2016-10-13 Council Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes The June Council Meeting of the Congregation Council of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ardmore, Pennsylvania was held on Thursday, October 13th at 7:15 pm in the Kugler Room.

CALL TO ORDER Don Parman called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm. Council member attendance is captured in the table below:

Name Committee Chair Council Role Present Absent Bickert Ciarlello, Laura Social Ministry X Clouse, Kevin Education X DeLomba, Paul Staff Personnel X Dry, Daniel Property X Ertner, Robert Financial Secretary X Freestone, Patrick Technology Secretary X Hammarberg,Carol Stewardship Vice-President X Horn, Andrew Treasurer X Martin, Linda Worship and Music X Norquist, Josephine Evangelism X Parman, Don Finance President X Pierce, Louise Cemetery X

Also present were:  Pastor Laura Tancredi  Pastor Jack Saarela

DEVOTIONS To reflect upon the work the council is focusing on for the transition process, Pastor Laura read a couple versus of the hymn “We All Are One in Mission” by Rusty Edwards.

TRANSITION PROCESS The focus of the transition process for the evening was review of the Mission Insite reports.

The group discussed the lower than average religiosity in this area reflected in the Quick Insite Report on pg. 2.

The group discussed the population size trending down for 15-17 year olds and considered this against the core value of “engaged youth”.

1 Pastor Jack pointed out that the single, never-married demographic is higher than the state average in our area. The group discussed how this impacts our approach to evangelism. There was discussion how single, never-married people may feel like they don’t find people like them since most units at St. Paul’s are families.

The group discussed the higher than average educational attainment as compared to the lower-than- average engagement in bible/scripture education.

Pastor Jack noted that those that consider traditional worship service as important in our area is 7% less than average for the state. The group discussed this relative to St. Paul’s desires based upon the core values exercise.

This was a preparatory discussion to determine where is best to focus energies.

PRESENTATION OF MINUTES MOTION: Pat made the motion to approve the minutes from the prior meeting. Don commented that he would provide additional language for Pastor Jack’s housing allowance. After this discussion the motion was seconded and approved by council.

COMMITTEE REPORTS Committee Report Pastor New members surveys may have checked interest in committees. See the Appendix for the full report. Administration The 2014 audit was to be presented tonight, but put off due to timing.

Proposed audit team: Jack Van Horn, Bob Ertner, and Gale Orr will be participating in audit. MOTION: Don moved that the committee be approved. Seconded and approved by council.

The date of annual meeting must be provided prior to November 1st. Don is proposing that it be the second Sunday in February. MOTION: Don made the motion for 2/12. Seconded and approved by council.

Next followed the nominating committee discussion. People scheduled to come off of council this year are Paul, Andy, Josephine, Kevin, and Laura. Don asked people to voice opportunities for movement among committee chairs. MOTION: Don moved that the nominating committee be the people coming off of council. Seconded and approved by council.

Worship & Music No update provided. See the Appendix for the full report. Property Dan reviewed the report.

2 There were questions about money and using Building on Blessings for the new windows. The committee is looking to have painting of the parsonage covered by property’s budget. There were also questions about using Building on Blessings money for repairs to schoolhouse in cemetery. Louise to send list of repairs with quotes so it can be discussed at the next meeting. See the Appendix for the full report. Stewardship The committee has not scheduled consecration Sunday yet. Carol discussed the process of what folks wanted to do for stewardship this year. Carol was talking about potentially delaying the pledging. Carol stated that they would be meeting within 2 weeks to discuss and decide. Don reminded that a giving-to-date update needs to go out soon. See the Appendix for the full report. Cemetery Louise reviewed the rash of vandalism, pizza boxes, and beer cans in the cemetery. Louise has asked the police to drive through more frequently at night. See the Appendix for the full report. Christian Education No update provided. See the Appendix for the full report. Evangelism No update provided. See the Appendix for the full report. Financial Secretary No update provided. See the Appendix for the full report. Treasurer Andy stated that cash flow continues to be strong. See the Appendix for the full report. Finance Committee Don had nothing to add. See the Appendix for the full report. Staff Personnel No Report. Paul has started on the budget process. There are a few loose ends related to health care and how it is constructed. Social Ministry Nothing to add to the report. See the Appendix for the full report. Technology Pat reviewed updates for the technology investments and the setup of the Cemetery computer. See the Appendix for the full report.

