Minutes for Parish Council on Thursday, September 19, 2013
Called meeting to order at 7:30pm
Present: 1Dianne Biggar, Joe Biggar, Ed Lewis, Naomi Neeb, Rick Carpenter, Dave Wilson, Lesley Harris, Nigel Cox, Bryan Hunt, Ray David Glen, Neil Denison
Motion to pass the Minutes from May: Motion Carried
• Joe brought up that there was discussion last PC about publishing the minutes from Executive Council. Private details will not be included. These minutes will distributed in a suitable form.
Rectors Report
Worship Services: The last two Sundays have brought new families and a sense of the Spirit at work. This should be encouraging for all of us and an affirmation to keep doing what we are doing.
Sermon Series: Philippians is the sermon series. In the leaflet, there will be didactic in the margins that describe in detail various elements of the service. Early comers to the service have noted that the sound checks are distracting. So now if people want to come for prayer and preparation, to please go to the Fountain Chapel.
GAFCON2: Ray David will be attending and is on the Leadership Team. It will be held in Nairobi. Canada will have 23 delegates. The meeting will be October 21-26. There is a need for money to defray travel expenses for RD and other delegates. It will cost about $5,000 for each person. Executive Council has prayed and believes this is an opportunity that should be pursued for RD. Prayer for GAFCON, the delegates and seminars is desired by ANiC.
Youth Pastor: There is a desperate need for one here. ANiC has declined our request for funding. However EC still feels we need to move this initiative ahead especially given our moving into Alton Village. There are 5 schools in the village, a well-used skateboard park, indicating the need. The EC has decided to move ahead with a job description and posting for the position. Rick C. talked about the idea that we are being more and more convicted by the Holy Spirit to begin caring for his little ones. Joe, Rick and RD prayed for the Lord’s provision.
Policy Document: Executive Council felt they were being asked to make one-off decisions. As a result, Debbie Dyment has volunteered to compile the churches policies and practices, updating them, and then writing a new and functional policy set. This will aid in making more consistent decisions more quickly and help people in the church know how to get stuff done. It will also help limit liability. We are asking other churches and the CCCC for their policy templates
ANiC is providing a new 200 page safe church policy. This needs to be implemented by December 31, 2013 in time for the renewal of the insurance policy. Ed feels we are already enacting many of the requirements already. Debbie will initially focus her work on Volunteer and HR policies. She desires to present two to three new policies at every EC meeting. Please pray for this process, and if people wish to contribute ideas, please pass them to Gillian.
Bylaws: There is a bylaws committee responsible for the bylaws that support the church and to receive feedback to tighten them up. There have recently been changes to the Canadian Not For Profit Act. They are requiring NFPs to submit new bylaws that conform to their rules in order to get letters of continuance. A major change requires that not all officers be directors and vice versa. These letters must be submitted by October of 2014. The EC plans to submit an initial draft of PC review in January of 2014. The desire is that they be ratified at the AGM in February 2014.
Action: PC to receive revised Bylaws for review in Early January
Parish Secretary: Donna Rigo has resigned as Parish Secretary and we wish to thank her for her many contributions over 15 years. She looks forward to volunteering in many ways. The weekly bulletin will be done by Bryan.
There was a discussion about songs being printed in bulletins. People talked about liking to have both available. Some people like to be able to see the complete context to “let it sink in”. we concluded that “Both And” works the best.
Stewardship Committee: Bryan has done a wonderful job on finishing the Tithing videos. These are personal testimonies of people in the congregation. Bryan interviewed 8 -10 different people in the congregation of different age and walks of life about tithing and approach to money. We got their honest answers about why they tithe and what the Lord has taught them through this.
Bryan showed one of the videos that has been created. All agreed it was very nicely done!
How should this be implemented? David thought that it might be done immediately after the children are sent to Sunday School. Ed thought this was problematic being just before the Offertory. RD countered that this goes to the question about your growth in discipleship and whether we want what is God’s best for his people. Functionally, this place is also a natural break for such a message. There are 5 other videos and are close to completion. The council recommended to start showing these things on September 29th.
Financial Peace University – Dave Ramsay: The Parish Council asked the Stewardship Committee to consider providing education in financial matters.
Ray David spoke about the EC’s desire to submit a quarterly letter about the financial status of the church and should go out in the next few weeks. Ed said that they see occasional gifts to reduce the deficit. Nigel passed around the letter that will be going out shortly. The Parish Council endorses this strategy providing these letters to the congregation.
Rick noted that the in the new bulletin there is no explanation about the Offertory. Bryan has noted that these suggestions are helpful and changes will be made to the bulletin iteratively over time.
Happenings:
25th of September – Volunteer Thank you potluck dinner and pastorate launch
2nd October – Aaron Eime of Christ Church, Jerusalem will be speaking on the Jewish roots of Christianity
4th and 5th of October – Act Like Men Conference
7th – 13th October – Love the Village prayer walks. Signups on the website and after church. Packages will be distributed to those who sign up. There will be a closing service on October 13th.
October 20th-26th GAFCON2
25th-26th October – regional youth retreat
October 27th – Bryan Crook to Preach
Early November – Bible in a Day conference at St. George’s
Financial Report
The church is currently in a $29,242 deficit position, up by approximately $8000 over last year. Some of this is due to the paying of interest on the new property. It is important to note that the church has acquired some very important property assets, which should be considered when considering the expenses coming from the building project and the annual expenses. These needs are signs of life and moving forward in gospel ministry, not a cause for shame.
