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

STATED SESSION MEETING

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2013

 

Moderator Reverend Dr. Norm Story convened the meeting at 7:00 PM and Lon Anderson of the Congregational Life and Outreach Education Ministry Team opened it with a meditation and prayer.

Elders present:  Lyn Ames, Lon Anderson, Corina Armendariz, Austin Breck, Brad Class, Blaine Goss, Jacqui Jones, Lloyd Kirschenmann, Janet Loman, Kate Puckett, Winnie Quinzi, Greg Sherman, Stephen Taylor, and Dennis Thomas.

.Elders Absent:  Roger Sellers.

 Guests:  Deacon Moderator Don Behnke and Elder Elect Nancy Johnson.

 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 Dr. Story recognized Elder Elect Nancy Johnson and asked her to introduce herself to the Session, after which he asked for a motion to extend the privilege of the floor to her.  A motion was made and seconded to extend the privilege of the floor to Elder Elect Johnson.  The motion was approved by acclamation.

 He reported as Moderator of the November 9, 2013 meeting of our Western Cluster at the First Presbyterian Church in Deming.  The meeting was attended by representatives of the Santa Teresa, the Deming, and our Las Cruces Presbyterian churches.  He said that an email was expected later that week containing a Google email address, that was being set up to allow the churches in the cluster to communicate easily with each other.  He also advised the Session that we would host the next Cluster meeting, at 2 PM on Sunday, February 9, 2014   and that we needed someone to coordinate providing and serving refreshments.  Elder Janet Loman volunteered to coordinate the refreshment serving.

Pastor Dr. Story advised the Session that he and our Iglesia del Pueblo pastor, Rev. Wayne Hawkins, were teaching a combined Communicants class.  The youth in Rev. Hawkins Iglesia del Pueblo Church want to join First Presbyterian Church and Worship committees are looking at changing the relationship between our two church families so that Iglesia del Pueblo is a part of our church, just like the Faith & Fellowship Praise Service on Saturday evenings.  He envisions members of Iglesia del Pueblo Church slowly transitioning to full membership in First Presbyterian Church over time.  He opened the floor to discussion of these changes.  There were only two concerns; first was how this change in our relationship would affect our already struggling budget (would we now become responsible for paying Rev. Hawkins wages & fringe benefits from our regular tithes & offerings); and secondly, what would be the impact on our annual Per Capita payments to our Presbytery.  Pastor Dr. Story told the Session that we would not be responsible for any of Rev. Hawkins pay.   He said that our ongoing efforts to identify individuals on our Membership Rolls who have not attended or communicated with the Church over the past 3 or more years and/or have moved away and cannot be located will remove as many or more old members as we can reasonably expect to gain from the Iglesia del Pueblo Church.  If anything, we can expect our total membership numbers to remain fairly constant.

He advised the Session that the youth Communicants from the Iglesia del Pueblo Church are already integrated into our youth fellowship programs and mission trips.  He asked for a motion to welcome the youth who complete the Communicants Class into membership in The First Presbyterian Church and to receive them into full church Membership at a Special Session meeting on Sunday afternoon, January 5, 2014.  The motion to do so was made, seconded, and approved by acclamation.

 He also advised the Session that Rev. Hawkins was moving to a smaller home and would like to use the Crafts office in Watkins Hall as an office.  This request has been approved by the Christian Education Ministry Team and does not need any Session action.  He reminded the Session that our support of the Las Cruces High School AP Testing each May for many years needs someone to provide hands-on coordination.  In past years the Youth Director provided this direction and handled all of the logistics issues to make our support successful; but since that position is vacant and we need someone on Session to help lead this effort.  Elder Winnie Quinzi volunteered to help make this 2 week long quiet time in Reeves/Watkins Hall a success.

 Pastor Dr. Story asked the Session who wanted to volunteer to take over running our Salt & Light program because Michelle Osborne had submitted her resignation, because someone had verbally attacked her again in a critical and personal manner.  She felt that she could not continue working under this type of negative work conditions.  The Session was surprised that anyone would attack someone like Michelle who is directing a critical church youth outreach program so personally and so strongly that she felt that she had to resign immediately and walk away from the program.  They directed the Clerk to write a letter of appreciation to Michelle that would express their collective support for her and concerns about the interaction of individuals working together in our church family as soon as possible.  This incident has pointed out our need to look at what we must do as a Church and a Session to take care of our volunteers and staff; so that any philosophical differences are aired promptly and do not result in acrimonious personal attacks. 

