Council Meeting

October 7, 2008

The Council meeting of the MN Valleys Presbytery was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by chairKathy Terpstra.  Grayson Osteraas led us in prayer and devotions.

Those present included:

Rev. Dawn Carder, Presbytery Moderator

LeRoy Ennenga, Presbytery Vice-Moderator

Rev. Sue Coller, Executive Presbyter

Rev. Pamela Prouty, Stated Clerk

Those excused included:  Rallah Madison, Class of 2008, Rev. Randy Lubbers, Class of 2010.

COUNCIL VOTED to approve the agenda.

COUNCIL VOTED to approve the August 12, 2008 and the June 11-12, 2008 minutes.

Community Building

We shared a time when we have felt close to God since we last gathered.  We then read the Scripture from Mark 1:16-20 and shared about the questions where is Christ leading you?  What is Christ teaching you/making of you?  How does that inform your service on Council?

We then talked about Council norms.  We will change our end time to 2:30 p.m. and take a

half-hour for lunch.

Task Force reports

Centrally located Presbytery meetings

Connie Seltz and Pam Prouty reported on the survey which they had done about the location of Presbytery meetings.  They had emailed a survey to all the congregations and minister members for input about the location of Presbytery meetings.  They submitted the results from their survey plus the following report:

REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE

TO LOOK INTO PRESBYTERY MEETING LOCATION

OCTOBER 7, 2008

Connie Seltz and I were asked by the Council to look into the location of Presbytery meetings.  We put together an email survey which was sent to all clerks of session, minister members within the bounds of Minnesota, commissioned lay pastors and Council members.  The results of this survey which was due back to the Presbytery office on October 1 will be tabulated and reported at the Council meeting on October 7, 2008. But in our discussions with members of Presbytery and others we have thought about other items which need to be considered when choosing a place to host a Presbytery meeting besides the location.  One is the sound system.  Microphones are needed for the moderator, stated clerk and the floor of Presbytery, at the minimum.  Sometimes we also need sound for videos or other presentations.  Also we need to think about the space.  With our increasing desire to have small groups or break out times, more space is needed other than a sanctuary.  We have had a couple of our Presbytery meetings meet in the fellowship area of a church around tables which has been favorable received.  The sound system factors in these decisions too. Another thing to think about is the comfort of a sanctuary.  Sometimes the pews while comfortable for a worship service for one hour are fine for an entire day can feel cramped.  Also we must continue to think more and more about how accessible a location is.  Can a person who is disabled get into a building, and are all the places where the meeting might be held accessible? Are there bathrooms which are accessible? There are just a few of the things which

we have been thinking about.

                                                                           Connie Seltz and Pam Prouty

COUNCIL VOTED that for 2010 we would have more centrally located Presbytery meetings.

We want to continue our discussion of an overnight Presbytery meeting (two day meeting) at our meeting in January.

Process to focus Presbytery resources

Kathy Terpstra and Al Jergenson shared an oral report.  They co-opted Sheila Sjerven to work

with them.  They submitted the following report :

Council Task Force Report

Al Jergensen, Kathy Terpstra, and Shelia Sjerven

Charge: That council design and implement a process to focus the resources of the presbytery .  This could involve conversations with sessions about what they need from presbytery, revisiting the comprehensive study from 2001, or other ideas .

Right Now :

·         Charge committees to look at their mission as stated in the manual of operations yearly .

·         Decide if this is still relevant.  Ask themselves: “Is it who we are and where we see ourselves going ?”

·         Set goals - both short and long term. (1-3 year )

·         Prioritize goals

·         Project fiscal and human needs

·         Communicate fiscal needs to Budget and Finance Committee

·         All committees be encouraged to review size, and keep committees as small as possible,

      co-opting people for specific projects as needed

Work Toward :

·         Have teams of liaisons (2-3 persons) to work in clusters to establish relationships with congregations. (May be done cooperatively with COM )

·         These relationships will build communication that will help to recognize or identify needs

·         The needs identified by congregations and teams will lead to guiding our future priorities .

