MINUTES

Skyland Church Council Meeting

November 16, 2006

The meeting opened at 7:40 PM.

John Wetherill gave a demonstration of the new, easy to use, online church calendar and asked for feedback from church members. All church, committee, special religious and social events/activities will be noted on the calendar. Any member can enter an event using the password. The password was given to the assembled group.

John also discussed the member database project, moving us from a great legacy system set up by Wes Smith, into a newer, more secure system with backup, security features, easier accessibility and Internet interface. The database information will be housed in a remote, computer host location – no longer on the church site where the risk of vandalism and theft is higher. The database will also allow us the additional features of label generation, e-mail aliases and other list capabilities.

John will have a mock up ready for preview in the next couple of months. Thanks were expressed by everyone for all of Wes’ hard work and member list management of the past years.

Nancy Jo introduced the draft of the Board of Deacons Policy on In-Care, Four Way Covenant and Ministerial Intern Relationships. The relationship between these conditions, Skyland and the UCC is covered in the document with emphasis on how the relationships would be carried forward at Skyland. A copy of the new policy was included in the handouts and Nancy Jo asked that everyone read it and offer comments back to the Deacons.

Larry Lopp led a discussion on church bylaw changes. Three sections in the Skyland By-Laws were noted as proposed for change. A copy of the by laws and proposed changes was included in the handouts. The changes included -

Section 1: Spelling and punctuation corrections

Section 2: Bringing certain sections of the bylaws in line with current church practices either because some sections violate other existing bylaws and/or because they need to be spelled out in more specific terms.

Section 3: Substantive changes from current practices in the areas of Pastoral Duties and Guidance, changes to Quorum, Minister Development and Care and the qualifications for being an officer, board/committee member and member of the Council.

The council approved proposals will be discussed and published in the congregation and placed on the agenda for a vote by the congregation at the Jan. 28, 2007 meeting.

Larry conducted a discussion of the plans for the Kitchen Recognition and Celebration on December 10. A pancake breakfast will be held before church, managed by the Geists. Gifts and thank-you recognitions for the remodel organizers will occur.

Larry L., Larry C. and Gerry led a discussion on the Budgetary Process Change. The church budgetary plan for the 07/08 financial year will be presented at the Annual Congregation Meeting on Jan. 28th. Gerry made all the financial data available to the committees so they begin their financial work.

Action: MaryEllen moved to change the budget process to send the spending plans to the Congregation at the January 28th meeting. Larry Lopp seconded the motion. It was carried unanimously.

The concept and testing of a revised nominating process for filling vacant positions serving the church organizations was discussed. The council would like to find a way to locate and retain committee and organization members. Following the discussion it was decided that officers of the Council would continue to be nominated as they have in the past, by the moderator-led Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee would also nominate members for the Pastoral Relations Committee. All other boards and committees would be filled by volunteers who decide where they want to serve after reading a posted description of the roles of each committee. Each committee will provide that information as well as an overview of what the committee expects to do in the upcoming year.

Action: Don Law moved that we maintain the current nominating process but that we provide a one-year option for people who want to participate but do not want to make a several-year term commitment. Jackie seconded the motion. It was carried unanimously.

Action: The following members signed up to work with Larry L. on the Nominating Committee: MaryEllen, Holly, Larry Cooke and Don Law.

Nancy Jo presented a mock up of the flyer booklet created by the Deacons, to be mailed to all new homeowners in the community. The booklet includes a description of the church, a photo of the church, our church identity statement, information about Stephen and testimonials from church members about the value of belonging to Skyland Church.

Respectfully Submitted, Terry Clark

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