Church Council Meeting Minutes

December 18, 2014

ttending:  Peggy Murray, Scott Berry, Ron Bennett, Robin Reinhold, Elinor Redmond, Betsy Keiter, John Shoos, Dana Wiggins, Cindy Maddox

The meeting was called to order by Peggy at 7:00 p.m.

Opening Thoughts & Prayer:  Ron Bennett

Minutes of the November 20 meeting: Minutes approved after correcting the spelling of Elaine Brownell’s name.

Stewardship Results to Date: John Shoos reported that 2015 pledges are currently about $264,000 vs. the budgeted 2004 pledges of about $350,000.Phone calls have been made to people who pledged for 2014 but have not pledge to date.  Elinor has sent letters to all members and non-members who pledged in 2014 emphasizing the need to pledge, increase your pledge if able, and consider a year-end gift to the church. The letter was also sent to others at her discretion.

Budget Process: Elinor reviewed the current 2015 budget which showed an estimated net loss of about $175,000. The current estimate for additional pledges is around $60,000. Also it is estimated that about $65,000 in endowment support and CCM coordinator support from CCM will also be added. With these amounts we are still looking at an estimated 2015 loss of about $50,000. It was the consensus of the council to continue to explore options to eliminate the deficit.

Congregational Meeting: Peggy announced that the congregational meeting to approve the budget will be held on January 25, 2015.

Terms of call of Bob Morse as Pastor of Member Care and Visitation:  Peggy reviewed the draft of the call.  The terms were approved unanimously.

Pastor’s Dreams: Cindy presented an outline of a church growth dream proposal related to publicity, children, youth/teens, and worship. The proposal was prepared in response to an offer by a church family to fund church growth activities at an annual amount of $25,000 for three years. The funding and expenditures will not be included in the annual church budgets. The council enthusiastically approved this proposal.

Updates:   The church directory project is currently stalled according to Elinor.  The nomination process for officers and team members for the 2015-2016 year is currently stalled according to Peggy.

Pastor’s Moments: Cindy stated that she has been very busy with Christmas activities as well as, unfortunately, funerals.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

Recorder:  Ron Bennett

The next meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on January 15, 2015.