Council Members Present: Airin Cherian, Vicar Judy Converse, Beverly Dougherty, Pastor Ross Goodman, Sergia Hay, Jen Nahn, Mark Olson, Dana Ramish, Cindy Reuter, Alison Roberts, Brian Sniffen, Darcie Sunnerberg, Marilyn Waehler.
Also Present: Joe Bartelson, Zeb Goodman, and Sam Heels.
Absent: none
A quorum was gathered and we came together in God’s name at 7:37pm. A candle was lit to remind us that Christ is present with us as we meet.
We shared stories of our own confirmation classes.
The agenda was accepted.
Darcie Sunnerberg then led a devotion on Psalm 27. Next month, Airin Cherian will lead devotions.
Joe Bartelson, Zeb Goodman, and Sam Heels speak about their confirmation experience at St. Paul.
We sing Seek ye first, which apparently isn’t in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (or lbw, tlh, or wov).
The minutes of 13 April 2009 were accepted as amended.
We have received April rent for Hillside House, but have not received any rent for the offices in the church. We will likely fall short for the summer as usual. The question is whether we shall catch up in Fall.
The mortgage principal balance reported last month was incorrect. It has been corrected for this month and the corrected version is available on request.
This month’s report does not include the expenses from n7 authorized last month. The purchase orders were not received in time to pay before this report was generated.
We are spending an awful amount on electricity. Bev will check how much more we spent on electricity last summer compared to last spring, so as to perhaps predict the amount we will spend this summer.
These are two young Sudanese girls who have received camperships from St. Paul for the past two years.
They are each registered to attend a 2 week session. The cost for 2 weeks is $1170 (including a T-shirt and snack cards). The total for both girls for two weeks is $2340. A congregant has already paid $500 to cover their deposit and registration. Calumet will cover what St. Paul doesn’t. Social Ministries is requesting $1200 from n7. St. Paul does have a history of providing Camperships as needed. Years ago, there was a designated Campership Fund, but in recent years Camperships have been covered by Social Ministry Funds. Last year we used n5 Funds. Social Ministries prefers not to use n5 at this time, as it is getting low.
Motion 1 We approve the request of the Social Ministries Committee to pay $1200 from n7 to fund Camp Calumet Camperships for Aqual and Sunday Ringadoor. moved, seconded, carried.
St. Paul will be having a congregational barbeque on June 6th and have invited families who are staying at the Gateway motel. Social Ministries is requesting up to $1500 from n7 to cover expenses. Social Ministries will purchase hot dogs, burgers and vegetarian options, and asks the congregation to provide additional food. We have no way of knowing at this time what the response will be and who will be willing to provide food. Social Ministries is also applying for Thrivent matching funds but the amount is yet to be determined. We will receive ahead count from Gateway and a sign-up sheet for St. Paul members will give us an idea of how many people to expect. The expense to rent a six foot gas grill will be paid with funds from n5.
Motion 2 We approve the request of the Social Ministries Committee to allocate up to $1500 from n7 to fund expenses related to the St. Paul barbeque June 6th. moved, seconded, carried.
Pastor Goodman will talk with the neighbors to invite them and help them feel comfortable with a few hundred partying Lutherans in their front yard.
The personnel committee asks that we pay for a class on Microsoft Office for Mary-Ellen.
Motion 3 We approve allocation of $325 from b1 (Conferences, Retreats, and Worshops) for professional computer classes for Mary-Ellen at New Horizons computer learning center in Boston. moved, seconded, carried.
lss is paying for the old parsonage, and should begin paying for the office space soon. They feel a great urgency to end their current lease and move here. They have wired the rooms and moved a server into the machine closet. The will move as soon as they can end their current multi-year lease.
Mark Olson, Pastor Goodman, and at&t’s crack plastics engineers have laid out a new cross with less visible seams, better visibility, and more antenna space inside. Once the Town of Arlington approves it, this will bring us an extra $1000 per month of rental income.
Mark Olson and Brian Sniffen will attend an Arlington town meeting later this month to support the permit process.
After months of no news, we have an applicant: Jen Nahn of our own congregation and council. Interviews and a formal process will follow in the next weeks. We will reassess our ability to afford a Christian education director in light of the delays moving lss into both tenancies.
Congregation memeber and professional photographer Heratch Ekmekjian has proposed that he could easily do a church directory. He is willing to donate his time and professional talent, use proceeds from portrait sales to fund the directories.
Several other members of the congregation have expressed interest in helping.
Pastor Goodman read this book to receive a view on this congregation from a wider perspective. We briefly discuss our experiences with the book. Brian comments on similarities with other culture’s attempts to resurrect forgotten practices in the name of tradition, and on the difficulty of distinguishing such from novel practice.
Pastor Goodman will speak next month about his reading of the book.
Pastor Goodman speaks of a recent visit to a New York City church in a similar situation, confronting mounting capital and maintenance costs. They put about $80K/$500K of their budget into maintenance and capital improvements: new windows, masonry, etc. We have no need to build a showpiece, but we should consider how to properly support the building.
He and Vicar Converse have been invited to a large conference of New England pastors next week. Next week is also a session with our next intern, Vicar Andrew Heisen.
Money from Pastor Goodman’s discretionary fund will furnish the upper lounge.
Vicar Judy reports that next weekend is her graduation marathon: her oldest daughter’s boyfriend from rpi, her own from seminary, and two for her middle daughter at the University of Pennsylvania. Her candidacy committee will meet in June, speak with her, and decide her case.
Pastor Goodman gathers us in prayer and leads communion at 9:25pm.
Respectfully submitted, Brian Sniffen
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Next regular council meeting: 8 June 2009 at 7:30pm.