FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.), LAS CRUCES, NM

STATED SESSION MEETING

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Moderator Reverend Norm Story convened the meeting at 7:00 PM and Jerry Grandle of the Buildings & Grounds 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, Kate Puckett, Roger Sellers, Greg Sherman, Stephen Taylor, and Nora Yaryan.

Elders Excused: Jacqui Jones.

Elders Absent: Brian Griffith.

Guests: New Member applicant Nancy T. Johnson, Rev. Carrol Blevins, 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: Nancy T. Johnson 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. Nancy said that she was baptized as a Methodist in Hobbs, NM and was transferring from the Woodhaven Presbyterian Church in Irving, TX. She has been an Elder and moved to Las Cruces to live with her sister about 2 months ago. The Session voted to accept Nancy Johnson as a member of our church family, and she will be presented to the congregation on Sunday, September 23, 2012.

Pastor’s Report: Reverend Story’s reported that he had met with Rev. Marcus Burr about reducing his workload after he regains the use of his arm. He proposed that Rev. Burr be installed as Parish Associate Minister Emeritus of Pastoral Care and that we invite Rev. Carrol Blevins to join us as Parish Associate Minister of Pastoral Care, and assume many of the duties previously performed by Rev. Burr. Rev. Blevins addressed the Session and advised us that she would be happy to accept our offer and that she would continue her regular once a month pastoral ministries at Good Sam. A motion was made and seconded to approve these changes to our Pastoral Care Ministries, and it was passed by acclimation. Rev, Burr and Rev. Blevins will be installed in their new positions during church services in October.

Rev. Story advised the Session that he has been invited to teach a class on comparative religion at NMSU later in the month.

Rev. Story advised us that Rev. Perkins Patton and his wife Patricia have been unable to continue their work with the church sponsored Boy Scout Troop and Cub Scout Packs. Elder Richard Paul, the Missions Ministry Team Moderator, has volunteered to assume their duties and is already doing so. The Clerk has been directed to draft a letter of appreciation to the Patton’s on behalf of the Session and the church for their hard work and support of this excellent community outreach program. We plan to present it to them during regular church services sometime in October.

Rev. Story advised the Session that a Called Meeting of the Presbytery of Sierra Blanca on September 28-29 in Roswell will review and finalize the new organizational structure proposed by the Special Committee of the Presbytery of Sierra Blanca. Based on the information currently available, the Special Committee will propose the organizational structure reported in the August 18, 2012 Session Minutes, i.e., a Presbytery consisting of 4 geographically related church clusters. Each cluster would handle most of the normal Presbytery business associated with their churches using the resources of their churches. The Presbytery would probably have 4 meetings per year and the normal business of the Presbytery would be handled by a part-time Stated Clerk working out of his/her home or local church. Pastor Story urged all of our Presbytery Commissioners and local retired ministers to attend the Called Meeting so that they could voice their opinions of the proposed changes and vote on them.

Rev. Story announced that he had received a text message from Brian Griffith advising him that Brian was resigning his Elder position effective immediately, and he asked that we join him in a prayer for Brian and son, Timothy. He asked the Session to consider the letter that we received from Mesilla Valley Hospice advising us of their very strained financial situation this year. Hospice estimates that they will provide approximately $1 million in charity care this year and the only receive $380,000 per year from the Dona Ana County Health Services fund. This leaves over $600,000 that they must raise from the local community and other sources. They requested that we consider taking a special offering for Mesilla Valley Hospice during one of our regular church services. Early in the discussion of this request, it was pointed out that Mesilla Valley Hospice was not one of the 10 local charities scheduled for the Deacon’s sponsored Las Cruces Cares event at Watkins Hall on Sunday, November 4, 2012; but they will be invited for next year’s event.

After considerable discussion focusing on whether or not it was appropriate to designate this worthwhile local charitable service as the only one that we would support by having a special offering during regular church services; a motion was made and seconded to deny the Hospice request for a special offering. However, in lieu of the special offering, we would publicize the Hospice need for immediate financial support this year in the Church Bulletins, the Good News, and the Lantern. Our announcements in these church publications would encourage all members who want to support Hospice with their donations, to do so by giving them directly by mail or dropping a check off at the Hospice office. The motion passed by acclimation.

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. The Clerk requested approval to remove Richard Jones (# 4632) from our rolls because he has written a letter requesting that he be removed from our membership rolls. The removal of Richard Jones was approved by acclimation.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the Stated Session Meeting on August 18, 2012 were approved as written by acclimation.

Deacons Report. Deacon Moderator Rusty Smith stated that the Deacon’s Annual Hamburger Fry has been scheduled on the Church Calendar for after Church services on Sunday, October 7^th and the 2^nd Las Cruces Cares event has been placed on the Church Calendar for after Church services on Sunday, November 4^th. Both of these events were previously discussed with the Session with the proviso that they would be scheduled on the Church Calendar without conflict with any events already scheduled. The Deacons requested the Session approve them as scheduled. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Deacon’s request and was the motion was passed by acclimation.

Committee Reports:

Administration: Written with 1 action item. The noted that the $590 required to purchase the new folding chairs required by moving the Iglesia del Pueblo congregation into the old computer room in Jones Hall was available from several Memorial Funds. Rev. Story advised the Session that he had discussed this use with the families that provided the funds, and they had approved of this use of their Funds. A motion was made and seconded to transfer $590 from the appropriate Memorial Funds to purchase 40 folding chairs. The motion was approved by acclimation. A motion was made to approve the Administration Teams resolution to move the remaining Children’s Garden Rental funds into the Church’s General Fund. The motion was seconded and approved by acclimation.

Buildings and Grounds: Written with no action items.

Christian Education: Written with 1 action item. The team recommended the Session approve the use of church facilities for a “Lock-in” of Youth (6^th grade and above) on October 26-27, 2012. 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 1 action item. The Team requested approval of a presentation on the musical and visual arts in worship in our sanctuary on Sunday evening, October 21. It will be led by Karen Lafferty at conclusion of her weekend with Renewal 4 Women, and will also have a free will offering that will be taken to support a missionary in Honduras. The request was approved by acclimation.

Foundation: No meeting and therefore no report. The Administration Team Moderator asked about the status of the $36,216 that the session had previously authorized and requested the Foundation return to the church for church improvements. The Foundation Moderator said that they had not received any request from the church for any monies. Both the Moderators agreed to review this issue and try to resolve it prior to the October Session meeting.

Nominating: The committee reported that they had completed the nomination slate of Elders for the Class of 2015, and were close to filling the Deacon vacancies. However, the resignation of Elder Brian Griffith has added a new Elder vacancy that they now have to fill. They now expect to complete their task in early October.

Financial Report for Aug. 1- Aug. 31, 2012

         Aug. (Actual) Aug. (Budgeted) YTD (Actual) YTD (Budgeted)

Income         $32,198.74                                 $285,434.81

Expense      $39,449.70                                  $291,342.37

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 started with the list developed by the Buildings & Grounds Team. Several items were discussed in addition to the 7 items identified on their initial list. Their list will be revised to include these items and the lists of the other ministry teams will be discussed during the October meeting and in subsequent meetings.

New Business: a) The Confirmation of Rev. Carrol Blevins as Parish Associate Minister of Pastoral Care and Rev. Dr. Marcus Burr as Parish Associate Emeritus Minister of Pastoral Care is documented in the Pastor’s Report, above.

The next Stated Session Meeting will be Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 7:00 PM. The Christian Education Ministry Committee will be responsible for opening prayer and meditation.

Adjournment: Reverend Story adjourned the meeting with prayer at 8:35 PM.

______________________ ______________________ _____________