SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING: 1/22/15 PRESENT: Sonya Murphy, Pastor Larry Lystig, Roy Eveland, Jennifer Griffin, Glenn Gilbert, Nancy Ruck, Vince Compagno, Hal Prather, Mavis Compagno ABSENT: Jon Durden The meeting was opened in prayer by Pastor Larry. The meeting was called to order by Sonya. She welcomed new members, Hal and Vince. Previous Minutes: 1. Special Service Committee/Personnel meeting on 12/17/14: typo corrections to the motion by Fred regarding Beth Moore s employment. Vince moved to approve the corrected minutes, seconded by Hal, and approved unanimously. 2. Regular Service Committee on 12/18/14: Corrections to change members to officers in #1 of the Security Camera viewing policy; replace before, during, and after with from in the motion made by Fred for the service on 12/14/14; commendation corrected to recommendation in the motion regarding the Baptism policy; correction from Minnesota to Wisconsin in Pastors report. Roy moved to approve the corrected minutes, seconded by Nancy, and approved unanimously. 3. Special Service Committee meeting on 1/4/15: Vince moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Jennifer and approved unanimously. 4. Congregation Meeting on 1/11/15: Jennifer moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Hal and approved unanimously. 5. Special Service Committee meeting on 1/11/15: Nancy moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Roy and approved unanimously. Service Committee Contact Information: Sonya asked that all SC members share their preferred email address and a cell phone number. Jennifer passed around the draft list for everyone to confirm or correct. She will email it to all members. Baptism Policy: Sonya reported that she had received an email from Robert Carswell regarding the Baptism of his daughters. She forwarded the new Baptism policy, approved by the SC on 12/18/14. He has not replied at the time of this meeting. Security Cameras: Sonya reported that Robert Carswell emailed her reiterating comments he made at the Chapel Chat in December regarding his belief that the cameras violate the sanctuary. Roy reported that prior to the installation of the cameras there were a total of 4 thefts that occurred at 3 week intervals. The last theft occurred on 11/16 with no thefts since the cameras were installed. Positive comments from members of the congregation have been shared with several SC members. After discussion it was decided to leave the cameras for the time being. Lynda Wojcik s wallet was found in one of the bathrooms on 12/14/14. Roy reported that he and Pastor Larry reviewed the video from 12/14. Nothing viewed was helpful regarding the theft. Roy stated that viewing the video recording is password protected and per the Security Camera Viewing Policy, approved by the SC on 12/18/14, only the SC officers and Pastor will have the password. The video is now activated by motion only and will not record when no one is in the sanctuary.
Pastoral/Administrative Assistant - Sonya Beth Moore was released from her position, effective on 1/20/15. She was employed through a Temp Agency. Missy Lennon will be doing the Bulletins for now. John Krause from the Personnel Committee has taken the lead on working with the same Temp Agency to find a replacement. John will also draft a note to be emailed to the congregation. Sonya reported that Beth still has some WoG information on her computer hard-drive and is still receiving some emails from members. Per Jon Durden, she will be paid for time accrued to forward the information from her computer and emails. Beth has been doing the quarterly NALC Mid-South Mission District newsletter for the past year. The Dean of the MSMD, Bill White has been notified. Personnel Committee According to the constitution, the outgoing President of the SC becomes the chairperson of the Personnel Committee for one year and serves on the committee for 3 years. Sonya reported that she received an email from Bill Drury stating that he is unable to take on the position. Sonya will be meeting with Bill later this week to discuss. Office Computer Sonya reported that the Administrative office computer in the Annex does not have a software program that could do the newsletter or weekly updates. She asked Hal to check on options. (Pastor Larry uses his own computer in the office) Hal reported that the cost for a stand-alone Microsoft Office (that has the publisher program needed for newsletters) would cost $219.00. Another option is called Office 365 that is a cloud based program. For the price of $99 per year (no initial fee) the entire Microsoft Office Suite could be downloaded onto 5 computers. This will allow for programing on the office computer, pastor s computer and for the pastor and administrative assistant to work from their personal computer or tablet from another location. It has one terabyte of storage and the annual cost would include ongoing program updates. Mavis reported that there is already a line item in the budget for this kind of office expense. After discussion it was decided to pursue the Office 365 program. Hal will take the lead on this. ICON-CMO This is an online database that WoG uses to document financial contributions and Personal information including member status (i.e. voting, associate), demographic information, birthdays, Baptism date, Confirmation date, and visitor information. The church wide emails also come from this site. There is an annual fee for this program. It was originally set up by Russ Crawford and he remains the administrator of this site. Hal Prather and Nancy Ruck, as co-leaders of the Finance Committee have access to enter each person s weekly or monthly giving. Each members/family annual financial statement is generated from the financial section of this site. Previously, the pastor and administrative assistant were the only members with access to the administrative functions. Sonya, Roy, and Jennifer have been given administrative access (no access to finance information) and are working with Russ to learn how to use the program. They are now able to send church wide emails. Russ would like for someone else to take over as the lead administrator of the site and would serve as an assistant when a new pastoral/administrative assistant is hired.
