GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH
MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION
Held in the Church following 10:00am worship at 11:15am on Sunday 24th November 2024.
These minutes and other information about meetings of the congregation are available at CongregationMeetingReports (http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/CongregationMeetingReports). A printable version of these minutes is attached here.
Minutes
1. Welcome
JohnSnare, meeting chair, welcomed those present and explained the use of the voting cards. The meeting approved recording the meeting for the purposes of preparing the meeting minutes.
2. Prayer
IanFerguson opened the meeting in prayer.
3. Confirmation of Minutes of Meeting held on 24th July 2024
The minutes of the July meeting of the congregation are at CongMeetingMinutes20240728 (http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/CongMeetingMinutes20240728)
The minutes of the July meeting were approved by concensus.
4. Reports and Recommendations
4.1. Ministry Team Report
IanFerguson commented on the new worship committee, pastoral care and how he is enjoying working in the ministry team. He spoke about work being done by ChurchCouncil refining the plan covering welfare ministry, multicultural and intergenerational events, integrating our social media and streaming presence, and outreach to the Glen Waverley community.
ChrisWaddell brought our attention to the work of the Sunday Squad, the 5pm Sunday service, the Friday night youth group, the badminton and table tennis groups, and the pancake ministry at Glen Waverley high school on Thursday mornings (where something like 250 pancakes are distributed to both students and staff).
4.2. Church Council Report
AlisonClarkson, ChurchCouncil chair presented the ChurchCouncil report.
1. Alison summarised the key duties and responsibilities of the church council. More information can be found under 'Council Regulations' in the church wiki (see http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/CouncilRegulations)
2. Alison outlined some of the Advent and Chistmas activities coming up and encouraged people to attend them.
3. Alison encouraged people to consider either standing or nominating someone for the election of Church Councillors in March 2025.
DavidMorgan, ChurchCouncil secretary presented an update on the Uniting Church safe-church policy (see http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/GwucServingSafelyPolicy) and specifically keeping children safe. He explained that we take our safe-church policies seriously because not only is it the right thing to do but also because we have legal obligations to meet. One aspect of this is that some members of the congregation who are considered 'appointed leaders' require working with children checks. David encouraged all members of the congregation to cooperate if asked to undergo a working with children check.
4.3. Finance Report
4.3.1. 2025 Budget
For Decision
The treasurer, KenCoutts presented the proposed 2025 Church Budget.
In summary, he observed the following.
"We have adopted processes similar to the previous several years, with a review of all revenue and expenditure sources and finance committee has made adjustments to reflect areas of change to reflect new or discontinued programmes, to also account for the movement of people, through a variety of situations and circumstances into and from our Congregation.
"There are then discussions and reviews of our giving programmes and major expenditure outcomes with all key groups and our Ministerial team.
"We have been through five iterations of these processes between September and through October/ early November and submitted the last version to the various groups and their leadership to seek their input via amendments and then agreement and support.
"These are returned with suggestions which are overseen by our treasurer and then entered into our accounting software (Xero) by Joanne to determine the resultant Profit and Loss account activities and outcomes for the plan year 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.
"Philosophically we seek to run a balanced Budget. That has been a challenge over several years as our giving and rental income has failed to match the expenditures budgeted for.
"For the Financial Year 2025 we are again budgeting for a deficit of $12,000.
"Your Finance Committee is comfortable to submit the following summary of our Budget reflecting these figures.
"The Full Budget with the individual lines will go to Church Council following the presentation to the Congregation meeting on Sunday 24th November 2024.
"Finance Committee has approved and recommended the adoption on Tuesday 12th November 2024.
"Glen Waverley Uniting Church remains in a sound financial position with a Balance Sheet reflecting solid Cashflow, significant Investments and a strong Equity framework which has been accumulated through the assiduous contributions over many years."
More details of the 2025 Budget are attached here.
A question was asked concerning how sustainable it is to run with budgets with deficits like that proposed. KenCoutts advised that although there is not a simple answer to this question, if things remain as they are, it would be about nine years before we run out of operating cash. However, what is required is to work on ways to increase our income. This will be a significant challenge that we must meet in the medium term. The finance committee is working on understanding giving within the congregation in more detail; for example, how many givers there are, how many families there are, and what is our reliance on giving by people aged over 70.
Resolution: This meeting of the Congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church approves the Budget for 2025.
4.3.2. Future Fund
For Information
Recently there have been changes to how gifts and bequests are handled, and gifts using Bequests in terms of Wills and Estates are made. The Synod has recently announced significant changes to the provision of gifts, donations, and wills, so that any which included a tie to specific actions and obligations upon the Congregations will be managed centrally through Synod Secretariat.
We’ve produced several pieces of communications and will include a couple of brochures from Synod and Glen Waverley Uniting Church to update you on these changes.
Glen Waverley Uniting Church has established “The Future Fund” to manage all gifts, and bequests which come with no specific instructions and ties, where the funds can be applied in the ongoing function and operations through the planning and activities initiated and managed by Church Council.
The changes to gifts and Bequests which include specific ties and obligations upon GWUC through the Will and or Estate are detailed in the Synod Brochure which you will receive either via email of through the post over the next several weeks. This information is designed to clarify the changes to our Congregation members, so that they and their family members can have confidence in taking decisions in their Wills and in making gifts to Glen Waverley Uniting Church.
We value the generosity of our congregation and their gifts, are respectful of your privacy and want to ensure that these significant changes are understood or explained.
There may be continuing questions, and we encourage you to discuss these issues with Ken Coutts, our Treasurer, in a private conversation. For specific financial advice, we recommend consulting with your financial advisor or Accountant.
4.4. Property Report
4.4.1. Emissions and Environmental Enhancement Projects at Glen Waverley Uniting Church
For Information
The 2023 Synod of Victoria and Tasmania meeting resolved that “all sections of the UCA Victoria and Tasmania were to aim for zero emissions by 2040”. In response, the Glen Waverley Uniting Church Property Committee, with approval from the Finance Committee, Treasurer, and Church Council, formed a project team to recommend steps to help the congregation achieve zero emissions (or as close as possible) by 2040. A summary of the proposed projects was presented in the November edition of Kingsway. It is attached here and is also available at http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/EmissionsReport202409?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=EmissionsReductionSummary2024.pdf.)
The full project team report is available from the office and from the wiki http://wiki.gwuc.org.au/gwuc/EmissionsReport202409?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=EmissionsReport.pdf.
A high level overview was presented at the meeting.
5. Other Business
There was no other business.
6. Benediction
JohnSnare closed the meeting in prayer.