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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH (U.S.A.), LAS CRUCES, NM
STATED SESSION
MEETING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER
20, 2015
Moderator Reverend Norm Story
convened the meeting at 7:00 PM and Elder Nancy Johnson of
the Administration Ministry Team opened it with a meditation
and prayer.
Elders Present: Lyn
Ames, Brad Class, Blaine Goss, Nancy Johnson, Dennis Thomas,
and Stephen Taylor.
.
Elders Excused: Larry
Felhauer, Susan Grandle, Bill Kuyper, and Winnie Quinzi.
Guest: Deacon
Representative Bea Connor.
Establish Quorum: The Clerk
of Session established that a quorum was present.
Approval of Agenda: The
agenda was approved as published.
Pastor’s Report: Pastor Story
told the Session that the World Communion service on Sunday,
October 4, 2015 had many moving parts that blended together
into a smooth service that brought the 4 worshiping
communities that meet here, together in a common Communion
service. Our Faith and Fellowship congregation, Rev.
Orozco’s Iglesia del Pueblo Spanish speaking congregation,
the Korean worshiping community led by Pastor Yu, and our
large traditional congregation joined together to lead parts
of our common Communion service. Members of all 4
worshiping communities were also well represented at the
Deacon’s Hamburger Fry after Church services on October 18th.
Pastor Story gave
the Session an assessment of our individual staff
performances and almost everyone was performing at very high
levels. However there were two problem areas that need
to be addressed in the immediate future. They
are: 1) Our acting bell choir director, Rebecca West,
is moving to California at the end of the year. The
Music & Worship Ministry Team is aware of this, and is
working to solve it. 2) Our volunteer Parish
Associate, Rev. John Himes, is stepping down at the end of
the year. Although Rev. Himes is a dedicated and
highly effective pastor to our sick and home-bound members,
he is also retired and has been working much harder to
minister to the needs of his 35 to 45 sheep each month than
he thought he would initially. He stepped forward to
temporarily fill the vacancy caused by the sudden death of
Rev. Carrol Blevins, and expected that her replacement would
be found in a reasonably short time. That has not
happened, but he has lots of unattended personal & family
needs that he has put off while he served us. He will
leave us to address those personal & family needs.
Pastor Story told
the Session that the search committee that hired him said
they wanted a Pastor who would focus on Sermons, Growing the
youth program, and Administering all facets of our Church
Operations. His current workload does not allow him to
do more than make a few hospital visits to our seriously ill
and dying members.
He told the Session
that it is ultimately responsible as a body, to find a way
to provide pastoral care and communion to our sick and
home-bound members. He opened the floor for discussion
about how we could best meet this need. In the
discussion that followed, the Session agreed that what we
need to find is an ordained pastor who is retired and/or
available and willing to work approximately 1 week (40
hours) per month to minister to our sick and home-bound
members. We discussed how to best find a pool of this
type of talent, such as retired military chaplains or other
pastors living in the Las Cruces, Alamogordo, and El Paso
area. The Administration Team of Elders Ames &
Johnson, with help from Pastor Story will draft a statement
of need that can be published in the Church Bulletin,
Lantern, and Good News to inform the congregation and the
public of our need. It will also form the basis for
developing a Job Description for the position we need to
fill.
Clerk’s Report: The
Clerk’s Report was as written in the meeting agenda.
a. The Deacon Moderator’s remarks in
the April 16, 2015 minutes of the Deacon’s Meeting stated
that Deacons “Barbara Sauter and Charlotte Anderson advised
the committee that they are resigning their positions
effective May 30th.”
b. Elder Danielle Gurnea
resigned on May 21, 2015 and Elder Susan Carlson
resigned on October 5, 2015.
c. Rev. Norm Story married Scott J.