Needed:

·         To identify people with intuitive and interactive people skills to serve as liaisons

·         To write clear job descriptions and goals

·         To provide training

Rationale:

We felt that more surveys are ineffective, and that to ask sessions what they need in such a way would not bring meaningful results. Only a few would even know what to ask for. To gain an understanding of the real needs of congregations will require a serious commitment of time, energy and interactive discussion .

COUNCIL VOTED to receive the above report with thanks . 

COUNCIL VOTED to ask the task force to put together a job description and bring a  

recommendation on how to continue this work to the next Council meeting .

Help committees adapt to the new organization and evaluate effectiveness/needs

Sue Coller and Connie Seltz gave an oral report.  Richard Underdahl-Peirce will also serve on

this task force.  They will be looking at how to evaluate committees .

Develop and recommend criteria for nomination of General Assembly and Synod

commissioners and people for Presbytery committees

LeRoy Ennenga will work on this task force; he will ask Scott Prouty to help out with this.  Sue

will email all the resources she has collected regarding this .

We broke for lunch with prayer at 12:00 p.m .  We reconvened at 12:30 p.m .

Bethel Presbyterian Church Task Force

Kathy reported that they have had two meetings with the congregation at Reading .  There is a

group who want to leave and a group who wants to stay .  They are still meeting and talking .

COUNCIL VOTED to write a letter to the Reading and Wilmont churches expressing our love ,

care and concern.  Christina Berry will write these letters .

Communication Task Force

Sue gave an oral report .  She is wondering what it is we want to do with the results of this

survey.  The results will be posted on the webpage and sent to the new committee .

Nominating Committee

We are looking for two new people for the Nominating Committee; two women elders .  LeRoy will ask Norma Cook, , Barb Antoine, Mabelle Behrends people from Cluster 5; Dawn Carder will ask Marrilyn Arndt, Sara Drew from cluster 6 .

Executive Presbyter Report

Sue presented the following report :

Executive Presbyter Report

Council Meeting

October 7, 2008

1.     Subject:  changing the percentages of undesignated mission dollars we give to General Assembly and synod.  At the Executive Presbyter’s forum in September the consensus was that the EPs meet to examine the implications of presbyteries changing those percentages, as well as the impact of decreasing mission dollars to some presbyteries from synod and the possibility of trying to reach a zero-impact adjustment to mission giving and phasing out the $40,000 staff support presbyteries receive from the synod.  That meeting is scheduled for November 4-5, 2008 .

2.     Invitation is almost ready for Bruce Reyes-Chow to participate in the Clearwater 2010 conference.  I am waiting for additional information from Twin Cities Area Presbytery regarding an additional day for Bruce to meet with teams from presbyteries who work

      with churches on growth and transformation .

3.     A group for newly ordained pastors is starting October 9 .

4.     Update on Presbyterian Prairie Dogs Costa Rica trip-their trip to Costa Rica has been tentatively moved to January .

5.     Tentatively scheduled:  training for new chairpersons and council members on December 2, following the presbytery meeting .

6.     News from the Association of Executive Presbyters Meeting and the Middle Governing Body/General Assembly Council meeting in Snowbird, Utah

a.     I have been elected treasurer/secretary of the Association of Executive Presbyters – this is a three year term, and I will also be serving on the steering committee .

b.     There was lots of conversation about helping our presbyteries move to a different model of decision-making, and challenging the General Assembly to do the same.   I will be working with a task group to explore feasible options.  Depending on what comes out of that, it might be an opportunity for our presbytery to field test

      something resembling more of a discernment model when we have controversial issues to vote on .

c.     One thing that rose up as a practice among many presbyteries was having Bible study as a regular part of each presbytery meeting.  The feedback from those presbyteries

      is that people have been hungering for that kind of engagement with the scriptures at presbytery.  We may want to consider that for 2009, especially in light of voting on amendments and ecumenical statements . 

d.     The General Assembly Council has been focusing on strengthening relationships with middle governing bodies (presbyteries and synods).  Part of the meeting was the council members sharing some of the work that the committees of council do.  The majority of the meeting was conversations with members of the General Assembly Council, helping them to know better the context of ministry in the presbyteries .

We then talked about some proposed policy for business .

COUNCIL VOTED that any business to come before Council will be in the hands of the Stated Clerk, complete with supporting documents, two weeks before the Council meeting.  Those with business to be considered are responsible for planning accordingly.  These deadlines will be published on the Presbytery calendar and online .

