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

STATED SESSION MEETING

TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014

Moderator Reverend Dr. Norm Story convened the meeting at 7:02 PM and Elder Susan Grandle of the Christian Education Ministry Team opened it with a prayer.

 Elders Present:  Lyn Ames, Lon Anderson, Corina Armendariz, Brad Class, Blaine Goss, Susan Grandle, Jacqui Jones, Bill Kuyper, Winnie Quinzi, Roger Sellers, Greg Sherman, Stephen Taylor, and Dennis Thomas.

.Elders Excused Absence:  Nancy Johnson.

 Guest:  Deacon Moderator Steve 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 advised the Session that the Christian Education (CE) Ministry Team’s Search Committee that was tasked with finding a combination CE Director/Youth Director has been unable to find any qualified individuals who were willing to relocate to Las Cruces, NM.  He recommended that the Search Committee be re-tasked to find a qualified full-time Youth Director, and asked for a motion to do so.  The motion was made, seconded, and approved by acclamacation.

 He announced that Elder Janet Loman has completed all of the PC USA requisites to be commissioned as a Commissioned Ruling Elder To Particular Service for a period of 2 years.  Her proposed Commission will be for our First Presbyterian Church, where her focus will be:  A)  Pastoral Care/Visitations coordinated with our Minister of Pastoral Care, Rev. Carrol Blevins.  Her duties will include serving Communion to Hospital and Hospice patients and shut-in members of the congregation and others.  B)  NMSU ministry to college groups & related projects.  C)  Preach about once a quarter or four times a year; and D)  Be assigned families as a part of our church’s Shepherd’s Program.  Elder Loman will assist our Presbytery by providing Pulpit Supply preaching and serve as a resource for worship planning as requested.  He asked for a motion of support from the Session for the Presbytery to Commission Elder to the Particular Pastoral Service described above.  The motion was made, seconded, and approved by acclamation.

 Rev. Dr. Story reminded the Elders that the 2013 decision of the Session, as described in the approved corrected minutes of the February 19, 2013 Stated Session minutes reduced the size of the Session from 18 Elders to 14 Elders was primarily made to make the task of the Nominating Committee easier.  The Session is currently comprised of 3 Elders each, on the Administration and the Music & Worship Ministry Team; and 2 Elders each on the Buildings & Grounds, Christian Education, Congregational Life & Outreach Support, and Missions Ministry Teams.  All 6 of these Ministry Teams also have 3 Deacons each, along with individual volunteer members who are interested in supporting one or more of the efforts of their ministry team.  We inadvertently missed the opportunity for a formal congregational vote on this change to our by-laws at the Annual Congregational Meeting on February 23, 2014.  We will correct this oversight by adding it to the Agenda of the Congregational Meeting that receives the report of the 2014 Nominating Committee.

 Pastor Dr. Story advised the Session that members of the Sierra Blanca Special Administrative Commission (SBSAC) will visit us on Sunday, May 4, 2014 from 1 PM to approximately 4 PM.  Members of the SBSAC will meet with the Pastors, Sessions and members of the churches in our Southwest Cluster.  He will send out emails with more information to the members of the Session as it becomes available later in the month.

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

a. Rev. Norm Story married John Patrick Grandle and Kara Amanda Delanoy in Kingston, NM on Saturday, March 29, 2014.  The Clerk requested the Session approval to add this marriage to our church marriage register.

Approval of Minutes:   Utilizing the Consent Docket model for approving routine church business actions agreed upon in the March 18, 2014 Session meeting, recording the marriage of John Patrick Grandle and Kara Amanda Delanoy by Rev. Dr. Norm Story in Kingston, NM on Saturday, March 29, 2014 in our church marriage register; and approval of the Minutes of the STATED SESSION MEETING on March 18, 2014 were APPROVED BY CONSENT.

 Deacon’s Report:  Deacon Moderator Steve Johnson reported that the minutes of their March 20, 2014 meeting have been submitted and stand as written.  Their regular April meeting is in 2 days, on April 17, 2014 and there is nothing new to report.

 Committee Reports:

 Administration:  Written with no action items. 

 Buildings and Grounds:  No written report was available for the meeting, but the team has focused their efforts on preparing for the upcoming church work day that is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 2014.

 Christian Education:  Written with no action items.

 Congregational Life and Outreach Support: Written with no action items.  The team stressed the need for all ministry teams, Deacons, and other church organizations to sign-up for hosting our after-church fellowship gatherings each Sunday.

 Missions: Written with no action items.

.Music and Worship: Written with no action items.

 Foundation:  No meeting, therefore no report.

