This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 9.21.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament of Lord's Supper Date: 9/5/2021 :
18 attendance
Gail will be completing the
Presbyterian Session (Board) Minutes Review Report
Via
zoom by October 18th.
Financial Report: see written reports
·
The Major Building Repair fund has a total of
$12,271.70 the majority of which is for replacing furnaces downstairs. This includes the $8000 from the Presbytery
Barnabus grant.
·
Sherry will send out giving reports soon.
·
Balance in General Fund: $39,124
Expenses to
Date: $82,032 (77%)
Income to Date: $62,873 (84.3% )
UM Methodist Lay Leader: No
report today
Presbytery Elder Commissioner:
Presbytery meeting coming up by Zoom, miss meeting by person but it does
allow anyone to particpate. Dates, times
and link for the next meeting will be coming from Beverly soon.
Pastor
Report: Pass so that we can get on with business
Reports
from UM, Presbytery, and members re possibilties for future
· Wendy Woodworth, UM, Cascadia District
Superintendent (WJW)
o
Leroy
Barber and WJW were here in Polk County 9/13 – looking at possibilities
and capacity; looked at Indy, Mon, Falls
City, Dallas – looking at UM sites
§ Saw investment in infrastructure in community
(Mon/Indep)
§ Talked about campus ministry
§ Dallas is county seat
§ 15-20 minutes travel time between the three
sites
§ Dallas UMC going through clergy transition –
have interim now, new appt July 1
· New housing
· Near aquatic center
· Life in downtown
· Leroy looking for where the life of the
community is and where church presence could/shoud be
o
How many
clergy to serve the whole area?: 2
full-time equivalents (could be different configurations) Could create a team with one full-time person
with whole area oversight, one clergy with pastoral care responsibiltiy, one
person with gifts for building community relationships and partnerships (new
start, entrepenurial) – there are a lot of pieces/variables:
· 3 congregations to buy in and be interested
· Dallas as anchor?
· What does it mean to keep a presence in FC,
and Mon/Indy?
· Leaders in congregation need to commit and
support this type of ministry
· Would the right team of clergy be
available? (how likely is the dream team
available? – what is the clergy pool going to look like?)
§ WJW looking for geographic areas that make
sense to cooperate in ministry. This
Polk County triangle makes sense.
§ But if Dallas not willing – Mon/Indy could
cooperate with Salem churches, possibly
§ Has to be more than having Campus Ministry
meet downstairs . . .
§ Do we need every church building? Could
we let go of the building and keep the parsonage and remain a faith
community here, but having a connection with other congregations as well?
§ Leroy has a person who specializes in rural
ministry who could be a consultant . . . but again this would take some energy
from the lay leadership [they are in
Texas]
§ Do we have the energy for some of this
follow-up
§ Questions/Comments – Steve Moser - how does
our Presbyterian connection help our options?
· The Mon/Indy community is one community
· The identity of this church is considered as
main line, with progressive flavor of Christianity.
·
Lorne Bostwick, chair of Presbytery of the Cascades Committee on
Ministry,
o
“We don’t know of anybody right now” who fits the bill to do redevelopment
ministry
o
Likes what WJW said about partnership – need to have a deeper conversation
about what do those partnerships look like.
o
Do we need to stay UM/Presby or some other
possibilities – e.g. just UM or just Presby – if
solely UM-related would the individual Presbyterians join that? Beverly Davis: tags are less important. Lorne says this is an important discernment –
could CC join a fully UM collaboration?
o
He sees strength in the UM church which does not see in PCUSA. Option – Dallas Pres and CC merge as a Presby church? If
current churches closed – could there be a Presbyterian project (assisted
living, senior living as a project with a faith community centered around
this.) All theory at this point.
o
First Pres – share – skill set of congregational care?
·
Reports from Board Members exploring interest by community partners:
o
Linda G-C and Sherry Pittam reported on
conversation with Western Compass – want to continue conversation – vision of
community support center
o
Beverly Davis re City of Monmouth -
building a new city hall – need a temporary place to be. Possibly rent
situation to provide time to us. But
they are committed to go to other office buildings – we don’t have the desired
infrastructure. Court/City Council
meetings? They aren’t too interested
now, but Bev told them that if what you have planned doesn’t work out, come
talk to us.
o
Sherry Pittam reported on Family Promise – we have a relationship of several years
duration; at the beg of 2021 FP board set a goal to move more into Polk County
(beyond West Salem). They are excited
about possibilities.
o
Linda GC shared Gail Saxowsky’s report on Food
Bank - are interested in keeping the
conversation going.
o
Question raised about reaching out to some of the small congregations in
the area, how could we work together? Do
we have someone to pursue this?
o
Lorne Bostwick – true partnership – what do both parties have to offer? be
sure that the community group doesn’t get all the benefits without the relationship
also benefiting the congregation. Wendy Woodworth – continue to think about
what does it mean for us to continue to be a viable congregation.
o
Question for the congregation: do we
have the interest, energy, to invest in new relationships?
