COUNCIL MINUTES
from 02/21/08 & 03/10/08
IMMANUEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Minutes Special Council Meeting February 21, 2008 A special council meeting was called to order by President Lee Fadeley at 6:00 P.M. Those present at the meeting included Lee Fadeley, Rob Shutko, Dee Bennett, Melissa Valois, Phil Chandler, Gary Shackleton, Suzanne Sebenste, Todd Behling, Char Schuyler, Victoria Gatlin, George Dewar, George Kelly, and Mary Konvalinka. Pastor John was also present. The purpose of the meeting was to set the ground work for the start of our search for a new pastor. The search committee, once appointed, will be responsible for reviewing resumes of candidates discerning which would be best for our congregation. They will also be responsible for updating our church profile and prepare a job description. The council’s immediate responsibility is to determine how to select the search committee and to develop a timeline on how we think our search will progress. On March 9, there will be a special congregational meeting after the 10:00 A.M. service to discuss the interim period and the details concerning the search process. Article 13 of our constitution, paragraphs two through six, cover the procedure to be followed in our search. By consensus, the council determined it best to appoint a nominating committee to identify search committee candidates The nominating committee should include a cross section of our church membership, including young and old; male and female, etc. The nominating committee must have some non council members. It will be chaired by Rob Shutko who will be joined by George Dewar from the council. A list of people recommended being on the nominating committee was developed from which R. Shutko and G. Dewar will fill the other three positions. If a person is on the nominating committee, he/she can not serve on the search committee. The nominating committee will be presented to the congregation at the special congregational meeting on March 9. Organizations and the congregation will be asked for their input on nominations for the search committee. It would be best to have more people interested than needed so we can get a good cross section. We will have a written description of responsibilities of a search committee member and remind them of the time commitment that will be part of their lives for as long as 2 years. The length of time to complete the search will depend on the time dedication of the search committee to speed up the process and the availability of candidates interested in our position. The number of members on the search committee will be a minimum of 9 to a maximum of 12 with potential for alternates. It is suggested that slots or artificial quotas not be set aside automatically for various committees or organizations. A search committee member represents the church as a whole, not individual groups. The president of the church council will not be on the search committee, but is ex-officio on all church committees. The interim minister is not part of the search process. Some of the recommended qualifications of a search committee member include spirituality, faithfulness, reliability, commitment, and a variety of age and gender. There shall be no discrimination and the search member must be a full, participating member of Immanuel United Church of Christ. The United Church of Christ has suggested five commitments for search committees. They are a commitment to faith, to time, to confidentiality, to openness and to consensus. The responsibilities or obligations of the search committee include writing a church profile, write a comprehensive job description, review ministerial profiles, interview candidates (may have to travel to do this), and have regular (weekly) communications with the church and council. Once a list of nominees for the search committee is finalized, the group will be brought in for a training session to acquaint them with the whole search process. From that group, the nominating committee will finalize a list of candidates. This process could take at least two months. The list of candidates will be reviewed by the church council for advice and consent. All of this must be done with integrity and the strictest of confidentiality. Todd Behling moved to adjourn the meeting. Suzanne Sebenste seconded the motion. It passed. The meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Dee Bennett
IMMANUEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Minutes of March 10, 2008 Council Meeting President Lee Fadeley called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. Lee led us in the opening prayer. He asked Gary Shackleton to give the prayer at the April meeting. Those in attendance included council members Lee Fadeley, Rob Shutko, Dee Bennett, Melissa Valois, Jim Konvalinka, Gary Shackleton, Todd Behling, George Dewar, Char Schuyler, Victoria Gatlin, and Sue Sebenste and Interim Pastor John Helt. Lee thanked Suzanne Sebenste for her excellent seminar “Partnering with your Doctor” at Immanuel on March 3. He also thanked Melissa Valois and Carole Decker for assisting her with the program and refreshments. Lee had some comments for the council before we started with the meeting. He said he felt the special congregational meeting concerning the search process went very well. He was disappointed with the number in attendance as well as the number of people at the two services that Sunday. There were only 158 total people at both services, which are 20 less than last year. A comment was made that some of that may have been due to the fact that clocks were changed for day light saving time the night before. Since some council members (Gary Shackleton, Todd Behling, and Jim Konvalinka) did not receive their minutes by email, it was decided to read the minutes and we will try again next month to get the minutes to everybody by email. Some spelling errors were corrected. Jim Konvalinka also questioned the cost of the HVAC service contract we signed with Siemers. He said he had been changing the filters and cleaning the units. It was noted that the contract covered a more comprehensive inspection of the units which in the long run would increase their life expectancy. Sue Sebenste moved that we accept the minutes with the changes. Victoria Gatlin seconded the motion. It passed. Melissa Valois presented the treasurer’s report. Envelope income was $1300 higher than budgeted. The expenses were within the budgeted amount. The secretarial wages increased. Her wages vary depending on seasonal activities that she must tend to. The credit we will receive from the doubling billing on the copiers will be approximately $300.00. Melissa also informed us that Kay purchased an extra supply of stamps. With the new ‘forever stamps’ she could purchase the stamps now at the lower rate but continue to use them after the rate increases one cent in May l. Other extra expenses for the month included the purchase of new classroom tables, the payments for Pastor Paige’s retirement celebration, and the payment for the retirement photos of both Pastor Al and Pastor Paige. The net income for the month was $856.61. The negative balance of the operating fund is slowly decreasing. George Dewar moved that we accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Todd Behling seconded the motion. It passed. President Lee asked that Melissa prepare a 6 month review of income and expenses to get an overview of how we are trending. Jim Konvalinka, Chair of Trustees, reported that more lights have been replaced and the night light by the staircase was repaired. The north door had to have the opener bar repaired and the lock was changed. He also said that the west side of the mansard roof must be checked out since there appears to be water spots developing on the inside. He will keep on eye on it and if more problems occur in the future he will contact Korellis. The long discussed apple tree will be removed as soon as the weather warms up a little. It is being removed because of the bees it seems to attract. A different variety of tree will eventually be planted. Chair of Deacons, Gary Shackleton, reported that his group is back to full strength. He repositioned some of his team members to get a better grouping. Phil Chandler was absent so there was no elders report but there was a short discussion about some suggestions that have turned up in the suggestion box concerning our elders. Some members have suggested there should be some sort of dress code expected of the elders. There seems to be some inappropriate wearing apparel being worn at Sunday Services. Interim Pastor John said that the elders had a meeting scheduled and this suggestion will be brought up at the meeting. Jim Konvalinka also suggested that the chair of elders should be present before services to greet visitors and possibly assist them with seating. COMMITTEES Todd Behling, member of the parsonage advisory board, reported that he had an estimate on the costs involved in replacing the back door at the parsonage. The cost of the door would be approximately $300-$400 while the installation would cost $400. He hopes to have the job completed within the next 3 – 4 weeks. He also hopes to continue to work on repainting the parsonage. Replacing the windows will be costly so it will probably be best to do them piecemeal, but he will get estimates on the costs involved. Todd suggested that an account be set up strictly dedicated for the repairs and upkeep of the parsonage. A search has begun to find new carpeting for the Oak Room. Carpet tiles will probably be used so that repairs can be made with very little effort or costs. The mission committee will be sending two delegates to the Ministry and Mission Interpreter meeting in April. The church will offer to cover some of their costs. A membership committee will be created with Donna Graves asked to serve as chairperson. The purpose of the committee is to get a more accurate picture of the membership of our church. This will be part of the information necessary when our search committee develops Immanuel’s profile to be presented to prospective pastoral candidates. The committee will not get into action until after the search committee is set. The last membership check was done four years ago. It is hoped that the findings of this committee will result in some constructive changes. PASTOR’S