OUTSTANDING BUSINESS

3  MAP Communications – The summary written by Josephine is to be sent out. The summary report from the stewardship meetings will also be sent out.  Don noted that a week from Sunday will be next Open Finance Committee meeting.  Don raised opportunity for drawing on Endowment at congregational meeting.  Don reviewed the bequest from Paul Moock.

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING The next council meeting will be held on October 29th at 7:15pm in the Kugler room. Carol raised concern about choir practice that evening for concert that Sunday.

ADJOURNMENT AND PRAYER MOTION: Don moved for the adjournment of the meeting. The motion was seconded and approved by council.

Laura led the Lord’s Prayer to close the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick G. Freestone

4 Appendix

5 PASTORAL REPORT Pastor’s Report 13 October 2016

1. On October 9th, we celebrated our first blessing of the animals, with a service at 3:00 pm. In addition to 10 people, we had 4 dogs and 3 cats in attendance.

2. The Delaware Conference had its annual meeting on October 10th, with the focus being on Reformation 500 observances. The kick-off to the commemoration of the 500th year of the Reformation begins this year, October 30th. At St. Paul’s we will be having a Reformation Hymn Festival at 4:00. Various other musical, educational, and worship events will be planned throughout the year.

3. Our garden continues to produce well, and we have made weekly deliveries to the Ardmore Food Pantry of swiss chard and turnips. Our beans are just beginning to flower and the broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage will be ready to harvest late November. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped, especially during the very hot times!

4. St. Paul’s will be hosting a SparkHouse Book Fair on November 6 and 13, with books and DVDs for kids from birth to age 12. Those ordering at the fair will receive 40% off and free shipping. By hosting the fair, we also receive a free set of books and resources for our church library.

5. New Members were received on Oct 2 and Oct 9. In total, we had 12 new members received. Thanks to Josephine and the Evangelism Committee for helping to welcome the newest parts of our St. Paul’s family.

6. Women’s Christian Fellowship has gotten off to a good start, with about 10 women attending a weekly discussion of the book of Genesis.

7. Meetings attended: Stephen Ministry, transition meetings, Community Bible Study, Synod council, Heller/Hobart wedding, Conference Assembly, Families with Young Children Fall Picnic

8. Parochial Report: Funerals: Betty Bowers 9/20, Jean Krohn 9/24 Attendance: 9/4: 67 9/11: 135 (Rally Day) 9/18 9:00 am: 111 (includes 43 in Sunday school) 10:30: am 54 9/25 9:00 am: 103 (47 in Sunday school) 10:30: am 37

Respectfully submitted, Laura M. Tancredi

6 7 SOCIAL MINISTRY Good morning all,

Social Ministry did not meet in the month of October, but are working via email to establish a few upcoming items:

- October/November date for Service Project with Sunday School: Decorating baked goods to sell at a pre-determined coffee hour. Will donate funds to No Kid Hungry (waiting to hear back from Melissa Krissinger about possible dates, then will work to secure the coffee hour and promote to congregation).

- Reminder: November 21 = Volunteer night( 6 - 8pm) at Ardmore Food Pantry at St. Mary's - will promote for sign-ups closer to the date.

- Community Garden update: Bill Henderson has volunteered to be our email coordinator and rally the troops, as needed for watering, weeding, feeding, and delivering. So far, we've made several deliveries to the food pantry, largely of swiss chard and we hope to harvest other crops soon.

- We are working to donate the remainder of our raised funds for the Al Bahadily family to them. We provided giftcards in August for back to school clothing and supplies, we are trying to reach out to the family via Hussein's brother and Joe Betz, as we do not have a phone number, etc. for Hanan to check in and see how they're doing.

See you all on Thursday evening, Laura

8 TECHNOLOGY

St. Paul’s Technology Committee Report – September, 2016

Members: Patrick Freestone, Andrew Vickrey, Dan Gale, (Bill Henderson)

Accomplished:

 Executed agreements with Sounds Designs and World Wide Stereo to purchase the TV and labor for installation in fellowship hall.

 Obtained quotes for a new laptop for the church.