Shared
thank you to the guests.
Team
Reports:
Stewardship Team:
·
Update on basement furnaces: ready by end of October – install in November
·
Monmouth Garden Club Christmas wreath construction
week after Thanksgiving– met with Ruth Firestone. Would like to use the church the Sunday afternoon after Tgiving to prep for work M, T, W and then have
sale. Would make a donation. (and 2-3 wreaths)
Approved by consensus
·
Cub Scouts – Webelos
Th eves for next month or so – because can’t meet at elementary school (weekly
meeting) Adult leadership – meeting in Sanctuary –
Approved by consensus
·
Monmouth Social Hour Club – Oct 6 Weds. – they will make a donation for use.
Approved by consensus
·
Air conditioning units – parts no longer
available. Home Comfort consulted and
their suggestion would be on the ground units and to expect a large cost. Put on hold for now,
·
M/I Lions has met in the basement of the Elks Lodge
in Indy and is in transition now. They
need a meeting place at Noon on Mondays x 1 per month and once a month in the
evening – no cooking right now. Will
make a donation . . .
Approved by consensus
·
Linda G-C suggested to have building use agreements
for these new building users.
·
Letter from UM Bishop about not renewing BSA
charter. Discussion. We can cancel with a month’s notice. We have Presbyterian Insurance. Presbytery is not worried about this.
MSC to re-charter, discussion, C (2 no
votes)
Staff Parish Relations Team: see
written report
· Presbytery-recommended Harassment Policy
MSC
to approve the Harassment Policy as presented and be added to Christ’s Church
policies.
Worship Team: see
written report
· Continue hybrid worship services with about 15
– 20 persons attending either in person or via zoom
Peace, Justice & Mission
Team: see written report –
·
Dave got a phone call from the school district, were
so thrilled with the donations. They
will write a letter to the church.
·
PJM will be shopping for a variety of clothes for
Central School District - this was their
request because they have enough school supplies for this fall from pandemic
monies.
New Business:
·
Reports to be considered for Congregational Meeting
10/17/21
o Nominating Committee
Report
o Safe Sanctuary
Review
o Membership report - consensus about mentioning deaths of last
year at congregational meeting.
o Compensation
draft
Approved by consensus
·
The Annual Charge Conference / Annual Meeting will be
announced during worship services and Linda GC will work on language for other
publicity.
·
What options are going to be presented to the
congregation in moving forward?
o The meeting should
be presented in a positive light; Celebrating the days ahead – don’t call it
the funeral of Christ’s Church . . . focus on positive possibilities.
o One Board member
plans to move to dissolve the church. We
have to have two votes a year apart.
Allow a year to see what happens.
May encourage others to say “Whoa!
I need to do something here to save this!”
o Questions developed
from our conversation this evening:
§ Are you willing to
help?
§ Are you willing to
give?
§ Do we have the
energy to give to new relationships and new structures?
§ Would we be comfortable
transitioning to a soley United Methodist or solely Presbyterian relatinoship?
§ Linda GC will work on word smithing the
publicity and send to Board before sending.
o Have a paper
ballot.
·
Dave wants to have some recognition of deaths this
past year – end of October? We hope we
can do it – asks Worship to consider.
·
Sherry – suggests we hire AA for more than 15 hours
per week.
Meeting adjourned with prayer.
Important Dates:
WOU student welcome picnic – Oct. 3,
2021
Next Board Meeting October 12, 2021
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 8.17.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament of
Lord's Supper Date: 8/1/2021: 16 attendance in sanctuary & zoom Financial Report: written
reports distributed
General
Fund Balance: $39,623
Income
to Date: $85,499 (115%) Expenses to
Date: $74,397 (70%)
It was noted that several
checks have come in to help cover the cost of the furnaces repairs
downstairs. And this accounts for the
increased income.
Discussion about Preschool
contract, summer payments and fall restart.
UM Methodist Lay Leader:
Fall
meetings will be online
Presbytery Elder Commissioner: no
report
Pastor Report:
Confirmed he
would be gone for Sunday, Sept. 5th
Dave and
wife, Carol will be looking for houseing in Portland area this week.
Team
Reports:
Stewardship Team:
· It will be 4 – 6 weeks before the downstairs
furnaces will be functional.
· The upstairs air conditioning apparatus has
been evaluated and although there are some repairs that would probably do a
temporary fix it is advised that due to the age of the equipment (30 + years
old) it really needs to be replaced.