Policies Sonya reported that she would like to have copies of all active policies in a notebook in the office and on the member section of the new website. Jennifer reported that the SC approved the following policies at their meeting on 8/15/13 as noted in the minutes: o Bulletin Board Policy (August 18, 2011) o Announcements Policy (August 18, 2011) o Key Policy (September 1, 2011) o Policy for facilitating congregants in financial need (September 1, 2011) o Privacy of individuals with prayer concerns (October 25, 2011) o Attendance reporting should use usher count, not tear-offs (November 18, 2011) o Service Committee mentor assignments (January 18, 2012) o Fundraising Guidelines (September 17, 2012) o Facility Use Policy (February 2012) Jennifer stated that copies of all of these policies were not in the Secretary s Book. Bill Drury may have some of them and will be giving Sonya a folder with reports he had while serving as President of the SC. Jennifer stated that the Baptism Policy and Security Camera Viewing Policy were approved by the SC committee on December 18, 2014. Glenn reported that he had added the Baptism policy to the website. Jennifer will try to have all policies available for the next SC meeting to review, determine whether the policies need revision, and determine which ones should go on the website. Pastor s Report Pastor Larry Carolyn will be making new nametags for the SC members that will include the committee s and teams they serve on. He participated in a Baptism with Pastor John Weber for the Robert s granddaughter. He is teaching the bible study on Tuesday with the topic of Islam. There were 45 participants this week. There is a request for a First Communion class. Pastor Larry reported that he is not planning to attend an NALC meeting in early February due to concerns about several congregational members. He reported on a new group the NALC is putting together called a Ministerium that will be made up of pastors only. The purpose of the group will be to support each other, make recommendations on church policy, and help grow congregations. The Mid-South Mission District for the NALC (states: AL, AK, FL panhandle, GA, MS, TN) will be having a meeting on February 20-21 in Hickson, TN. This is located just outside Chattanooga. A Pastor and lay delegate are invited to attend. The only cost will be for the hotel. Mavis reported that there is still money in the budget for a lay conference in the current budget that will cover the costs. Roy tentatively volunteered to attend. Nancy will be the alternate and will make hotel reservations as soon as possible. Website - Glenn Prayer List page has been added. Editing permissions currently provided to Priscilla Light and Carolyn Lystig. On 01/21/15 Glenn Gilbert met with Priscilla and Carolyn for training on how to make updates to the Prayer List. Worship Service Assistants Schedule page has been added. Glenn Gilbert is updating until such time as the ministry team can get training and update.
