Session Notes
Stated Session Meeting - March 10, 2014
Moderator: Rev.
Chuck Myser
Moderator’s
Time/Docket Building
Rev. Myser
discussed his background as a pastor for more than 20 years at Union
Presbyterian Church and now as a chaplain at St. Elizabeth Hospice. He talked
about hurt and healing, and led a devotion.
Approved Motion:
to approve docket as written/amended
Clerk’s Report
Letter from
Presbytery thanking the congregation for mission giving.
Letter from
Presbyterian Church Investment and Loan Program confirming rebate received.
Clarion
newsletter editor seeks session approval of a draft article. Session to review,
revise, and return. Rev. Myser willing to contribute Clarion content in future.
Approved Motion:
to elect Crystal Harden, an inactive ruling elder, clerk of session for the
remainder of 2014.
Session thanked
Carol Buckhout for her service of nearly three years as clerk. Crystal Harden
began taking minutes for the rest of the meeting.
Transition Tasks
Email and website
maintenance - Discussion about need for alternate administrator and sending
blast e-mails (to entire congregation, etc.) from the church computer.
Information about
former pastor Randy Schafer is off the church website. Door sign to be revised
similarly. Rev. Myser agrees to respond to a death or an emergency among
congregation members.
Building and
Grounds Committee
Lorraine Court
property secured with new locks. Clean-up day for the property to be scheduled.
Contractor estimate of $6,400 received for completing renovation, leading to
discussion about congregation members doing the work over time instead.
Discussions
continue about request for use of CSPC space by Hebron Lutheran Church for
once-a-week English Language class evening class for adult members of Chin
community from Myanmar (see February Session Notes-New Business, below). CSPC
seeks assurance about children at CSPC during the class. Chin community has not
responded to CSPC offer; committee will follow up.
Approved Motion:
to
approve placing a dumpster onsite at the Lorraine Court house for a clean-up
weekend, possibly March 15, at a cost of approximately $400.
Finance Committee
Financial
statements were distributed prior to the meeting.
Nominating
Committee:
Committee will
meet soon to talk about deacon and elder nominees. No progress on officer
training. Rev. Myser mentioned possibility of joint training with other
churches.
Session
considering appointing five people to an interim pastor search committee. Two
would be session members. Session wants additional members who represent the
diversity of the congregation. Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry (COM) willing
to establish liaison. Rev. Myser suggests session consider a part-time vs.
full-time interim. Rev. Myser will discuss process with COM.
Presbytery
Approved Motion:
to appoint Jim Burdick as commissioner next stated meeting of presbytery on
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Worship Committee
A written report
was distributed. A worship planning retreat has been postponed.
Approved Motion:
To set times for services for Holy Week: 6 p.m. for Seder Meal on Maundy
Thursday, and 7:30 or 8 PM (TBD) for Good Friday service, depending on time
closest to sundown
Deacons
No report
Approval of
Minutes
Approved Motion:
to approve the minutes of the stated session meeting on February 10, 2014, as
written.
Christian
Education Committee
Written report
was distributed.
New Business
The next stated
meeting will be April 14, 2014.
Old
Business--Manual of Administration/Policies
Three hard copies
are in the office. A copy should be put on flash drive or the office computer.
Computer Use
Policy
Session reviewed
the draft policy for computer use. Dan Alexander is willing to be system
administrator.
Approved Motion:
To approve a computer-use policy for the church.
Wedding Policy
Session will
consider revising the wedding policy when an interim pastor or newly installed
pastor is in place.
Stated Session
Meeting - February 10, 2014
Moderator: Rev.
Don Smith
Moderator’s
Time/Docket Building
Approved Motion:
to approve docket as amended to add discussion of building use by a group from
Myanmar for English classes under New Business, and to add update from
Nominating Committee
Clerk’s Report
Communications:
Email message from Joe Johnson, advising Session that he no longer wishes to
serve on the Board of Deacons.
Two letters from
Presbytery acknowledging Crescent Springs church’s mission giving and payment of
the per capita assessment. The letters will be retained by the Finance
Committee.
Approved Motion:
to refer a letter from Belize missionary requesting donations to Deacons for
consideration.
Review of Annual
Reports
Approved Motion:
to accept the annual statistical reports as corrected to fix a typing error and
instruct the clerk to file them with the appropriate offices.
Crystal Harden is
willing to begin serving as clerk of session. A motion to elect her will be
added to the March docket and Carol Buckhout will contact her to arrange
transition.
Transition Tasks
Approved Motion:
to engage Rev. Charles (Chuck) Myser for a three-month period beginning in March
for pulpit supply three Sundays (including first Sunday) of each month, and to
moderate session.
Communications to
announce Rev. Myser to the congregation will occur Sunday, February 23.
Session discussed
the process of forming an Interim Search Committee; Rev. Smith cautioned that
input from the Committee on Ministry is critical before the committee begins
work, but members of ISC could be identified right away.
Manual of
Administration/Policies
Session agreed
that the manual is ready to print so that a copy can be kept in the church
office as a reference during the transition. The clerk will check for final
revisions before printing the manual.
Computer-Use
Policy
Review of the
policy draft will be added to the March docket.