 Updated the Cemetery computer to be usable by Dottie for digitizing cemetery records.

 Troubleshot issue with Pitney-Bowes postage meter updates.

Upcoming:

 Purchase new laptop.

 Pursue website redesign proof-of-concept.

 Complete desktop inventory.

Meeting: No meeting occurred in September. All communications among the group occurred via e-mail.

9 WORSHIP & MUSIC All:

The committee did not meet this month and we have nothing new to report.

10 PROPERTY

Revised Property Committee Minutes

October 2016

Meeting was held on October 12, 2016. Attendees: Barb Henderson, Daniel Dry, Dave Curry.

WORK COMPLETED/UPDATE ON PROJECTS

Parsonage Bathroom- Work by Hyrig & Son Construction is nearing completion, and should be done by the end of November. The entire bathroom was demolished and renovated. The quality looks good with fine attention to detail. Final electrical Inspection will take place this week.

The bill has been revised upward due to additional time and materials as a result of the demo of a 2nd closet (adjacent to the bath) to permit the shower stall to be enlarged and the installation of a new six feet clothes closet. This has increased the bill from $17,099 to $18,271. The cost of the bathroom should be covered by the funds approved from the endowment fund with the overage charged against the property budget.

NEW/ONGOING PROJECTS

Church heating system- The steam boiler’s circulator pump failed and requires replacement. As part of the repair the recovery tank was cleaned, and significant rust was found and removed. It is likely that the rust is originating from throughout the system piping due to age (original pipes from 1940), and because recent chemical treatment and water softening designed to prevent rust is also loosening existing rust. Two of the three radiators on the right side of the church nave are currently turned off due to leaks in the pipes caused by the rust.

Also, the draft from the hot water heaters was found to be too low during regular service.

The investigation into the above items is ongoing by Herman Goldner and the total cost is yet to be determined. An estimate to replace feed and return piping in the church will be obtained, and this repair should be considered for 2017 as it is impossible to predict when an emergency issue might surface. See budget requests below.

Also during the investigation above, the sump pump near the recovery tank pump failed and was replaced by Dave Curry.

Parsonage- The parsonage window replacement of all windows is in progress, with the windows measured and currently being manufactured. Installation will be completed prior to year-end. Also included are storm doors. The cost could be handled under Building on Blessings, or in the 2016 operating budget.

Old paint was gathered by Dave Curry and will be taken to the Township disposal event.

11 The entire parsonage interior requires repainting, and the floors require recoating, as this has not been done since prior to the Millers’ arrival, over 23 years ago. The committee considered an internal project by congregation members, but due to the extent of refurbishment required, determined that contracting out the work was preferable. If funds to replace windows are used from the Building on Blessings fund, then it is recommended that the painting and the floor work be handled under this year’s 2016 budget. Once quotes are obtained we will have a better sense if it will cause spending to exceed the $121,000 budgeted. If it does, then we request approval to proceed, providing that the total budget does not exceed $133,100 or a 10 % overage.

The washer and dryer in the basement will be maintained for now with knob replacement, relocation of both nearer to the window, and replacement of the dryer vent to avoid a fire hazard.

Large Farmhouse- Quotes need to be obtained for front porch. It is likely that this will be delayed until 2017, still within the endowment request timeframe.

Sidewalks- A project will be planned to replace sidewalks in 2017, planning to begin in October, in coordination with the Cemetery Committee. See budget requests below.

Budget Requests- The Property Committee requests that the following items be considered for the 2017 budget:

 Heating system repair, replacement of supply and return piping and radiator repair. Recommended as endowment request. Dollar amount will be provided as soon as received.  Sidewalk replacement, in conjunction with the Cemetery to get the best price possible. Recommended as endowment request. Dollar amount will be provided as soon as received.

Property Committee

October 13, 2016

12 STEWARDHIP The committee met on September 10th and prepared guidelines for the cottage dinners. The discussions centered around what people liked best about St. Paul's and what are our growing edges. The following categories highlighted were ; worship and music, Christian education, fellowship, social ministry and communication. A summarized report will be prepared on what was learned from the discussions.

The update on the process.