REPORT It has been six months since Interim Pastor John has been ministering at Immanuel and he reported that it has been a pleasure and privilege to serve here this past half year. He said that he tries to visit shut-ins once every three months. He has had pre- marital sessions with three couples to be married at Immanuel in the next 5 months. Attendance at the Wednesday Lenten vespers has been between 25-30 which he is pleased with. He believes the success of the “Partnering with your Doctor” event is a good example of the type of community events we should offer more of in the future. OLD BUSINESS Melissa Valois presented to the council the newly framed picture Jacob Swanson painted and presented to Immanuel. The cost for framing was $67.00. After some discussion, it was decided that Jim Konvalinka will be find an appropriate place to display it in the Oak Room. Todd Behling reported that the floor stripping and waxing will be done on Saturday March 15. All rooms that have vinyl tile and the hallways must be completely cleared of all furnishings so the job can be properly done. He also said it is then very important that everybody be informed that ‘THEY SHOULD NOT DRAG THE CHAIRS ON THE NEWLY WAXED FLOORS!’ After considerable research and effort, our idea of positioning directional signs for Immanuel on the streets of Highland will not happen since Highland does not allow any such signs. George Dewar informed us that the Brotherhood has purchased two new coffeepots and are ready for use. The inspection and service contract for our HVAC units with Siemers has been signed. We will be given a 15% discount on all emergency calls. The personnel job description project is on-going. President Lee and Pastor John have met with Kay and have come to agreement on her increase in time and duties. She will be responsible for some of the duties Pastor Paige had done in the past in addition to some other new responsibilities. Except for Kay, all other personnel have received a 2 ˝% pay increase but no pay increase has yet been decided for her because of all the uncertainty about her hours and duties. The secretarial position is the only one compensated on an hourly basis; all others get a flat rate. She is presently paid $10.50/hour. Our budget has up to $550/month set aside for her position. We are under budget so far year to date. Up until 2006, there were 2 separate office positions which now have been combined into one. Kay has averaged about 33 hours per month. If she averages 60 hours per month with her new responsibilities at $11.00/hour, her pay for the month would keep us on budget. She will be starting her new hours and duties March 17. Suzanne Sebenste moved that we give Kay Wegman a 2 ˝% raise, which is about 25 cents /hour, retroactive to November 1 and as of March another 25 cents/hour raise to put her pay at $11.00/hour. Victoria Gatlin seconded the motion. It passed. The new office hours will be published in the next issue of ‘The Visitor’. A church member recently asked about the boxes of tissue Pastor Paige always placed in the narthex and ladies’ washroom. The practice will be continued with the help of Kay. The personnel committee will try to complete the job description project in the near future. A short discussion was held about the special congregational meeting held on March 9. There was still some concern about who exactly selects the search committee members. The nominating committee will review all the candidates who have been nominated for the search committee. They will then select up to 12 members to be on the search committee and present the nominees to the council for advice and consent. The council will be involved in the selection only if the nominating committee has a problem assembling a committee of 12 and asks for help. A question was asked under what circumstances a search committee member could be removed. A breach of confidentiality would be reason for removal. The member would get a chance to defend him/herself before a decision would be made. A member may also have to drop out because of family circumstances or health problems. Char Schuyler suggested contacting Rev. Barth for guidance in any such circumstances. Rob Shutko informed us that he plans on approaching the congregation at both services again to refresh them on the details of selecting the search committee and to continue a dialogue with the congregation so that they feel they are always kept up to date on what is happening. President Lee suggested that it may be necessary to have another special congregational meeting to update our progress and answer any questions of concern. A quick summary was given on some of the points of interest from the two town hall meetings. Communication between members and all groups and committees seemed to be a concern of many. Other concerns included lack of participation by church membership, same people on committees too often, and dwelling on how things were done in the past. Pastor John shared with us a visit he had to the Adult Day Care Open House at the Episcopal Church in Munster. He feels our church is physically set up for a similar type program. Active Day Care runs a similar