Church Council Meeting - January 18, 2005

Bill Barker called the Church Council Meeting for January 18th, 2005 to order at 8:00 p.m. in the Shelton Congregational Church Library. A quorum (6) was met with 10 being present (P) and 4 being absent (A).

The minutes from the December 15th, 2004 Council Meeting were reviewed and accepted as written. Asst. Church Manager Bill Barker then called on officers and chairs for their reports.

Treasurer-Bruce Nichols-Derek Cable our incoming treasurer for 2005 represented Bruce Nichols at this meeting. During the month of December 2004 the church had expenses of $11,953.58 and income of $8,615.47 for a net deficit of $3,338.11. Net worth of the church at the end of December was $234,154.75 down $1,182.16 from the end of November and down $2039.44 from the end of 2003. On December 21st, 2004 $6000,00 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-Rev. Shepard Parsons has signed his contract with Shelton Congregational Church. The contracts for Kathey DeMarco (church secretary) David Irvine (choir director) and Tanya Yedigarova (organist) were presented to the budget committee and approved. All three have been given their contracts to sign after the budget approval at the Annual Meeting. Rev. Jean McCusker has been given her final check for $426.00. All financial obligations to her have been met.

Nominating-Cheryl Patrick-Cheryl Patrick reported nominating as going very well. The Membership Committee hopes the by-law request of increasing the committee from four to six members is approved at the Annual Meeting. Betty Ogden is being added to the Christian Education Committee as Superintendent of the Sunday School. February 6th, 2005 is All Committee Sunday. Signs will be in place to help new committee members find their group. A letter is being sent to all proposed committee members thanking them for their commitment to serve on committees for 2005.

Minister-Rev. Shepard Parsons-In Rev. Parsons absence the ministers report was read by Ron Karkut. The report addressed the upcoming Lenten services. A Service for Christian Unity will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday January 23rd, 2005. A time for fellowship will follow. An ecumenical choir is invited to sing an anthem for this service. The offering for this service will go to the Hunger Action Fund of the United Church of Christ. On February 9th, 2005 there will be a joint U.C.C. and U.M.C. Ash Wednesday Service at Shelton United Methodist Church. Rev. Shepard Parsons and Rev. Tim Hare will be preaching. Schedule for the five Lenten Wednesday services is as follows:

February 16th, 2005-Host-Shelton CC-Rev. Jack Whritenour-preaching
February 23rd, 2005-Host-Shelton First United Methodist-Rev. Tim Hare-preaching
March 2nd, 2005-Host-Huntington United Methodist-Rev. Diane McClanahan-preaching
March 9th, 2005-Host-Trinity Lutheran Church-Rev. Lance Dallaire-preaching
March 16th, 2005-Host Huntington CC-Rev. Shepard Parsons-preaching

The host pastor leads the worship service and is responsible for the bulletin. The host congregation will provide food and drinks. Offering will go to Safe House for all five services. Checks to be made out to Shelton Clergy Association. Council approved $150.00 for expenses for the February 16th, 2005 Lenten service at our church.

Membership-Walt Crosby-Darlene Conklin- Darlene Conklin reported the committee has not had a recent meeting. They are preparing for the by-law changes to be requested at the Annual Meeting on January 30th, 2005. Hopefully the committee size will increase from four to six members. They plan on meeting with Rev. Parsons to discuss some of the by-law requests and seek his input. The committee has recently worked on updating the telephone directory. They are also working on a final membership list. Bill Barker asked if council had approved the "B" list. It was stated the lists had been approved at the November council meeting. With 28 people removed our membership roll is 146. We will need a quorum of 15 for the Annual Meeting.

Trustees-Glenn Wells-In August complaints were received from a neighbor about limbs falling from the dead tree behind the parish house onto her property. Glenn reported the insurance claim has been settled. Replacing the drum on the church copy machine at a cost of $960.00 has been tabled. Trustees will be cleaning up the storage area downstairs off the church kitchen so the FPKC can move their supplies from the parish house.

Outreach-Lesley Barker-Lesley Barker reported Spooner House will be served on January 15th, 2005. The Holiday Ice Extravaganza on December 17th, 2004 at The Rinks at Shelton was very successful. Admission was a donation of a non-perishable food items and benefited the Valley Food Bank. Glenn Wells and Derek Cable transported a ton of food to The Valley Food Bank from this event. Darlene Conklin said it was a great night for fellowship and the rink has invited SCC to participate again next year. ACT met on January 18th, 2005. There will be a Have A Heart Food Collection at three Stop & Shops on February 12th, 2005. Three times as many households were fed in 2004 than in 2001. The Tsunami collection is $250.00.

Stewardship-Bill Barker-Bill Barker reported pledging at $45,856.00. This is $6,000.00 short of the desired estimated amount. Fifteen church members have not pledged.

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. Bill and Shepard recently met to discuss this issue. Some items may be dropped from the policies. It will probably be three months before the policy is brought to council for approval. Betty Ogden asked that she be included in the future discussions. Bill asked for the issue to be tabled until a future date. All were in agreement.

New Business:

1. Jesse Patrick presented information on Shelton Congregational Church sponsoring a blood drive. She felt this would be a great outreach program. She has been in contact with the American Red Cross. We would need to recruit volunteers, supplies and a place to hold it. It was suggested our insurance policy be checked for liability. Because we are not entirely handicap accessible it was suggested that the Community Center in Huntington be checked for the availability of space there. A motion was made by Jesse Patrick seeking approval to pursue the matter. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

2. Cheryl Patrick showed a newspaper ad for the God Is Still Speaking Campaign given to her by Bruce Nichols. A number of area churches in Maine grouped together and shared the cost. Cheryl said she had received some funds from the Membership Committee. There are costs associated with this program and asked about the feasibility of a budget. She felt this campaign would need a regular allotment of funds. The discussion was tabled until the February council meeting.

3. Kim Karkut shared the information that another Congregational Church was impressed with our candidate status letter created by the Membership Committee. They requested a copy of the letter.

The next council meeting will be held Tuesday, February 15th, 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 9:19 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Betty Ogden, Clerk