Heard It at Council (December 2015)

December 8, 2015

Council met to close out the year. The meeting opened with a reflection on life’s stressors with a pause to let go. Jesus invites us to travel light.

Treasurer David Vogan introduced Lauren Berk as incoming Treasurer. The 2015 budget will finish in good form, 20k short of the projected 105k deficit.

Senior Minister Nancy Taylor summarized the proposal for the 2016 Annual Meeting, February 7th. The proposal has now been reviewed among various groups including Deacons, Council, Christians in Formation, and staff. In general, the new format is agreeable. A motion was submitted and Council approved a combined service of First and Festival Worship at 10 am, with Godly Play for children. The Annual Meeting will take place at 11:15 am, with childcare provided, and a luncheon to follow. Council was pleased that the entire congregation will have a rare opportunity to worship together.

Finance Chair Rodney Click presented a high level overview of the 2016 budget. Current estimates for income are lower than expected. This results in a 170k variance compared to the initial projection. The main factors are decreased building bookings such as weddings plus decreased congregational pledging. Other issues are somewhat slow investment growth and lower proceeds from silver heritage asset activity than might have been expected. The overall budget deficit for 2016 is projected to be 245k.

The Stewardship season recently concluded and Chair Kurt Gaertner updated Council with results. Unfortunately, pledging is down. 44% of member households have pledged, decreased from 55% last year. Council discussed the causes and implications of this picture. It appears that some member families have relocated. In general, is there a disconnect in communication regarding the key role that pledging plays to enable budgeting? How can the church increase awareness? As a first step, Kurt presented an aggregate, anonymized summary of pledging at the leadership level, among Council, committees, and other leaders. Council agreed that a good start will be to encourage leaders to consider their pledging as well as to spread reminders, for example at the committee level. Next, Council considered the Stewardship language to be sure that it is encouraging, positive and inclusive. The Committee is doing a great job in this regard. Some ideas to make pledging easier were discussed, such as reminder postcards and less confusing online format. Council then considered whether the upcoming Capital Campaign may be forestalling current pledging. It is possible that this gap is happening but it is difficult to understand. Kurt introduced a motion for Council to adopt a four tier goal toward universal pledging. Council acknowledged 100% pledging at the level of the congregation might not be realistic, however shorter term goals among the leadership might be obtainable. Council suggested amending the full motion but approved the first tier goal of universal pledging among leaders. In the meantime, Stewardship will begin to create talking points and ideas to foster growth in pledging.

Various committee updates were heard. Ten new members joined this month. The 2016 Leadership slate is nearly full, with the Music position still under review. The Advent season is upon us with the Children’s Pageant happening December 12th at First Worship. A few winter concerts are scheduled. The Communications Committee will be refreshing banners and making website updates. Christians in Formation reported that Storyboard will visit Old South Church in January, focusing on intergenerational stories. At Lent, Historian Emily Click will lead discussions on Sabbath keeping. The Deacons are busy tracking feedback such as Meeting House Sunday and making plans for the upcoming Christmas activities. Christian Science and Outreach is proposing four grantees as follows: Casa Myrna Vasquez (teen parenting); City Mission Society (homelessness, single mothers); Fourth Presbyterian (urban youth, ESL, meals); and Ecclesia Ministries (Common Cathedral/Art, City Reach, street ministry); totaling approximately 100K. A motion was made for these grants and Council approved. Operations reported that the Project AIR vendor Consigli had graciously donated their services during recent renovation estimates for the Capital Campaign case statement. Rev. Nancy Taylor noted that Imam Taymullah Abdur-Rahman will visit Old South Church to share the pulpit December 13th and co-host a Q&A, as Old South tries to dispel Islamophobia during this recent political cycle.

Council adjourned, thankful for past and current leaders and grateful for a productive year.

Lisa Mahnke, Clerk