GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH

MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION

Held in the Church at 11:30am on Sunday 5th March 2023 - following the 10:00am Combined Worship service.

A printable version of these minutes and key documents is attached here.

Minutes

1. Welcome

The chair (JohnSnare) welcomed those present.

2. Prayer

NeilPeters opened the meeting in prayer.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of Meeting held on 11th November 2022

The minutes of the November meeting of the congregation (at CongMeetingMinutes20221120) were confirmed by concensus.

4. Reports and Recommendations

4.1. Ministry Team Report

NeilPeters described some recent highlights:

1. We have had a strong start to the year with many activities such as The Hub, playgroups, English classes, Badminton/table tennis, Leisure Time, Youth Groups, the childrens programme bouncing back well after the covid years.
2. Lots of people attended and enjoyed the Christmas Installation.
3. Christmas services were back to normal and well attended. It was very pleasing that the Christmas eve coffee and carols was well attended with many young adults serving hot drinks.
4. The back-to-school backpack blessing distributed 18 tags for students and teachers. Last Sunday at 9:15 worship there were 13 children present. This is more that we have had in recent times.
5. We have received good feedback and followup from our presence at the Kingsway Lunar New Year celebration.
6. The Indonesian fellowship continues to be well supported, meeting in the chapel and on zoom on the last Sunday of each month and on zoom other weeks. The Christmas celebration was spectacular and we have been sharing with the church council of the GMIM, Riedel congregation in Tondano.

HoonYou followed up on the Indonesian fellowship focussed intercultural activities and the importance of communication, not making assumptions about other cultures, and celebrating what we have in common.

4.2. Church Council Report

The chair welcomed AlisonClarkson and thanked her for her willingness to chair ChurchCouncil this year. Alison drew the meeting's attention to the group annual reports at AnnualReport2022 which give a picture of what is going on in our congregation.

Alison thanked JemmaGraham, who is leaving at the end of the term, for her work with children and families.

Alison reported on the success of the planned giving programme held last year and thanked those involved.

Alison drew our attention to a planned visit from representatives from the Riedel congregation in Indonesia to take place during the Indonesian festival in May.

Alison thanked those involved in the highly successful book sale held on March 4th.

Alison gave early notice for the World Day of Prayer service that we be hosting next year on Friday March 1st 2024.

The final part of the Church Council report was a short video introducing the Act2 programme being run by Assembly to explore ways congregations can be better supported and roadblocks removed. Later in the year members of the congregation, through the bulletin, will be asked for contributions from the perspective of our congregation.

• What does our future look like to you?
• What's lifegiving as a community of faith as part of the Uniting Church?
• What's hard, frustrating or hindering the ministry and mission of our congregation?
• What do we need to change, begin, renew or leave behind?

4.3. Joint Nominating Committee (JNC) Report

VidaFoo reported that the JNC process is being diligently followed and it is hoped that they will be in a position to give a more detailed report soon. A meeting of the congregation will be called when JNC recommendations are available for consideration.

4.4. Finance Report

KenCoutts (Treasurer) presented the finance report. Documents supporting the finance report are attached here.

4.4.1. 2023 Budget

The Finance committee reports that the Budget for 2023 has been accepted and approved by Church Council and is approved for implementation. Ken was pleased to report that, despite some concerns at the last meeting, increases in planned giving following last year's campaign has resulted in sufficient funding for us to proceed with the ministry we approved at the November meeting of the congregation (CongMeetingMinutes20221120).

4.4.2. 2022 Finance Report

The Finance Committee have provided detailed Reports of the Profit and Loss together with Balance Sheet for the financial Year 1 January 2022-31 December 2022. They have also provided detailed explanations. These have been accepted and approved by Church Council and were presented to the Congregation for approval.

Ken noted that the deferred maintenance reserve has been depleted by recent major refurbishment of church properties and focus for the future will be on building up those reserves again.

Resolution: This meeting of the Congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church approves the Financial Accounts for 2022 as presented and approves submission to our External Auditors for Review and Certification.

Proposed by KenCoutts, GWUC Treasurer Approved by concensus

4.5. Establishment of The GWUC Future Fund in 2023

The meeting of the congregation in November 2022 approved a proposal concerning the endowment fund that included establishing a 'new Endowment fund'. A detailed proposal has been submitted and approved by Finance Committee and Church Council to enable the establishment of a new GWUC Future Fund from March 2023 and associated actions. The Future Fund will accept untied bequests and gifts. It will be more flexible and simpler to manage that the current endowment fund. Proceeds of the Future Fund can be applied by Church Council to projects and initiatives for the loger term good of the congregation, buit are not to be used for operational matters.

4.6. People and Culture Report

KenCoutts explained that the ministry of DiPaterson to Strathdon is continuing thanks to a bequest from MargaretFalconer.

Ken also observed that the hours of the office manager have gradually increased because the office now has to do things that were previously done by volunteers.

5. Congregational Outreach Projects

The chair noted that FairlieMackinnon has advised that she is no longer able to lead the Outreach Missional group. The chair thanked the Fairlie for her Outreach work over many years.

The meeting agreed to allocate the funds expected to be raised by this tear's fete be allocated according to the 2021 COP Panel's recommendations because, due to Covid-19 these projects received no funding. The 2021 proposal was that funds should be distributed to the following groups: The GWUC Welfare Committee, Friends of Baguia (Timor Leste), Friends of Ermera (Timor Leste), Diocesan Project Jagriti Bhalai Kendra (Northern Eastern India). The 2021 proposal, also proposed but not funded in 2022, are attached here. The past COP selection committee and the proposers of these projects will be asked to check that the projects are still needed and report back to the July meeting of the congregation.

There was some interest in considering an approach for 2024 based on supporting:

• our welfare committee as local outreach;
• Frontier Services for outreach to remote areas of Australia, and
• Uniting World for outreach to our region.

This idea will be followed in at the March 2024 meeting of the congregation.

Resolution: This meeting of the Congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church accepts the 2021 proposed Congregational Outreach Projects for distributing the proceeds of this year's fete. Approved by concensus.

6. Other Business

6.1. Sunday Morning Worship Times

The congregation considered a suggestion that the 9:15 and 11:00am services be combined each week and worship held at 10:00am or thereabouts. (The 8:00am and other worship activities would continue with their current arrangements.) A key benefit of combining 9:15am and 11:00am worship would be to bring more people in the congregation together. There is considerable support for this idea, but there are also some people who would be disadvantaged by a change like this. Furthermore, as others observed, there are benefits in being able to offer diverse styles of worship.

The chair noted that this is the responsibility of Church Council, and a meeting of the congregation is not a suitable body to make decisions on this matter. However, this meeting could act as a 'voice' to inform Church Council of sentiment withing the congregation.

After some discussion, DavidMorgan proposed that Church Council could, as it had in the past, conduct a survey of the congregation on the matter of worship times and styles. The meeting agreed that this was a good idea and JohnSnare and DavidMorgan will follow up, noting the suggestion from WarrenGreenwood that we need to consult the people who join us for worship on-line.

Follow-up: JohnSnare and DavidMorgan to follow up on surveying the congregation (including those who join us on-line) prior to further consideration by church council.

6.2. Facebook

SachinRemson drew the meeting's attention to our congregation's Facebook site. He observed that quite a few posts are made advertising our activities. However, not many followers in our congregation give positive reactions to posts. By giving positive feedback, our posts will receive more prominence in the newsfeeds that Facebook prepares and thus increase our visibility in the community. Members of the congregation were invited to more actively engage through our Facebook site.

7. Benediction

The chair closed the meeting in prayer.