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GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION

Meeting held in the Worship Centre at 11:30am on Sunday 6th April, 2014.

Minutes

1. Welcome and Apologies

Warren Bartlett welcomed 147 members of the Church to the meeting. Apologies were received from BillMorgan, LaurelMuir, JohnMuir, DorothyLockhart, AlaneeHearnshaw, HelenStewart, PeterStewart, PamBunney, GeoffWillis, JacquiKing, ColinKing, JohnSnare, HeatherWilkins, LoisHosking and GailIrvine.

2. Prayer

The meeting opened with a prayer, led by WarrenBartlett.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 25th November, 2013.

The minutes for the previous meeting were confirmed by a show of cards.

4. Matters arising from the previous Minutes

4.1. Balance Sheet

A balance sheet was requested at the last Congregation Meeting, and this has been provided in item 7 of this meeting.

5. Correspondence

None.

6. Election of Congregational Chair & Secretary

Ballots were handed out & collected to all members present. The official scrutinisers, approved by a show of cards, were JacobDavey, PamMcDonald and AaronBlakemore.

7. Presentation of Financial Statements for year 2013

AshleyIrvine presented the financial statements for year 2013. He began by explaining the details of the 2013 statements, before moving into a time of questions from the meeting. A summary of the questions and responses are as follows:

7.1. Question: Where are our current finances kept?

Answer: GWUC keeps a portion in a Westpac account that is accessible. There is another portion in a second higher-interest account that is retained to gather interest.

7.2. Question: What are the strategic imperatives to the budget, as outlined by Church Council?

Answer: This was not discussed specifically in Church Council, as a very large decision that needs appropriate insight from the recently appointed Rev. NeilPeters. NeilPeters commented that he was interested to see initially, around a week prior to this meeting, that there is a planned strategic discussion that he would be involved in. He also mentioned that at the last Church Council meeting the ministry team agreed to focus on building a team together. It was therefore resolved at this Church Council meeting to extend the positions of AlisonClarkson and BelindaClear until the end of 2014 (CouncilMinutes20140325). They also confirmed that over the next 6 months there would be a conscious look at the direction of the Church, particularly in our goals of paid ministry. Questions to be explored include: What are all the roles we're looking at? What do we need supported? What shape do we see our ministry forming? This will be an intentional effort, inclusive of NeilPeters and others, and is high on NeilPeters' agenda.

7.3. Question: What is the basis of the increasing amount of offerings and donations? (and post-meeting comments)

Comment from AshleyIrvine (post-meeting): To the congregation, I’ve now had some time since the congregational meeting held on Sunday 6th April 2014 and I’d like to expand on questions asked and the answers I gave, referring to specific people who did not seem to appreciate the difficulty of the budget accountability. My apologies if the below responses are written from a business view point however it think it needs to be.

2014 Budget Reflections

The 2014 budget was created in mid-2013, by the combined efforts of the finance committee, before I was asked to become Treasurer. It was created from a five year plan approved by the old church council and I am only responsible for relaying their response. It was accepted by the congregation at the November 2013 meeting, and as much I thought about changing it over the past five months, I didn’t, as I thought it may confuse a number of people.

It should also be noted it was done with the expectation that there was to be a new giving program during 2013, however due to the major ministry team change, it was decided to delay the program till 2014. The 2014 budget has not yet included the rental income from the Mulgrave Church, and we are fortunate to be getting significant income from sources outside the planned giving program. I will welcome any member’s suggestions from the floor as to how we increase current income and decrease expenses. Yes, the income trend is downwards, however, as the Treasurer I will continue to remind council that the church needs funds to continue to operate to meet both your needs and the needs of those outside the church. While some members of council do not believe this to be of importance, I will stress to them that, as with all other organisations, we need to be active on our ideas.

Finally, the congregation can be assured that the budget for 2015 will be ‘started from scratch’, but with current trends in mind. It will be realistic, even if it shows a deficit.

My view

Following from the above, it is time to say something about the makeup of congregation. Through continuous natural attrition, and a lack of focus on bringing in new people to GWUC, our numbers are slowly decreasing. Prior Treasurers have mentioned this matter several times. To be blunt the majority of our congregation are senior people on fixed incomes, and not enough effort has been made in encouraging young families to become part of our church. As an example, we have an increased number of people coming into the church building during the week, however has anyone been actively speaking to them to attend on a Sunday? GWUC needs a 10 year plan to at least maintain the number of regular attendees.

