Stated Session Meeting August 19, 2019
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Stated Session Meeting August 19, 2019 7 PM
Present: Keith Glidewell, Paul Harrell, Paul Isom, Marcia Ladd (Clerk), John McDowell, Mary Roodkowsky, Andrew Taylor-Troutman (Moderator) Jerry Wehmueller (Treasurer)
Excused Absence: Barbara Amago, Stan Campbell, Pat Chappell, Bruce Raymond
Meeting Time at 6PM with New Members – Session and the new member, Gael Jaeger, exchanged stories of what drew them to Chapel in the Pines
Andrew called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Paul Isom added Christian Education to the agenda to share an item of information about child care
Andrew asked session to pray for the Frueler family because of Aaron’s deployment.
Andrew led the devotion ending in a prayer. Paul Isom is adding an agenda item on childcare. Andrew drew peoples’ attention to the Salem Presbytery financial condition. John moved to approve the amended agenda, it was seconded and approved unanimously. John moved to approve the consent agenda, it was seconded and unanimously approved. For the meeting next Monday, elders are asked to share their budgets with Marcia and she will post them on Google Drive. Andrew is unsure if we will have a Duke Divinity student for the academic year.
Consent Agenda-Please read these items in advance. They will be voted on as a group without discussion unless someone pulls a particular entry from the Consent Agenda
- Approval of Session minutes-stated meeting July 1, email votes July 13, 15 and August 1, 2019
- Approval of committee meetings – Membership 7/14/2019; Finance and Administration July 2019, August 2019; Personnel 7/29/19; Board of Deacons July 2019; Christian Education 7/29/19; Fellowship 8/1/19: Building and Grounds 8/13/19
- Correspondence – Mt Zion invitation, late September visit from Karla and Zinia, Important Letter about Salem Presbytery’s financial position
- Approval of Congregational Meeting Minutes June 2, 2019
- Approval of Agenda for 8/26/19
Pastor’s Report Andrew took several minutes to explain the changes going on at Salem Presbytery, driven in part by their weakened cash position. He also called attention to the agenda for the August 26th budget meeting contained in the consent agenda, asking elders to come to that meeting with budgetary proposals for the upcoming year that Finance and Administration will take to build the 2020 operating budget for final session approval once the stewardship campaign is complete
Treasurer’s Report
Through July, 2019 appears to be another good financial year for Chapel in the Pines. There are no large unexpected expenses on the horizon at this point and revenues look to be about on plan or a little better. The increase in July revenues allowed us to come within a few hundred dollars of breakeven. Breakeven during the summer months is reasonably unusual but positive for the church.
Clerk’s Report
Marcia called everyone’s attention to The Elder in the Narthex signup sheet and asked everyone to sign up for at least one of the slots. She asked if there were any changes to the committee matrix or the time and talent form
She also asked if everyone had made the changes they need/want to their component of the Manual of Operations.
Finance and Administration
Andrew drew attention to the Wish List contained in the pre-meeting packet. He wanted to make sure each committee has added what they want to the list so Finance and Administration can finalize it for now. Each committee is welcome to add something(s) to the Wish List. When someone wants to give to the church, they should be directed to the Wish List and asked to give something from that list. If something needs to be added to the list it should go through the relevant committee to get on the list.
Andrew also drew session’s attention to the Designated Gift Policy, which is contained as a standalone item in the pre-session packet. He brought the following motion to the elders
Update Designated Gift Policy per the amendments in the pre-session packet
After minimal discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Marcia will ask Stan to write something to be contained in the Newsletter explaining the Wish List.
In response to requests from Deacons and Fellowship for monies for the 2020 budget, Finance and Administration is proposing the following
to use the Memorial Fund restricted account to purchase a silk flower arrangement by the Deacons for use at worship when a live flower arrangement is not provided, and to fund the purchase by Fellowship of kitchen cooking utensils such as pots, pans, cooking sheets, sharp knives, etc., needed for Fellowship Hall dinners and other activities. The Deacons request is for up to $250 and the Fellowship request is for up to $350 for these purposes. The total will be $600 (or less) of the current balance in Memorial Funds of $1,072.