It was
agreed to not replace the AC for now and instead look into alternatives.
Staff Parish Relations Team:
written report distributed
· Reported they have received confirmation from
the State BOLI that the case from 2020 is resolved and has been closed. This gives the SPRC the allowance to start
looking for an office person to provide consistent open hours for the office
and support to leadership.
Worship Team:
written report distributed
· They have coverage for Sept 5th
Sunday worship – Steve Mitchell
Peace, Justice & Mission
Team: written report distributed
·
All Board members agreed to support Western Compass with a welcome picnic
Sept. 26th. Denvy will take
this information to Western Compass meeting this week. (after meeting – WC requested picnic to be
Oct. 3rd )
· All Board enthusiastically agreed to support
an ice cream social under the trees Sept. 12th from 4 – 6 PM for
church family.
Discussion:
· Discussed
selecting Option 2 of the “Stepping Forward in Love and Trust”
Denvy Saxowsky & Linda Grund-Clampit shared their written documents
and Linda G-C shared a overview of Option 2 as a way to have flexibility within
the individual churches and still stay up to date with the State and CDC
guidelines.
MSC to have the Worship Team
review the level of risk as defined by the State and CDC for the current week
to determine what safety precautions will be observed each week.
MSC to utilize the document as
presented for Option 2 and have Linda G-C
finalize langauge in the
current Christ’s Church safety plan and submit to the United Methodist
District office.
·
Discussed looking at the future -
Linda Grund-Clampit lead this conversation.
§ Divison of
responsibility: Board makes decisions for overall direction for future options
§ SPRC - will then work with the denominations
regarding leadership
§ Partnering
options:
o City of Monmouth –
there might be some options with them
- Dwight Tripplett and/or Beverly
Davis will follow up
o Western Compass - Linda
Grund-Clampit & Sherry Pittam will join zoom meeting to gather information
from them about options
o Ella Curran Food
Bank - Gail Saxowsky will talk with them
o Family Promise -
Sherry Pittam will talk with them
MSC to have Annual Meeting /
Congregational Charge Conference Oct. 17th
MSC to request Pastor Dave to
initiate the Nominating Committee process and to delegate responsibility for
chairperson role and report at next Board meeting.
New Business:
·
Linda Grund-Clampit offered to be the temporary Clerk for next Board
meeting
Important Dates:
September 12 - 4-6 pm Ice Cream Social
Next Board Meeting - September 21, 2021
October 3rd - WOU student welcome
picnic
October 17th - Annual Congregational
Meeting / Charge Conference
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 7.20.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament
of Lord's Supper Date: 7/11/2021 :
19 attendance: (3 by Zoom)
Extended
Service of Communion
Correspondence: Presbytery seeking nominations for
commissioners to General Assembly; information about templates for Lease
agreements and new emplotment laws in
Oregon
Financial
Report: written
reports distributed
General
Fund Balance: $38,377
Income
to Date: $ 75,365 Expenses to Date: $ 66,235
MSC to fully pay due per capita and apportiments to respective
denominations.
UM Methodist
Lay Leader: Linda S attend via Zoom the retirement of
Bishop Hiroshia; current Bishop will not retire this year
Presbytery
Elder Commissioner: no report
Moderator
Report: 1) presented the two options for “Stepping
Forward in Love and Trust” regarding Covid-19
MSC to accept
Option 2 (more localized and individually designed limitations) and spend time
to outline specifics for our congregation; Board members will gather
information and share via email; August 5th at 7PM set for
wordsmithing the document
2) survey summary: 40
letters were sent out, about 14 sureveys were returned; the survey purpose is
to engage in conversation about opportunities for the church; the Board
discussed options to involve more congregants
3) Sunday afternoon July 18th workshop was discussed;
effort was appreciated and Denvy will draft a matrix of options
4) reports on the above may be ready for a congregational meeting
in September
Team Reports:
Stewardship
Team:
Continuing
to work with Home Comfort for furnace repairs; a letter offering opportunities
to donate to support repairs will be sent to congregants; questioning Covid-19
guidelings for Scourts and Preschool for fall
Staff Parish
Relations Team: written report
MSC to approve request to arrange for bookkeeper for 2-3
hours/week at $20/hour
Education
Team: no written report
Worship
Team: coverage for July were Worship in the Park,
Steve Mitchell, Linda Grund-Clampit and David Morelli; Pastor Dave will be back
in August; efforts contue to make worship in-person in-building as well as Zoom
Peace,
Justice & Mission Team: thanks
to Bob Main and Sue Badgett and other volunteer ice cream booth raised about
$600; team provided meal for Family Promise on July 18
New
Business:
Coverage for church office while Sherry is gone (7/22-8/3) was discussed
Linda G-C will do payroll, phone messages and bank deposits
Denvy will monitor emails
Linda S will check mail and be present for ADP UPS delivery
CCLI license will be upgraded by Denvy to cover videos
There was discussion about 501-3-c status
Important
Dates:
August 5th 7-9PM workshop to develop Option 2
August 10th with Brian Heron and Wendy Woodworth
Next Board Meeting August 17th
__________
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 6.15.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament
of Lord's Supper Date: 6/6/2021 :
? attendance:
Extended
Service of Communion
Membership
List: no new action
Concensus to
continue putting Board Minute summaries on the Church Web Page. People are encouraged to direct people there
to be able to keep abreast of the Board workings.
