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Report of the Moderator [Will be given in the Spring]
Digest of 158th Annual Meeting of January 21, 2001
2001 Budget Results and Proposed Budget for 2002
Church Council
Board of Trustees
Board of Deacons
Board of Christian Stewardship
Fellowship Committee
Personnel Committee
Music Committee
Communications Committee
Wauwatosa Congregational Scholarship Fund
Program Development & Special Events
Board of Christian Education
[Will be given in the Spring]
Richard Koch, Moderator
Report of the Interim Minister for 2001
I can scarcely believe that I have had the privilege of being your Interim Minister for over six months. It has been a time of great joy and satisfaction for Chris and me. I have been mightily impressed with the dedication, optimism and cooperation of the boards and committees of this Church. I truly believe that we will be in good position for an enthusiastic beginning to the ministry of your incoming Senior Minister.
Last June, we passed an emergency vote in the Church Council allowing for the borrowing of up to $50,000 from our invested funds to go to the operating budget. This borrowed amount, if needed, would be paid back @ 5% interest to the funds used. I am delighted to report that borrowing was not required. This congregations stood tall, covered needed expenses and finished 2001 with a modest carry-over for 2002. I congratulate the members for their generosity, the Stewardship committee for their leadership and the Council and boards/committees for their wise management.
I have rejoiced in my time with the program staff. All have been cordial, cooperative, supportive and fun. At this time I particularly want to thank Kathy Rust for her role. Kathy has been great fun to work with. I have enjoyed her insights, her high work ethic and her willingness to cooperate in any ventures I have suggested. She has been all that one could ask in an associate. I know you all join me in wishing her God's speed and satisfaction in her role as minister of the Congregational Church in Mukwonago.
You already know the tremendous job our office people do. I thank them for doing whatever I have requested without any hesitation and in the process making each day fun as well as productive, and for bringing more calories to work than any of us needed.
Partcipatory people are the foundation upon which we can once again build. And building is exactly what is occurring in our Christian Education area. There are many super children and a terrific group of teenagers who serve our community well. All of us have been inspired by the ingenious ways in which the Covenant Class members have used the $100 they each received. They learned how to handle resources and in the process learned the sheer joy of helping others. Thanks should go to Chris Rygh, all the youth leaders, the Christian Education Board and the teachers.
Lastly, I want to thank those who minister to the ministers as well as all of us - our music people. They are great to work with and a continuing source of inspiration and comfort.
Our reports will reveal fewer members than in the last few years. Let that not be a negative. Rather, count that as a strong foundation upon which the future can be built. We have every reason in the world to be optimistic.
Thanks for your acceptance of us and your cooperation that has made this time of "healing" so enjoyable.
In Christian bonds, Doug.
Rev. Dr. Douglas Lobb, Interim Minister
Membership
as of Dec. 31, 2000 1217
Members deceased 21
Members transferred 59
Members deleted 59
Total removed - 139
New Members Received
Covenant Class 15Total received 35
New Member Class 20
Total MembershipMinisterial Services
as of December 31, 2001 1113
Baptisms 20back to top
Weddings 17
Funerals and Memorial Services
Members 19
Non-Members 2
Lonnie Richardson led us in the unison reading of our Covenant. The Ministers report followed.
Minutes of the 157th Annual Meeting were approved.
Treasurer's Report - Diane Houriet
Stewardship Drive - Maurie Daigneau
Trustees' Report - Harry Collis
Budget & Finance - Dick Koch
Search Committee - David Swanson
New Business:
Rev. Chris Rygh gave the benediction.
The congregation joined in singing "Blest Be The Tie That Binds". Betty Dethmers played the piano.
The 158th meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Sally Boyle, Church Clerk
| OPERATING BUDGET | |||
| Trustees Deferred Maintenance |
$117,800 | $107,797 | $133,250 $0 |
| Deacons | $3,700 | $3,335 | $3,700 |
| Congregational Care | $2,000 | $522 | $1,000 |
| Christian Fellowship | $4,350 | $2,190 |
$4,350
|
| Christian Education | $11,750 | $12,988 |
$11,750
|
| Stewardship | $2,050 | $147 |
$1,750
|
| Canvass | $3,000 | $3,747 |
$2,500
|
| Communications | $31,000 | $29,366 |
$31,000
|
| Music | $6,250 | $6,798 |
$6,250
|
| Personnel | $478,000 | $481,369 |
$455,950
|
| Sub-committees | $2,500 | $1,822 |
$1,500
|
| Operating Expenditures | $662,400 | $660,081 |
$653,000
|
| Benevolences | $50,000 |
$50,000
|
** $22,000
|
| Budgeted Expeditures | $712,400 |
$710,081
|
$675,000
|
| Pledge Base |
$627,542
|
$634,292
|
|
| Other Receipts |
$65,388
|
$39,908
|
|
| Income from Heritage Endowment Fund |
$10,995
|
$0
|
|
| Miscelaneous |
$11,396 |
$800 |
|
| TOTAL AVAILABLE FUNDS |
$715,321
|
$675,000
|
|
| 2002 Shortfall Opportunity |
($0)
|
** Note: Additional contributions to Benevolent Projects will be gathered through five special offering requests during the 2002 operating year. This is the challenge to the congregation.