Currently there are 49 users signed up for member accounts. The Constitution/Bylaws and Baptism Policy were added as a Church Documents link. Jennifer will meet with Glenn to remove some of the missions listed on the Mission and Mission Outreach Ministry links that are no longer active missions. The Ministry Team links still need to be updated. None of the teams have submitted information to Glenn. Jennifer will include a request when she sends out the announcement for the 2/5/15 Ministry Leader meeting. Glenn and Jennifer will work on putting together a group of interested members of the congregation to make the website more complete. Finance Mavis reviewed the December 2014 Financial Report. Income exceeded both budget and expenses. The expenses were slightly higher than the budget for the month due to slightly higher staff expenses and the ongoing deficit in rent. Ministry Funds continue to come under budget. The giving to the Property Fund in December was almost as high as the General Fund. There has been a steady increase in giving to the General Fund over the past year. Giving to the Property Fund averages $3000.00 to 4000.00 per month. The property was paid for by the money in the Property Fund at the time of purchase and money borrowed from our Strategic Reserve. Only $58,000.00 still needs to paid back to the Strategic Reserve Fund. A total of $215,000.00 has been given to the Property Fund in the past 12 months since the fund was established. Nancy reported that the Finance Committee met on Tuesday, 1/20 and discussed the Pastors Discretionary Fund. Mavis clarified that line item for the 11% of the general giving that is designated for the Mission Outreach Ministry team is listed as benevolence. In previous years budgets there was $500.00 in the Pastor s Discretionary Fund. It had never been used and no money was budgeted for this fund in the 2014-2015 Budget. There is an ongoing question about which team should replenish this fund since there is no budgeted amount this year and in any given year the amount needed may exceed the budgeted amount. Nancy stated that originally this was assigned to the Benevolence team (now called M.O.M.) since money goes into their account on a monthly basis. Sonya and Nancy will talk with Holly Bowler, leader of M.O.M. to discuss and bring to the Ministry Leader meeting on 2/5/15. Membership Roster - Sonya According to the constitution, the Service Committee is tasked with updating the membership roster annually. Sonya updated the member list in the ICON-CMO database (see attached). There are now 191 voting members. Church Goals Sonya requested that members be thinking about short and long term goals for the church. She suggested that we consider getting together for a half-day on a Saturday in the next month if possible. Roy suggested that it would also offer an opportunity for the team to get to know each other better. The idea was well received and everyone will look at calendars to decide on a date. Congregational Concerns Pastor Larry reported that Neil Lattimore s father died. The funeral will be in North Carolina. Sonya suggested that at the service on Sunday we recognize outgoing SC officers, Bill Drury and Tim Ruck for their leadership on the Service Committee, especially over the past 5 months. Fred Gleason filled the vacant position and served from October until SC elections on 1/11.
Chapel Chat Sonya reviewed with new members the previous decision for a different member of the Service Committee to serve as leader for each monthly Chapel Chat. The agenda will be put together at the Ministry Leader meeting prior to the Chapel Chat. It was suggested that another member take notes during the meeting. The leader can use these notes to write a summary that will be put on the website. A sign-up sheet was sent around. Audit Sonya reported that Neil Lattimore, Ted Thomas, and Charles Kuehl have agreed to do the Audit. Mavis reports that she put them in touch with Debbie Behlke, our accountant to get the reports they need. Old Business Sonya reported that per the Constitution, the outgoing members of the SC are responsible for doing an inventory of the church. She will contact Bill, Tim, and Fred. New Business Sonya explained to the new SC members that the SC meets individually with the confirmands prior to confirmation. We have 2 confirmands this year, Anna Prather and Will Doil. We will be meeting with them at the 3/19 regularly scheduled SC meeting. She will talk with Ashley Helvig to confirm arrangements. Sonya reported that she had been asked by Christine Bell to use the Annex for wedding shower on 2/7. According to our Facility Use policy, this does meet the guidelines. There is a $150.00 deposit fee required for a half-day. Motion: Roy moved that the $150.00 deposit fee be waived for Christine s event, seconded by Hal and approved unanimously. Sonya stated that Christine also approached her with the possibility of selling items made by one of the employees at Hospital Loma de Luz in Honduras. This money will assist this single mother pay school fees for her children. The Fundraising guidelines, approved by the SC on 9/17/12 were reviewed. After discussion it was felt that this fundraiser would meet the guidelines if it came through a ministry team. The Care Team was suggested. Sonya will work with Christine and Tata Pike on the Care Team to sponsor this request. Roy reported that Danny Bell had requested a bulletin board in the sanctuary for the Youth Ministry events. It will be placed on the wall next to the hymnal bookshelf. Jennifer volunteered to compile the Ministry Team reports and submit to all leaders prior to the Ministry Leader meeting on 2/5/15. Glenn inquired about posting the approved SC minutes on the website as discussed at a previous Chapel Chat. It was agreed to proceed with this starting with the approved minutes for the Congregational meeting and SC meeting on 1/11/15. Mavis reported that she will pass out team budgets to each of the Ministry Team leaders at the 2/5 meeting. She also plans to meet with individual leaders to assist them in completing their budget. The draft budget will be available at the March SC meeting. Vince moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Roy and approved unanimously. The meeting was closed with The Lord s Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Griffin Service Committee Secretary