FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

ADMINISTRATION MINISTRY TEAM

8 April 2008

 Present:  Dina Schroeder (Moderator), Mary Kammann, Carl Connor, Winnie Quinzi,

Absent:  Darla Topley (sick - Excused) & Mike Bartholomew

 Carl opened the meeting with prayer.

 OLD BUSINESS:  1)  Our review of the need for, or revision of, the 9-88 Church By-Laws awaits the recommendations of our Attorney, Matt Holt who has been on vacation.  We expect to meet with Matt later this month and will bring our findings and recommendations to the Session at the May meeting.

 2)  The revisions to the Church Building and Facility Use Form were reviewed and approved.  Due to the nature of the changes from our various past practices, Carl Connor will write an article for the May Lantern to introduce the new Form and explain the reasons for some of the changes.  Copies of the new form will be provided to Session members at the April meeting for their information and comment.

 5)  The selection process for a new Stewardship Campaign Chairman continues after several individuals declined due to other commitments.  If we are unable to finalize and announce a new Chairman at the Session April meeting, we will solicit recommendations from the Session and attempt to have a new Chairman in place before the May meeting.

 

6)  Lyn Ames will start his financial review of our 2007 financial records in accordance with the guidelines established by the Presbytery later this month.  Once he has completed his review, he will start a review of our 2006 financial records.

 

7)  We concurred with the sale of our old Bell Choir bells to Harry Beckett, Jr. for $5,000.  This sale is agreeable to the members who loaned us the additional money that was needed to purchase the new bells.  The members will be reimbursed $5,000 and we thank them for their support of our wonderful Bell Choir.

 

NEW BUSINESS:  1)  We discussed the following Building Use Requests:  a)  Member Greg Temple requested the use of Watkins and Reeves Hall for LC High School AP Testing from May 5 to May 16.  Approval was based on our youth outreach goals and practices, past practice of approving this usage, the fact that it is daytime usage, and the commitment of LCHS to give the church an honorarium for allowing them to use our facility.  We discussed the request of member Beverly Briggs to use Watkins and Reeves for a banquet on June 9, and decided to talk to Beverly about the new Building Use cost schedule before we approved her request.  Dina said that she would contact Beverly and explain the new cost schedule to her.

 

2)  We discussed a request to purchase new folding tables and chairs.  After some discussion about the priority of this purchase request, we agreed to ask the Buildings & Grounds Ministry Team to inspect all of the folding tables and chairs in service in Jones and Watkins/Reeves Halls and provide us with the following information over the next 45 days:

1. The number of folding tables in service
2. The number of those folding tables that have deteriorated and need replacement
3. The number of folding chairs in service
4. The number of those folding tables that have deteriorated and need replacement

Once the tables and chairs have been inspected and this information has been tabulated, we will meet with the Buildings and Grounds Ministry Team and determine what actions should be taken.  This is an ACTION ITEM for the Buildings and Grounds Ministry Team.

 

3)  We discussed the need to implement a formal employee timekeeping system that would include the assignment of employee numbers that are not related to an individual’s Social Security number, the use of weekly timesheets to record all hours worked by both salaried and hourly employees, and the sign-off of all timesheets by an appropriate individual.  We plan to develop tentative plans and procedures for our team to review and discuss at our May team meeting.

 

4)  The Buildings and Grounds Ministry Team approved an extra hour of paid time for Brian to support the Salt & Light program on Wednesdays without prior consultation with the Administration team.  The Administration team concurs after the fact with this increased wage expenditure as long as no additional wage is paid for hours on any Wednesday when Salt & Light does not meet, i.e., summer vacation, holidays, etc.

 

5)  We discussed the need to inform the members of our congregation about several topics that affect all members of our congregation and that would also help new members understand some of the processes and procedures that are in place to protect church property.  We agreed that each team member will draft an article on a different subject for inclusion in the next 4 issues of The Lantern.  The issues that we plan to address are:  the new Building Use Request Form in the May issue; an update on the status of our Phase I Renovation Debt in June; the procedures followed in handling and tracking monies received from pledges, donations, and other sources in July; and the use of church tables, chairs, and other church property by members in August.

 

6)  We gratefully accepted the generous donation of a used copy machine to the Salt & Light program from John and Melanie Grant.  The copier will be kept in the Salt & Light storage closet in Reeves Hall and will be used by Salt & Light members as needed.  Paper and copy supplies for this copier will be purchased from church operating funds and will be charged to the Salt & Light budget.

 

7)  We discussed the value of the printed stewardship resource material that is included in the weekly church bulletins and agreed to stop the purchase of any new material at the end of our current purchase agreement.  We will defer to the new Stewardship Committee and allow them to identify, select, and purchase those resources they feel are most appropriate for our congregation.  Kathy will be advised of this decision by email in addition to these minutes.

 

8)  We approved the purchase of a Quick Books software upgrade in order to access updated payroll tax information after June 1, 2008

 

Dina adjourned the meeting with prayer.

 

Next meeting: 13 May at 7:00 PM

 

Session Meeting:  15 April at 7:00 PM

 

Respectfully submitted by Carl Connor

 

Phase I Debt:  Congregational Members:  $135,000.00

 

Session Action Items:  NONE