 Lastly, he passed around a copy of the new Presbyterian Hymnal and advised the Session that the Music & Worship Ministry Team was leading a review of it and would present their recommended actions concerning adoption or rejection at the December 17^th Session meeting.

 Clerk’s Report:  The Clerk’s Report was as written in the meeting agenda. 

a.  The Clerk requested permission to remove David Sallee (#4771) and Nancy Sallee (#4772) from our membership rolls as listed in the Clerk’s report.  The motion to remove these 2 members from our rolls was seconded and approved by acclamation.

b.  The Clerk read a letter from Rev. Craig Holstedt, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Big Spring, TX to Rev. Story expressing his appreciation for his note to his wife, Susan and himself.  Rev. Holstedt said that he enjoyed his visit on Oct. 20^th and remarked about the pleasant welcoming they received, especially the (Deacons) Hamburger dinner that we had planned for their visit.  They were impressed with the age and ethnic diversity present in our congregation and our commitment to our Salt & Light program.  He said that Las Cruces is on their “short list” of retirement locations and that they would “have a good church to be part of if we moved here.”

Approval of Minutes:   A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the October 15, 2013 Stated Session Meeting and the Called Congregational Meeting of October 27, 2013 as written.  There was some discussion about the correct grammatical spelling in the Session minutes, but it was pointed out that the error was in the first draft of the minutes and not in the final version.  The minutes of both the Session and Congregational meetings were approved by acclamation.

 Deacon’s Report:  Deacon Moderator Don Behnke reported that our Mattress & Bedding Ministry program had received a recent donation of clean used bedding from a local hospital and they have 20 bedding requests pending.  He said that in October the Roadrunner Food Pantry distributed 5,000 lbs of food to 120 families, but the need is so great, and continues to grow, so they distributed 5,500 lbs of food to 150 families on Monday, November 18^th.  The food distributed by the Roadrunner Food Pantry costs 6 cents a pound and is such a great bargain for something that is so essential to life and wellness that the Deacons are looking into ways to increase our support of this cost effective program. 

 Committee Reports:

Administration:  Written with one action item.  The Administration Team recommended that all Ministry Teams implement a 2014 Budget that is a 13% reduction from the 2013 Budget.  This figure is based on the projected shortfall in income experienced so far during 2013.  The efforts to hold down expenditures so far during 2013 have kept our overall spending much lower than projected at the start of the year.  All Ministry Teams were reminded that they need to turn in their Feedback Forms before Thanksgiving , and that the Missions Team is the only one who has turned in their draft 2014 Budget so far.

Buildings and Grounds:  Written with one action item.  The Buildings & Grounds Team unanimously recommended that their Budget be exempted from any 2014 Budget cuts, as continuing to defer necessary maintenance will be more costly in the long run.  They advised the Session that they had investigated the effect of filing a claim for the playground equipment fire damage would have on our future insurance rates.  We have a $1,000 deductable insurance policy and the Insurance company said that our current rates are stable for 3 years.  Since the fire damage is estimated at $10’000; the Administration Ministry Team approved filing a claim for replacement equipment.

 Christian Education:  Written with no action items.

Congregational Life and Outreach: Written with no action items.

Missions: Written with no action items.

.\Music and Worship: Written with no action items.  The Team advised the Session that a committee had started reviewing the new Presbyterian Hymnal and Elder Kirschenmann was compiling their comments.

Foundation:  No meeting, therefore no report.

Columbarium:  The delay in engraving the names on 2 niche faceplates has been caused by personnel changes at the company that has engraved our niche faceplates.  Their new engraver is working hard to ensure that their new engraving font matches what is currently on our niche faceplates.

Financial Report for Oct 1 - Oct 31, 2013

                    Oct (Actual)    Oct (Budgeted)       YTD (Actual)      YTD (Budgeted)

Income       $28,223.33                                         $323,913.51

Expense     $31,750.92                                         $352,391.70

Omnibus Motion to receive all Committee Reports and accept Financial Report:  Approved by consent.

Old Business:  There was No Old Business for the Session to discuss.

New Business:  No New Business was brought to the Session.

 The next Stated Session Meeting will be Tuesday, December 18, 2013 at 7:00 PM. The Missions Ministry Team will be responsible for opening prayer and meditation.

Adjournment: Reverend Story adjourned the meeting with prayer at 8:06 PM.

 

______________________                ______________________                                _____________      

Carlton Connor                             Rev. Dr. Norm Story                                      Date Approved

          Clerk of Session                                   Moderator