| Marian Messek opened the meeting with a prayer and volunteered to take minutes. Minutes of the June 1, 2006, meeting was approved. Treasurer’s Report – $3,000 has been taken from the endowment to cover expenses; approximately $25,000 additional will be needed from the endowment to fund this year’s deficit. Ted will follow up with Paula to learn what the fixed price will be for heating oil expense. The Treasurer’s report was approved. Stewardship Report – The Stewardship Committee will mail pledge cards and will ask members to work toward a goal of pledging 2.5% of their income. Dudley Bickford will do the on-going spreadsheets showing 2007 pledging and the 2007 Budget. The Committee hopes Tim Haut will be the consecrating steward and will ask him to speak to our congregation before the campaign begins. Trustees will get their budget to Stewardship ASAP. Ted Bliss explained the budgeting process, which is outlined in the church’s by-laws. Council Meeting Report – Minutes of the June 14, 2006 meeting were distributed. The search for an Associate Pastor was going well. Pastor’s Report – There will be one service at 10:00 am on 9/10/06 to commemorate the 9/11/01 attack on the United States. Regular 8:00 and 10:00 services will begin on 9/17/06. Baptisms will occur on 9/17, 9/24 and 10/01. The 10/08/06 service will be new member Sunday. Sunday school teachers will receive training on this year’s curriculum. The 9:00 summer worship services were a success – 50 attendees on average. Ken was asked if 9:00 services in the winter could be a possibility; Ken responded that when an Associate Pastor is hired, perhaps we could have a more creative 8:00 service. Old Business – The drainage work Herb Clark’s crew did at the church is effective. We need on-going gutter cleaning. Ted Bliss will follow up with Dan Kottke regarding the value of the oil painting in the chapel and will insure we have proper insurance on this art. New Business – Pre-school update: we are in the 2nd year of a 3 year lease with the pre-school owner. Property Tax Information – Ted Bliss reported on a UCC meeting he attended which focused on how churches may have a property tax liability because of renting space to outside organizations. We believe the Essex Pre-School, which rents space from us, is a for-profit organization. If we ran the Pre-School, the tax exposure goes away; a volunteer church member, with a supporting committee, would have to oversee the school. The Pre-School pays $600/month rent for 11 months. A general discussion followed regarding what we charge for the use of the church, i.e., weddings, funerals, music concerts. Ted Bliss will continue to monitor the tax situation. Sign at the town entrance – A motion was passed to ask the House and Grounds committee to take necessary steps to put a sign advertising our Church at the entrance on West Main Street. Budget Discussion – The 2006 deficit will be about $25,000. Pledges for 2006 were $204,000, with 138 pledging units. The existing budget will increase 3% for 2007. An Associate Pastor, starting April 1, 2007, will add an additional $15,000. Pledges will probably increase to $215,000. Based on those assumptions, a deficit of $37,000 in 2007 is a possibility. The endowment is invested in the UCC mutual funds and the current market value is about $365,000. Our church’s investment committee is comprised of Gerry Dubey, Ted Bliss, Paula Merrick, Jud Paul and George Mayer. In the past, Trustees passed a motion recommending spending a maximum of 4.5% a year from the endowment fund, based on the market value of the preceding 16 quarters. A general discussion followed on how to increase pledges, increase membership and how to reduce the use of the endowment. A suggestion was made to let the congregation know how to access the church’s website – perhaps putting the information in Passages – in order to improve communications among all members and committees. The meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Marian E. Messek | 
