Annual Meeting 2010

St. James Lutheran Church
Annual Meeting

Report of the Secretary
Meeting Minutes
February 14, 2010

I.         Opening Devotions
Pastor Williams opened the meeting at 11:15 by recognizing Lillian Solvang on her very special birthday.  Kim Bergstrand presented a devotion followed by comments by Pastor.

It was noted that a quorum as defined by the St. James Constitution was present.

II.          Report of the Secretary
See report.  One correction offered.  Carolyn Fales first name was spelled incorrectly under section XI paragraph B.  The correction was so noted. Mary Ferriera made a motion to accept the report as corrected.  Seconded and approved.

III.        Report of the Council President
See report.  Debi Curry spoke about some of the highlights at St. James during 2009 touching upon many of the ministries and programs that continue to enrich our faith community.  George Bowen made a motion to accept the report as presented.  Seconded and accepted.

IV.      Report of the Treasurer
See report. Kathy Cadigan recognized Ellen Zawislak’s hard work and dedication in her roll as Treasurer.  She reviewed the financial reports as included in the Annual Report.  No questions. Norman Rousseau made a motion to accept the report as presented.  Seconded and accepted.

V.        Reports of the Standing Committees
See reports. Each committee chair highlighted items of importance as submitted in their written report.

• Communications – Debi Curry
• Cultivating Community in Christ – Pat Sousa
• Ministry with Youth – Jen Kirby
• Outreach Ministries – Jill Bowen
• Property – Jack Zawislak
• Worship & Music – Mary Hassan
• Finance & Stewardship – Kathy Cadigan - Kathy thanked John Rodehorst and George Bowen for past service on the committee.  She commented on the 2009 deficit and the proposed 2010 budget.

A motion was made to approve all the reports of the committees as submitted.  Seconded and accepted.

VI.      Appointment of Tellers
Ted Zimmerman nominated Jack Zawislak and George Bowen as Tellers.  The motioned was seconded by Alice Funk and accepted.

VII.    Report of the Auditors
See report.

A motion was made and approved to accept the report as submitted.  Seconded and accepted

VIII.  Old Business

a.   Building Committee Report
See report. Ed Tanner arranged for a display of architectural drawings of the proposed renovations for all to see.  Ed reviewed the history and timeline of the project and how our needs were determined.  He advised that Rob Olson, the architect has proven to be an excellent choice providing several designs from which to choose and incorporating our priorities, i.e. accessibility, safe classroom space, staff space, reusing our existing space etc.  Ed advised that the project was put to bid in the summer of 2009.  Bids came back higher than hoped for. The low bid was $686K and the high $1.2M.  Ed reported that all building approvals had been obtained from the Town of Barrington for the project.  Ed hoped that once the new Pastor is on board and the economy improves we would be able to begin more fundraising and start to move the project forward.

Mike Nadeau thanked everyone involved with the project for their years of hard work.  He spoke about this project being on God’s timeline, not ours.  The time taken with each phase has given us the opportunity to pray and reflect on Gods plan for St James. Mike mentioned that original plans as drawn by Jeff Spann from the ELCA that were very basic and did not include much of the detail needed for a true cost estimate.  He reported that we could expect to pay between $111K to $150K more than originally estimated.   Mike reiterated that the plan is right, we have gone the distance to be sure the plan meets the program for the congregation. Moving forward Mike outlined the following:

    * We need to get our new Pastor on board.
    * We need to balance our Annual Budget.
    * We need to finalize the cost of the project.
    * We all need to get excited about the plan.

Ed passed out a report of income and expenses of the project to date.
B.        Congregational Constitution
See Constitution. Debi Curry reported that the ELCA had developed some constitutional changes that needed to be incorporate into the St. James Constitution.  While the document was being reviewed and updated to reflect those updates, committee chairs worked to document and define the work of their teams to be included in the constitution as continuing resolutions.   Debi reported that a Personnel Committee has been created which will act in the employer capacity and oversee annual performance reviews.

Debi then described the process and presented the proposed vision statement.  After some discussion Lou D’Errico and Tara Colvin requested the change of some verbiage.  New language was agreed upon by the membership.  The final vision statement is as follows:

Our vision statement will direct and shape our programs.  We belong to Christ.  Our faith in this truth shapes our lives.  Our faith in action is reflected in our priorities and values:

    * Worship is central to our life.
    * We are committed to growing as disciples of Jesus Christ.
    * We understand and profess what it means to be Lutheran.
    * Our faith – nourished in worship – is expressed as a deep and personal connection with the needs of our community.
    * Our ministries are led by a congregation that fully understands that their ministries are a visible sign of God’s love in this world.
    * Welcoming hospitality and generous stewardship are outward signs of the love we feel for our church home and ministries.
George Bowen made a motion to accept the Constitution as revised.  Jack Zawislak seconded the motion, the vote was unanimous.

IX.      New Business

a.       Proposed Budget for 2010
See report. George Bowen reviewed the 2009 deficit and some history of 2007 and 2008.  He mentioned that our accumulated surplus has made up the deficit for the past several years.  The 2010 budget with a proposed deficit of $20K would nearly exhaust the surplus.  Cathy Fales asked if it would make sense to purchase a parsonage.  George reported that historically that has not always worked well for a pastor or a congregation as the pastor loses the ability to build home equity.
Norman Rousseau made a motion to accept the 2010 Budget as proposed.  Cathy Fales seconded the motion, the vote was unanimous.

b.      Election of new Council Members
Debi Curry thanked Pat Sousa for her service as chair of the Cultivating Community in Christ Team.   Pat nominated Andrea Sprout to chair the committee and made a motion to elect Andrea.  Nancy Kutz seconded the motion, the vote was unanimous.

c.       Election of Delegates for Synod Assembly.
Mary Hassan, Steve Dumas, Sherri Dumas and Kim Bergstrand were nominated as our 2010 delegates for Synod Assembly.  The motion was seconded and approved.

d.      Election of auditors.
Ed Tanner, Norman Rousseau and George Bowen were nominated as 2010 auditors.  The motion was seconded and approved.

A motion to close the meeting was made at 1:50pm.  The motion was seconded and approved.

The meeting was closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

Respectfully submitted,
Jill K. Bowen