Annual Meeting and Budget

Present: L.C. Smyth, Bob and Bonnie Rappaport, Fran and Judy Brennan, Gordon and Margaret Furze, Ernie and Carole Knutzen, Dick and Cathy Gott, Jeani Stevenson, Marjorie Gifford, Joy Morrell, Carolyn Gregory, Carmen Dragon, Mary Jane Moore, Lois Cavell, Mickey MacMillian and Calvin Garber.

L. C. Smyth called the meeting to order at about 10:50am Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007. He welcomed everyone and led us in prayer. L.C. noted that there was a quorum for an official annual meeting.
Reviewed Agenda: three items that require congregation approval:
1. Safe Church Policy for officers, chairs, members to be presented by Mary Frazier
2. 2007 Operating Budget presented by Fran Brennan, and
3. The election of officers, presented by Jeani Stevenson, chair of nominating committee.
After new business there will be a call for comments, at this time anyone who wishes to speak may do so.
Motion was made to accept the 2006 Annual Meeting Minutes as written. Voted and accepted.

Moderator’s Introductory Remarks:
Church is financially sound. List of 6 issues and challenges facing the church in 2007:
1. Church income is marginally supporting the cost of church salaries and operation
2. Need more members volunteering in work projects and ministries
3. Hold construction costs for parsonage having a shortfall of $31,079 to complete.
4. Need to raise money to avoid taking out a loan
5. Need to complete construction by mid year
6. Commitment and support from congregation for a Safe Church Policy
Church had significant accomplishments in 2006: Committed to build a parsonage, and raise over $300,000. Our church sponsors programs of excellence: Food Pantry, Christmas Nativity Pageant, ministries that support women and facility usage programs that support the community are examples. It is estimated that 8,435 people attended church services and other church-sponsored functions in 2006. Community organizations used the facilities a total of 208 days, for 427 events, and an estimated 22,515 people attended these events in 2006.
The number of people served by Food Pantry decreased in 06, but, the number is expected to return to 2005 level. The GN Wilcox Foundation gave us a grant of $5,000 for Food Pantry ministries in 2006 and recently another grant of $5,000 for 2007.
LC said special thanks to the following:
Pastor Glenn Frazier, for his inspirational leadership, and looking after the welfare of the congregation. Mary Frazier for the countless hours and work as Church Administrator and Church Treasurer. Ernie Knutzen the Deacon chair; Mary Jane Moore the Christian Education program; Fran Brennan for the management of church finances; Joy Morrell for organizing food pantry; Bob Rappaport the Building, Grounds and Usage chair; Jeni Hardy for the office and usage management, and scheduling; Carmen for serving as Musical director, choir directing and harp playing and musical programs; Judy for her beautiful flute playing, and Cathy Gott for her wonderful piano playing, and Glenn for his horn, Jeani for maintaining a church website and chairing the nominating committee, and thanks to waste disposal crew and the mowing crew. Thanks to Dick Gott for helping as vice-moderator and for helping with all the handy-man projects, and work on the parsonage.
Thanks to all volunteers who assist in these and other programs.

End of Moderator’s Introductory Comments

COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND OTHER REPORTS
Pastor’s Comments – Special thanks to L.C. for his 8 years of service as Moderator.
And even though he was a distance away he managed keep up with correspondence, and grant writing, and all the responsibilities of an outstanding Moderator. Pastor Glenn said he was very pleased with the congregation in our willingness to help in all aspects of church functions.

Church Administrator report – Mary reiterated her thanks to all the people mentioned so far and added: thanks to Joy for the recycling of bottles, and plastics which raised $547 this past year.
She added one of our ministries that we have been supporting along with the Kauai Association of UCC is Rebecca Reid’s Ka Ala Hoku Program for people recovering drugs or jail. We will continue to support this ministry by giving her use of our office facilities.

Budget Committee Report – Fran Brennan thanked all supporters. He said this is the 8th or 9th year of meeting our budget goals. It’s a perfect record. He commended all who give money and or volunteer their time and expertise to make our church work.
Fran said we are fortunate to have the Frazier’s, as other pastors on island get $80,000/year salaries, and a place to live and in some cases a car. When Glenn and Mary started, the conference was giving us $9,000 a year for the pastor’s salary. With the building of the parsonage, we are well on our way to accomplishing our goals to give our Pastoral family the salary and home they deserve.
As you can see from the budget we have had steady growth over the years. The recommended operating budget for 2007 is $110,000. Fran also pointed out the comparison chart of past years and the progress we have made. See attached doc for details.
Fran recommends we approve this budget with the understanding that mid-2007 we may have to adjust the amounts because there are costs for the Parsonage that are unknown at this time.
He then asked for any questions or comments from the group: Mary noted that the proposed budget did not cover an increase in salaries for Jeni Hardy and Carmen Dragon.
As there were no other questions or comments, L.C. asked for a motion to approve the 2007 Operating Budget, the motion was made and second. L.C. called for a vote for which there were none opposed. The Operating Budget was approved as reported and outlined.
Housing allowance for 2007 will be the total of Glenn’s base salary.