Financial
Report: written
reports distributed
General
Fund Balance: $35,838
Income
to Date: $ 64,192 Expenses to Date: $ 58,125
·
The Barnabus Grant funds from the
Presbytery ($8000) for furnace repair have been received
UM Methodist
Lay Leader: The United Methodist Annual Conference is
currently happening. If people are
interested in listening to some of the sessions, the schedule is linked on the
conference web site.
Presbytery
Elder Commissioner: no report
Pastors
Report: no written report
· Pastor reported his visit to one
of the church family
Team Reports:
Stewardship
Team:
· Downstairs furnace repair: the $8000 Barnabus grant from the Cascades
Presbytery has been deposited. This
leaves approximately $7500 to match for the estimated repairs.
Several
potential options were discussed for the remaining cost: do a congregational ask, move some money from
the General Fund, apply to the United Methodist Extension Society for a loan,
request a no cost loan from the furnace company and /or use money from the
investment accounts.
· It was encouraged that
Stewardship seek support for the furnace repair from the above mentioned
options.
MSC to approve the use of funds from the Investment accounts as
needed for the furnace repair.
Staff Parish
Relations Team: written report
· Have met twice since last Board
meeting to get a process moving forward in preparation of the change of Pastor.
· Have developed a potential
congregational survey - Linda G-C asked if Board members would be
willing to respond to phone requests to complete the survey via conversation
instead of on paper. Linda Scheirman and
Denvy Saxowsky offered to help her.
MC to encourage SPRC to move forward with the congregational
survey as discussed.
Education
Team: no written report
· Have done a mail out for Father’s
Day
Worship
Team: written report
MSP to encourage our church family to support the July 4th
worship service in the Monmouth city park being organized by Four Square
Church.
· Communion will be moved to the
July 11th worship
· The Worship team has worship
leadership covered for the month of July since Pastor Dave will be on vacation.
· Discussion occurred about the
technology gains and struggles
Peace,
Justice & Mission Team: written
report
·
Need volunteers for Ice Cream Booth
operations: making ice cream will be
July 1st starting at 1 pm and serving the ice cream, the booth will
be open both July 3rd & 4th with 2 ½ hr time blocks available
for signing up. Sue Badgett is keeping
the list.
New
Business:
· Organizational
Grief workshop: details for the workshop
July 18th being
led by Brian Heron; Time: 4:30 – 6:30
pm; Location: probably inside or under
the carport; Inviting the church family
for reservations, spaces for 20 persons (Gail will keep the list); Food – have beverages available
·
Communications: the position of putting out a mail chimp
newsletter is open. Sherry is willing to
put the Church schedule into a mail chimp on a routine basis. Pastor Dave said he would help Sherry with
this.
·
“Operation Love One Another” --
Linda Grund-Clampit shared her concept of some simple ways that the
Board and other church members can be caring for each other. She is handing out cards and individuals for
people to write a short note of appreciation and encouragement to others in our
church family. The Fun Night was
developed as another way for people to just get together for fun, not for some
of the other heavy discussions.
Important
Dates:
July 11th 4:30 – 6:30
-- Fun Night
July 18th 4:30 – 6:30
- Organizational Grief Workshop
Next Board Meeting July 20th - alternate
Moderator Linda Grund-Clampit
_____________________
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 5.18.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament
of Lord's Supper Date: 5/2/2021 :
attendance: 25
Extended
Service of Communion 0
Membership
List: nothing to report
Financial
Report:
·
Presbyterian Communication and
Technology Team grant approved for $1000
· MSC to pay insurance bill
of $2300 for church & manse by 5/28/21
General Fund Balance: $40,575
Income to Date: $46,249
(62%) Expenses to Date: $43,007
(40.4%)
The main focus of this meeting was
discussion with the Board, United Methodist District Superintendent Wendy
Woodworth and Presbyter for Vision and Mission Brian Heron.
