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FIRST
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.), LAS CRUCES, NM
STATED SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012
Moderator Reverend Norm Story convened
the meeting at 7:00 PM and Martha Mitchell of the Christian Education
Ministry Team opened it with a meditation and prayer.
Elders
present: Lon Anderson, Corina Armendariz, Austin Breck, Gene
Christensen, Jerry Grandle, Lloyd Kirschenmann, Janet Loman, Martha
Mitchell, Jim Parks, Richard Paul, Roger Sellers, Greg Sherman, Stephen
Taylor, and Nora Yaryan.
Elders Excused: Jacqui Jones, and Kate
Puckett.
Guests: New Member applicant Josephine Frietze and
Deacon Moderator Rusty Smith.
Establish Quorum: The Clerk of
Session established that a quorum was present.
Approval of
Agenda: The agenda was approved as published.
Introduction of New
Member Applicant: Josephine Frietze was introduced as new member
applicant joining by reaffirmation of faith. The Elders introduced
themselves, described their role as a church officer, and offered a
brief comment on what the church means to them and what their membership
in this church provides for them. Josephine advised the Session that she
had followed her grandchildren, Ernie and Samantha Armendariz and her
daughter and son-in-law, Corina and Eddie Armendariz, to our church.
After several years of regular attendance and participation in
activities here, she was asked by a member, “when did you become a
member here”? She answered that she was not a member, and the member
said “I thought that you were a long time member”. That question caused
her to ask herself, “Why aren’t I”? That introspective question about
membership led to her decision to join us as a member. The Session voted
to accept Josephine Frietze as a member of our church family, and she
will be presented to the Faith and Fellowship congregation on Saturday,
October 27, 2012.
Pastor’s Report: Reverend Story advised us
that member Anne Whelan had passed away at Good Sam on the 15th at age
92.
He advised the Session that he met with the Presbytery
Special Committee last weekend and he was selected as Moderator of the
Western Cluster of our new Presbytery organization. The Western Cluster,
as previously discussed, will consist of the Presbyterian churches in
Deming and Santa Teresa, the Iglesia del Pueblo church, our church, and
the successor to the Bridge ministry to NMSU students. He also met with
the Presbytery Committee on Ministry (COM) and has received their
authorization to teach any current and past Ruling Elders the theology
and procedures surrounding Communion Services. Once the Elders are
trained, he will send their names to the Committee on Ministry, and
after their training is recorded, they will be authorized to conduct
Communion Services within the bounds of the Presbytery. This training
will ensure that all of the churches in our cluster will have adequate
access to Elders authorized to conduct Communion Services
Rev.
Story informed the Session that the Presbytery has called a meeting on
Saturday, October 27th in Ruidoso, NM to formally vote on adopting the
new proposed organizational structure of our Presbytery of Sierra
Blanca. Two of our Commissioners to the Presbytery and one of our
Alternate Commissioners will be unable to attend and vote because they
are out of town on that date. He suggested that we notify the
congregation that we are looking for an Elder who has previously served
on Session that would like to serve as our Alternate Commissioner and
vote for this historic organizational change. Any Elder who wants to be
elected as Alternate Commissioner and travel to Ruidoso on the 27th with
Rev. Story and our other Commissioners should advise Clerk of Session
Carl Connor as soon as possible. This will allow the Session to nominate
and vote to elect the temporary Alternate Commissioner by email. The
goal is to complete the temporary Alternate Commissioner election by
Wednesday, October 24th so that the Clerk can notify the Presbytery of
the election and ensure that the individual we elect can be seated and
participate in the election process.
We will install Rev. Carrol
Blevins as our new Parish Associate Minister of Pastoral Care, and Rev.
Dr. Marcus Burr, as our new Parish Associate Minister Emeritus of
Pastoral Care on Sunday, October 28, 2012.
Reverend Story
reminded all the Ministry Teams that we will start discussing the
comprehensive lists of what they do, and the priority of each task, but
if they had identified anything that was missing, or had changed, they
should change their existing list accordingly.
Clerk’s Report:
The Clerk’s Report was as written in the meeting agenda.
Approval of
Minutes: The Clerk advised the Session that the written minutes of the
Stated Session Meeting on August 18, 2012 had 2 errors and requested
that they be approved with the corrections. The errors were: In the
Deacon’s report the written minutes said the Hamburger Fry was to be
“October 9” and the correct date is “October 7”. In the Introduction of
New Member Applicant Nancy Johnson it said that “Nancy said that she
“was had been” Baptized as a Methodist in Hobbs; and the minutes should
read “Nancy said that she was “had been” Baptized as a Methodist in
Hobbs”. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as
corrected above. The corrected minutes were approved by acclimation.
Deacons Report. Deacon Moderator Rusty Smith stated that the 2nd Las
Cruces Cares event tentatively scheduled for after Church services on
Sunday, November 4th, conflicted with a previously scheduled event. He
requested the Session approve the Deacon’s request to schedule it for
after Church services on Sunday, November 11th. A motion was made and
seconded to approve the request. The motion was approved by acclimation.
