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