The By-laws state: "Except as reserved to the boards the Council shall be responsible for all matters of the church when the Membership Meeting is not in session."
The Council membership includes:
3 moderators (Moderator, Vice Moderator & Past Moderator)
7 Chairman of the various Church Boards
9 Members at large
3 Ex-officio members (Church Administrator, Treasurer & Assistant Treasurer)
The Council has 13 standing committees and at present two ad-hoc committees (Search Committee and Governance Committee). The members of the committees are appointed by the moderator and approved by the Council membership.
Activities of the various boards and committees are discussed in individual reports. The Council monitors the recommendations of the boards and committees and where appropriate approves or disapproves the suggested actions or recommendations.
The Moderator chairs the council meetings and is chairman of the following committees.
Executive Committee (To date no meetings required)
Congregational Aid Committee ( To date no meetings required )
Scholarship Committee ( See separate report )
Heritage Endowment Committee (To date no meetings required )
Program Development & Special Events Committee ( See separate report )
The Moderator also serves on the Personnel Committee.
The attendance and participation of the members of the boards and committees is excellent. The Church is fortunate to have many dedicated hard working people to serve in so many ways.
I would like to remind all church members that the Council meetings are open to you ( except when the Council is in Executive Session ) and encourage you to attend.
Richard Koch, Moderator
The Board of Trustees has the responsibility of overseeing and maintaining all Church property and secular business matters. It is a body of nine members which meets once every month of the year to approve expenditures and discuss ongoing maintenance projects.
Given the reality of a very substantial and very historic church building, there is always a long list of repairing, repainting, replacing, remodeling, upgrading, etc. projects to be considered. These are prioritized and budgeted as "Scheduled Maintenance & Repair". Our goal, of course, is to always have a well functioning, up-to-date and attractive building and grounds.
Unexpected repairs and replacements do arise and hopefully are covered by an amount budgeted as "Unscheduled Expenses". The Board strives to keep this budget item under control by anticipating potential problem areas. The greatest challenge the Board faces is funding the major expenditures which can be classified as "Major Capital Projects'. To fund these projects the Board proposed to create a "Deferred Maintenance Fund", so that it would not have to rely upon special fundraising drives as was required for the steeple replacement. Unfortunately, the new Church budget for 2002 does not allow establishment oŁ the fund at this time.
The Board of Trustees invites and encourages suggestions and
comments from members at all times.
David Moore, Chairman
Board of Deacons, Annual Report 2001-2002
The Board of Deacons consists of 15 members and is responsible for church membership as well as "matters relating to the service of worship and the spiritual interests of the church". Communion, nave flowers, greeters and ushers for all services, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas nave decorations, members in need of transportation to church, baptisms, and membership reception are all functions of this board. Approximately twice yearly, we have held a 4-week informational class for those desiring to join our fellowship. A class explaining baptism in our church has been included for those members who desire that sacrament in our church. On November 4, 2001, our congregation remembered by name and the placement of a rose in a vase, those family members and church members who had died within the last year. The Roll of Remembrance will be an annual tradition. The Board of Deacons is an active one, hopefully fulfilling its purpose in the life of our fellowship.
Susie Daigneau, Chairwoman
Board of Christian Stewardship
The Board of Christian Stewardship has seen a terrific response from our truly committed and involved membership to the 2002 pledge campaign. Our goal as a board was to broaden the base of pledging families by converting traditional non-pledging units to pledging units.
We experienced two-fold success: First, the number of first time pledgers increased dramatically over previous years. Second, those of you that have historically pledged have increased your average pledge substantially to the point that we as a congregation can begin to realize some of our important long range community benevolence goals.
It is important, still, for us to continue striving to increase and improve our commitment to the livelihood and well-being of our church. Stewardship encompasses not only the giving of the fruits of our labor, but also the fruits of our time and talent. Be generous with your gifts and you will surely realize your reward.
