March 20, 2017 Stated Session Meeting
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Stated Session Meeting, March 20, 2017
Attending: Ruling Elders Karen Atkins, Heather Bogan, Lynne Hoerter, Maggie Reif, Terry Rudolph, Archie (Butch) Smith, Barbara Strange, Teaching Elder Rev. Lynn Stall (moderator), Jerry Wehmueller (treasurer), Marcia Ladd (clerk)
Absent: Kristin Lavergne, Al Schalk
The meeting was called to order by Lynn Stall at 7 PM. Maggie delivered the devotion, ending with a prayer. Pastoral concerns and celebrations were shared.
Approval of agenda and consent agenda
The agenda and consent agendas were approved by common consent. The consent agenda contains the following items:
Consent Agenda
a. Approval of session minutes stated meeting 2/20/17
b. Approval of congregational meeting minutes 2/12/17
c. Approval of committee minutes – Deacons 3/6/17, Communication and Technology March Report, Finance 3/19/17, Mission and Service 3/5/17
d. Correspondence – Request to transfer Carson’s from rolls to First Presbyterian Church of Burlington
Pastor’s Report
Lynn asked session to review their part of the committee matrix and make any relevant changes so the matrix can be up to date for the new elders coming on session. She also asked elders to sign up for the remaining Sunday in March and those in May and July to serve as elder in the narthex. Both sheets were circulated. She indicated that Phyllis Greene would be stepping down as Wedding Director after the two weddings on which she is currently working. Lynn indicated she had reached out to several people to replace Phyllis, but had yet to get a commitment from anyone, although Nathan Kotecki is seriously considering it. She asked for suggestions from the group. Brandon’s last day is April 30, the fellowship team will do a cake for him after worship, Lynne will order the cake and Lynn will take care of the gift card. Heather will get the kids to sign a card.
Committee reports
Finance
Jerry reviewed the February numbers, indicating a good start to the year. The Revenues came in at $21,000 and expenses were $25,000, but a large contribution in February was not put in and will be recorded in March. The balance sheet is indicative of a good cash position. To enhance financial transparency, the Finance Committee will do quarterly report sent to members with the quarterly contribution report. They will also do a quarterly Q & A after worship, and a monthly insert in the bulletin.
After further reflection, the Finance Committee feels responsibility for all aspects of Realm should be housed in that committee for now and offered the following motion
Realm should be the responsibility of the Finance Committee
There was minimal discussion and the motion passed unanimously.
Membership
The church has received a request to transfer the Carsons’ membership. As a result, Barbara offered the following motion for session.
transfer membership for Doug and Barbra Carson to First Presbyterian Church of Burlington.
There was minimal discussion, the motion passed, with regret, by common consent.
Ongoing Business
Fellowship Hall Update
The building is going at a good pace, scheduled to be completed in July. They will start doing the inspections of the rough ins this week, insulation will go in next week. The construction is running about $20,000 over original costs, the acoustical ceiling is the great bulk of that overage. Kitchen cabinets were also very over budget, but they have been able to get windows and doors from old buildings, saving considerable monies. There has been a donation to buy the kitchen appliances the team was not able to get from kitchens being re-modelled.
Jerry indicated that Bob Warren has been working tirelessly on making the hearing loop a future possibility for the fellowship hall. The cost is going to be approximately $4500 to embed the wiring for the hearing loop during the current phase of construction. It has to be put into the concrete slab before the final flooring is installed. The church has received a donation of $5000 from a "friend of the Fellowship Hall." The Fellowship Hall Task Force is proposing the following motion
To use a recent gift for $5000 by a friend for the Fellowship Hall construction to pay for the $4500 cost of embedding the wiring for a future hearing loop in the Hall.
There were several questions, but the motion passed unanimously
Lynne reported on the way the interior will look, meeting room and offices will be carpeted, Pergo like material will be in the meeting room, the cabinets have been ordered, there will be two sinks. Lynne in her capacity as chair of the Task Force to plan uses for the Fellowship Hall indicated her committee had met once to start talking about how the hall might be used. Some tentative ideas were floated around for Sunday mornings. Lynn, Lynne and Joan met with a pastor at University Church to talk about the symposiums they hold on Sunday mornings. They are gathering information and asked for input from the various committees.
Lynn Stall indicated there was a need to put together a task force to plan the opening event for the Fellowship Hall. Mary Donna and Marcia have agreed to work on the task force. Lynn asked for input on that event – perhaps something to draw kids from this community, ice cream social, church members play instruments. Session talked about having a routinely scheduled pot luck monthly after church. Westminster does intergenerational events on a monthly basis that might be a good idea.
Transition Team Update
Barbara and Heather indicated the work of their Transition Team was coming to an end with the submission of the Mission Study to session for approval. Lynne and Karen suggested leaving off any mention of the Great Ridge Parkway. Maggie wanted Mindy to be addressed as Mindy Douglas. Jerry suggested we stress the need for our future pastor to value diversity. There was a minor change to the financials. The report, if approved this evening will go to the Commission on Ministry for Salem Presbytery who is meeting this coming Thursday. The Nominating Committee has closed their receipt of names for the PNC or Pastor Nominating Committee. Once the Nominating Committee has a slate for the PNC, the congregation will vote to elect the PNC. The PNC will not begin its work until Salem Presbytery approves the Mission Study.
Heather made a motion from the Transition Team
Approve the Mission Study with the stated exceptions and corrections and send it to the Commission on Ministry for Salem Presbytery
There were several questions, ultimately the motion was approved unanimously.
New Education Committee
Lynn drew session’s attention to the description of the newly approved Education Committee in the session packet. She asked for input in anticipation of a new chair being in place after the officer influx. She walked session through the responsibilities involved in this new committee. An addition was made to the posted committee description requiring a sex offender background check. Barbara made the motion
to approve the committee description with the addition of the background check
The motion passed unanimously.
There will be a new family attending with a nonverbal autistic child for whom Lynn is trying to find a caregiver.
Lynne indicated her team was considering discontinuing Strobilus because it is hard to find volunteers and there has not been good attendance of late.
Lynn indicated there will be a called meeting April 2 at 9:15AM to receive 5 new members.
Lord’s Supper, Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
Since the previous stated meeting January 16, no new members were received. The Lord’s Supper was celebrated once on March 5.There were no weddings, baptisms or funerals.
As the business of the meeting was concluded, Lynn closed with prayer at 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Ladd, Clerk
Approved session 4/17/17
Reminders:
Remember to pray for our church each day at noon.
Next stated session meeting will be April 17, Lynn Stall has the devotion
Next Presbytery meeting is February 21st at First Presbyterian Church in Burlington