After minimal discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Amy Rosso wants to teach a financial class for the community. She and Andrew will work together to develop the class and he will get back to session.
Membership
Keith asked the elders to vote on the following motion
At her request, remove Naomi Lawrence from the rolls of the church
After minimal discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Keith asked the elders to
Welcome Gael Jaeger into the life of the church officially on September 15.
After minimal discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Personnel
John indicated that his committee had given a lot of thought to the leave policies in our manual of operations and wanted to make the following modifications on which the session needs to vote
add the following statement under both the Annual and Sick Leave sections of the Manual. An employee may donate their leave up to 10 working days to another employee experiencing a life altering or substantial situation. Such donation will require approval of the pastor.
There was a lot of discussion about whether we would hold people to the time off and not allow any wiggle room for kindness. Paul Harrell said he thought it put the person who needs the time off in an awkward position to ask for someone else’s time. Jerry doesn’t see a great need for the policy because of the size of our organization. John McDowell withdrew the motion.
He said the other big issue Personnel has been dealing with is making the Director of Hand Bells as established position. He asked the elders to vote on the following motion
Approve the establishment of the position of Director of Hand Bells for Chapel in the Pines and the job description contained in the pre-session packet
There was discussion about the history of this and that during the last stated meeting we changed the Personnel Policies to allow a congregant to become a staff member in certain situations approved by the pastor. Andrew voiced his support of this motion. It passed unanimously
Mission and Service
Visit by Karla and Xinia is up in the air because Xinia’s visa was denied. She has re-applied, but not sure there will be a reversal. Paul indicated that his committee would probably bring a motion to session in September to establish the Parents Give and Take. The program was the brainchild of Greg Behr and essentially would establish a “furniture exchange.” Parents who are finished with items like a crib or stroller would let the program know of the items they are prepared to donate and the program would reach out to folks who might have needs and offer the item(s).
His committee has also designated $200 of their global mission budget allocation to pay for the use of Fair Trade Coffee during fellowship time after worship.
Christian Education
Paul said that the committees when talking about events needed to account for child care. There are two levels of child care, nursery (birth infant to 4), child care (4 to 13), nursery workers are paid $25/hour and two are required for the nursery. Child care is usually covered by Joelle and a volunteer and there is not a charge for that. For the infant group 2 workers per 10 children is recommended for the child care 2 workers for 20 children is recommended. When anyone is doing nursery care they should arrive 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes late. Paul indicated that there needs to be some pre-planning for events when child care is involved. When committees are planning their event the first step is to reach out to Joelle and Joelle will pull from our typical pool of paid workers and volunteers. The Committees are responsible for budgeting for childcare.
Ongoing Business
New Business
Andrew indicated St Thomas Moore in Chapel Hill is a large catholic congregation and they appoint a Spiritual Leader, similar to a Stephen Minister to work with congregants in need of spiritual support. They have so many programs they have asked to use out space to house the Spiritual Leader. The Building Use Task Force is asking the elders to approve the following motion.
Approve the use of space at Chapel in the Pines by the Spiritual Director from St Thomas More Catholic Church
Andrew focused on what a Spiritual Director does. Paul Isom asked if there was going to be rent charged. There is not. She has an insurance policy and will name us as co-insured.
Andrew modified the motion to
Approve the use of space at Chapel in the Pines by the Spiritual Director from St Thomas Moore while others are in the space after reserving the space with Nana.
Mary gave a brief report about the Presbytery meeting on the 17th.
There being no further business, Andrew closed the meeting in prayer at 8:55 PM.
Lord’s Supper, Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
Since the last stated meeting on July 1 the Lord’s Supper was performed on July 7 and August 4. Celia and Peter Poon were welcomed in to the life of the church. There were no memorial services, baptisms or weddings.
Respectfully submitted
Marcia Ladd
Clerk
Approved session September 16, 2019