Treasurer Report – Mary Frazier
She thanked Marjorie Gifford for acting as auditor and helping with the figures.
Mary reported Account Balances as of Dec. 31, 2006 which are:
Operation Checking: (less payroll and taxes payable and Damage deposits) 1,374.79
Food Pantry (includes GN Wilcox donation of $5,000: 6,088.06
Pastor’s Help Fund 1,456.32
Reserves held in investment account
Food Pantry Reserve 5,763.20
Operating reserve 8,695.68
Maintenance reserve 19,525.09
Lawnmower reserve 2,995.52

Comments and discussion: Dick Gott reported that we do not need to buy a new mower at this time. L.C. thanked Dick for keeping it in working order.

Motion was made and second to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Vote: none opposed. The Report was accepted as reported.
Safe Church Policy – Mary Frazier reported that our insurance policy will only cover us if the church has a safe church policy written and approved by the congregation and the guidelines in place in for all members. This document includes forms and instructions as to how to report an incident. All members and volunteers are encouraged to fill out a private disclosure application telling background and any history of sexual misconduct, etc.
Mary reported she had the Safe Church Policy available for anyone to read and review. She said Mary Jane had read it and approved it. Mary Jane said under this new rule we will be having a second assistant Sunday school helper present at each session.
As there were no further questions or comments, L.C. called for a motion to approve the Safe Church Policy that will satisfy our insurance company. There was a second. The vote was taken and the policy approved as presented.

Deacons Report – Ernie Knutzen thanked each deacon by name for their willingness and cooperation in helping with all duties of deacons.

Christian Education – Mary Jane Moore thanked all the teachers. She named the current teachers: herself, Mary Frazier, Carolyn Gregory, Joyce Holden, Betsy Lis, Annette Surrels, and Jeani Stevenson, and all the other volunteers who will be present as a second person under the new Safe Church regulations.

Outreach, Food Pantry Ministry – Joy Morrell thanked all her helpers and volunteers. She reported the amount of food we purchased in 2006 was 40,142 pounds and the cost was $10,206.00. The number of people served food was 3,787.
She said the Food Pantry received a grant of $5,000 from G.N. Wilcox in 2006, and another of that same amount in 2007.
Our Food Pantry received the 2nd place award for the highest purchaser of food.
Other sources for food have come from John Conley, who delivers fresh fruit and vegetables – about 50 lbs per week, for which we are grateful.
Joy reported that the Food Bank gives us free turkeys for distribution on Thanksgiving. Last year we got 25 for the church and 25 for the Kilauea Senior Center. The Thanksgiving dinner at the Hanalei School was cancelled this year, however the turkeys were distributed to the needy.
The food pantry also is responsible for distribution of food to the Kilauea Senior Center, but, because of the Ka Loko dam breach in March, many farms were destroyed, and the local supply of fruits and vegetables was not possible in 2006. The Food Bank is starting a food stamp program for seniors that may be bringing new money through Federal Entitlement.

Website – Jeani Stevenson said she had updated the database of email recipients and not many bounce back. People love to hear about our church activities and she said she is in contact with many who will be rerunning to the island. She and Mary have discussed putting the Sunday Bulletin on the site, and they will work that out.

Usage Committee – Bob Rappaport said Jeni is doing a great job scheduling the use of the facilities and should be commended for her organization.
He is excited about the projected income we should receive from the usage of the cottage. He said it is not a rental, and the monies from it should be considered a donation, and the people staying there will be required to contribute to the Church functions.
Bob commented that Nancy Valley and Dick Gott should be commended for maintaining the grounds by mowing.
And he said Dick is especially good at handy man jobs that need to be done.

Parsonage Construction Report – Bob Rappaport reported that we are under budget because the reported cost doesn’t show all the cost of furniture for the cottage and the landscaping.
He said the estimated time for the Parsonage to be finished so Mary and Glenn can move in is early April. The finished carpentry still needs to be done.

Parsonage Fund Report – Mary said the Parsonage Project looks great and is going to be a great place to visit and to live. The estimate to complete the project has increased to $333,000.00. The total money amount received is $317,472.46. The expenses have been $189,467.05 leaving an operating balance of $128,005.41.

Audit Report – Marjorie Gifford reported that she has reviewed the bank accounts and records. She has found them to be in good order. She has provided Mary with a couple of suggestions to follow in 2007.

Cookbook Report – Carole Knutzen

Cost of printing and postage -1,020.68
Donations from 4 families 1,125.00
Sales in 2006 2,002.55
Sales in 2007 340.00
Total for Parsonage Fund from cookbook Sales $2,446.87

LC said since all reports have been given, are there any questions or comments from the congregation?

New Business:
Nominating Committee – Jeani Stevenson thanked all who served on the Board and all who volunteered to serve in up coming term. She shared her appreciation with L.C. for his 8 years service as Moderator and hoped he would stay close and continue to be a part of the administration of the business of running the church especially in respect to grant writing. She explained the ballot, and asked for any questions.
L.C. said if there are no comments or questions then he called for a motion to accept the ballot as written. Motion made, second, the ballot was voted and accepted as written.

Member Comments:
Carmen Dragon said she would rather use her sick pay monies for Feb and March to go to the purchase of new contemporary music for the choir and asked if the church would consider supporting her to travel to attend the J.W. Pepper and Sons Best Choirs seminar on the mainland. She proposed using any money remaining from the music purchase be used to pay for the trip. She was open for discussion and comments from the congregation. It was decided that the music committee should present a proposal to council for further consideration of her suggestions.

LC turned the meeting over to Dick Gott. Dick closed the meeting with prayer.