People had received background
materials that included core values and thoughts from the congregation from
several years ago and some current demographic information about our
communities.
Some of the questions brought
forward from our last Board meeting included:
·
What are some of the options and and ideas of reimagining what
Christ’s Church might look like for the future
-- expecting that this is
sustainable.
·
If Christ’s Church as it is is not sustainable, what are possible
options and what would the process be to follow considering both denominations.
Key Points from the discussion:
·
Wendy shared information about adaptable leadership and led the
group through a centering exercise. What
are people of the church family passionate about?? What energy is available??
·
Discernment – a process necessary to finding a focus and passion
·
What keeps people coming together as Christ’s Church?? What are people passionate about? How is this demonstrated through our
church? What is there energy for?? What brings Christ’s Church family together??
·
The Presbytery has limited ability to support a congregation
through discernment but Brian can offer 3-4 visits with the Board and/or Church
family to work through some of the discernment process
·
The concept of stability was brought into the discussion
·
Brian outlined 4 levels of looking forward considering the concept
already discussed
1) closure – if the decision is that Christ’s Church is not
sustainable: a 6 + month process
2) legacy - a 2 – 6 years
process of finding a way forward that helps leave the community with something
that was important for the Church family
3) Redevelopment: redefining how to do church, partnering to
help maintain sustainability, takes a lot of energy. Maybe seeing smaller groups with focus of
mission. A congregation that can
function on own with very little pastor support.
4) Revitalization -- in
Brian’s view this may not be an option for Christ’s Church considering the
community information that was in front of us
·
Another topic was briefly discussing the process of discernment as
written in the Book of Confession - section commonly known as Paragrash 213 --
this was handed out to those in attendence
·
It was considered that a possible stumbling block for moving
forward maybe what is considered Organizational Grief. That there have been losses that have been
left unresolved and by processing those it might allow people to look more
openly to discernment for the future.
Follow Up:
1) Invite Brian Heron to lead a workshop about
organizational grief with an energy analysis during third week of July
2) Have
another major discussion about process and checkin with Wendy, Brian and the
Board at the August 24th Board meeting (and possibly other
interested Church family).
3) Paragraph
213 from the United Methodist Book of Confession was handed out and will be
emailed out as well to Board members and Ministry Team chairpersons.
4) Brian
Heron will be communicating with Clark Scarlera the Presbytery Advocate for
Congregations & Clergy who will communicate with the Commission on Ministry
team about our discussions.
Next Board
meeting – June 15th
______
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 4.20.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament
of Lord's Supper Date: 4/4/2021 :
attendance: 21
Extended
Service of Communion 50+
Membership
List: 4/4/21 Ned Kenney became member by Confession of Faith
Death of Steven Reed 3/29/21
- a memorial service will be May 8, 2021
at 3 pm in the
Monmouth
City Park
Death
of Bill Ousterhout 2/10/21 at Capitol Manor, West Salem
Safe Sanctuary Annual document – for
signature and approval for submitting.
Motions confirmed that had been sent via email to Board members:
1)
MSC to approve Stewardship Ministry Team to
seek funding through the denominations for repair of the downstairs furnace.
2)
MSC
to approve sending in the 2.1 Transition document to the United Methodist DS
Wendy Woodworth requesting to move forward to a Hybrid worship level.
Financial
Report: handed
out
General
Fund Balance: $36,886
Income
to date: $36,190 (48.5%)
Expenses to date: $39,126 (36.7%)
UM Methodist
Lay Leader:
· The United Methodist Bishop is
busy making appointments
· The Annual Conference is
scheduled to start June 20, 2021.
Presbytery
Elder Commissioner:
· Presbyery Meeting on Zoom June 11
& 12.
Pastors
Report:
· Had a nice visit with one of our
homebound church family this past week.
Team Reports:
Special Topic Discussion: There was more discussion
about the topics brought up through the communications workshop and the
pre-Board gathering about what is missing from our current churxh life and what
is needed but few specific items to work on going forward.
One topic more thoroughly discussed was the process of getting
started with having people in the church for worship as well as continuing zoom
worship.
Staff Parish
Relations Team: handed out
· Pastor Dave has submitted to the
UM district Superintendent the proposal for the 2.1 plan for building use.
Worship
Team: handed out
MSC to approve up to $3000 to cover expenses for the proposed
upgrades of equipment to support hybred worship. This includes permission to apply to the
Communication & Technology Team
grant, a committee of the Cascades Presbytery.
Peace,
Justice & Mission Team: handed
out
·
The $7500 has been delivered to the
Santiam Canyon School District for their Wildfire Needy Kids fund.