Building and
Grounds Committee
Tenants of the
Lorraine Court property due to vacate by Feb. 13, with utilities being changed
to CSPC after that date. By February 18, the house should be empty and can be
assessed.
Tenant of manse
paid current month’s rent as promised.
Water in basement
of the church building is being resolved; gutters repaired and working properly.
Quote obtained
for adding a keypad lock to red door entry to the church. Lorraine Court
property will also have its locks changed .
Finance Committee
Financial
statements were distributed prior to the meeting. Karen Peters reported from the
committee. Cash flow is projected to be positive until July or August. Committee
unanimously recommends selling the two rental properties, Lorraine Court and
Western Reserve. Presbytery trustees would need to approve any sale.
Finance
committee’s recommendation is for two licensed real estate agents to give market
value, with buyers paying for final appraisals. Session discussed potential use
of sales proceeds. Committee recommends putting as much as needed into general
budget and use the rest to pay off a portion of the loan.
Dan Alexander has
agreed to take over chairmanship of the committee upon Alan Vicory’s stepping
down.
Presbytery
Next Stated
meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 11. Jim Burdick will attend.
Worship Committee
A written report
was distributed. Worship committee asked that duty elders take responsibility of
locating communion servers each month. Session agreed to do so by consensus. A
worship planning retreat postponed until March.
Approved Motion:
to approve worship services 6:30-7:00 PM each Wednesday during Lent, beginning
March 5 (Ash Wednesday).
Deacons
Doug Thompson has
agreed to serve as moderator upon Joe Johnson’s stepping down. Deacons who have
been ordained as elders would be able to serve home communion. Session members
would have the lead role in that work. Debbie Daly will take that information
back to the Deacons.
Nominating
Committee
Working on
meeting times to fill the slate of new classes of elders and deacons. Officer
training needs to occur sooner for those interested in serving. Rev. Smith
recommended providing a current Book of Order to all nominees. Will arrange for
bulletin announcements seeking nominees. Session discussed reducing slate for
next class of elders and deacons to two. Rev. Smith suggested that the
nominating committee come back with a recommendation about the size of session
and deacon board.
Approved Motion:
to approve as written the minutes of the stated session meeting on Jan. 13, 2014
Christian
Education Committee
Committee meets
this coming week to plan children’s activities during Wednesday Lenten worship.
CE will arrange volunteers for nursery coverage.
New Business
The next stated
meeting will be March 10, 2014.
Approved Motion:
To allow Hebron Lutheran Church and the Chin Community to use CSPC ‘s lower
level classroom area for English Language classes Thursday evenings on a
six-week trial basis. A representative from Hebron Lutheran must be responsible
for the key, opening and closing the church building, and ensuring that no
children accompany the adults who attend.
Old Business
Vision Team Plan
will be circulated to session and added to March docket.
Stated Session
Meeting - January 13, 2014
Moderator: Rev.
Roberta Bella
Clerk’s Report
Two requests for
mission funding and information about a church directory were presented and
referred to the Deacons.
The clerk
reminded committee heads of the need to provide information for the annual
statistical reports to Presbytery.
Personnel
The committee
reported no pending actions. Elder Crystal Harden will be rotating off the
committee.
Discussion about
appropriate time to begin process of finding an interim pastor. Rev. Bella
stated that a first step is a job description; then the church would form an
Interim Pastor Search Committee, which would include those other than active
elders. The Nominating Committee would form a slate, reflecting the diversity of
the congregation and generate the description for session to approve.
Building and
Grounds
Spoke with
attorney about eviction of the Lorraine Court tenant.
Approved Motion:
to approve an additional $300 for attorney and filing fees related to the
eviction(s).
Men’s group will
be doing the cleaning on Saturday mornings. Will contact a locksmith to look at
changing the lock, or installing a keypad operated by a code, for the church
doors. Building and Grounds will discuss the CSPC policy of giving all members a
key and make a recommendation to session. Lorraine Court property will also have
to re-keyed.
Finance
Committee is
pursuing sale of the two properties with two local real estate agents and will
soon have information about projected proceeds. Agents will be called after
eviction process.
Worship
Worship chair
would like for session to take more leadership with some tasks, such as filling
the pulpit during the transition period. Jim Burdick offered to be present in
the church office to handle mail and phone calls. Tim Reed and Crystal Harden
will work together to produce weekly worship bulletins.
Christian
Education Committee
A written report
was submitted, which included Carol Buckhout’s dissent from previous committee
action.
Old Business
Session reviewed
items of old business and made the following decisions:
·
Vision Team Report has not been implemented and needs to remain on docket.
·
Officer training and providing information during the nomination process needs
to remain.
·
Remove transition of secretary’s tasks from old business, as the job description
is in the administrative manual.
·
Remove discussion of wedding policy from agenda until new pastor available.
·
A
policy for use of the office computer was being drafted by Rev. Schafer.
Currently only those with a need to use office computer are able to access
accounts; Tim Reed to contact Dan Alexander re policy.
Rev. Bella
stressed the need to continue frequent communications with congregation about
actions session is taking during the transition. Announcements before worship,
newsletter, e-mails should all be used. Will present Invitation to Conversation
Sunday, during Minute for Mission January 19.
Deacons: Doug
Thompson has agreed to chair Deacons when Joe Johnson rotates off Deacon Board.
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