program but is interested in such a program further north in our area. He asked if we were might be interested in providing some kind of community ministry, such as adult care, child care, or after school care. We could develop it and manage it on our own or we could find someone in the area that would be interested in doing it at our church. Suzanne Sebenste felt day care and adult care are good services to check out. She said there are a lot of child care centers in the area but limited number of adult care centers. Before we progress any further on these ideas, we have to ask ourselves how we feel about allowing outside people using our church. Todd Behling was also concerned about how we cover the costs of such proposals. Pastor John gave an illustration of how several churches in Fort Atkinson, WI, provided a needed service to their town. Several local churches took turns one day a week to offer adult day care. We all agreed that we need to find some way to get our church more family oriented in our community. After some discussion, council members felt that we should give the congregation some suggestions and ask them how we best can help our community. We must decide what special group we would like to impact, be it youth, elderly, singles, etc. Renee Pfister is taking the first steps to impact one group in our community. She is researching the idea of starting a support group for widowed, separated and divorced people. Lee said he plans on meeting with Renee to get more details on her idea and then present it to the congregation. President Lee commented that in trying to find new ministries for our church we must decide how best to use our strengths and assets and we must look outside our walls to see how best we can connect to our community. A discussion was held concerning the potential costs of future projects that must be taken care of. It was suggested that we may need to set up a capital campaign fund drive to accumulate funds necessary to cover the costs of these projects, such as two new HVAC units that will be needed in the not too distant future. It was debated as to whether it would be better to announce individual costs of projects as they are planned or give an overall estimate of the necessary funds needed to cover all projected repairs and/or projects needed in the future. Before this is brought up to the congregation, consensus seemed to be that a walk through be done of our building and a defined list of repairs and/or projects be outlined. Todd Behling will speak to a structural engineer about inspecting the building. Due to the rather heavy snow falls we have had for the winter of ’07-’08, our snow removal costs are over budget and it was felt that we should make the congregation aware of the impact this has had on our budget. The Indiana/Kentucky conference has announced that due to increase in costs and cuts in their budget, one conference minister needs to be cut from their staff. We use to have three, now we have two and soon there will only be one. There may be a necessity for additional staff reductions. Our search process will start out with Rev. Barth there to guide us but that may change before the search is completed. More leadership responsibilities will be assigned to the association level versus the conference level. This will allow local churches to have more say in the way they conduct their activities. NEW BUSINESS Our new AT&T phone system has been installed, but the DSL option is not complete. Our equipment is very out dated. We need 3 new two-line phones - two for in the offices and one for in the kitchen. George Dewar moved that we purchase 3 new phones to meet the above requirements. Todd Behling seconded the motion. It passed. Todd Behling also suggested that a phone with office type features be purchased for the Oak Room if we plan on offering the room as a place to conduct business meetings. Rob Shutko recommended a teleconferencing phone service. A church member has volunteered to run a phone line to the Oak Room. George Dewar expressed concern about the paper recycling bin that has not been emptied. It was noted that the company responsible has been called but they have not yet responded to our request. He also suggested that our recently purchased tables be added to out inventory sheet. Todd Behling suggested that some sort of cleat be put on our chair racks to prevent the chairs from sliding when they are being stacked on the racks. He also asked if any savings would result from using plain paper rather than using bulletins with preprinted front covers for our worship services. Another cost saving suggestion he had was to use the copier to print bulletins rather than the laser ink jet printer since it is a much cheaper way to print larger quantities. He said he would verify the costs of using each method. Suzanne Sebenste moved that we give our monthly benevolent donation to the Appalachian mission project for our youth. Victoria Gatlin seconded the motion. It passed. Victoria Gatlin moved that we adjourn the meeting. Todd Behling seconded the motion. It passed. The meeting was adjourned with the Lord’s Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Dee Bennett |