About Our Church
* GetInvolved*
Sunday Service
Activities
Info
* Church At Large*
:-)
|
| DRAFT Minutes for the Church Council Meeting
|
| On: Wednesday 8th June at 20h00
| At: St Marc's Church Centre
|
| Present:
| Stephen Coffin (Chaplain), Alan Golton (Asistant Chaplain), David Bailey (Churchwarden), Mark Lewis (Churchwarden), Alison Coulavin (Synod Rep),Valerie Golton (Synod Rep), Marie Colbert (deputy secretary), John Stinton, Dan Wilhelm, Stuart Wilkins
| | Absent:
| none
| | Excused:
| Elizabeth Cherhal (Secretary), Frank Jenkins, Richard Sheppard (Treasurer), Joseph Agu, Claire Naylor
|
Minutes:
| | 25.
| Prayer,Apologies & Approval of last meetings minutes & Any Matters arising
The minutes were approved as written.
- New notice board: Stephen reported that we can now have a notice board placed on the fixed non-sliding door in the front. We will present the need to the congregation to see if anyone can make it or has access to one.
- Garage extension at chaplain’s flat: This was proposed by one of the owners of an apartment where we own the chaplain’s apartment. The proposal did not succeed and it is no longer an issue.
| | 26.
| Treasurer's report & establishing a budget for future expenditure & fund raising.
Stephen updated the council on the finances. April and May giving was very down. Stephen explained that the 5,000 euros, discussed last month as the minimum needed, did not cover many things such as printing, youth work etc. He recommended that we develop a budget that would figure out the financial needs of the church. In this way, we will be better equipped to present the needs to the church, pray etc.
A discussion followed with the following points amongst others made.
- Having a budget helps people get more involved in what they give.
- The budget should identify the priority of what would be cut in the case of a shortfall.
- The finances need to be continually presented to the church body, as the congregation is always changing.
- It was felt that the church will respond and give when it knows of the need as shown in the Lewis funding.
It was agreed to that a budget should be developed. The finance committee will work on setting a budget. Stuart and Marie will join the committee of John, Richard and Stephen. Others members of the congregation could also be asked to join also.
| | 27.
| Child Protection Issues (report from Alison, Marie & Stuart)
Marie presented a draft of a proposed
- Children and Youth Ministry Policies and Procedures
- Application for Ministry Involvement
- Attestation of Fitness for Children/Youth Ministry
She indicated that she used materials available over the internet from churches and ministries in English speaking countries as references. Marie explained generally what the materials included and indicated that some of the proceduress are a change for St Marc’s. A general discussion followed. Stephen indicated that although the Anglican church has required that we have a Child Protection Officer they have not made available any documentation for the this area. Once we complete our documentation, Stephen will forward it to the appropriate people in England for review. Marie indicated that this policy needed a safety policy also and Stephen indicated that Marian had written one.
Marie was asked to forward the documents to the children ministry leadership. She said she would incorporate comments received by the 14th of June and return the document to Stephen. As Marie is leaving on extended holiday, someone else would need to pick up the work to bring it to conclusion.
Mark indicated that this raised questions on the overall safekeeping of documents such as minutes etc. Should we have a secretarial office to safekeep documents? Stephen said this type of document with confidential information would have to a secured filing place probably with the chaplain.
| | 28.
| Council care of church members (brief, in light of lists received)
Stephen distributed individual lists to council members of those people they had indicated they would be comfortable following up on. Stephen also distributed a page of people not yet assigned to anyone. He asked that the list be reviewed by a council member not having any assigned people yet to see if they would be good contacts.. Stephen said that the council should keep in contact with the people on their list to see if there are any needs, questions concerns etc.
| | 29.
| Committee Reports
Church Committees (Evangelism; Events; Music; Social/catering; Finance)
- Evangelism-Alan: nothing to report; hoping to put together a meeting soon.
- Events-John reviewed the upcoming events
- June 18 Barbecue
- June 25 Coffee House
- Sept 3 picnic organized by Lara and Damien Confort
- Oct 15 and Nov 12 Dates reserved with no events yet identified; considering possibly square dancing and a game evening
- Stephen will add picnic/walks after church in the summer
- Social/catering-Val:
- New tables have arrived. Val has given Richard 900 euros, about 2/3 of the total cost of 968 pounds. This is funded out of the social committee funds. The remaining monies in the social fund are being held to cover refreshments cost after services.
