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GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION (draft)

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

Minutes

1. Welcome and Apologies

Warren Bartlett welcomed 147 member s of the Church to the meeting. Apologies were received from WilliamMorgan, LaurelMuir, JohnMuir, DorothyLockhart, AlaneeHearnshaw, HelenStewart, PeterStewart, PamBunney, GeoffreyWillis, JacquelineKing, ColinKing, JohnSnare, HeatherWilkins, LoisHosking, GailIrvine.

2. Prayer

Led by WarrenBartlett.

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

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 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 that were 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 2013 results, and then led into an option question time. Each question was answered as they arose, and a summary of the questions and responses are as follows:

• Question: Where are our current finances kept? Answer: GWUC keeps an every amount in a Westpac account that is accessible. There is also another amount in the GWUC account that is retained to gather interest.

• Question: What are the strategic imperatives to the budget, as outlined by Church Council? Answer: This wasn't discussed specifically in Church Council, as this is a very large decision that needs appropriate insight from the newly entered Rev. NeilPeters. NeilPeters commented that he was interested to to see initially, around a week prior, that there was to be a stregic discussion that he would be involved in. He continued further, stating that at the last Church Council meeting, the team agreed to focus on building a team together. It was therefor resolved at this meeting to extend the positions of AlisonClarkson and BelindaClear until the end of 2014. They also confirmed that over the next 6 months there would be a concious look at the direction of the Church, particularly in our goals of paid ministry. Questions such as what are all the roles we're looking at? What do we need supported? What shape do we see our ministry forming? will be asked. This will be an intentional effort, inclusive of NeilPeters and others, and is high on NeilPeters' agenda.

* Question: What's the basis to the increasing amount of offering and donations?

7.1. Comment from AshleyIrvine

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’ve done. Just recently they’ve welcomed ElwynPederson as Church Council representative. The entire team supports JanClear greatly in her role, and so she thanked them tremendously. This was met with much applause. JanClear then spoke on pastoral care, at which it takes on average half of their meeting time. Things such as transfers for people moving out, and for people coming in are common. She explained she received a transfer letter just on Thursday, and she introduced Beth, who has come from South Australia! Welcome 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 intergenerational event. From this, 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@ 10:30 in the outer vestry. As JanClear always says, she would love to have any and all suggestions for making Glen Waverley Uniting Church more conclusive. JanClear was met with applause.

8.3. Community Hub

JudithGreenwood presented for Community Hub, and started 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 addent. The Hub held a very successful morning tea, which had a wonderful atmosphere and was greatly successful. Donations of $420 were received, and this information 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 re-appointed HelenStewart as Chair for 2014, and appointed JudyLowe for Secretary, as VidaFoo stepped down from the position. Thank you VidaFoo for filling this role for 2013!

10. Report from Ministry Team

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

11. Other Business

11.1. JohnHurst

JohnHurst presented his item of business, stating that it is available on the wiki to access.

11.2. Thankyou

The new minister is moving into 19 Southdown Avenue. This week, the minister from Indonesia has arrived. A very special note of thank-you for AlanBarnard, for the past 12 months, has maintained the lawns and garden of 19 Southdown. He hasn’t been asked, he stepped forward and offered. It has been kept so well that Presbytery thought a whole team had been looking after this. Thank you so much AlanBarnard!! ==== 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!

11.3. Thankyou to NeilSkilton & WarrenBartlett

Given by WarrenGreenwood, a large thank-you was spoken to both WarrenBartlett & NeilSkilton for their service in a great time of need within the GWUC Congregation.

12. Benediction

All members present ended the meeting together in benediction.