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| Minutes of the Church Council Meeting
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| On: Tuesday 11th March at 20h00
| At: The Chaplain's Apartment
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| Present:
| Stephen Coffin (Chaplain), David Bailey (Churchwarden), Elizabeth Cherhal (Secretary), Suzanne Bréant, Alan and Val Golton, Alison Coulavin, Jason Kern, Dante Thomas,
| | Excused:
| Marie Colbert (Churchwarden), Richard Sheppard (Treasurer), Neil Brownrigg, Howard Diehl , Penny Vincent-Sweet
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Minutes:
| | 86.
| Prayers and Apologies (please inform Stephen or Elizabeth)
| | 87.
| Approval of last meeting's minutes & any matter arising from these (& not otherwise on the agenda)
The minutes were approved.
Matters arising were:
- Deputy wardens (item 80) : Currently the annual meeting chooses
2 Churchwardens
2 Synod representatives (every 3 years, including 2008)
7 Council members
Absent members of the electoral roll are allowed “postal” votes for the council members only
Options for the future:
- 1. As above, with the new council choosing 2 deputy wardens from those elected to council, and / or additional people who are then co-opted onto the Council
- 2. The annual meeting chooses 2 deputy wardens who are then ex-officio on the Council; the annual meeting then elects 5 Council members
- 3. We expand the number on the Council to allow procedure 2. above, but still leave 7 Council members to be elected by the annual meeting
The role of the deputy wardens would be
- To support the Churchwardens in their work in whatever ways the Churchwardens ask.
- Giving advice (particularly if the deputies have previously served as Churchwardens and the current Churchwardens are new to the role).
- Overseeing organisational matters in the absence of the Churchwarden(s).
- Representing the Churchwardens if asked by them (this may be particularly pertinent if there is a need for French language input).
After discussion, the council voted unanimously for option 1. Alan thought that this must be presented to the AGM as a formal motion, and that we should explain that if the system didn’t turn out to work, it could be changed back next year.
- Outreach committee meeting (item 83)
Jason said that he was not aware of the existence of an outreach committee. This goes to show that it hasn’t met much in the past year, and/or has been too discreet in its reports to the council.
Alan reported on the meeting : They had discussed different services we could provide, such as counselling or teaching on bereavement or renewal of marriage vows. It was thought that rather than having a course once a week for 6 weeks, we should run a more concentrated one. They had also prayed for future events. For outreach, it was proposed to establish a list of English speaking people, by asking members of the congregation to supply names and addresses of English speakers known to them.
Then a questionnaire would be made, asking what sort of “service (ie counselling, a course or whatever) they would be interested in. Alan will do a notice inviting people to make lists of English speakers, and David will write a draft questionnaire.
Jason reported that he had started inviting people to special services such as Easter, and that if you did invite your friends to a service, you had to know what to do with them there.
Dante stressed the usefulness of occasions such as the auction of promises to bring friends into church too.
| | 88.
| Update on financial campaign
Richard has reported the following figures to Stephen.
Currently 16 pledges have been received:
- Monthly sums : total of 26.5K€/yr
- Quarterly and yearly sums: 22.8K$/yr + 1.4K€
- This makes a combined total of approx 40K€/yr out of a target of 75K€. Obviously the 16 people who have replied are the easiest to get to, and a reminder needs to be given several times, starting this Sunday if possible.
Dante asked if that included one time givers, such as old members of the church, returned to the US. No, this is from our current membership !
| | 89.
| Children's work (report of meeting on 3rd March of teachers)
Stephen met with the Sunday school teachers on the 3rd March. April is willing to continue to do the “admin” work, and Dona has taken on responsibility for curriculum and getting teachers together.
- 3-5s : Caroline and Connie have offered to work with the 3-5 age group. This may take place in the crèche. They require another parent to help and/or someone else, preferably speaking French. Penny is reported to have volunteered, and Elizabeth, Alison and Val also said they could (as long as it is not in addition to the crèche).
This class will start after Easter.
- 6-10s: Numbers are up. There are a variable number of children. It can be up to 13. They also need a parent a week and/or a francophone helper.
- 11+: Loreena will continue to take care of this age group 2 Sundays a month. As it is almost all boys, a man is also needed. Jean-Philippe and Fred were suggested.
A letter asking for helpers among the parents will be given out.
| | 90.
| Church away weekend in autumn - dates, venue, etc. to be agreed
Last year we could find no convenient weekend to go away, and so we had a day’s study lead by Nick van Wingerden, but the “going away together” was missed, therefore a real away weekend will be organised in the autumn (fall).
- Venue : Several options are possible:
- Champfleury, cheap, everything provided, but thought by some to be rather “basic” (people have to share rooms, etc).
- St Hugues de Biviers: They agree to have us, and want us to go up and visit them. Stephen will go.
- Maeva (a big holiday center in Autrans) was proposed, as a few members had been on choir weekends there and enjoyed it. Elizabeth and Val will pay them a visit and ask about conditions, prices, etc.
- Date: Either the 11th or 18th October. 2 options :
- Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime : this is what we have done up till now. It allows for good fellowship, but more and more people only come for part of the time/
- Saturday morning to Sunday evening: this has the advantage of only needing to spend one night (cheaper!) and maybe people who are unable to come on Saturday morning will still come at lunchtime, as they won’t have missed too much.
Most people were in favour of the latter option.
| | 91.
| Our Church's Vision (ongoing discussion)
Quite a bit of discussion had taken place in the “outreach” part (item 87), but Val brought up another matter that needed our attention: she felt we were not always very clear in giving a Christian point of view to our younger (and no so young) members about relationships (sexual, men/women…). If some of our members are in (what seems to us to be) bad relationships, how to address the problem in a loving way without being heavy or judgemental ? Dante pointed out that this could cover other important issues on lifestyle, such as getting into debt. This was true, but it was agreed that relationships were an especially sensitive point.
2 things can be done:
- teaching the church at large: Alan thought it might be good to have someone outside do a talk (or series of talks). The example was given of the teaching on the 10 commandments, but it was considered a pity the 7th one fell on a baptism/family service day.
- approaching individuals: some of us feel we are a bit cowardly about this. We don’t want to frighten people away. We don’t want to have the opposite effect either. (ie make them feel defensive of the person they are in a bad relationship with).Dante said that there was a specific “singles” ministry in his last church, and that it was a good thing older women should talk with younger ones for instance.
The group of preachers (Stephen, Alan, Howard, Dante) will discuss at least how best to address this to the church at large.
| | 92.
| Any other matters
- Meal for the needy at Christmas: Alison brought up this issue, thinking that it shouldn’t be talked about at the last minute. She proposed we contact the Reformed church in order to do something in common next Christmas. It was pointed out that the Catholic Church already organised a meal on Christmas day, and that we should not do anything in competition with that. Stephen will contact the Catholics to see what exactly they are doing, and Alison will pursue the matter with the Réformés.
- Visit of the assistant Bishop : Bishop David will visit us on the 1st weekend in Dec. A communion/ confirmation service will take place on that day (instead of the family service). There are candidates for confirmation, and a class will be held.
| | 93.
| Closing prayer
We spent a time in prayer about all we had discussed.
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