 Financial Report for Mar 1 - Mar 31, 2014

                    Mar (Actual)    Mar (Budgeted)       YTD (Actual)      YTD (Budgeted)

Income       $38,213.30                                      $100,000.07

Expense     $30,866.07                                     $  88,613.50

 The Consent Motion to receive all Committee Reports and accept the Financial Report was approved.

 Old Business:

a. The election of our 4^th Commissioner to Presbytery went quickly when the Session was advised that Jerry Grandle had agreed to serve in this capacity.  A motion was made and seconded to elect Jerry Grandle as 4^th Commissioner to Presbytery.  The motion was approved by acclamation.

b. The discussion about meeting with the Sierra Blanca Special Administrative Commission visit to our church was covered in the Pastor’s report, above.

New Business:

 a. The CLOS Moderator handed out copies of the DRAFT  (4-14-2014) procedure (ATTACHMENT 1 to these Minutes) that describes the basic process for joining our church that is recommended by the CLOS Ministry Team.  He said that he would email all of the Elders the current list of small groups in our church for their review and update.  As soon as he gets their feedback, he will update the list.  After review and some discussion about the proposed new process, a motion was made to clarify the make-up of the “New Member Orientation Team” as follows:  “All members of the Session will be eligible and call-able to participate in the New Member Orientation Team.”  The motion was seconded, and approved by acclamation.

b. The members discussed Christian Education at our church and other churches, particularly Adult Christian Education where we have less than 10% of adult members participating.  The CE Ministry Team is considering offering an adult CE class during our evening Vacation Bible School this summer.

 It was pointed out that a myriad of church questionnaires and surveys are available, both on-line and from other churches, that are designed to find out who we are as a church going Christian, what we want from our church or religion, and what we need to do to get to the place that we want to be as a Christian.  Everyone agreed that our goal in any effort should be to:  “Get more involvement by our members and potential members, in our church-wide activities.  The big question is “HOW DO WE DO THIS?”

 One suggestion offered to anyone who was interested in a survey was to find one, take it, and then decide individually what to do and how or where to get to that place in your Christian journey that you want to go.  Pastor Dr. Story recommended reading Ray Stedman’s book, BODY LIFE, as one way to start your individual journey towards being a more knowledgeable and truer Christian.  He offered to preach a sermon on “Skills Development” and it generated a comment that it could be tied in to Stewardship and Stewardship Sunday on November 9^th.  He told the Session that there are lots of studies and curriculums out there on these issues; and he asked them to have this conversation in their ministry team meetings in May.  It will be discussed further in the May meeting.

 The next Stated Session Meeting will be Tuesday, May 21, 2014 at 7:00 PM. The Congregational Life and Support Ministry Team will be responsible for opening prayer and meditation.

 Adjournment: Reverend Story adjourned the meeting with prayer at 8:25 PM.

 ______________________                       ______________________               _____________      

Carlton Connor                          Rev. Dr. Norm Story                                    Date Approved

          Clerk of Session                                Moderator

 

ATTACHMENT 1

to the APRIL 15, 2014 SESSION MINUTES

 

DRAFT                                                           DRAFT                                                           DRAFT

 

Basic Process For Joining Our Church (4/14/2014)

1) An applicant expresses interest in joining our church by filling out our Membership Data form and submitting it to the church (i.e., to the office or to Pastor Dr. Story).

 2) Pastor Dr. Story talks to the applicant, either by phone or in a face-to-face meeting.

 3) Pastor Story contacts the new member orientation team leader. This team will be composed of several people (on the order of 5-6 people) from our congregation. The team will be provided with the following materials: (a) “How Can I Serve” pamphlet, (b) List of small groups in the church, (c) abridged book of order section detailing church obligations

 4) Based upon his/her conversation with Pastor Story and the membership data form, the team leader draws together a smaller subset of the team, approximately 2-3 people, who have similar demographics and interests as the applicant.

 5) The team leader contacts the applicant to set-up an informal meeting (preferably within a few days). The location should be wherever the applicant is comfortable; i.e., home, church, coffee shop, etc. The meeting shall be kept reasonably short (on the order of an hour or less), if possible.

 6) The new member orientation team should be ready to discuss all of the various groups available at FPC, and the responsibilities that the applicant is committing to when they join the church. These obligations are defined in the Book of Order and include their giving of their money, time, and talents. The goal of this meeting is to welcome the new member, help encourage them in getting connected to the church, and start establishing and growing relationships within our church family. The new member orientation team contacts the ministry team or small group leaders that the new member is interested in. These leaders will in turn contact the new member with the information that new member needs to get connected (time, place, etc.).

 (7) After the applicant meets with the team and reaffirms their intent to join the church, the team will notify Pastor Dr. Story who will direct the Clerk of Session to convene a commission to meet with the applicant and receive into membership.