The dinners were held on September 16 , 17, 18 (Sunday morning and evening), 23,24,25,30 , October 2 and 9. The hosts were: Jason and Vicky Sack, Carol Hammarberg, Todd and Renee DiGuiseppe, Michael and Carolyn Ashburn, David and Lisa Lexa Wilson, Boofie Younkin, Bill and Barbara Henderson, Don and Barbara Parman, Frank and Helene Roth, and Stu and Melissa Krissinger. We had 75 people attending the dinners.

There have been many positive comments and suggestions coming from the people who participated.

Submitted by Carol Hammarberg. Co -chair

13 CEMETARY

There has been a rash of beer cans (whole cases of them) and pizza boxes being left at the cemetery lately. I phoned the LM police and asked them to do a drive through during the night with more frequency and they agreed to. In addition, one of the windows of the school house was kicked in and broken. The cemetery staff boarded it up and replaced the plexiglass. Yes, they are plexiglass. Nothing was disturbed inside the house, it seems to just be malicious vandalism.

Otherwise, things are well, funerals continue at a steady pace and maintenance continues as usual.

Thank you, Louise Pierce

14 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Hello everyone,

Sunday school is off to a good start. We are now printing the previous week's attendance in each week's bulletin. Evening Christian Fellowship has started up again after taking a break for the summer; we are starting this session with a discussion of the Gospel of John. Families with Young Children will be having a Halloween event. I will not be able to attend our meeting this Thursday; my brother is hosting a dinner in honor of my mother's birthday. I will drop off my interview with Nan Dormans to the office on Wednesday afternoon.

Thanks,

15 EVANGELISM Dear Council Members, below is a summary of activities occurred since the last update. Looking for your input on the pictorial directory question below. Also, I will not be able to attend the meeting tomorrow night. I have forwarded the responses to the interview I was assigned to directly to Don, Pastor Laura and Pastor Jack  Arranged luncheon for the 12 new members that joined this month. Their pictures will be posted on our St Paul's New Member Family Tree posted in the fellowship hall near the board with name tags

 Speaking of name tags, we all need to make an effort to wear our name tags as this helps new members recognize other members of St Paul's

 A one-page summary of the MAP survey results was created and circulated to the congregation. Should this be posted in the Chimes as well?

 Council Input on Pictorial Directory: We had discussed previously updating the pictorial directory as the current one is from 2011. I have been struggling to determine if now is the best time to do so via the LifeTouch company that created the current one, or should we wait for the interim consultant activities to be completed this year. Suggestion from the Evangelism committee is to wait until we resolve the pastoral resources and to postpone this activity until early 2017. What do other council members think about this? Josephine

16 17 FINANCE MINUTES The Finance Committee did not meet this month.

Andy Horn and Bob Ertner have already forwarded their respective reports and the regular monthly finance reports are forwarded to you separately.

Attached is a finance dash board with financial highlights for the month. Income (including scheduled transfers from the endowment and Building on Blessings funds) continues to exceed expenses year-to-date. We expect that we will be favorable for the year as we continue to have a favorable salaries expense related to Pastor Skip’s retirement. Property has been favorable to budget but much if not all of that favorable variance will be spent on replacement of the parsonage windows (although that cost could be funded through Building on Blessings).

The next Finance Committee meeting will comprise sessions after each service on Sunday, October 23. The intention is to talk over development of the budget with interested members of the congregation to have the benefit of their input and questions in advance of presentation of a proposed budget to council. Clearly decisions on pastoral resource will be a significant driver to the budget. This year is the third and final year that funds from the Building on Blessings campaign have been transferred to cover the compensation for the associate pastor position. Our expectation is that budget amounts for each cost center other than staff compensation will be at 2016 levels unless you let us know that you need more for 2017, e.g., funding for the garden project.

We are close to finalizing an audit committee to review the 2015 financial reports. Given the late date that committee will have to work quickly to have a report in time for the annual report.

St. Paul’s has been the beneficiary of a wonderful bequest from Paul Moock. Paul bequeathed one-third of his estate and one-third of his IRA to St. Paul’s. We have received a check for $253,513 from his IRA. Under our standing resolutions, $5000 of that distribution will be treated as contributed to current operations and the balance as a contribution to the Endowment Fund. Any distribution from his estate will come in due course. Paul’s gift is a wonderful example for our membership.

18 19 20 FINANCE REPORT

23 TREASURERS REPORT