The Stewardship Board will continue to focus on this theme as we enter this new year and prepare for the next campaign this fall. We will continue to stress the importance of active participation, involvement and support as the true tenets of Stewardship in the Congregational Way. May God bless you and the mission of our Church this year.
Steve Russ, Chairman
Fellowship Committee May 2001 - December 2001
The Board is responsible for the Coffee Hours in-between services, the monthly dinners and service of food at other special events. The committee members set up for dinners & special events as well as do the clean-up afterwards.
The board consists of the following members :
Barbara Dunham, John Sgarlata, Joe Berte, Jennifer Wareham, Traci Elliott, Denise O'Meara, Margaret Brown, Lucy Miyazaki, Doris
Nolinski
The Special Events:
May - Ice Cream Social ( after Services)
Sept. - Brat Fest ( after Services)
Dec. - Coffee Hour before 11:00 P.M. Service ( new this year)
Monthly Dinners:
June - Pig Roast (Cook - Rod Schmidt)
Aug. - Taco Dinner (Cook - Committee Members & Jennifer Wakefield)
Sept. - Fish Boil (Cook - Rod Schmidt)
Oct. - Southwestern Dinner ( Cook - John Sgarlata)
Nov. - Thanksgiving Dinner (Cook - Rod Schmidt)
Dec. - Christmas Dinner (Cook - Rod Schmidt )
Up Coming Dinners:
Feb. 6th -Chili
Lenten dinners will be served every Wednesday from Feb. 20th to March 20th .
March 28th (a Thursday) we will have a special Passover Dinner.
May 1st - Dinner
For the past few months the Committee has made an effort to bring more formality to the Coffee Hours in-between services. We hope this brings a positive reaction from the church members. This committee is very busy trying to provide opportunities for Fellowship in this Church. Because of the increased activity of this committee we find a need for individual volunteers to assist us in the fellowship activities. Volunteers would be most welcome.
Barbara Dunham, Chairwoman
Activities and accomplishments in 2001:
Stewart Davis, Chairman
I will need assistance; we will require people to usher, hand out programs and just be
around to help; in addition, BJ and Jennifer Wakefield have taken care of refreshments for the past two years. See them to offer
assistance at any/all of these.
Lee Jacobi. Director of Music
How do we get the word out?
The Communication Committee is responsible for a variety of communications both within the congregation and externally to the public at large. As stated in Article C:I:c. of the church constitution states "It shall develop and have general responsibility for an overall program of communications and public relations for the church."
The committee, with much input and help from the staff, coordinates internal communications and publications - The Columns, The Congregationalist, the website, bulletin boards, and signage. When boards, committees or members have "news" that they want publicized, the committee's role is to coordinate the publicity, marketing and communications of it. Small bulletins describing church services, activities, programs usually pass through and often are designed by our committee with the help of paid editor, Beth Linscott. All printing of information for annual meetings, etc. comes through the communication budget.
Newspaper advertising, newspaper articles, TV coverage, etc. all fall to the Communication committee to facilitate.
A standing Committee of the Council, Communications is made up of three Council Members and two members at large. Members are appointed by the Moderator for a one year term. The budget for 2001 was $31,000.
We are always looking for new ideas and are anxious to publicize our church activities, programs, etc. We would welcome any suggestions you might have.
Mary York, Chairwoman
Wauwatosa Congregational Scholarship Fund
The Purpose of the Wauwatosa Congregational Scholarship Fund is to assist and encourage students interested in the ministry, and/or to provide financial assistance for needy or qualified college and university students who are, or may be, members of the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa.
The three directors of this fund are the Moderator of the Church Council, Chairman of the Board of Benevolences and Church Relations and the Senior Minister of the Church.
This past year there was one request for assistance in the form of a scholarship from Jennifer Pozyat in the amount of $1000.00 for the 2001-2002 school year. The directors granted her request.
Jennifer is junior at Whitworth College in Spokane Washington.
Richard Koch, Moderator
Program Development & Special Events
The committee has met to allocate firnding for the Search Committee in the amount of $5000.00 to date. The Search Committee has been miserly to date and spent only a small amount of the allocated funds, but this will change in the near future as the field of candidates is narrowed. It is anticipated that additional firnding will be requested No other requests for funds have been received.
Richard Koch
The Board of Christian Education has worked over the past year to create, maintain and support new and existing programs of education at FCC. These programs include Sunday School, Confirmation class. Jr. and Sr. PF, mission outreach for Sunday School and Jr. and Sr. PF, teacher training, adult education and programming.
We have spent a good portion of the past year examining how we can serve the educational needs of all of our church family more effectively.
Carla Cummings
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