Burns and Melody E. Hagaman in the Sanctuary on Saturday,
September 19, 2015.
d. The Clerk reported that Communion
was served to 220 people on October 4, 2015, in addition to
the 31 people that Rev. Story served Communion to on the
Youth trip to during their October 8-11 Fall Retreat at Lone
Tree in Capitan, NM.
e. New member
Donna McGaughey into was introduced to the
congregation during church services on Sunday, October 18,
2015.
f. The church has not receive any
new Membership Data forms since the September 15th
Session meeting.
g. The Clerk reported that the
following members had passed away: Member Evelyn Horst
(#3350) on July 31, 2015, Member Arden Baltensperger (#3342)
on October 6, 2015, Member Miriam Walstad (#4329) on October
6, 2015, and Member Warren Boozer (#4452) on October 12,
2015. The Clerk requested Session approval to remove
Evelyn Horst (#3350), Arden Baltensperger (#3342), Miriam
Walstad (#4329), and Warren Boozer (#4452) from our
Membership Rolls. A motion was made, seconded, and
approved by acclamation to remove Evelyn Horst (#3350),
Arden Baltensperger (#3342), Miriam Walstad (#4329), and
Warren Boozer (#4452) from our Membership Rolls.
Approval of Minutes:
The Clerk’s Report was written, and the approval of the
STATED SESSION MEETING, September 15, 2015, and MEMBERSHIP
COMMISSION MEETING, August 23, 2015 were on the
Agenda Consent Docket. The
minutes were APPROVED BY CONSENT.
Deacon’s Report: The
Deacon’s met on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 and a written
report will be provided after that meeting. Deacon
representative Bea Connor reported that the Deacons
hamburger fry fundraising lunch had served approximately 162
lunches and grossed $1,653.00 including $215.00 received in
the church collection plates. The Transportation report for
Sept. 2015 will be reported in the November Deacon’s Report.
Committee Reports:
Administration: Written
with 1 action item. The Team recommended the Session
approve an increase for required Wedding deposits. The
current fee for use of the Sanctuary for non-member weddings
will be increased to $400.00. The use of the Sanctuary
is free for members, the use of Jones hall is subject to a
custodial fee and usage will be revised as well. The
recommended motion was approved by acclamation.
Buildings and Grounds: No
meeting, no report.
Christian Education: Written
with 1 action item. 27 youth and 4 sponsors/chaperones
participated in the
youth Fall Retreat at Lone Tree in
Capitan, NM during the public schools fall break on October
8-11. Planning
for the Summer Trip to either
Colorado or South Dakota are in work with a new company,
Team Effort.
Rondla Hardin has donated a quilt to
raffle off for one of the trip fundraising efforts.
The Team is planning to
have numerous other fundraising
events like car washes, calendar sales, pancake breakfast,
luncheons,
sub sandwich sales, and garage
sales. Once the dates for these activities are
finalized, they will be brought to
the Session for approval. The
Team recommends that the Session approve of selling raffle
tickets for a quilt
and selling calendars to raise funds
for the Summer Youth Mission trip. The motion was
amended to
include: CONTINGENT ON
CHECKING WITH THE CHURCH CALENDAR TO ENSURE THERE ARE NO
CONFLICTS. The amended motion
was approved by acclamation.
Congregational Life and Outreach
Support: Written with no action items. The
team continued to be focused on the planning for the
upcoming October 31st Trunk or Treat activities
in front of the Sanctuary and in the adjacent parking lots.
They are working on different ways to make sure that
visitors feel as welcome and included in our after church
fellowship activities as they do during worship services.
The Team added a Soup & games event after church services on
Sunday, December 6th in Reeves/Watkins Fellowship
Hall. Moderator Taylor will contact Linda to make sure
it gets on the Church Calendar. The Team will discuss
a proposal for an updated picture directory via email before
the November meeting.
Missions: No meeting, no
report.
.
Music and Worship: Written
with no action items.
Foundation: No meeting,
no report.
Financial Report for
September 1 - September 30, 2015
Sept (Actual) Sept (Budgeted)
YTD (Actual) YTD (Budgeted)
Income
$ 25,311.26
$ 318,972.57
Expenses $
31,448.27
$ 288,044.22
The Consent Motion to receive all
Committee Reports and accept the Financial Report was
approved.
Old Business: None.
New Business: None
The next Stated Session Meeting will
be Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 7:00 PM. The Buildings &
Grounds Ministry Team will be responsible for opening
prayer and meditation.
Adjournment: Moderator Rev. Norm
Story adjourned the meeting with prayer at 8:00 PM.
______________________
______________________
___________________
Carlton Connor
Rev. Norm Story
Date Approved
Clerk of Session
Moderator
18-20v
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2015-11-12 22:30:27