Administration Ministry Team
Meeting Minutes by Moderator Newman McAllister.
The Administration Ministry Team met on March 23, 2023. Those present were Pastor Darlene Avery, Moderator Newman McAllister, Vice Moderator Linda Seger, Treasurer Sunde King, and Member Vaughn Drinen.
Pastor participated, along with Derek Krehbiel and new member Liz Speir, in the Soul Shop suicide training workshop in Woodland Park, sponsored by Teller County Public Health. It was faith based and clinically sound. She mentioned taking one’s life from the pulpit to reach out to people who might be depressed. The Lenten season is going well for the church and planning for Pentecost is well underway. More local people are attending church lately. On April 14 the church is hosting a community disaster exercise workshop. The church will host CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training on May 6. Pastor also continues to pursue certification as a Red Cross Shelter Supervisor. Pastor, along with Vaughn, Derek and Linda attended, by Zoom, two meetings of the Rocky Mountain Conference. The conference is still dealing with Human Resources’ troubles that began with the termination of the Associate Conference Minister, followed by the resignation of the Conference Minister. The conference’s annual meeting is June 15-17 in Grand Junction. Linda and Pastor plan to attend. Pastor is going on a retreat at La Foret Conference Center from March 27 to March 30. It is a working retreat. Pastor will address the church’s electronic filing system, with GoogleDrive, and will finalize the space rental packet. The Green Box Festival is not far off and Pastor has been coordinating with the Green Box folks, so far as the church is implicated.
Sunde presented the January report prior to the meeting, by e-mail, and the February report was presented at the meeting. For February, all income was $6,512.09 and all expenses were $13,918.14, for a negative balance for the month of $7,406.05, and a negative balance for the year of $10,342.22. Sunde noted that the church’s utility charges have markedly increased. For example, the natural gas and electricity charges for January and February exceeded $1,300.00 per month. There have been substantial expenditures from the Kirpatrick Foundation remodel grant this year – the remaining balance is $972.35.
The boiler that heats Tatter Hall and the downstairs classrooms continues to trip off. Newman has been offered diagnostic assistance from Clint Christianson, a co-chairman of the Turning Point group that meets at the church. There are filing cabinets in the basement that are locked and no one knows the combination code. Newman said he will have the locks drilled so we can discover if there might be valuable church history or other files therein. The basement is a dumping ground for many things that should be discarded, and a thorough inspection will be done this summer.
Linda Seger, with consultation from Katie Gardner and Heidi Bailey are working on a history corner in Patchell Hall. The Sallie Bush Community Building sale closes on March 24. The church will receive a check for $100,000.00 and the $400,000.00 endowment fund will begin distributions to the church in October 2024. The team thanked Vaughn for arranging for the alarm company to install a separate keypad (located in the stairwell going upstairs) and additional sensors. The object was to make it easy to “fence off” a group that rents Tatter Hall, so that those folks would not have access to Patchell Hall and the sanctuary. The pew cards are outdated. Newman, Linda, Heidi and Pastor are working on a new set with vibrant colors and eye-catching appeal. Lolita Hilbert reported mice droppings on the floor. Last summer there were bats in the church’s tower. Newman will pursue how this can be avoided in 2023. There was a biennal state boiler inspection in March and the church passed.
The church’s elevator is due for inspection in May. The septic tank should be pumped in May. The church’s insurer sent a letter dated March 20 relating to wildfire danger, asking two things: create a property maintenance plan and prune all tree branches near the roof to a minimum of 10’ from roof or roof line. The letter gives the church 30 days to comply. This would apply to the three pine trees in front of the church. The trunks are from 10.5 feet to 12 feet from the building itself and massive pruning would be required. Newman will seek bids from other insurance companies
Pastor is spending a lot of time discussing space rental with those who inquire. She presented a proposal. Pastor will receive 20% of what the church receives for non-congregational rentals. It is intended to be an interim proposal until an administrative assistant can be hired. The job description is page 3 of the memo. As to the latter, there was discussion that the assistant should be physically at the church for office hours. After a motion by Vaughn and a second by Newman, the proposal was unanimously approved. The upright freezer in the Food Pantry is yet unsold.
The next regular meeting is on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 3:30 p.m.