Minutes
of the Annual Meeting 2009 January 24,
2010
Present:
Chuck Gentilin (Moderator), Brenda Adcock (Interim Minister), Richard Severance
(Chair of Trustees), Bill Hamilton (Co-chair of Trustees), Leni Brown (Chair of
Deacons), Louise Severance (Vice-Chair LKG) Laurel Cashman (Treasurer), Jill
Gentilin (Secretary), Jeremy Schrauf (Historian),
Mikie Schwarz, Cookie Carruthers, Harriette Hamilton, Lisa Croce, Nell Domina,
Frank Smith, Andy McLean, Sindy Fillion, Sally Mundell, Elinor Havness, Joan
Judd, Barbara Willenbrock, and, Janet Kierys
Opening:
A movie on considering the Purpose
of Life was shown. An opening prayer was offered by Brenda. It was established
that we had a quorum. Chuck welcomed people and reviewed the Rules of the Road.
The minutes of Annual Meeting held January 25, 2009 and the Spring Meeting held
May 17, 2009 were approved as written.
By
Law Proposal: Jeremy moved that
Article VII (Titled Officers) part B (Titled Boards) be suspended for one year
to allow Officers who had served six years to continue in their present office
for one year. It was seconded. It was explained that the reason to do this was
to facilitate smooth operation of the church when a settled minister is hired.
This was approved without abstentions or dissentions.
Treasurer’s
Report: Laurel reviewed last
year’s spending. It was noted that although there was no deficit spending last
year this was not true for three of the previous four years. Jeremy moved that
we accept the Treasurer’s report, the motion was seconded. There were no
dissentions or abstentions and the report was accepted subject to audit.
Investment
Sub Committee Report: In the
absences of Kathy Novy, Richard presented the Investment Sub Committee Report.
Jeremy moved to accept the Investment Sub Committee report and the motion was
seconded.
Discussion: We currently
have $18,917 in the Mission Fund which according to the terms of this fund, the
money cannot be spent currently. There is $20,961 in the Building Fund for
capital projects, and $67,110 in the Operating Reserve Fund. It was noted that
$12,000 would be needed for 2010 if the budget was passed.
Currently
the money in these funds is held in Money Market Accounts. The Sub committee
thinks that this may be time to move some of this back into income producing
securities. They wanted some guidance from the congregation on how to do this.
Mikie asked for a more detail explanations. Richard said that we might move some
of the money in an aggressive approach, some into a moderately aggressive
approach and the rest held in a liquid fund. Laurel said that the congregation
had to decide on our risk tolerance. Proposals for spending some of the money
might be for a handicap automated chair, or painting the outside of the church,
or repair of the steeple. We also considered the need for a rainy day fund for
maintaining the church in the event of unforeseeable circumstances. The motion
to accept the report was withdrawn.
Louise moved that we
move some of the money such as the Mission Fund into a more aggressive long-term
investment, some of the Reserve fund into a moderately aggressive fund, and the
remainder into a liquid fund. The Sub Committee was asked to recommend exact
amounts. The motion was called and passed without abstentions or dissentions.
The original motion to
accept the Investment Committee Sub Committee report was brought forth and
passed without abstentions or dissentions.
Pastor’s
Report: Brenda said it was in the
Annual Report.
Deacons’
Proposal for the Spiritual Life of the Church: Leni
said she was concerned about the spiritual life of the church and she related it
to her own need to renew her spiritual life. She said she had committed herself
to more prayer, to show more concern about the people and to love more.
Mission:
Jill passed out a pamphlet on our
current Mission giving. She said she had been worried that we are very
disconnected from our mission giving. Most people knew that we passed out
envelopes requesting money through the year but didn’t understand why we are
giving. She asked people to study the pamphlet and think about our church’s
mission giving. Should we continue with what we are doing or look at in a fresh
light? We might adopt a needy family somewhere instead of doing all the
offerings or find another way that would connect our hearts to our giving. She
said she thought this was vital to the spirituality of the church.
LKG
Report: Louise said that our fund raising was down somewhat during the last
year and that might be reflective of the economy. The LKG will continue with the same activities as the
previous year. Andy and Mindy Childs would be in charge of the Memorial Day sale
which would include a bake sale, our Columbus Day Pie Sale, and staffing the
Welcome Center on I-91. We all applauded Louise’s service as Vice Chair in
Charlotte’s absence.
Compensation
Committee Report: Although we do
not have a firm commitment from the Wilmington Church for 40% of the Pastor’s
salary, the committee was recommending a 5% increase following the UCC’s
guidelines for small churches. There was a motion to accept the Compensation
Committee Report and it passed without dissensions and abstentions. This will
add about $1500 to the costs for a pastor. The members of the Compensation
Committee are Louise Severance, Laurel Cashman, and Jeremy Schrauf.
The
Litany and Prayer of Preparation were done in Unison.
Presentation
of the Budget: Laurel reviewed the
budget. Richard said the Trustees were considering the purchase of an automatic
chair to provide accessibility to the Activity Center for handicap persons.
Louise made a motion to ask the Trustees to get three concrete bids to be
presented to the congregation. The motion was seconded. The Trustees thought it
might be in the range of $8000 to $15000. Bill said this would be an adjunct to
the concrete ramp that provided handicap access to the sanctuary. Frank was
concerned about spending this amount of money and said in today’s economy it
was hard to ask people for large pledges. Mikie
was supportive of the chair. Sally said the outside concrete ramp was very
important for weddings.
Andy proposed an
amendment to the main motion to approve $8000 to $15000 for the chair. This
friendly amendment was not accepted. Chuck said he had a lot of concerns about
what would be included in the bids such as battery power if the electric failed,
should a used chair be purchased instead of a new one, how do we move handicap
people out of the Activity Center if we had a power failure or fire, what would
be the warranty, and voting without know the actual cost.
The original motion was
passed without abstentions or dissentions.
Nominating
Committee Report: The nominations
were presented as follows: Deacons: Jeremy Schrauf, Andy McLean, Trustee: Jill
Gentilin. These terms will run through 2012. Those officers agreeing to extend
for one year: Charles Gentilin, (Moderator), Leni Brown, (Deacon), Mikie
Schwarz, (Deacon), Louise Severance, (Deacon), and Richard Severance (Trustee)
Sally said she thought
we needed an Assistant Treasurer so that a second person could sign checks.
Richard said Kathy Novy was able to sign checks as part of her role in the
Investment Sub-Committee but would not agree to the position of Assistant
Treasurer.
The nominations were
accepted without abstentions or dissentions.
There being no further
business the meeting was adjourned with a benediction and prayer by Brenda
Respectfully
submitted
Jill Gentilin
These minutes have not
been approved.