| Opening prayer -- Pastor Ken led us in prayer. Minutes of the 12/13/06 meeting were approved with this correction: Under Bell Choir, the name is Sherry Clark not Shelly Clark. Boards and committees – There were no questions on committees’ or treasurer’s report. Clergy Staff Report - Pastor Ken reported: • He will have suggestions for the proposed budget and posed the question: How can we bolster the congregation’s confidence and hope on balancing our budget in 5 years. • Confirmation will start in February with 3 committed candidates, perhaps 4. Our church, Chester Congregational and Deep River Congregational will have a combined retreat for those seeking confirmation. • New Member’s Sunday is January 21, 2007. • Mitzi and Ken are conducting ecumenical services at Essex Meadows on the 1st and 4th Wednesdays of each month. • We will have a baptism on Sunday for a baby whose parents (the Dunns) are not members but were married here and their other children were baptized here. • He will strive for one piece of paper for the Sunday Bulletin with events 2 weeks in future included. Announcements too large for bulletin will be on bulletin boards. A suggestion was made to post the Passages calendar on bulletin boards. Pastor Mitzi reported: • She has been here almost 2 months and is making 1 or 2 parishioner visits a week. • She has conducted two worship services at Essex Meadows. • She is developing an adult education class for 9:00 a.m. on Sundays and is working on a health related study curriculum. She and Ken developing a Lenten study series. Updates on Long Range Planning Initiatives Stewardship Initiative Update -- Dud Bickford reported that one person has accepted his invitation to form a group to develop alternatives/ideas for the long-range Planned Giving initiative. Meanwhile, Pastor Ken has asked Suzanne Kitchings and Anne Callahan to offer ideas for long-range Planned Giving; Dud will talk with Suzanne and Anne about coordinating all efforts. Finance/Stewardship Initiative Update – Ted Bliss reviewed the recommendations and progress to date in the Finance/Stewardship Initiative of Long Range Plan. Stewardship • Establish a committee to develop opportunities for long range giving. (This is in process.) • Increase giving to meet or exceed 2.2% of gross income. Current average giving is 1.2%. • Provide giving guidelines for reference during annual pledging. (Stewardship does this.) • Provide year-round programs and information to stimulate adequate financial support. (Membership Committee formed by Dudley Bickford is working on this.) A discussion with questions and comments followed: Have year-round programs been established and is information available to stimulate adequate financial support? The congregation has to decide whether or not it’s important to give more. A consensus agreed that we should present a chart at the annual fiscal meeting asking “have you given 2.2% of your gross income?” We should not be afraid to talk about our finances and what we need in terms of income. Finance • Balance budget in 4 years. In 2006 we spent $29,000 from endowment down from $35,000. 2007’s budget includes $48,000 from endowment. • The goal is to have annual contributions fully fund the budget in 2009. • Establish a policy defining the purpose and use of the endowment. • Divide endowment into two segments: Facilities fund for upkeep of the church from unrestricted gifts. Benevolence fund where earned interest is used exclusively for the benevolent work of the church. • Capital campaign for interior and exterior improvement of church. Four years ago the recommendation was to take 4% a year from the endowment. In 2006 we used12% for capital and operating expenses. Ted Bliss used median family income and median gift (pledges) to arrive at our average pledge of 1.2% of gross income per pledging unit. Family median income is about $80,000 in Essex, Centerbrook and Ivoryton and Ted thinks our congregation reflects the town. . Old Business: (1) Form a nominating committee for positions of Treasurer, Asst. Treasurer and Financial Secretary whose terms are over on 01/28/07. (2) Vote on whether to approve the Proposed Budget Nominating Committee - Marion Marston will represent Trustees and Wini Olsen will represent deacons. Dud Bickford will ask someone from Stewardship to be on the nominating committee. Vote to approve Proposed Budget Dudley Bickford reported that $215,000 is a good number for 2007 pledges. Ted Bliss led a general discussion of how the budget numbers were developed. • Pastor Mitzi commented that the Adult Education budget will be adequate. • A motion passed to keep $5,000 in budget for a Youth Choir Director. • $2500 salary for Bell Choir Director is a starting point. Pastor Ken suggested budget cuts. A discussion followed regarding what expenses should be in the yearly budget vs. what expenses (one time, for example) should come directly from the endowment. Comments made: The endowment should be used in a healthy and healthful way to improve the church. Salary increases of $3500 are appropriate and will increase by at least $3500 yearly in the future. Music salaries are less than the going rate. Keep things in budget that we know we will spend. Add Safety Issue as part of tree pruning. Pastor Ken made the following budget suggestions: • Eliminate the Youth Group budget of $150 because they earn their own money. No vote by council. • Cut $200 from Staff Education/Training – Council voted Yes. • Reduce Secretary’s Over Time to 25 hours, saving $350 – Council voted Yes. • Remove $1,000 from parsonage upkeep – Council voted Yes. • Eliminate $1250 of nursery staff pay – Council voted No. • Reduce Christian Services (UCC) by $5,000 – Council voted Yes. • Take $2,000 tree pruning from budget and pay from endowment – Council voted No. The budget committee recommended the following changes for the 2007 Proposed Budget (see Budget worksheet). Council voted Yes for each recommendation. • Pledge supporting Youth Music accounting change • Christian Education/Adult Education • Bell Choir Director • Instrument Maintenance • Medical Spending Account • Tree Pruning – Add Safety Issues to line item A motion passed to take $48,900 out of the endowment to fund the budget’s pledge shortfall. Paula Merrick commented that even after taking $39,026 from endowment in 2006, the ending market value for 2006 compared to the ending value of 2005 was down only $1,408 year-to-year. Pastor Ken asked how Council feels about the proposed budget. Comments included: The congregation voted to increase staff – we must invest to grow. We voted to bring in an Associate Pastor. We want additional programs and personnel but don’t want money taken from the endowment to fund. Even though the single largest budget addition is the Associate Pastor position, our biggest expense exposure is the building. If we implement everything House and Ground’s will recommend for our building, the endowment would be spent. Council went into executive session. Council went back to normal session. A motion passed to reduce the expectations and salary of Youth Choir Position effective 2/1/07; Pastor Ken will discuss these changes with the Youth Choir Director before the January 28, 2007 annual fiscal meeting. Sue Engle asked that we to turn off the heat when leaving Cove View Room; that the choir clean up the Cove Room kitchen on Sundays and that toilet paper be replenished in the rest rooms. New Business: 1) Do we want a May Breakfast (1st Wed of May) and, if so, who is going to organize it? Tabled for text meeting. Pastor Mitzi closed the meeting with a prayer. Respectfully submitted, Marian Messek, Clerk Next meeting: February 14, 7:00 p.m. Reminders: 1) February initiative report due regarding facilities/ Bob Marshall 2) review of by-laws due March 1. | 