·
The plans are starting for an ice cream
booth in the park for 4th of July weekend.
New
Business:
·
The Board meeting in May will focus on a
discussion with denominational connections of United Methodist District
Superintendent Wendy Woodworth and the Presbyter for Vision and Mission, Brian
Heron.
This will be in person and via Zoom for those unable to attend in person.
·
Discussion will focus on:
1)
What are some of the options and ideas of reimagining what
Christ’s Church might look like for the future
-- expecting that this is
sustainable.
2) If Christ’s Church as
it is is not sustainable, what are possible options and what would the process
be to follow considering both denominations.
Next Board
meeting is May 18, 2021
______________________________
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 3.16.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Group discussion: questions had been sent to Board members and
through email to the church family. The
expectation was to start some dialogue and feedback from the church family
about what is needed as the Pastor. Board and Ministry Teams look at
reimagining church in the coming months.
1. What do you see missing in our Church life now?
What is needed?
2. What can we imagine moving forward looks like for the immediate
future?? for the next years?
3. What do individuals (what do you ) need as a faith community and how
can this church family meet those needs?
A summary of topics brought up to the above questions:
· Coming back to in house worship will be a slow process but there
is possibility to get started.
· People
expressed the desire to gather in person as possible (whether in worship or in
small groups on or off campus), but to at least have more communication and sharing
-- The call lists are being revised but maybe having a topic or some
type of guidance when
contacting each other would be helpful and more meaningful
--
developing a list of skills we could offer each other or others in community to
reach out (driving, computer, make appointments, shopping . . .) this
was mentioned in particular to vaccine but could be expanded.
· People need times of sharing and being listened to
· Everyone
wants to find a way to connect with those who aren’t on the Zoom calls (those
who didn’t know were informed of the efforts already being made).
· Being “in church” is not only worship but being church is about
caring for family
· Clarification about communication:
that the newsletter is now being sent out in the mail to those without
email / zoom // what else could be done
to those not attending zoom worship ??
· Concern expressed about worship service not being inspiring /
doesn’t seem to have a flow - to tell a story -
needs more emotional /spiritual nurture which is uplifting and
“Biblically challenging”
· It was suggested that much of the discussion is about
“nurturing” - as in relationships, spiritual growth
· In
terms of study, there was acknowledgment that we have peer led groups, but some
would like opportunities to be led by a scholar. A desire for a balance
of fellowship, worship, and study.
· There
was a desire expressed for more “leadership” from the pastor.
Reports:
Clerk
Sacrament
of Lord's Supper Date: 3/7/2021 :
attendance: 16
Extended
Service of Communion 0
Membership
Actions
·
MSC
to have the following actions completed to adjust the membership roll.
o to have membership letters sent to the
following: Kevin Elmore, Jane Kundel,
Erindale McGee, Jessie Whitehead
o Pastor will make contact with Ray Adams, Vern
Hiebert, and Rebecca Chiles & Beth Scroggins and
o John (Waylon) Rock will be put on First
Reading list at Charge Conference fall 2021.
Feedback
regarding doing a summary of the Board Meeting Minutes was positive – keep
doing it.
There was also
clarification that Ned Kinney was accepted by the Board for membership July
2018 and the next action would be for Pastor Dave to work with Ned to have a
confirmation of Faith membership ceremony as part of Worship.
Financial
Report: copies
of 2021 Budget & Ledger to Budget (1.1.21 – 3.15.21) were sent out
· Income to date for 2021: $20,034
(26.8%) Expenses to date: $25,122 (23.6%)
UM Methodist
Lay Leader:
· Nothing at this time
Presbytery
Elder Commissioner:
· Bev shared some highlights from
the Presbytery meeting
Pastors
Report:
· Dave reported on some visits to
members of the church family and a potential of revitallizing the Stephen
Ministry Team
· He will be going to Portland
Saturday to conduct a memorial service for a God daughter who passed away
recently.
Team Reports:
Steering
Task Force Report:
·
Linda reviewed the past meeting with the
Steering Task Force and DS Wendy.
·
DS Wendy is willing to meet with the
Board if invited to discuss options for Christ’s Church especially since facing
the budget for 2021 with increased expenses and decreased income. She would hope to include someone from
Presbytery as well.
Stewardship
Team:
· The Team is taking on the
responsibility of Treasurer because that
position remains open. They have given Sherry
Pittam, as acting financial secretary, authority to write checks up to $500 for
items within the budget, realizing that would also include pastor’s salary and
benefits that are over that amount.
· They have developed a list of
improvements that need to at the parsonage and in the church. This includes the need for a new furnace for
the basement with a bid estimate of $15,000.