COUNCIL VOTED that if an item of business cannot wait until the next Council meeting, only business reasonably considered non-controversial and complete shall be conducted via email, and a reasonable length of time stated for members to respond.  Should any member raise a concern or question, the email vote stops and either a conference call or face to face meeting or other electronic means for allowing real-time interaction will be scheduled or the item will be allowed to lapse.  It is important that when replying to email business that everyone uses the “reply to all” option .

Stated Clerk’s report

The Stated Clerk presented the following report :

STATED CLERK’S REPORT
TO THE COUNCIL
OCTOBER 7, 2008

1.         I have received the minutes of the ordination/installation service for the Rev. Christopher Drew;    action needs to be taken to dissolve this administrative commission .

2.       I have received the minutes of the installation service for the Rev. Michael Goodwin; action needs to be taken to dissolve this administrative commission .

3.     Somehow we need to think differently of how we handle parliamentarians at Presbytery meetings .  I’m not sure why we have our present system of having two parliamentarians appointed for Presbytery meetings; I’m charged with finding these parliamentarians.  I’m sure this system was put together so the Stated Clerk could focus on taking minutes instead of both the parliamentary procedure and taking minutes which is good.  But I wonder whether we need to think about finding someone else to be a recording clerk so I can be the parliamentarian.  I would like the Council to discuss this.

4.       I have received the minutes of the installation service for the Rev. Sarah Butler; action needs to be taken to dissolve this administrative commission .

5.       I have received the minutes of the installation service for the Rev. Aaron Alfred; action needs to be taken to dissolve this administrative commission .

6.     We need to come up with a plan for the planning of Presbytery dockets for 2009 .

COUNCIL VOTED to dissolve the above administrative commissions .

COUNCIL VOTED to have the Stated Clerk serve as the parliamentarian at Presbytery meetings and ask the administrative assistant to serve as recording clerk at Presbytery meetings.

COUNCIL VOTED to ask the following people to serve on the Presbytery Meeting Planning Team :  Stated Clerk, Presbytery moderator, Presbytery vice-moderator and two General Assembly Commissioners or alternates.  LeRoy will ask the GA commissioners .

Presbytery Moderator

Dawn Carder presented the following report:

MODERATOR’S REPORT-Dawn Carder

During recent months it has been my privilege to moderate and/or participate in several special events. They were as follows :

Sunday, August 3^rd – Officiated at the installation of the Rev. Michael Goodwin as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Amboy

             Thursday, August 14^th – Moderated the special meeting of Presbytery

Saturday, September 6^th – Officiated at the Ordination/Installation the Rev. Christopher Drew as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Jackson

Monday, September 15^th – represented the Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys at the Ordination/Installation of the New Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm (I was one of three ecumenical delegates to process. It was quite an exciting service !)

Sunday, September 28^th – Officiated at the installation of the Rev. Aaron Alfred as Pastor of First Presbyterian, Canby

On Sunday, October 19^th, I will officiate at the installation of the Rev. Barbara Whipple as Pastor for the churches in Slayton and Fulda.

Leadership Team

The December Presbytery meeting is under planning .

Committee Liaisons/Phone Advocates

Pam reported that the Session Records committee is working on changing the forms which are presently used for the Session Records reading .

Christina reported about the Congregational, Growth and Development Committee .  They are looking at a different way to use their resources more wisely.

Personnel  Committee

They have nothing to report.

Budget and Finance

Grayson presented the following paper:

PRINCIPALS OF NON-PROFIT CORPORATION GOVERNANCE

Understanding the Motives and Mechanisms of a Non-Profit Corporation

The underlying basis inherent in the formation of the for profit corporation is to establish rules under which the corporation will carry out its business for the benefit of the owners (shareholders). The primary mission of such a corporation is to generate profits so that the shareholder is rewarded with return of his/her or other type of owner's investment. The non-profit corporation was established to provide rules to operate under for a non-profit entity. In return for accepting and following the rules there are two primary rewards. The first is the protection of the officers and directors from personal liability for their actions if they act in good faith and act within the boundaries of the law and the policy and procedures of the non-profit organization. The second benefit to a non-profit organization