|
|
|
| February 14, 2006 Council Meeting Minutes |
Back to Council Main
Councilors present: John Bausch, Kimberly Brya, Cynthia Churchwell, Steve Dyer,
Carol Fessler, Susan Gillette, Chris Hurley, Heidi Law, Will McLean, Peggy
McNamara, Joanne Miner, Jodie Stewart and Janet Van Zuiden.
Councilors absent: Rich Franklin.
Pastors and Staff Attending: Joseph Shank, Connie Stewart, Jenny Gleichauf and
Floy Schrage.
Guest: Sharon King.
Call to Order and Opening Business
Cynthia Churchwell, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. She welcomed
Sharon King to the Council meeting. All recited the Church’s Mission Statement
after which Acting Associate Pastor Jenny Gleichauf shared the cares and
concerns of the congregation. Interim Associate Pastor, Connie Stewart, then
offered the opening prayer.
A motion to approve the January 10, 2006 Council minutes was made by John
Bausch, seconded by Jodie Stewart. Approval was unanimous.
Will McLean, Treasurer, reported that the Budget Committee did a great job this
year and that the 2006 Budget was approved at the February 12, 2006 Budget
Meeting of the congregation.
The Chair remarked that for the past months Council has been engaged in a
continuing effort to hear from the congregation. As a part of this effort,
Cynthia Churchwell invited Sharon King to share her thoughts with Council.
Sharon emphasized that she was not present to complain, but rather to express
the concerns of some of the older members of the congregation. Many of these
members grew up in the church and married and raised their families here. Now
they feel unknown in the congregation. There is a need for more outreach to them
as a group as well as more active involvement on the part of the pastoral staff.
Carol Fessler said that Grapevine, published by the Woman’s Society, is a forum
of communication that attempts to celebrate the contributions of older church
members. She suggested that it would be helpful for Sharon to suggest
information to her for the publication. Sharon also expressed that having lunch
with the pastoral staff from time to time would be greatly appreciated. Connie
Stewart replied that she is in the process of arranging spring luncheons at both
Covenant Village and the Presbyterian Home. Janet Van Zuiden and Steve Dyer both
commented that ushers used to pick up members from the Presbyterian Home who
wished to attend church and that perhaps it is time to revisit that issue.
Kimberly Brya told Sharon she would love to know who, specifically, is at the
Presbyterian Home so she could make sure to put them in the right “bucket” (a
process used by Canvass to categorize the membership for contacts). Jodie
Stewart emphasized the importance of following up on Sharon’s remarks. It was
agreed by Council that the Worship and Nurture councilors should meet to discuss
the issues raised and bring recommendations back to Council. The Chair then
thanked Sharon for sharing her thoughts with Council.
The Chair then asked Council’s approval of this year’s Nominating Committee.
Kimberly Brya moved approval of the committee, which was seconded by Jodie
Stewart and unanimously approved. Members are:
| Betty
Carbol |
Outreach |
| Mary Pons
|
Worship |
| Harry Grace
|
Support |
| Tom
Geraghty |
Education |
| At-Large:
|
Tom Law
John Nanninga Linda Davis |
As of this date (February 14, 2006) one at-large member slot remains to be
filled, and then appointment of the chair of the Nominating Committee by the
Chair of the congregation.
Cynthia Churchwell reported that the Search Committee has developed a profile
for the position of Associate Pastor. This will be listed with Presbyterian and
United Church of Christ job sites as well as our Website. In view of this,
Cynthia asked that each group carefully check the Website to make certain that
the information about their respective groups is correct.
The Chair also reported that the church has received the construction permit for
the Sanctuary Renewal Project. The current organ will be dismantled after the
spring concert March 12. Anyone wishing to participate in this should speak to
Jenny. Cynthia reminded everyone that the Rev. Dr. John Cook, past president of
the Henry Luce Foundation, former divinity school professor and Dean of the
School of Sacred Music at Yale University, will share his insights on church
architecture and liturgical design March 3-5. He will make a public presentation
Friday evening on “Housing the Sacred, Building the Protestant Church in
America”. On Saturday he will meet with committees and staff and be available to
the congregation on Sunday after each worship service.
It was commented on by the Chair that attendance at both the Budget meeting and
the following pot-luck supper on February 12 was low, and perhaps it is time for
Council to review the time and format of our church meetings. She then reminded
everyone that April 23 is the kick-off date for the Sanctuary Renewal Capital
Campaign. Carol Fessler noted the dollars used to prepare the Alsdorf Activities
Center for worship during the time of construction will not come from the annual
budget.
New Business
Group reports were circulated prior to the meeting. In the Education report,
Adult Education asked why more members of the congregation don’t attend Tuesday
Talks. Connie Stewart announced that the books (The Good Book by Peter Gomes)
being used for this year’s Lenten Study have arrived. Tuesday Talks will
coordinate with the Thursday Book Study as well as Sunday morning peer study
groups. Also, Connie is assembling a devotional book for Lent. If you have a
favorite devotional, psalm, etc, forward it to her.
Jenny reminded that March19 is the date of the Servants Silent Auction and that
contributions are welcome. She also announced that Patty Van Cleave is leaving
as coordinator for WCC’s service at the Rogers Park Soup Kitchen.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. after a
closing prayer.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy McNamara, Clerk
Alsdorf PDF Plan
How to Read PDF Files
You will need to download and install a free version of
Adobe Acrobat Reader to display PDF files posted on this page and elsewhere on
this website.
Download Acrobat
To the top
|