Staff Parish
Relations Committee: see written report & half-time Pastor Job
Description
MSC to allow the SPRC
to explore hiring a part-time employee through a temp service such as
Kelly Services or Manpower (or an actual bookkeeping service) to handle the
expenditure part of our bookkeeping
· Several
questions were raised regarding this motion about the cost and possible disruption
with too many people doing pieces of the finances
MSC to accept
SPRC’s recommendation that Dave be given the week following Easter off as
paid holiday time for rest and renewal.
MSC to approve the updated
pastor job description
· SPRC will be
meeting monthly with Pastor Dave and be checking in with him about how he is
utilizing his hours to meet these expectations.
Education
Team:
· This team has some surprises
coming up!
Worship
Team: see written report
· The worship service will be a celebration of women March 21st.
· There haven’t been any specific
plans for Palm Sunday or Easter week.
Peace,
Justice & Mission Team: see
written report
·
The team is involved with conversation
with the superintendent of the Santiam Canyon School district and plan to send
moneys to help support their fund for individual student needs.
·
The decision was made to go ahead with
the Ice Cream Booth in the park for July 3 & 4th.
Old
Business: none
New
Business:
·
Linda raised the question about having
DS Wendy and a Presbtery person come to a Board meeting. By consensus, it was decided to see if May
or June would work better for the denomination people with more emphasis for
June.
The meeting was closed with prayer.
Important
Dates: 3/21 Celebrate Women’s
Sunday 3/28 Palm Sunday 4/4 Easter
Next Board Meeting April 20, 2021
Submitted by
Gail
Saxowsky, Clerk
__________________________________________
This is a summary of the Church
Board Minutes from 2.16.21 The Board is trying to find ways to be more
transparent and to increase communications throughout the church family.
Summary of actions coming from the Communications
Workshop prior to Board meeting.
· Concern
raised about staying connected to those of church family not connected with
email / zoom and various digital technologies.
o
Diane McBurnett will mail some of the communications , especially
the mid week newsletter, to a list Denvy has produced that fit this category.
o
Will reactivate the calling lists that Diane and Sherry started
last spring
o
Encourage 1:1 connections
· Reinstitute
Announcement time between coffee time & start of worship–zoom Sunday am
o
People can send their announcements to Church email and Sherry
will format for Sunday service
· Mid
Week (mail chimp) newsletter: Ministry
Teams and others need to send items to Diane and also give ideas about what you
are interested in having in these documents.
· There
seems to be a need for having social contact with others -
participants learned how to create break out rooms in zoom which allows
a smaller group for conversation.
· Christ’s
Church how has it’s own YouTube channel
- now has the current worship
services.
· Web
Site -
the main focus is a static document so people who are searching for a
church family can find Christ’s Church and get an idea of the theology and how
to participate.
The Safe Sanctuary policy was
reviewed and all Board persons were asked to sign recognizing their willingness
to comply with this policy and be sure their signed form gets to the church
office for filing.
A consensus supported finding a way to have a summary
of Board minutes available for general reviewing. This might occur on the web site. The goal is to have transparency available
for others of the church family that are not directly connected to the Board.
Treasurer's Report:
Checking account balance: $44,390
General Funds Balance: $29,440
The difference is found in the
designated fund categories.
At this point the pledges for 2021
are $62,000 and there may be a few more coming in.
UM Methodist Lay Leader:
The
current Bishop will be retiring this year.
The
General Conference this summer will again be on line.
Presbytery Elder Commissioner:
The
next Presbytery Meeting is March 12th – 13th - also
online.
Beverly
will send the link to the church family so anyone interested can also attend.
Pastors Report:
Pastor
is working with SPRC developing a workable current job description.
Team Reports:
Steering Task Force Report:
The
Task Force continues to meet typically biweekly on Tuesday evening via
Zoom. The Group has identified that among
administrative tasks SPRC is meeting regularly and working on pastor ½ time job
description, the church needs a treasurer and volunteers for the office are
slowly getting started. The Church Board
is again meeting monthly. The Task Force
is asking for direction from the Board regarding an exit plan possibly with an
exit report to DS Wendy and Presbyter Clark, and if a group should be created
to investigate options for the church’s future.
Other directives from the charge conference are in process.
Stewardship Team:
· A
proposed 2021 Budget has estimated income = $74,586 estimated expenses = $88,000
MSC to approve the budget as
presented realizing there may be a need for flexibility as the year proceeds.
· Steve
Moser also reported that due to the power outage there was a small amount of
water in the basement. That has been
cleaned up and the heat is being left on to dry it out. Thank you Moser Mob !!!
Staff Parish Relations Team: see written report
· Establishing
liason individuals for paid staff as well as some of the volunteers.
