John Walkup led a devotional meditation using Psalm 16 followed by “wind your watch,” a lesson on waiting for God in moments of uncertainty and peril.  He ended with prayer.

Mindy Douglas Adams called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.  The minutes of the October 11, 2007, meeting were approved by common consent.

Pastor’s Report.  Mindy has been busy meeting with prospective members, attending meetings of the Presbytery and Committee on Ministry, and preparing for our first baptism on November 11.  She and her family will travel to Florida for Thanksgiving, leaving on Tuesday and returning Saturday.  In her absence, Bruce Raymond, Susan Walkup, Marcia Ladd, and Mary Donna Pond are available to respond to pastoral needs.

Finance Report.  Jack Zollinger reported on the state of church finances through October, noting that revenues are ahead of budgeted projections while expenses are right on projection.  The question was asked why no Program Staff salaries were reported in the month-to-date column.  Jack will check with Kim on this.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
Administration – No report.

Adult Education – Wes McGraw reported that the Sunday morning study of John will end soon.  After one week off, the new study for Advent will begin December 2.

Children’s and Youth Ministry – Lee Werley reported that the children/youth Sunday morning classes have split, allowing for confirmation class.  The Youth Group Sunday evenings, meeting with other area churches, will meet only on the first and third Sundays, with a special event on fifth Sundays.  CITP will try to have activities for our youth on the 2nd and 4th Sundays.  Although attendance has been spotty, we are able to tell newcomers that a youth program is offered.

Evangelism – Mindy reported that a total saturation post card mailing, including a few city routes as well as the country routes, is ready and will be taken to the post office in Clemmons on November 19.  Negotiations for the billboard on US 15-501 are underway and will probably result in a two-month billboard for February and March 2008.

Fellowship –  November’s event will be a chili potluck supper at the Holtz’s on November 16.

Membership – The committee met and reviewed the list of new members with an eye toward committee activity for new members.  Several new members have been contacted and have agreed to serve on committees, including three new members of the Membership Committee.  Nursery equipment has been obtained and we are seeking a nursery caregiver.

Outreach – The committee has 3 new members:  Edith Dengler, Ron Greene, and Margaret Hatcher.  The expenditure for the new Apostle’s Build for Habitat for Humanity has been approved and the check has been mailed.  The $1500 grant for the Take and Eat Food Pantry has been awarded by Salem Presbytery.   The pantry is working to increase to a third night each month.  The effort continues to organize a home repair team.  Richard Palmer spoke to the complications involved, primarily resulting from the fact that no protocols are in place for such a group.  Despite early efforts, time has slipped away and we will not be offering an Alternative Gift opportunity for 2007.  Pittsboro Pres is having such an event and we will encourage CITP members to support the Pittsboro Pres Alternate Gift program this year.  We hope to have our own for 2008.

Personnel –  Marcia Ladd reported that the committee has one new member, Chris Rickard.

Property – Joan Zollinger reported that the committee has met and is proceeding to have the Lindley land properly appraised.  She reported that Salem Presbytery has not sold the land they own and consequently is unable to assist us in the purchase of property at this time.  We are proceeding with a loan application through the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Services for $176,000 at 4% interest.  Many hurdles must be crossed and many details must be ironed out, but we are proceeding with the plan of taking out the loan ourselves.  Joan shared a sketch of a building footprint.  It was agreed that the congregation should be kept apprised of the Property Committee’s work.  To that end, we will have a meeting following worship on December 16 to report.  There was some conversation about combining such an informational meeting about property with information about the six-year plan.  In the end, it was decided to have two separate meetings.

Stewardship –  Packets have been mailed to members and packets have been sent to non-members who have contributed in the past.  Richard Palmer remains available to explain the tax advantages to those who are age 70 ½ and older for 2007.  John Walkup asked that pledge packets be sent to the list of contributors who have given to CITP in response to his letter earlier this year.

Worship – John Walkup said that the stage should be empty and available again to us by the end of November.  There will be a community Thanksgiving service on Sunday, November 18, at 5:00 p.m. at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.  We are working to get some media publicity for this event which will be mostly music – hymns and anthems in the various traditions of the participating churches.  North Chatham School has agreed to let us use space for a Christmas Eve service on December 24 from 6 to 9 p.m.  A motion by Richard Palmer, seconded by Marcia Ladd was passed approving the receiving of a Christmas Eve offering to use for the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund.  The PC (USA) Joy Offering will be received in worship on December 23.

OLD BUSINESS
Presbytery Meeting.  Jack and John attended the meeting with Mindy.  It was uneventful with almost nothing controversial.  John remarked at how few women were in attendance.  John also reported on a conversation with the head of the Presbytery’s NCD Committee, Don Kerns, who said he thinks we are moving too fast.  Nathan added that meeting in a school is not detrimental and we should not feel a rush to build our own building.

Six-Year Plan.  John distributed an Excel spreadsheet with the plan outlined with quadrants and spokes.  He asked that every member of the leadership team claim a quadrant or spoke.  The team agreed that a congregational meeting after worship on January 13 to present this plan should be held.  Mary Donna will ask Tina about having a potluck meal in conjunction with the meeting.  John reiterated that every member of the leadership team should contact him to let him know which area he/she wants to cover.

NEW BUSINESS
2008 Budget Proposal.  Nathan left the meeting while this topic was discussed.  Mindy noted that the 2008 budget does not include an amount to cover the travel expenses for our intern.  Covering these costs is included in the contract with Duke Divinity School so we need to add it to the budget. A motion to increase line item 501305 by $900, offset by an increase in pledges (line 401105) was made by John and seconded by Harriet.  The motion passed and Nathan was invited to return to the meeting.

Continued use of office space. Mindy asked for approval to request University Pres allow continued use of the office space at 212 E. Rosemary Street.  Wes made such a motion, seconded by Joan, which passed without dissent.

Email from Dick Plaisted.  An email communication from Dick Plaisted to the leadership team following the October meeting raised a number of points.  The group discussed the email and agreed with much that was said in it.  There was concern over the unedited publication of articles written by members in the monthly newsletter.  It was agreed that Kelly Hunter should be provided with some oversight regarding content in the newsletter and that no articles should be published that do not pertain to the news and activities of Chapel in the Pines and its partner churches and agencies.  Richard agreed to talk further with Dick about his email.

Stephen Ministry.  Mindy reported that conversations have begun about starting a Stephen Ministry program at CITP and a group of interested people is beginning to make plans about implementing Stephen Ministry sometime in the future.

Baptism.  Approval of the baptism of Kevin Scott Goudy, Jr., on November 11, 2007 was moved by Marcia Ladd, seconded by Joan Zollinger, and approved without dissent.

Mindy reminded everyone of our noon prayer time for Chapel in the Pines.  Nathan will give the devotional meditation at the December meeting.

Mindy closed the meeting with a closing prayer.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Donna Pond