## page was renamed from CongMeetingReport20220911 #acl JohnSnare:read,write All:read #pragma section-numbers off = GLEN WAVERLEY UNITING CHURCH = = MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION = Held in the Church at 10:15am on Sunday 11th September 2022 - following a shortened 9:15am worship and before 11:00am worship A printable version of the agenda and key documents is available - [[attachment:Printable_CongMeetingAgenda20220911-Version2022-09-08.pdf]]. = Minutes = This is the report of a special meeting of the Congregation to consider focused ministry to children & families, youth, and young adults. The chair thanks members of the congregation for reading and considering the material attached to the agenda in preparation for the meeting. This resulted in efficient discussion and decision-making. == 1. Welcome and Apologies == Apologies: Colin and Jacqui King, Faye and Ray Wagon, Jan Clear, John Muir == 2. Prayer == Neil Peters opened the meeting in prayer. == 3. Proposal from Church Council concerning focused ministry to children & families, youth, and young adults == See below for background relevant to the Church Council proposals. === 3.1 Recommitment to focused ministry to children & families, youth and young adults === __'''Introduction'''__ In March 2021, the congregation approved the extension of Alanee's position and her ministry for 3-5 years. Church Council proposed that the Congregation now recommit to a focused ministry to children & families, youth and young adults for at least five years. The reasons for making this commitment include: * The need to resource and actively support our intergenerational worship, children & families, young adults and youth ministry leaders. * Our desire to be a church that is inclusive of all. So we are committed to ministering to all ages. * The desire and the opportunity to grow these areas of ministry, in order to be more respresentative of the Glen Waverley Community. * The Census indicates a higher than normal percentage of children and youth in the Glen Waverley area. * The Synod currently sees children and families as a strategic priority. Sachin Remson introduced this proposal. __'''Discussion'''__ The question was asked: why did Church Council propose to commit to this ministry when the finance committee advise against it. On behalf of Church Council, David Morgan told the meeting that the finance committee did not advise against this commitment but rather advised that our existing finances would not support it at the proposed level. If we can raise more funds, then it can be supported. __'''Resolution'''__ '''"The congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church commits to a focused ministry to children & families, youth, and young adults for at least five years." ''''' - Approved by concensus'' === 3.2 Funding a focused ministry to children & families, youth and young adults === __'''Introduction'''__ Funding this position at current levels of giving is predicted to exhaust our financial reserves within the five years. None the less, in the hope that the congregation would be willing to commit to increased giving, Church Council proposed that the congregation commit to funding this ministry as a full time position. The reasons for this include: * It has been a full time plus position in recent years. * The congregation has not been challenged to increase our giving for some years. * Advertising up to full time is likely to appeal to a wider range of candidates. Sachin Remson introduced this proposal. He noted that for us to raise the necessary funding, members of the congregation would need to, on average, increase their giving by the equivalent of an extra cup of coffee a week (say $5). If we could increase giving, on average, by the equivalent of two cups of coffee a week, not only could we fund the position, but we could achieve an on-going sustainable position. __'''Discussion'''__ Several commenters asked why we are questioning our ministry to children and families and not questioning other aspects of our programme. It was observed that post-covid, and in the light of our increasing on-line ministry, demands on our ministry team are increasing and that therefore now is not the time to consider reducing ministry team resources. A comment in support of the proposal challenged us to consider what we might loose if we reduce the size of the ministry team; for example by imagining were we might be if we hadn't had Alanee working in this area. On behalf of Church Council, David Morgan clarified that how the ministry to the first third of life will be spread across the new ministry team will depend on both the JNC and then later how the ministry team decide how best to spread the total ministry workload across the team. A comment in support of the proposal emphasised that now is the time to be creative in our approach to fund raising. The question was asked what the pros and cons of making this a part time position to better fit our budget. On behalf of Church Council, David Morgan explained that if we advertise a full time position we are likely to attract better applicants and would send a better message to potential applicants about how serious we are with our ministry aspirations. __'''Resolution'''__ ''''The congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church commits to funding ministry to children & families, youth, and young adults as a full time position.' ''''' - Approved by concensus'' === 3.3 Joint Nominating Committee to seek a minister for a focused ministry to children & families, youth and young adults === __'''Introduction'''__ We currently have a joint nominating committee (JNC) seeking a replacement for Neil from sometime next year. Using the same committee would be expeditious, and enable greater consideration of how the two replacements will work together to cover our ministries. This has been approved by Presbytery, and the members of the JNC have agreed to take on this extra work. The current JNC has seven congregational members as opposed to the usual 4 to 6, and has a good representation of youth and young families. Church Council, noting the wide representation from within the congregation on the existing JNC, proposed that the congregation elect the current JNC to also address the vacancy created by Alanee's departure. Glyn Howells introduced this proposal. There was no additional discussion. __'''Resolution'''__''' ''' ''''The congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church elects the current JNC to also address the vacancy created by Alanee Hearnshaw's departure.' ''''' - Approved by concensus'' === 3.4 Background relevant to replacing Alanee Hearnshaw === '''__Past commitment to ministry to children, families, youth and young adults__ ''' From''' CongMeetingMinutes20210314 ''' Resolution: The congregation of the Glen Waverley Uniting Church approves extension of the Contract and employment of Alanee Hearnshaw for a period of 3 years from Mid 2021 with an option of a further 2 years by agreement, when further matters relevant to our broader succession planning are finalised. This also presupposes that following the initial 3 years, Alanee wants to continue and GWUC is agreeable to that extension for the further 2 years. Proposed by''' KenCoutts, '''GWUC Treasurer Approved by consensus '''__Financial Predictions__ ''' See attachments. '''__The current Joint Nomination Committee (JNC) seeking a replacement for Neil Peters__ ''' The current JNC, including members elected by the congregation in March 2022 '''(CongMeetingReport20220320) '''are''': ''' '''Rev. GrahamBartley (Chair, Presbytery Liaison Person) ''' '''EuniceMagee (Presbytery Liaison Person) ''' '''MatthewBoldiston ''' '''RyanChan ''' '''AlisonClarkson ''' '''RussellCrawford ''' '''VidaFoo ''' '''MargaretFraser ''' '''MartinWojak ''' For further information about the group, please see the group's wiki page '''([[JNC2022]]) ''' == 4. Benediction == The chair closed the meeting in prayer. = ATTACHMENTS = <> <>