Church Council Meeting - September 19, 2001

Tony Unger called the church council meeting for September 19, 2001 to order at 7:30 P.M. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. The meeting opened with a prayer offered by the Church Manager. A quorum of 6 was met, with 9 being present and 7 absent.

The minutes from the August 15, 2001 meeting were reviewed and accepted. Tony called upon the officers and committee members for their reports.

Minister - [Rev. Greg Schmidt] Greg shared information he obtained from Brian Scofield, Trumbull ongregational Church, concerning their Stewardship program. Called Conservation Sunday, the program raised their pledges 54% in the first year. This information was passed on to the Stewardship Committee. He also reported that the Shelton Clergy Association participated in a number of Memorial Services this past week. A local company (PrecisionResource) called the church office and asked Greg to do a service at their facilities. 125 people attended this service and a donation of $250.00 was made to our church. Greg also left literature hi-lighting our church at this service. An event called Hope for America, sponsored by Shelton High School will be held on Sept. 30, 2001 on the Riverwalk. A candlelight service will be held from 6-7 P.M. The Elm City Girls Choir participated in our Church Service on September 16. They were wonderful. We need to advertise their presence next year. Also, we need to remember dinner . Greg donated 15 pizza's for the choirs dinner this year.

Treasurer- [Bruce Nichols] Bruce reported that during the month of August the church had income of $5,209.03 and expenses of $7,766.52 for a net deficit of $2,557.49. Year to date income has been $57,386.08 while expenses have totaled $80,157.76 yielding a deficit of $22,771.68 year to date. The net worth for the church at the end of August was down an additional $10,748.10 from the last report and stood at $323,898.68.

Deacon's- [Gene Ogden] Gene reported that Deacon's served communion and gave one sermon in our ministers absence. Greg and his family, were visiting Sharon's grandmother who turned 98. God Bless her.

Christian Education- [Betty Ogden] C.E. met on August 28, 2001 at the home of Betty Ogden. The first official day of Sunday School will be Sept. 16, 2001. Family Sundays are Oct 7-Nov. 18 and Dec. 30. Pageant will be Dec 23 after Church Services. Beginning in November, on the first Sunday of the month, one class per month will participate in the church service. The students will be lay readers and collect the offering. This will start with the oldest class. Students will sit together as a class and will remain for the entire service. Grades 2-12 will take part. The church members teaching this year are Pre-K-Gr. 1 will be Donna Hasiotis, Cheryl Patrick, and Kathy Maillet in the Beard Room. Gr. 2-3 will be Sue Nofi-Bendici and Martha Devine in the Library. Gr. 4-6 will be Helen Brakewood and Jan Wells on the Stage. Gr. 7-12 will be Tony Unger and Lesley Barker in Parish House. Helpers will be Kevin Hasiotis, and Amanda MacDonald. The all church retreat is scheduled for May 3-5, 2001. A possible adult discussion group may start after services on the 4th Sunday of the month. The sermon will be the discussion topic. Tony Unger expressed his opinion that the Christian Education Committee had let down the Sunday School children and their parents. That Sunday 16, 2001 was very confusing and disorganized. He felt that more care should given in the future.

Women's Fellowship- [Lucille Wells] Women's Fellowship met on Tuesday, Sept 18, 2001. Lucille reported that 5 vendors have signed on for the Christmas Fair. We will have handmade jewelry, Christmas crafts, painted tiles, Angel Speaks, and a Electrolux table. She also has not received a return call from the Police Dept. concerning the Kid Print Program. Linda McDonald also discussed some ideas she has for increasing church membership. She will pass these ideas on to the Membership Committee. Plans for finishing dolls for the Christmas Fair were finalized. The next meeting will be held on October 16, 2001 at 7:30 P.M. in the Beard Room.

Outreach- [Lesley Barker] Lucille Wells reported that the Spooner House Dinner was served on September 15, 2001. That 5 people participated in the Walk for Acts. The P&Z meeting concerning Spooner House will be September 25, 2001. Spooner House would like to add one more Shelton resident to the board. Because Lesley is on the board, Lucille is going to recruit one person from another church.

Trustees - Bill Barker reported the Custodian position as still available. The carpet downstairs has been recently cleaned. It has been decided to clean the carpeting upstairs. Because of the donation of the cleaning machine by Jeff Devine, the only cost to the church is the labor. A new contact has been made concerning the pew repairs. This company will submit an estimate next month. Bill reported the receipt of an insurance check for $837.00 for repair of the railing in front. The cost of fixing the railing will be $200.00. Touching up paint, patching the masonry in front ramp, refurbishing a sign, reframing the Parish House door, re-staining under the new office extension, repainting the inside casings in Sanctuary windows are just a number of jobs still on the Trustees work list. A workday is scheduled for Saturday, September 29, 2001. Of primary concern is the Sanctuary ceiling. Trustees will set up scaffolding on Friday evening, September 28, and will attempt to paint the ceiling over the altar. If the paint holds for a few weeks then they will paint the rest of the ceiling. It was suggested that all participants in the project be asked to sign liability waivers.

Personnel- [Glenn Wells] Glenn reported that his committee had no new business to discuss.

Nominating- [Lucille Wells] Lucille reported that she had no new business to discuss.

Budget Committee- [Bill Barker] Bill reported that the budget committee would start meeting on Wed. September 26, 2001 at 7 P.M. in the library. He did say that this should only take 3-4 weeks.

Old Business:

1. Lucille shared information about an antique store on Main Street in Ansonia at the July council meeting. They accept stain glass windows on consignment. We have some stored in the basement of the church. Could we sell these? This decision has been tabled until the October Council Meeting.

2. A few months ago Greg discussed the fact that five years earlier the church had participated in Congregational and Personal Spirituality exercises. He thought it would be interesting to have the council fill out the questionnaire to see what changes have occurred over the years. He was able to share the results at this meeting. Three of the categories have increased and one had decreased significantly.

Worship increased from 22% to 25%
Education increased from 32% to 33%
Spirituality increased from 21 % to 26%.
Outreach decreased from 24% to 17%

The discussion that followed suggested that new outreach programs might be needed. Perhaps more people can be invited to participate in Outreach Programs.

New Business:

1. Tony Unger, Church Manager, asked that council members give as much thought as possible to creating a theme and goal for next year. The subject would be responsibility. To asking new people to respond to some of the church needs and being responsible for those needs. All council members will be asked for their ideas at the next council meetings.

The next council meeting will be held October 17, 2001 at 7:30 P.M. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. Rev. Greg Schmidt ended the meeting with a prayer. The meeting was then adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,
Betty Ogden