Council Members Present: Airin Cherian, Vicar Judy Converse, Pastor Ross Goodman, Sergia Hay, Jen Nahn, Dana Ramish, Cindy Reuter, Alison Roberts, Brian Sniffen, Marilyn Waehler.
Absent: Beverly Dougherty, Mark Olson, Darcie Sunnerberg.
A quorum was gathered and we came together in God’s name at 7:38pm. A candle was lit to remind us that Christ is present with us as we meet.
We shared highlights of what’s new in our lives. In the spirit of Mark’s more inquisitive check-ins, we talk about listening, learning, and serving in our lives. Cindy and Dana talk about illness in their families. Airin announces his plan to be married this fall to a girl named Reema. We’ll meet her this fall when she joins him in Massachusetts. Judy has just organized a familyreunion, listening and learning about her roots and being part of something bigger than herself. Jen talks about her new service as the Congregation’s Director of Christian Education. Marilyn talks about learning to age from supporting some elderly friends. Brian talks about family reunions, aging grandparents, and how to support the family members that support the rest. Pastor Goodman talks about having five teenagers in his house this week, and the benefits of an office outside the home. Alison talks about going to see her parents, who she hasn’t seen in years, and about the trouble of dealing with bosses. Sergia talks about experiencing grace and learning about it from the congregation.
The agenda was accepted as amended.
Next month, Beverly Dougherty will lead devotions.
We sing Break now the bread of life (515).
The minutes of June were accepted as amended.
We are ahead for net giving, but some of that is because of one-time gifts in June.
Beverly is not here, but has sent figures.
Last month:
Motion 2 We move to continue this discussion in e-mail or in next month. moved, seconded, carried.
We now bring up Motion 1 again. The motion is defeated.
Over e-mail, the council hires Jen Nahn as Director of Christian Education.
Motion 3 The Christian Education Committee has completed their process in selecting a Christian Education Director. They have recommended we hire Jen Nahn. There process and conversations with Jen has taken place over the past month and they had met this past weekend for an interview. We thank the committee for their work.
Jen will be offered $20000 per year for 20–25 hour weeks with 2 weeks of vacation and 4 Sundays per year vacation.
While we have been counting on funding from LSS to help in covering this expense Ross has been able to bring commitments for an additional $10500 to cover the cost needed for hiring for this position until the next budget year.
Jen will begin in July but will go on the payroll August 1st. She needs to be away for two weeks in August but wants to get a head start on the work in July. The Christian Education committee is seeking an email vote of approval from the council.
This email will be a motion to hire Jen Nahn as Christian Education director. Please respond with a yes, no, or abstain.
On the motion to hire Jen Nahn as Director of Christian Education we have 9 yes votes and one abstain1 . The motion is carried.
A revised policy is then proposed:
Motion 4 We adopt the Revised Benevolence Fund Policy as proposed by the Social Ministry Committee. moved, seconded, carried.
There is a brief discussion of the difficulty of making policy up to which we may not be able to live. Brian proposes removing the one section in conflict, “Donations to the Benevolence Funds.” This proposal is declined, and the motion carried.
We congratulate Jen Nahn, our new Christian Education Director. We discuss accepting her resignation as a member of the Council. She writes a letter during the meeting. The secretary accepts it.
Motion 5 We excuse the absences of Mark Olson and Darcie Sunnerberg. moved, seconded, carried.
Heratch Ekmejian has proposed an efficient way to build a congregational directory. We’ll need to find several lay-people to give direction, and will need to find funding to cover the directories. The consensus of the Council is that this is a great project, and we’ll allocate money once it’s further along.
Pastor Goodman reports that the lease is in place with at&t. The rental payments should start soon, and the construction afterwards. He’s been working on many weddings: Dave and Darby, Jens and Jane, Kirsten and Tom, and Janna and Amir.
He also reports on some meetings with Beverly Dougherty and Ken Heyda over Beverly’s summer trips and new versions of Shepherd’s Staff. The hunt for a new Financial Secretary is going wonderfully in its pre-nomination phase.
He’ll be in d.c. for about a week starting Monday, then traveling elsewhere. Vicar Converse will be in New Orleans for the next weekend. Pastor Keith Andersen (former Vicar, now Pastor of a church in Woburn) will be here for some of that time, and Pastor Angelica Zollfrank from Mass. General will be here for the last two Sundays he’s gone.
Vicar Converse has only a few weeks remaining as our Vicar. She’s making the best use of that time, working with our new staff and our Vicar-to-be. She’s really excited about Hammanassett, a camping weekend in August. Several kids from the congregation and the six kids who are to live at Hillside House will meet there. She’s also leading a Senior Trip to Calumet this weekend. Next weekend is her trip to New Orleans with three eighth-grade boys. Her last week will be the week of the August Council Meeting.
Pastor Goodman gathers us in prayer and leads communion at 9:01pm.
Respectfully submitted, Brian Sniffen
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Next regular council meeting: 10 August 2009 at 7:30pm.