- Next family lunch Sept 4.
| | 30.
| Developing our vision of God's plans for our Church
Stephen distributed a diagram which showed how the church’s mission—“sharing life in all its fullness with God, through Jesus in the Spirit”—is lived out in the church’s activities/functions. He has newly added the church’s purpose statement of why the church exists. He suggested that this might help us look at what our church life looks like. Stephen proposed that we could use this as a starting point for discussion on at our afternoon retreat on 19th June.
| | 31.
| Review of past & future events
- Last men’s supper was discussed. Some who had attended the away weekend found the time together good but the presentation somewhat of a restatement of the away weekend. Everyone likes the setting etc. Alan is working on speakers for next year.
- Away weekend: Alison thought it was one of the best. It was recommended that we have a committee next year responsible for organizing the weekend. There was a discussion of whether we should move the weekend to an earlier time. Stephen will discuss with Champfleuri.
- 19th June - Council away afternoon chez les Golton.: Everyone should bring their lunch and go directly to the Goltons to eat following services. We will commerce meeting at 2pm . The expectation is we will have tea at 4pm with the goal to end by 5pm.
- Others: Stephen offered that possibly he will organize a Saturday at a lake in the Savoie area ending with a walk and tea at their home
| | 32.
| Church Projects
- International Student Worker : Friends International now has an application for this position. The applicant is Sally Mc Namee. She is currently studying at the university. Bob Dawson of Friends International knows her and said he would be happy to recommend her.
- The church would be responsible to cover the cost of her living expenses, accommodations, travel, training, insurance etc. She is responsible for own personal needs such as food etc. ICS will help to fund this position at 2,500 euros per year for 2 years.
- There was discussion on finding her appropriate housing. We would like something close to the campus with space to entertain people so she could have bible studies etc. David will follow up on a possibility he knows about. The need for accommodation will be presented to the church body. Alison and David will serve as contact people for the church body to refer potential leads to.
- It was also discussed whether she would be a student so she could have access to the campus. Stephen indicated that at a minimal she could go to a language course at the university. This would give her access to the campus. The prime mission field for this worker would be English speaking students.
- A proposal was made to have her come for a visit something this summer
.
- Mark & Carine Lewis & Anaëlle, exploring missionary service with SIM – more information!
Mark reported that their funding is pledged and they are ready to go. They are excited about the project yet are conscious of the enemy’s plans to discourage them. They have been warned of the voodoo in the country and know they will require a strong prayer support. We discussed setting up a prayer team/partnership to under gird them. This will be presented to the church to see if anyone will take on the responsibility of coordinating their prayer support. If not, Dan Wilhelm will coordinate.
| | 33.
| Communion Helpers (we need to appoint more)
Stephen presented that we need to appoint more communion helpers. They must be agreed upon by the chaplain, churchwardens, and approved by the bishop. Mark Lewis, Dan Wilhelm and Marie Colbert volunteered. Stephen will look for a few more.
| | 34.
| Monthly (?) Council report to Church
It was agreed that it was good to keep the church body informed on what is happening at the council meetings. It was decided that we would only highlight 2-3 items that were discussed and then offer to be available for additional information after the services. In addition, the minutes will be posted on the announcement board. We will rotate the responsibility amongst all the council members so that the church body will begin to relate to all the different council members.
| | 35.
| Practising Hymns (Item proposed by Alison)
Alison passed on the comment made by a church member that we should practice hymns like we do chorus. Various options were discussed. It was concluded that the music group has worked to develop the list of 100 favorite hymns and we will remain with those at this time.
| | 36.
| Social Support offered by the church (Item proposed by Alison)
Alison passed on the comment made by a church member that we were not doing enough for the poor and needy outside of our doors. There was a discussion on specifically what the person was proposing so we could better address it. It was proposed that we need first to have a vision of what the church is called to do and then figure out how this would fit in. Stephen proposed we could consider this as part of the life of the church we are looking at while we are on the council away time.
| | 37.
| Folder to be given to new members?
Stephen followed up on the proposal made previously to have an orientation meeting once a month for new church attendees. At this meeting, we would give the new people a folder containing various information on the church. The following was suggested
- Flyer that has council pictures
- Description of children and youth ministries
- Pattern of services
- List of home groups
- Finance budget
- Ways people can serve in the church
- Church directory
Stephen asked for the council to think about what would have been helpful for them when they first came and then get back to him with your suggestions.
| | 38.
| Any Other Matters (or AOB)
- At last meeting of the church wardens and Stephen, it was discussed of the need for a procedures booklet of how we do things in church, the roles of different positions, how finances are done etc. This would be a reference for those things that are recurring.
- Next council meeting is 13 July.
- Adult Sunday school began last week. It had a good start with 7 people attending
- Community centre: Mark said there was nothing new to report.
| | 39.
| Closing Prayer
Stephen closed with prayer
|
|
