GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH

MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION

Held in the Church at 11:30am on Sunday 28th July 2019 - following the 10:00am Combined Worship service.

MINUTES

These minutes are work in progress and are not yet finalised.

1. Welcome and Apologies

Apologies: VidaFoo, DavidMorgan, SueMorgan, LynnPeters, LesleyArmstrong, EricArmstrong, JudyBoucher, DeirdreReynolds, GeoffWillis, BarbaraChamberlain, RaymondWagon, FayeWagon, JacquiKing, EvelynFleming, HerbFleming, BeverlyMcGlead, FredWaine, JoanWaine, GraemeSchober, BobbieRooks

2. Prayer

3. Confirmation of Minutes of Meeting held on 3rd March 2019

The minutes of the March meeting of the congregation, CongMeetingMinutes20190303, were confirmed by concensus.

4. Matters arising from the previous minutes

There were no matters arising from the previous minutes other than those with a separate agenda item.

5. Correspondence

There was no correspondence.

6. Reports and Recommendations

6.1. Congregational Outreach Projects in 2019

The meeting was reminded of the process and criteria for selecting Congregational Outreach Projects. Details are in CommunityOutreach.

Proposed Congregational Outreach Projects were presented. Details of the proposed projects are in COPProposals2019.pdf and are also displayed below.

Discussion

The balance between Australian and international projects was questioned. The selection team explained that the balance reflected the nature of the applications that were biased towards international projects.

6.1.1. Resolutions

The following resolutions were considered as a group.

1. “The congregation resolves that all profit from the 2019 Fete is to be distributed to Charity”

2. “The congregation resolves that the charities listed in the distributed COP brochure shall participate in the distribution of 2019 Fete profits"

3. “The congregation endorses the Distribution of the 2019 Fete profits as shown in the COP Brochure for Profits of $20,000, 25,000 & 30,000"

4. “The Congregation resolves that the COP Committee be authorised to allocate profits intermediate to, or beyond those now approved"

5. “The Congregation resolves that the COP Committee is to advise the Congregation of the final allocation to all nine charities, in the first available Bulletin after the Fete profit is finalised”

Approved by Concensus

6.2. Ministry Team Report

NeilPeters and AlaneeHearnshaw presented some highlights of the life of the congregation.

Indonesian Fellowship.

English Classes

Hub 10th birthday

State Youth Games

Uthies "I give a sock".

JudithGreenwood introduced the Mount View Hub. Twelve members of our congregation are 'grandparents' to hearing impaired children in years 5 and 6 at Mount View Primary school. This is part of realising the church mission of being involved in the wider community. Some wonderful relationships have developed and the teachers report how much they appreciate us helping the children to gain more confidence in speaking to people in the community.

6.3. Church Council Report

GlynHowells presented highlights of recent work of the Church Council.

DavidFraser discussed the work of the Church Council. He outlined a need for more people to share the load and reported on a recommendation from church council to increase the number of elected member.

Resolution

"This meeting of the Congregation approves an increase in the size of Church Council by increasing the number of elected Church Councillors from 10 to 13."

Approved by Concensus

6.4. Finance Report

Treasurer or delegate (for information).

The July finance report is at FinanceReport201907.

More to be added.

7. Other Business

7.1. Recognition of Australia's First Peoples

At the November 2019 meeting of the congregation (CongMeetingMinutes20181120), it was agreed by consensus that we, as a congregation, would like to progress acknowledgement of Australia's first peoples in some way. Since then, there there have been numerous opportunities for interested people to submit ideas concerning how the Glen Waverley Uniting Church might recognise Australia's first peoples. See DiscussionRecognitionOfAustraliasFirstPeoples.

A concensus has emerged to place a plaque with suitable words outside the church in a place that can be seen by people walking by or using the outdoor seats. Some options for placement are:

1. Place (cement) on a large rock under the Gum Tree in the Kingsway facing garden.
2. Place a plaque on the pillar beside our own Foundation Stone on the Bogong Ave entrance.
3. Place a plaque inside on the wall where our Foundation Stones and memorial plaques exist (near the sound room).
4. Place a plaque is a new garden feature.

An open meeting of the congregation on June 16 considered wording for the plaque and agreed to the following. "We, the Glen Waverley Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia acknowledge that the land on which we gather is part of the traditional lands of the Kulin nation. We respect the close spiritual and cultural ties of Australia's first peoples to the land, and recognise elders past, present and emerging. We commit to work for reconciliation with indigenous people and justice for all."

Discussion

To be added.

Resolution

"The congregation resolves to recognise Australia's first peoples by placing a plaque containing the following wording in a place that can be seen by people walking by or using the outdoor seats: We, the Glen Waverley Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia acknowledge that the land on which we gather is part of the traditional lands of the Kulin nation. We respect the close spiritual and cultural ties of Australia's first peoples to the land, and recognise elders past, present and emerging. We commit to work for reconciliation with indigenous people and justice for all."

Approved by agreement. Some members of the congregation were concerned about the context and issues associated with working for reconciliation.

7.2. Planning for the election of Church Councillors

The Congregation meeting chair advised the dates of the 2019 election of church councillors. He urged members of the congregation to start considering now whether they would be willing to serve as on the Church Council or to discuss the possibi8lity with otheer who they think may be able to serve the copngregation in this way.

An election for church councillors will be held on Sunday October 13th. This year there are some current Church Councillors whose terms are expiring. While some may renominate, there will be other vacancies to fill. For details see ChurchCouncilElections2019 and ChurchCouncilConstitution

As has been the practice in the recent past, it is proposed to allow voting following each worship activity on the designated election Sunday.

8. Benediction

The chair thanked various leaders who had reported to the meeting and then closed the meeting in prayer.