Parish Council Minutes

October 24, 2006

The moderator called the meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. Present were Chris Gehret, Sue Johnson, Phil Johnson, Dennis Bailey, Linda Ladd, Barbara Langill, Rick Carey, George Hayden and Sue Lambe. Phil welcomed  Dennis  to his first official council meeting as our new settled pastor. Sue Johnson offered the meditation. The minutes of the 9/26/06 council meeting were approved.

Senior Pastor Report: Dennis reported that things are going well for him in his transition. He met with the Get Together Wheel earlier in the day to introduce himself. He will hold an informational meeting for confirmands and parents this coming Sunday. The confirmation group could be as large as 12. Each confirmand will have a mentor, this will be a big commitment for all involved in the process. Dennis is now planning field trips and retreats for the group. Dennis met with Sally MacDonald; CORI checks for all adults within the church who work with children were discussed. He will check with Dayl Hufford on this. Dennis thanked all who helped with the new paint in his office. We then discussed the possibility of having a seminarian from Andover-Newton; if we decide to proceed with this we will need to include it in the upcoming budget.

Christian Education Report: Barbara reported that the High School group attended an overnight mission trip in Boston last weekend. The trip was arranged by the City Mission Society and the students did painting in a community center. The Middle School group completed their 3-mile walk in support of My Brother’s Table and raised $700. Upcoming fund raisers for the youth groups include selling “Goblin Insurance” and the annual pumpkin carving fund raiser this Sunday. The planned youth trip to Taize this summer has been postponed for now. Barbara is looking into a mission trip to Maine for this time period instead. Last year’s very successful Flamingo fundraiser will be repeated in the spring. Next month’s Lynnfield High School musical, “The Pajama Game,” features many church youth, Barbara will place an ad for CCC in the program.

Faith Development Report: Linda reported that the doors to church will now be locked during Tower Day School hours, you must ring the bell to enter. Linda and Rick met with Arthur Bourque to discuss a security system for the school, Rick has also discussed security measures with Sally MacDonald. A lengthy discussion on security measures for TDS ensued, it was decided that Sally should contact local police and other preschools for security guidelines and suggestions. Council agreed that we do not want the church locked at all times and that we will pursue other options.

Properties Report: Rick advised council that any solution to the TDS security problem will require significant funding and that we need to plan for this. He also informed council that Roger Batchelder has completed building excellent new shelving in the Mission’s closet.

Worship Team Report: George reported that the Worship Team has been working with Dennis on services. Worship team is also undergoing some personnel changes that will be complete by Annual Meeting.

Missions Report: Chris informed council that she has met with Dennis to update him on their programs, as well as holding a whole commission meeting. Bags will be handed out next week for their upcoming Food Drive. Missions will be sponsoring “A Different Kind of Christmas” giving fair this year. This fair will benefit Heifer and 3 other organizations, it will be held on December 3rd. Chris also reported that donations to the Mission’s closet (cell phones, cans etc.) have been great.

Moderator’s Report: Phil distributed copies of the proposed revision of the CCC bylaws to all council members and informed us that these would be mailed to all members. Meetings regarding these proposed revisions are as follows: November 5th, after church will be an information session with time for questions; November 19th, after church will be a special Congregational Meeting to vote on the new bylaws. The November 19th meeting will also include voting on a new slate of elected church officers and voting to approve the budget for July 2006- June 2007. Phil has already received and incorporated feedback from some church members into the new bylaws. Dennis’s official installation ceremony will take place on November 12th at 3:00, a reception will follow. A review of the proposed 2006-2007 budget followed. CCC has received a bequest from the Guillow Estate that will be added into this budget. It was determined that our past trend of running a deficit has subsided, but the upcoming year will be challenging. We need to focus on total income, not just that of TDS. It was moved, seconded and voted to approve the proposed budget, including the discussed changes.

Other: George informed us that he planned to attend this Sunday’s annual meeting of the Metropolitan Boston Commission. Council voted George as our official delegate.  Dennis held a staff meeting last Monday and has decided to hold them twice monthly.

The moderator adjourned the meeting at 8:55 P.M. Dennis led the group in a closing prayer.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Lambe, Recording Clerk