Hoerter, Mary Donna Pond, John Walkup. Session asked Mitzi to reach out to these individuals for inclusion in the commission.

Mitzi then asked session to consider what leeway both the Building Commission and the Interior Commission would have as they moved through their work in the fellowship hall.

Al moved that

Both the Building and Interior Commissions should present a report to session on the final design proposal and budget and secure session approval to move ahead with implementation.

It was seconded and carried unanimously.

Mitzi asked for volunteers to attend the August Presbytery. There were no volunteers.

Lord’s Supper, Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

Since the previous stated meeting May 16, 2016 the Lord’s Supper was celebrated once on June 5th. There were no new members, baptisms, or weddings. There was one funeral on June 25 for Bill Dengler.

The next stated session meeting will be July 18 at the 7PM. Lynne Hoerter will lead the devotion.  Lynn Stall will be the moderator.

As the business of the meeting was concluded, Lynn Stall led a closing prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 8:40PM.

Respectfully submitted, 

Marcia Ladd, Clerk

 

Reminders: 

Remember to pray for our church each day at noon.

Next stated session meeting July 18, Lynne Hoerter has the devotion

August 9 Presbytery meeting Boone

                

Approved session 7/18/16