Minutes of Skyland Church Council Meeting - March 12, 2006

Attendees: All Members of Church organization.

The meeting was called to order at 12:18PM by Moderator Larry Lopp. In attendance were the new and returning members of all the church committees – Trustees, Deacons, Education, Music and Arts, Missions, Endowment and Memorial, the Women’s Group and the Church Council officers; moderator, vice moderator, pastor, clerk, auditor, treasurer and assistant treasurer.

An opening prayer was spoken by Stephen who urged us all to treat our meeting time in the same spirit as we treat our worship time.

Larry asked Council members to adopt the new process wherein the minutes from the past meeting would not be read aloud. Minutes for all Boards and Committees are now posted on the Skyland website and Council members are encouraged to read the online minutes before meetings. Changes in any minutes requested should be forwarded to the minute’s poster before the minutes are approved, usually at the next meeting. Unless specifically requested paper copies will not be passed out. Hopefully this will reduce paper piles in everyone’s file cabinets.

The Council then reviewed the status of three motions that had been passed at the congregational meeting last year. The first was to encourage that day to day operations of the church body be streamlined. Larry conveyed that this goal was of high value to him personally as well as to the congregation and the Council. Day to day operation improvements will be the lead off item for Councils meeting for at least the next 6 months.

The second motion was to establish a Public Relations Committee. Past moderator Larry Cooke clarified that the PR Committee was intended to manage facilities rental, the new family welcome packet, and the in-church comment cards. Member-representatives of the church committees would make up the PR Committee. To-date no action had been taken on this motion. Council discussion followed and then the following motion was made:

Jan Swayne moved that "With respect to the request of the congregation to create a PR Committee it is the view of the Council that a PR Committee is not necessary as the functions are already being performed by the existing church committees."

The motion was seconded by Nancy Jo Lopp. Following discussion the motion carried.

The third motion was related to by-law changes; when and how they should be made and whether or not any by-laws are currently being violated. Larry stated that the Council would be prepared to deal with any administrative issues in this area that might come along during the year and that he would re-write any by-laws that needed attention.

Other items on the meeting agenda included:

1) The in-covenant relationship with our seminary interns, in-care people, licensed ministers and ordained ministers attending Skyland needs definition and clarification. What are the covenant boundaries, are we working correctly within the covenants and how do the covenants relate to Skyland?

The Deacons and panel of past and present moderators will study this issue and report back to the council in time to vet any proposed changes with the appropriate boards and Council to prepare for a Congregational vote in the June or January congregation meetings as required.

2) Facilities Rental: Last year we fell behind in the collection of fees from the rental of Whitaker Hall and church facilities. Larry recommended that we place a person in the role of managing facilities rentals. This was discussed by the Council and resulted in the following motion:

Gerry Alonzo moved that on Larry’s recommendation "We contract with Paula Leary to handle Skyland facilities rental at 40% of the rental proceeds to be paid to Paula for the 2006 and 2007 calendar years. Paula’s Home location will be the chair of the Trustees. Appropriate facilities use and price guidelines will be provided to Paula."

The motion was seconded by Holly Reed.

During discussion it was agreed that the details of how Paula would carry out this role will be defined by her with assistance from additional Church members. We will look for guidance from her on clarifying rental rates, procedures for qualifying the renters and all other related issues deemed necessary. The motion carried.

3) A Home for the Newsletter: The newsletter function needs a “home." Discussion followed as to what committee chair should work with the newsletter function. This discussion revealed that there are a number of other “orphan" functions that do not have a “home" with any committee chair. Stephen suggested that we reserve a future Council meeting to discuss what “orphan"" functions need assigned chair “homes." Skyland members are encouraged to forward names of functions and individuals to Larry so he can compile them for this future meeting.

4) New Processes: It is Larry’s goal that everyone in the church receives training on using the Skyland website new layout and minutes posting feature and other capabilities as they are developed.

5) Church Calendar: Updating the church calendar is an extremely important task. Our current calendar has an inordinate number of date conflicts and this needs to be streamlined. Committees are asked to send the name of a member who would work with Larry and The SCCC to establish procedures and to input calendar dates. A member from each Board would be ideal.

6) Committee Reports: Committees were asked to give high level reports on their recent activities. Details of Committee activities can be read in the posted minutes for each Board and Committee.

Holly Reed spoke for the Education Committee, asking that the group drop its old name of Religious Board of Education and be known as “Education." This was agreeable to the Council. Holly reported on the enthusiasm being generated among new Education Committee members for youth activities and how our youth will partner with other UCC locations.

Maire Howard reminded the group that the Trustees will need everyone’s budgetary plan requirements ASAP. March 26 is Pledge Sunday. April 8 is the annual all-church participation clean-up day and everyone is invited. The kitchen remodel plan is ready to be presented.

Jackie Seymour communicated that Missions has invited a speaker from Global Strategies to come and talk about AIDS in Africa and what can be done to help.

Nancy Jo Lopp stated that Deacons are focusing on the pew insert cards and ways to support fellowship events and retreats.

Gerry Alonzo conveyed that our finances are looking healthy and discussion followed as to how we might post financial information on the website for everyone to read. It was agreed that only high level brief categories would be posted, not details. Gerry said that facility insurance costs have increased greatly. There are also a number of “orphan�? expenses that currently do not have a financial category in the budget. It was decided that the financial “orphans" would also be discussed with the task “orphans" at the future meeting.

John Gaffney reported that Music and Arts is getting organized with new members.

Terry Clark reported that the Women’s Group is offering another Cooking With Emile class as a kitchen fundraiser on April 12 and signups are needed. The Women’s Group is also planning both a summer and fall Women’s retreat.

Maire Howard gave a visual preview presentation to the Council regarding the kitchen remodel project. Layout, changes and steps to the project were discussed. The remodel should begin in the June/July timeframe. Details will be presented at the March 19th Committees meeting.

The next Council meeting is scheduled for April 30th. The meeting was adjourned at 2:00PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Terry Clark, Clerk

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