Administration Ministry Team
Meeting Minutes by Moderator Newman McAllister.
The Administration Ministry Team met on July 21, 2022. Those present were Pastor Darlene Avery, Moderator Newman McAllister, Treasurer Sunde King, Member Linda Seger, Member Vaughn Drinen and guest Jeff Chapman (both by ZOOM).
Pastor and Teresa Allen have been working on worship themes through All Saints Sunday, October 30. Many people are enrolled in the Gospel of Thomas bible study. She continues to pursue training as a Red Cross Emergency Shelter director and being a member of the Opioid Council through the Town of Green Mtn. Falls, working with trustee Nick Donzello. There was worship in the field on July 17, without a rental charge. Pastor will be on vacation from September 5 through September 11, and working but absent from worship on September 4 . There will be a hymn sing on September 4 and Scott Allen preaches on September 11. She is also working hard on Bronc Day, July 30, an opportunity to cooperate with the community on a decades old tradition.
Sunde reported the June financial results. All income was $52,608.03 and all expenses were $9,632.00, leaving the church with a positive balance of $42,976.03 for the month and $25,528.07 for the year.
The name plates for the various rooms are ordered. Jeff reported on four items:
(1) the Regional Building Department is sending an elevator inspector on July 26 (Newman will handle)
(2) Digital Mishap’s contract (Chris Ruccius) will be sent soon along with the June invoice
(3) Next week all the switches will be installed so that all computers can be monitored remotely (cost of $3,000 to be paid out of renovation grant)
(4) additional landscaping from renovation grant including replacing rotting railroad tie wall in garden area with block wall, lifting up all flagstone and resetting them, the recessed lighting on the downstairs, and other lighting outside. Jeff has also worked and aligned the push mower for the lawn.
Church Mutual, the church’s insurance carrier, estimates replacement cost of the church at approximately $245.00 per square foot, which computes to total coverage of $3,565,000.00, resulting in an increase of the annual premium by $5,842.00 to a yearly premium of $18,139.00. The team agreed that coverage should be increased to $3,565,000.00, as of August 1, 2022.
Newman met with Bonnie Sipp, Carla Chapman and Ron DeValk to discuss a solution to the church downspout drainage that freezes upon entry into the parking lot. All believed a proper solution was to install heating wires in all downspouts and the drainage pipe so that the water would drain into the parking lot out of the pipe. There would then be a cut into the concrete that would allow the water to exit into the street (where the winter sun would help dissipate it), with a grate on top. This will be pursued. Newman has a list of projects which volunteers can pursue and these will be advertised on the church bulletin board in Patchell Hall. The team approved ordering a donation box for Patchell Hall. Newman is in contact with the HR Team (Laurie Guido and Carrie DeValk) about the Pastor’s evaluation, due in December, and the need to evaluate the Music Director and the Custodian. The collection for Our Church’s Wider Mission will be on August 7, 2022.
Newman has not yet revised the ushers and greeters’ manual but intends to do so. He pointed out that the cost of living increased at an annual rate of 8.30% from April 2021 through April 2022. The monthly increase is 1.00% for May 2022 and 1.30% for June 2022. During that period no church staff have received an increase in compensation. Newman believed this is an injustice and donations will be sought that could give every church staff member a cost of living increase.
The next regular meeting is on Thursday, August 18, 2022, at 3:30 p.m.