Church Council Meeting - January 15th, 2003

Cheryl Patrick called the church council meeting for January 15th, 2003 to order at 7:35 P.M. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. The meeting opened with a prayer offered by Rev. Greg Schmidt. A quorum [6] was met, with 9 being present [P] and 3 being absent [A].

The minutes from the December 18th, 2003 meeting were reviewed and accepted after the following error was noted. The trustees' workday scheduled for January 25th, 2003 is 9 A.M not 8 A.M.

MINISTER- Rev. Dr. Greg Schmidt- Greg reported the Ash Wednesday Service is March 5th, 2003 at The First United Methodist Church. Bill and Greg attended the lead abatement hearing in Hartford on Wednesday. It did not go as hoped and will be two months before we hear the results. Greg has been asked to preach at the church of a friend and requested a guest minister be found for our church. The Schmidt family will be on vacation from February 23rd through March 2nd, 2003.

TREASURER-Bruce Nichols-During the month of December the church had expenses of $13,748.48 and income of $13,225.62 for a net deficit of $522.86. Expenses in December are typically high due to the payment of quarterly insurance premiums. A $5,000.00 donation from a non-church member helped keep the December deficit to a minimum. For the year 2003, the church had income of $100,117.00 and expenses of $140,707.00 for a total deficit of over $40,000.00. Net worth for the church at the end of December stood at $243,605.87, down $1,088.49 from the previous month. The total decrease in the net assets of the church over the course of 2003 was $87,398.83. About 46% of the decrease was due to the yearly income/expense deficit, with the remainder due to loss of value in the church's portfolio.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION- Jan Wells-Betty Ogden -Jan Wells and Greg will attend a curriculum workshop on January 25th, 2003. Sue Nofi-Bendici will be doing the children's service Sunday, January 19th, 2003.

DEACONS-Gene Ogden- Sadie Patrick and Amanda McDonald (Jr. Deacons) will serve communion on February 2nd, 2003.

TRUSTEES-Glenn Wells-The trustee's workday scheduled for January 25th, 2003 at 9 AM to lay floor tiles is still planned. The new windows for the downstairs of the church building have been ordered. The carpet replacement for the upstairs apartment is underway. Next meeting is February 19th, 2003 at 6:30 PM in the library.

OUTREACH-Lesley Barker- Outreach met on January 12th, 2003. Spooner House dinner will be served on January 18th, 2003.

MEMBERSHIP-Walt Crosby- No report

NOMINATING- Lucille Wells-Kathey DeMarco- Lucille reported all committee positions as filled. Betty Ogden has asked she be replaced as the Church Clerk. She will continue in the position until a replacement has been found.

FUNDRAISING- Betty Ogden-The committee has come up with a tentative schedule for the coming year. The office has been asked to check dates for conflicts with other committees or groups. Kathey reported no conflict has been found. Discussions are being held on a new quilt project for this year. A Log Cabin quilt to be made by our church women and raffled in May.

WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP-Lucille Wells-Women's Fellowship will meet on February 11th , 2003 at 7 P.M. in the Beard Room. They will discuss school kits and the proposed quilt project.

STEWARDSHIP- Sharon Schmidt- Bill Barker reported the pledged amount as $51,500.00. It is expected that 8 additional people will be pledging.

BUDGET COMMITTEE-Bill Barker-Bill presented the budget for approval. The secretarial position was increased from 12-15 hours to compensate Kathey for the work she needs to take home.

OLD BUSINESS:

1. The Congregational Survey requesting data on members is tabled until next month.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. Driving by the church Lesley Barker noticed the lack of a sign or banner promoting our church theme or current event. It was decided this was a good idea and the responsibility be passed on to the membership committee. A motion was made and seconded. All were in favor.

2. Bill Barker, as chair of the Budget Committee, presented the proposed church income (1 page) and expense (2 pages) budgets for year 2003. He discussed the details of the budgets and noted that church council is usually asked to concur, prior to the budget being presented to the church membership for their official vote of approval at the annual meeting in late January. Responding to a question by Rev. Greg Schmidt, Bill noted that a change in the annual minister pension contribution might have to be made after checking the files before the budget is voted on at the annual meeting. A question was raised as to whether the office secretary's wage rate might be going down slightly, due to more hours worked, even though her overall annual salary was being increased. Bill responded that there were no additional duties and thus no added work hours being required of the office secretary in 2003 compared to 2002. Therefore, the salary increase was a true gain. Bill then moved that church council approve the budget as submitted. The motion was seconded and passed. The budget will be printed in the annual report, as it presently is dated (1-9-2003). Any last minute changes would have to be brought to the floor for approval at the all church member annual meeting.

3. Betty Ogden asked for permission to have the Santa Suit cleaned. The dry cleaners have asked her to sign a no guarantee slip, so she needs council permission to do so. It was then made known the suit belonged to Walt Crosby and she should ask him.

The next council meeting will be held on February 19th, 2003 at 7:30 P.M. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. The Rev. Greg Schmidt led the council in saying "The Lord's Prayer." The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted
Betty Ogden, Clerk