Committee Reports:
Administration: Written with 1 action
item. The Administration Team pointed out that that the approximately
$10,000 increase in income shown in the September Financial Report was
not a “real” increase in giving, but the result of the Session’s
approval last month, to move the remaining funds in the Children’s
Garden Rental Fund to the General Fund. They said that based on current
giving patterns, if our members do not dig down and pledge or donate
more to the church, they anticipate a shortfall of $10,000 or more next
year. This will require all Ministry Teams to cut their 2013 budgets by
10% or more. The written report notice that the Church will normally
write checks only on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month was
discussed. It was pointed out that in some cases repairs of church owned
property is done at lower costs because we pay them immediately upon
satisfactory completion (like we were paying in cash). This type of
purchase, as well as some “immediate need” purchases will continue to
have checks written as needed, outside the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the
month schedule. However, it was emphasized that checks written outside
of the established schedule will be exceptions to this policy.
Buildings and Grounds: Written with no action items.
Christian
Education: Written with 2 action items. The team recommended the Session
approve the use of church facilities for a youth video game tournament
on November 3rd and the use of church vans to transport the Confirmation
Class to Temple Beth El and back on November 21st. Their recommendation
was approved by acclimation.
Congregational Life and Outreach:
Written with no action items
Missions: Written with no action items.
Music and Worship: Written with no action items.
Foundation: No
meeting and therefore no report. The Administration Team submitted a
written request to the Foundation Moderator requesting the Foundation
return the $36,216 that the session had previously authorized to be
return to the church for church improvements.
Nominating: The
committee presented their complete nomination slate of Elders & Deacons
for the Class of 2015, as well as their nomination slate for the 2013
Nominating Committee. After a review and discussion of the proposed
nomination slates, a motion was made and seconded to call a
Congregational Meeting for the purpose of receiving the nominations, as
well as any nominations from the floor, on Sunday, October 28th after
regular church services. The motion was approved by acclimation.
Financial Report for Sept. 1- Sept. 30, 2012
Sept. (Actual) Sept.
(Budgeted) YTD (Actual) YTD (Budgeted)
Income $45,979.81 $331,014.62
Expense $36,776.69 $327,619.93
Omnibus Motion to receive all
Committee Reports and accept Financial Report: Approved by consent.
Old Business: a) The discussion of responsibilities, duties, and
work priorities developed by each Ministry Team resumed with a motion to
approve the Christian Education Ministry list that was discussed during
the September Session meeting. The motion was seconded and approved by
acclimation. The approved list is shown on Attachment 1 to these
minutes. This discussion will resume at the November Session meeting
when the Buildings & Grounds Ministry Team presents their revised list.
New Business: No new business was brought to the Session.
The next Stated Session Meeting will be Tuesday, November 20, 2012
at 7:00 PM. The Congregational Life & Outreach Ministry Committee will
be responsible for opening prayer and meditation.
Adjournment:
Reverend Story adjourned the meeting with prayer at 8:35 PM.
______________________ ______________________ _____________
Carlton Connor Norm Story Date Approved
Clerk of Session Moderator
ATTACHMENT 1 to the
Minutes of the October 16, 2012 Stated
SESSION Meeting
MINISTRY TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES & PRIORITIES
Christian Education Ministry Team
Areas of responsibility
include:
Establish objectives, set policies for and supervise the
total education program
Oversee Sunday School programs for children,
youth, and adults (including Sunday School hour and second hour during
the worship service for children)
Oversee Youth programs
Coordinate and oversee nursery care by paid employees and volunteers
(including services on Saturday and Sunday)
Oversee CE intern
Oversee the church library
Provide Vacation Bible School
Provide
Wednesday night Salt and Light program for 4 yrs-high school
Coordinate gifts of Bibles from the congregation to 3rd and 6th graders,
including ordering Bibles, developing a list of children who will
receive the Bibles, contacting the families of the children to confirm
attendance or not on Bible Sunday, give list of names to Pastor for
verse selection, fill out book plate stickers for children, arrange for
photographer
Distribute One Great Hour of Sharing banks to children
(Missions orders supplies and provides information about the meaning of
the banks)
Provide confirmation classes
Select and order special
devotional materials provided to the congregation for Advent and Easter,
put church labels on devotional materials to give to Deacons to
distribute
Encourage increasing participation in Bible study in
formal, informal, and private settings
Select and purchase
educational materials, supplies, and curriculum
Recruit, train,
sustain, and encourage teachers
Offer training specifically to
maintain a safe church environment (currently Safe Sanctuaries)
Coordinate Safe Sanctuaries supplies, such as first aid kits and
incident reports
Oversee budget for CE, both budgeted and designated,
as well as designated for Salt &Light
______________________ ______________________ _____________
Carlton
Connor Norm Story Date Approved
Clerk of Session Moderator
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Last update
2012-11-21 22:02:55