Stated Session Meeting February 17, 2020
Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church
Stated Session Meeting February 17, 2020 7 PM
Present: Barbara Amago, Pat Chappell, Keith Glidewell, Paul Harrell, Paul Isom, Marcia Ladd (Clerk), John McDowell, Bruce Raymond, Mary Roodkowsky, Andrew Taylor-Troutman (Moderator), Jerry Wehmueller (Treasurer),
Excused Absence: Stan Campbell
Andrew called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. John McDowell opened with a devotion and prayer. Concerns and celebrations were shared.
John McDowell moved to approve the agenda, it was seconded and approved unanimously. Pat moved to approve the consent agenda, it was seconded and unanimously approved.
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 1/27/2020, Email Vote 2/7/2020
- Approval of Committee Minutes Mission and Service 1/26/2020, Building and Grounds 2/10/2020, Finance and Administration February
- Correspondence – Presbyterian Mission Special Offerings Thank you, Fuel up Thank you
Pastor’s Report Andrew shared that he is looking forward to the Lenten retreat (March 13th and 14th), particularly working with LaShauna Austria and Joelle to plan the educational content. Barbara Amago has done a tremendous job organizing meals. He has tapped Tom Crosby to help with publicity and registration. He has been working hard with Thava to get the food pantry at the Farm up and running, there will be training for all those interested at the Farm Tuesday the 18th at 10AM, distribution to the former Take and Eat clients will start March 10. Finally he shared concerns and celebrations. Bruce wanted to make sure Andrew has a date for the officer retreat, we set June 20, 9-3 at the church.
Clerk’s Report
Marcia turned session’s attention to the Clerk’s Annual Report to the Congregation and asked them to vote on the motion
Approve Annual Report to the Congregation to be delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Congregation on March 22, 2020
There were a few minor questions, but the motion passed unanimously. Pat asked if the report could be emailed to the congregation. Marcia also reminded the elders if they had anything to update, remove or add to the Wish List. They should let Stan know.
Finance and Administration
With high revenues and low expenses for January our monthly surplus was $66,523 which is a great start for 2020. Last year’s January surplus was $31,126 as a comparison.
Our cash position currently stands at $332,238 with $113,249 temporarily in our bank account that pays no interest. It was decided to move $80,000 into our Schwab account and invest in a money market investment paying 1.3%. Not great but will earn at least around $90 per month until needed later this year.
Our mortgage interest rate on our original loan will be reviewed this May as it is adjusted every three years. If the current rate continues until it is reviewed our monthly payment will go down about $30 per month to about $5700 per month.
All in all January was an excellent month financially and should continue as we move further into 2020. For Stewardship we’ve received 101 pledges for a total of $371,662 on a goal of $355,000. We sent out about 150 pledge cards.
Membership
Keith indicated that Membership had one motion to bring to session
At their request, remove Taffy and Dale Chodorow from the rolls of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and reinstate Michelle Irinyi Zanavich and Marilyn Shugart to active member status
Keith indicated the Chodorow’s had asked to be removed and that Michelle and Marilyn have both re-engaged with Chapel in the Pines. The motion passed unanimously.
Personnel
John McDowell indicated that Personnel had really thought long and hard about how to compensate our staff with some additional monies from the 2019 surplus, and finally decided that because everyone is so good at their jobs, the fairest thing was to offer the following motion to session
Based on expanding roles, approve an additional 3% pay raise for Janet Askew, Dennis Dalke, Joelle Brummit-Yale, Nana Morelli, Jeremy Nabors and Andrew Taylor-Troutman on top of the compensation increase already approved at the January 2020 Stated Meeting. This will be effective March 1, 2020.
There were several questions, but the motion passed unanimously.
Christian Education
Paul Isom asked the elders if any of them had questions about the Covenant included in the pre-session packet. The covenant is a result of the deep dive Christian Education has made into child and youth safety precipitated by the insurance adjustments. He asked session to approve the following motion:
Approve the Covenant for Staff and Volunteers of Child and Youth Activities at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian (CITP) Church
There were questions about whether this would take up too much of Joelle’s time. Andrew is trying to take other things, especially youth activities, off Joelle’s plate. There were a few additional questions, but the motion passed unanimously.
Building and Grounds
Bruce indicated that he had moved ahead 4 or 5 months ago with the status utilization study, contemplating some changes to the interior space by moving walls and a few other things. While this was going on, they realized that the need for additional parking far outweighed the need for rearranging the interior. Bruce showed the elders a diagram of the proposed parking lot and its location on the church property. The existing gravel lot ran about $25,000, he commented on how the grading was done as well as can be expected. He thinks the new lot, including moving dirt from the last parking lot will run about $25,000. Since the lot had really held up even with all the rains, Bruce and Andrew thought it would be alright to use that company. He offered the following motion:
To move ahead with the contractor that installed the gravel parking lot to install an additional lot on the south side of the church, and not solicit additional bids because of the urgency of the need, and the favorable cost and quality of the existing gravel lot.
There was talk of doing this is an earth care way. Barbara suggested we ask the Earth Care Subcommittee to help with work on this effort. Bruce will reach out to Jennifer Larson who is going to take on that subcommittee and work with her.
Bruce will come back to session if the quote is over $30,000. The motion passed unanimously.
Mission and Service
Paul Harrell said someone in his committee said they had been to a church where petitions were out in the Narthex, session would need to approve each petition. Susie Smith would like to take an offering at the Shrove Tuesday service and use the collection for Hunger Action work. Session asked for a better definition of how this money will be used. The clerk will reach out to Susie for a definition, and hold an email vote.
Ongoing Business
New Business
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned with a prayer by Andrew at 8:45 PM.
Lord’s Supper, Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
Since the last stated meeting on January 27, the Lord’s Supper was performed on February 2 and on February 10 in Open Spaces. There were no new members, memorial services, baptisms or weddings.
Respectfully submitted
Marcia Ladd, Clerk
Approved session 3/16/2020