· Trying
to increase communication systems within the church family
· Will
be establishing a current pastor ½ time job description and work expectations
for 2021
MSC to approve 4 weeks of paid
maternity leave for Emily Evans.
Education Team:
see written report
· There
will be email daily Lenten devotions
· Thinking
about “goodie bags” for Mother’s/Father’s days
Worship Team:
· Have
been busy each week recording music and tech support for online worship
· Announced
the Ash Wednesday opportunities
Peace, Justice & Mission Team:
see written report
·
Consensus to send mission money to the
following : $1000 to Ella Curran Food
Bank, $1000 to each Monmouth and Independence to help families behind on
utility payments and $100 as food card to a family identified by a church
member.
·
This leaves $1400 to be utilized as
needs are identified in the future.
·
Discussion started about how to
commuicate the One Great Hour of Sharing mission request.
Old Business: none
New Business:
·
Tabled until next meeting: how to explore the options in thinking about
the future
Meeting adjourned with prayer.
Next Board Meeting March 16, 2021
- to be in person - church
sanctuary and zoom
Sincerely Submitted by:
Gail Saxowsky, Clerk
_____________________________
This is a summary of Christ's
Church Board Meeting of January 19, 2021 held by zoom.
If you are
interested in the full text of the miutes please talk to Gail Saxowsky, the
current Board Clerk.
The Annual Statistical Reports for both
Denominations were approved to be submitted by the clerk.
Ned Kenney was elected Treasurer and
graciously declined.
Gail Saxowsky was elected Clerk of the
Board.
MSC to request the Presbyery to pay
percapita in installments for 2021.
·
Fiscal year 2020 ended with Income: $134,219.62
and Expenses: $123,495.84
·
Discussion about some of the
catergories, especially about the balances in some of the designated funds
accounts
MSC to allow the PJM Ministry Team to
spend up to $4000 from the Mission Trip account for some of the local mission
needs either from the pandemic or the forest fire clean up and rebuilding.
Steering Task Force: This task force was a result of the Annual
Charge Conference / Annual Meeting in Nov. with the charge of getting the
administrative responsibilities of the congregation functioning again. This was to include clarifing responsibiities
and roles especially in the area of finances, office general functioning and
giving Pastor Dave support.
To date the Task Force has updated the
Financial Policies & Procedures utilizing the existing Christ’s Church
documents and denominational resources, and shared this document with the
current Treasurer and financial secretary and the Stewardship Team. There has also been a major effort to catch
up the organization in the church office, records and filing.
Another significant component that needs
nuturing and growing is Communications.
This needs to be more during this time of pandemic and isolation.
Stewardship Team:
·
it was agreed that both 2019 & 2020
should be included in the audit
·
The plan is to have a 2021 Budget ready
by Feb. Board meeting
·
The furnaces downstairs were repaired
March 2020 with a cost of $1148 / plans to talk with company to come back
because they only worked on a temporary basis
Staff Parish Relations Team:
·
Have met on Sunday and plan to meet more
consistently for the next few months
·
Thanks to Jim B-L for being Chair and
Dwight T. for being Board Rep for this past year.
·
Linda Grund-Clampit will be Chair and
Board Representative this year
·
The decision was made to not ask for
budget for an Administrative Assistant for
now and to use volunteers to handle the office needs
·
Also asked for prayers for Pastor Dave’s
upcoming surgery on Feb. 4th and his recovery.
Education Team:
·
There has been some conversation but
nothing new planned for now
Worship Team:
MSC to authorization administration of communion
on the first Sunday of each month and for special occasions as planned with the
Worship Team and Pastor.
·
Discussion encouraged finding ways to
extend communion to those not able to attend via zoom
·
Discussion with SPRC & Worship to
encourage Pastor Dave to take one Sunday per month off considering the half
time position, leaving some time for other pastoral activities
·
Discussion also encouraged finding ways
to fill in for Sundays when Pastor Dave is gone without having to spend pulpit
supply monies.
Peace, Justice & Mission Team:
·
Hospitality Week - meal
from CC 1/31/21
·
Are working with Red Cross for a
potential blood drive in May. They use
all the precautions needed for Covid and use the sanctuary - this
worked well last spring
·
Had asked that the $400 for each
denominational mission partner be paid out of the Mission Trip fund - this
has been done.
Old Business:
·
Question was raised about who will
manage the garden plots -- Pastor Dave said he and his son would get
them cleaned up this spring. No one
took responsibility for the management
New Business:
·
Clerk was given permission to send thank
you notes to all those who were involved in leadership for 2020.
Important Dates:
Next
Board Meeting February 16, 2021
Presbytery
Meeting – March 12 & 13
The meeting was adjourned with prayer.