GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION

Held in the Worship Centre at 11:30am on Sunday 30th August 2015 following a combined worship service.

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Apologies

Apologies from;
EricArmstrong & LesleyArmstrong
HerbFleming & EvelynFleming
IanMcMillan & AnneMcMillan
MargaretFraser
LynMcDonald & PamMcDonald
DavidMorgan & SueMorgan
DougNewberry
BobbieRooks & GraemeSchober
PeterBaker
RonaPooley & JohnPooley
AlaneeHearnshaw
JudyLowe

2. Prayer

Rev NeilPeters opened the meeting with a prayer

3. Election of Secretary of Congregational Meeting

WarrenGreenwood nominated NucelLariba. HeatherHon seconded the nomination. Congregation consensus.

4. Confirmation of Minutes of Meeting held on 10th March 2015.

See CongMeetingMinutes20150310

5. Matters arising from the previous Minutes.

5.1. Worship Survey

(refer church council report below).

5.2. Congregational Secretary vacancy.

6. Correspondence.

None

7. Church Council and Elders election results.

Church Council Elections.

• 7 Nominations received and all were successful.
• Candidates received greater than 85% Congregational support.
• Successful candidates are;

  • AaronBlakemore

  • HelenStewart

  • MarkEaston

  • AngelShea

  • AmySpark

  • JudyLowe

  • DavidMorgan

8. Congregational Outreach Program (COP) recommendations for 2015.

• All fete funds (nett) are to go to the approved recipients.
• The six applications as presented are the approved recipients
• The funds allocated up to a $21,000 to be as shown in the previous schedule are approved
• The funds table for $26,000 is approved
• The COP Committee is authorised to determine how the funds between $21,000 and $26,000 are to be distributed and amounts over $26,000 amongst the approved recipients. 
• Final distributed amounts to be reported to the congregation in the nearest weekly bulletin. 
• All recommendations passed by the meeting.

• The meeting thanked Laura Morgan, Cliff Baker and Pamela McDonald for their work on the committee.

* Figures in red are the amounts requested by the applicant

9. Report from Ministry Team.

Presented by Rev. NeilPeters

Acknowledgements for the significant contributions of;

• KerrynLeister and BelindaChung, with support from Katie Haala with the KATs and DOGs program this year. Their commitment in the programs have been amazing.

• LynnPeters in running the 4:30pm kids program during the year. In Term 1 Lynn had assistance from Steph Lohning.

• AlaneeHearnshaw for support and encouragement and hands on involvement to ministry this year. Alanee has willingly done more than I asked her to do.

• JulieHall - It has been a very good experience for us as a team to work with Julie.

Next weekend Heather Hon attends the Selection conference so please pray for her.

9.1. Future Possibilities

• Glen Waverley Secondary College (GWSC)
  • Exploring an invitation for partnership with GWSC working in support of the work of the chaplain and raising money to support the chaplaincy program. Lost government funding. We want to ensure that this is not just about money, but real engagement from our church community. Invited to be part of RUOK day in couple weeks – student mental health – info youth program, clear understanding of this partnership will emerge for next congregational meeting.
• Brentwood Secondary College
  • We have the opportunity of a partnership with Brentwood Secondary College in a student mentoring program. Meeting soon with Alanee who will drive these 2 initiatives.
• Glen Waverley Primary School

  • Lynn Peters has just commenced SRI for Grades 3 & 4 at Glen Waverley Primary School. Recent government announcements make the future uncertain.

• Uniting Church Connections Chinese Family Services
  • We are awaiting a proposal for a partnership with Uniting Church Connections Chinese Family Services. The manager wants to ensure that the proposal reflects a genuine partnership rather than a tenant relationship.
• Uniting Care Family Assist
  • Beginning a conversation with Uniting Care Life Assist who are keen to work with our church to have morning teas here for their clients, with a view to getting their clients involved in some of our activities.
• Multicultural Fellowship
  • There is an idea being explored of a Cross Cultural fellowship time with families from playgroups, The Hub and English classes with members of the congregation to build connections, support and strengthen community.
• Monash Council
  • We are planning to strengthen links with the local council. However, we recognize the existing links that Leisure time and the Hub have through programs such as PALS (Positive Aging Lifestyles)

Outreach to the local community continues through regular devotions at retirement villages, hostels and nursing homes

Faith Dev MG held a Cross cultural ministry seminar last Sunday. We will build on that in the coming weeks. Later in the year a one day retreat on Sat 7th November and a six week Bible study program.

10. Reports and Recommendations from Church Council

10.1. Financial Report.

6 months to June 2015: Treasurer – Ashley Irvine

10.2. Worship Survey by Julie Hall

No issues, link to ServicesSurvey2015  No changes as different times showed a great difference in preference from its attending members.

10.3. Children’s & Families resourcing by Church Council Chairperson – Helen Stewart

NancyeCottrell has been appointed as the C&F Co-ordinator for 2 years. Helen thanked the committee of DavidBoucher, JonathanRodger, AlisonClarkson, KerrynLeister and GailIrvine for their hard work.

11. Other Business.

• JohnHurst has been our Presbytery Representative for more than 15 years. John has decided to resign from this role. The meeting expressed its appreciation for John’s contribution for all these years by a round of applause. Chairperson has asked members to consider and discern if they would volunteer for this task.

Add link to John’s appreciation letter.

• Bev Richardson has requested that the Property Committee look at changing the toilet cleaning regime to a commercial and professional standard (rather than home standard by volunteers) as the ladies toilets have become very unpleasant and old. Maybe even refurbish if possible?

• The Chairperson indicated to the meeting, that it is his intention to continue to fine tune the congregational meeting agendas to make them shorter and more focused on actions required of the Congregation.  This ensures that meetings don’t become another information distribution channel.  With existing vehicles such as the Bulletin, News Sheet, Monthly bulletin, Wiki, Web page, NewView, Notice Boards, Worship pulpit announcements and other presentation opportunities, congregational meeting time is not best used as another advertising vehicle.  This does not mean they cannot be made, it is just to suggest that meeting time will be shorter, sharper and more focused. 

12. Benediction.

Rev Neil Peters ended the meeting with a prayer and grace for lunch following the meeting.