Church Council Meeting - December 15, 2004

Kim Karkut called the Church Council Meeting for December 15th, 2004 to order at 7:45 p.m. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. Rev. Shepard Parsons offered a prayer. A quorum (6) was met with 11 being present (P) and 3 being absent (A).

The minutes from the November 17th, 2004 Council Meeting were reviewed and accepted as written. Church Manager Kim Karkut then called on officers and chairs for their reports.

Treasurer-Bruce Nichols-During the month of November 2004 the church had expenses of $8,450.50 and income of $7,634.25 for a net deficit of $1,816.25. Net worth for the church at the end of November was $235,336.91 up $3,090.66 from the end of October and down $857.28 from the end of 2003. On November 16th, $4,000.00 of the Fidelity Short Term Bond Fund was sold and transferred to the Webster checking account to cover current expenses.

Personnel and Pastoral Relations-Ron Karkut-Ron welcomed Rev. Shepard Parsons to our church. Thanks were also expressed to Rev. Jean McCusker for her service the past year. The pastors’ contract has been prepared and given to Shepard. With that done the search committee work has ended. Contracts are now being prepared for Kathey DeMarco (church secretary), David Irvine (choir director) and Tanya Yedigarova (organist). Each will soon be given a contract to sign. Once signed all employees will be given a copy. A copy of all contracts will be kept in the personnel file in the church office.

Nominating-Cheryl Patrick-Cheryl reported nominating as going very well. There are more volunteers than positions available. Sue Hanrahan is staying on the Personnel and Pastoral Relations Committee and Bruce Nichols will be added to the Stewardship Committee.

Minister-Rev. Shepard Parsons-Shepard shared his excitement about what lies ahead for his ministry and Shelton Congregational Church. He recently had lunch with Rev. Jean McCusker. She shared with him her experiences at Shelton Congregational Church. What they have meant to her and how they have renewed her call to ministry. Shepard asked if anyone was aware of someone who needed a visit or phone call from him. If so please pass that information on to him. He also asked about the possibility of council meetings moving from Wednesday night to another night. It was decided to discuss this under new business.

Membership-Walt Crosby-Darleen Conklin-Cheryl Patrick reported on the status of the membership list update. Darleen Conklin has done an enormous amount of work on this list and will soon be putting it in an excel format. She will be adding columns to define different levels of membership participation. As of December 15, 2004, the Shelton Congregational Church has 140 Active members (28 members requested or have been moved to the inactive list and 3 members passed away). The Membership Committee will seek a bylaw change to increase the committee size from four to six members.

Trustees-Glenn Wells-Glenn reported trustees voted to move $6,000.00 from the Fidelity Short Term Bond Fund into the church checking account. The storage closet in the church basement for the FPKC will be completed. The bathroom in the Parish House will be remodeled soon. The new roadside church signs have been installed. The FPKC lease will be signed. Bill Barker asked if there were any further complaints or problems he needs to address with the FPKC representative.

Outreach-Lesley Barker-Lesley reported Spooner House will be served on December 18th, 2004. The Shelton Congregational Church will be a sponsor for the Holiday Ice Extravaganza on December 17th, 2004 at The Rinks at Shelton. Admission will be the donation of a non-perishable food item and will benefit the Valley Food Bank. The Valley Food Bank fed 600 families for Thanksgiving. The Angel Tree supplied 18 gifts to the Salvation Army.

Deacons-Carol Edson-Carol reported enough people have volunteered to light Advent Candles. Christmas decorations are up. There will be thirty poinsettias in the sanctuary for Christmas.

Stewardship-Bill Barker-Bill Barker reported $34,000.00 was pledged on Consecration Sunday. $6,000.00 in pledges has been received since. So far, this is $13,000.00 less than 2004.

Budget Committee-Bill Barker- Bill reported a projected church budget of approximately $139,000.00. The Budget Committee will meet after the Personnel Committee meets on December 14th, 2004.

Old Business:

1. Bill Barker and Church Manager Kim Karkut attended a workshop on “Will We Be A Safe Church” on May 8th, 2004. Using information and literature from the Cheshire Congregational Church a “Safe Church Policy” for the Shelton Congregational Church has been created by Bill Barker. Bill Barker reported that Jan Wells has recently given him a simpler policy that Rev. Greg Schmidt had brought to council two years ago. Bill will review the two policies. Rev. Shepard Parsons requested he be included in the review and discussions on this issue.

New Business:

1. Bill Barker reported on his meeting with the FPKC to discuss problems and complaints reported to him by church members. The FPKC representative said it was mistakes on their part. He also discussed with the FPKC the use our facilities when they are not scheduled. All extra use of the church facilities is to be appropriately scheduled and reported to the office.
2. Kim Karkut requested all committee chairs submit their Annual Committee Reports to the office as soon as possible.
3. The God is Still Speaking Committee met on December 14, 2004. The committee wants everyone to be aware all church members are welcome to attend the meetings. There is a sign up sheet for greeters on the bulletin board in the narthex. Carol Edson suggested that perhaps someone could stay in the narthex for the late comer’s entrance into the sanctuary so as not to interrupt the worship service. Cheryl has created a give away for Christmas Eve. It is a bookmark size pamphlet supplying information on the Shelton Congregational Church. There would be a wooden cross attached. Cheryl then made a motion that the pamphlet is handed out to members and guests on Christmas Eve. The motion was seconded and approved.
4. It was discussed and agreed to hold the next council meeting on Tuesday, January 18th, 2004 at 8 p.m. Trustees will meet at 7 p.m.

The next council meeting will be held Tuesday, January 18th, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. The council joined together in saying The Lord’s Prayer. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Betty Ogden, Clerk