Church Council Meeting - February 19, 2003

Kim Karkut called the church council meeting for February 19th, 2003 to order at 7:40 pm in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. The meeting opened with a prayer offered by Rev. Greg Schmidt. A quorum [6] was met, with 11 being present [P] and 2 being absent [A].

The minutes from the January 15th, 2003 meeting were reviewed and accepted. Kim Karkut then called on the officers and committee chairs for their reports.

MINISTER- Rev. Dr. Greg Schmidt-The Ash Wednesday Services will start on March 5th. The first service will be held at the First United Methodist Church on Long Hill Ave. Greg will be the guest preacher at this service. Throughout Lent, the Shelton Clergy Association will host the Ecumenical Worship Services each Wednesday starting with a Pot Luck Dinner at 6:00 pm and Worship Services at 7:00 pm. The Shelton Congregational Church will not be hosting a Lenten Service this year. On Saturday, February 22nd the Vassar College Concert, with the Elm City Girls Choir, directed by Tom Brand will be held in the Sanctuary. Greg also reported he and his family would be away, on vacation, from February 23rd through March 2nd.

TREASURER-Bruce Nichols-During the month of January 2003 the church had expenses of $11,656.08 and income of $8,685.48 for a net deficit of $2,970.60. A major, non-repetitive expense was the $2000.00 deposit on the installation of new energy-efficient windows for the Beard Room. Net worth for the church at the end of January was $238,671.95, down $4,933.92 from the end of December 2002. About $2,000.00 of the reduction was due to reduction of the value of the church's portfolio. The remainder came from the January deficit.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION- Jan Wells-No report

DEACONS-Gene Ogden-Gene reported something had been spilled on the new pulpit bible. The stains did come out of the covers, but not the bible. The covers were cleaned and replaced on Thursday afternoon. When Gene came to church on Saturday night to check the Sanctuary for Sunday Worship Services, both pulpit clothes were gone. He asked if everyone was aware of this and or knew who was responsible. He has replaced the cloths.

TRUSTEES-Glenn Wells-On the new windows to be installed in the downstairs of the church. A deposit has been made and the quote is higher because two windows have been added to the project. Trustees are waiting to hear from Hartford on the lead abatement appeal. $120.00 has been sent for a copy of the transcript. Insurance is covering the damage from the broken pipe in the kitchen. The heating system will be upgraded. The kitchen will be on a separate zone and the pipe size increased. The carpet in the parish house apartment will be replaced at a cost of $1600.00. This will complete the lead abatement work on the interior of the apartment. Next meeting will be March 18th at 6:30 pm.

OUTREACH-Lesley Barker- Spooner House was served on Saturday, February 15th. Spooner House will again go before the P&Z with a new site on Todd Road.

MEMBERSHIP-Walt Crosby-Darleen Conklin-Membership met on February 18th. Walter and Darleen will co-chair. The committee will publish a monthly column in the newsletter hi-lighting a new church member. The column will be called Membership Profiles. The committee plans are to have info cards in all the pews. Walter is changing the advertising in the Yellow Pages. He wants the membership committee to be responsible for sending out welcome letters. The committee plans on being more active on Sundays. The committee would like a current brochure made. Walter also questioned how membership ended up with the privilege of supplying outside banners and advertising. Walter presented an optimistic and busy year for the membership committee.

NOMINATING-Cheryl Patrick-no report

PERSONNEL-Bill Barker-no report

FUNDRAISING- Betty Ogden-The 3rd Annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner is scheduled for March 8th at 6:00 pm. It will be buffet style and feature a traditional corned beef meal. Adult tickets will be $10.00 and children 12 and under $5.00. There will be a raffle and bingo. A new quilt project is starting. This will be a Log Cabin. 24 people will be needed. Packets with directions and materials have been prepared by W.F. These packets will be sold for $5.00 and this money will cover material needed to finish the quilt top. Because of so many different opinions on the price of raffle tickets, Betty asked for council input on how much the raffle tickets should be. A vote was taken, and the majority vote was $5.00.

WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP-Lucille Wells-Health kits will be packed at the April meeting. The next meeting will be March 11th, at 7:00pm at Lucille's home.

STEWARDSHIP- Sharon Schmidt-Greg reported the committee will send out letters to members who haven't yet pledged for this year. Also, members who don't pledge will be notified they will need to send $20.00 to cover the cost of postage if they wish to continue receiving the newsletter.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. The church received a 2002 Detail Report of Benevolence Giving by our church acknowledging our generous and faithful support to the ministries of the United Church of Christ.

2. Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders of Connecticut have agreed to hold a statewide
event for Christians on Sunday, February 23rd at 4:00 pm at Immanuel Congregational
Church, UCC, corner of Woodland Street and Farmington Avenue in Hartford. They have
agreed they are opposed to war as a solution to the challenges facing our nation and
world, and offer this event so they might learn and reflect together about those
challenges and Christian Teaching.

The next council meeting will be held Tuesday, March 18th, 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