Neil Peters mentioned that he will soon be relaying his views on the formation of the ministry team. Based on the reports that were shown on Sunday, all members of the congregation need to understand that based on likely future incomes and expenses, it will be unlikely the second full time Minister Of The Word position will be filled.

8. On The Way Together: Missional Group Reports

8.1. Faith Development

NeilSkilton gave a report on behalf of SharminiWickramaratne.

8.2. Inclusive Community

JanClear presented for Inclusive Community, and began by deeply thanking those in the Inclusive Community team for all the work that they have done. Just recently they have welcomed ElwynPederson as their Church Council representative. The entire team really support JanClear in her role, and so she thanked them tremendously. This was met with much applause. JanClear then spoke on pastoral care, at usually fills half of the Inclusive Community meeting time. This year they have also dealt with transfers for people moving both in and out of the congregation. She explained she received a transfer letter just on Thursday, and she introduced Beth, who has joined us from South Australia! Welcome to Beth. The Inclusive Community have started English classes for new arrivals in August, and the wonderful group of tutors give up their time to help with this. At the November Congregation Meeting, Jan said they spoke to AlaneeHearnshaw and BelindaClear with the purpose of creating a inter-generational event. As a result, the community fun night will be held on Friday May 6, from 6:30-9pm. The next meeting for Inclusive Community is on Tuesday 29th April at 10:30 in the outer vestry. As always, JanClear would love to have any and all suggestions for making Glen Waverley Uniting Church more inclusive. The Inclusive Community was met with applause.

8.3. Community Hub

JudithGreenwood presented for Community Hub, starting by explaining that the Playgroup volunteers have added another morning to their roster. Leisure time has also welcomed 3 new guests. Leisure time is being held tomorrow at 2:30pm, and all are welcome to attend. The Hub recently held a very successful morning tea for the Cancer Council's World's Biggest Morning Tea. With a great atmosphere and lots of attendees, donations of $420 were received. The report was met with much applause.

8.4. Community Outreach

AndrewHosking reported on behalf of Community Outreach.

9. Reports and Recommendations from Church Council

9.1. Church Council Report

JudyLowe spoke on behalf of the Church Council. She began by apologising for the absence of HelenStewart, who is currently in Adelaide. She then informed the Congregation that Church Council have re-appointed HelenStewart as Chair for 2014, and appointed JudyLowe for Secretary, with VidaFoo stepping down from the Secretary position. Thank you to VidaFoo for filling this role for 2013!

10. Report from Ministry Team

The whole Ministry Team, with the exception of AlaneeHearnshaw (who was in Kenya), stood. Rev. NeilPeters began by speaking on behalf of the Ministry team, and noting that while AlaneeHearnshaw is currently on leave and so not here in person, she contributed largely to this report.

11. Other Business

11.1. Church Rosters

JohnHurst presented his item of business regarding the RosterProposal, stating that detail can be found on the wiki, in order to save time in this meeting.

11.2. Thank-you for 19 Southdown Ave maintenance

The new minister for the Mulgrave Indonesian congregation has arrived from Indonesia and is moving into 19 Southdown Avenue. A very special note of thank-you to AlanBarnard who, for the past 12 months, has maintained the lawns and garden of 19 Southdown Avenue. He did all this without being asked, he simply stepped forward and offered. The property has been kept so well that Presbytery thought a whole team had been working on it. Thank you so much to AlanBarnard!

11.3. Results of the election of Congregational Chair & Secretary

A majority of votes were received for WarrenGreenwood & KayeMorgan, for the respective positions of Congregational Chair & Secretary. Congratulations WarrenGreenwood & KayeMorgan!

11.4. Thankyou to NeilSkilton & WarrenBartlett

Given by WarrenGreenwood, a heartfelt thank-you was offered to both WarrenBartlett & NeilSkilton for their service as Chair and Secretary in a time of need within the GWUC Congregation.

12. Benediction

All members ended the meeting together by speaking the benediction.