WESLEY MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
PRESENT: Pastor Matt Seaton, David Sandridge, Juliana Piacentini, Maury Early, John Olsson, Carolyn Ball, Sue Lewis, Victoria Hamilton, Sherry Lambert, Sandy Staggers
OPENING: Maury opened with prayer.
STAFF REPORTS: Pastor Matt noted that staff are excused from council meetings in May, June, and July. No written reports were submitted. Written reports for staff will only be submitted if there are action items during these three months.
APPROVAL OF REPORT PACKET & CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: Juliana
Trustees Report May 2023-Carolyn submitted the written report below.
* Preparations for Maria and family to move in to the cottage continue. Interior painting completed by CetaPro per contract. New plumbing fixtures/faucets to be installed on 5/11 by Wayne Gentry, blinds to be hung by Tom Miller, Sandy Staggers has cleaned stove and kitchen, David Sandridge painted front door, Victoria Hamilton painting/ touching up trim and cabinets. Carolyn Ball arranging supplies, contractors, contributing to efforts. New front porch has been built by Mauricus Carpenter and will need to be painted in 6-8 weeks.
*MOU has been renewed with Chancellor Street Preschool with the rent increase to $1200 monthly.
* Preparations are underway for small lower chancel room to be ready by June 1st for IMPACT as had been promised in original agreement for their use of space in Wesley.
* Aiden Workman represents Trustees on parsonage work group, See other reports regarding furniture and preparations of parsonage.
*Area Access who services the elevator did service call on 5/2/23 and needs to return to install part.
*The trustees have been updated with Charlottesville Circuit Court.
* A 2008 Toyota Sienna van has been donated to the church by Virginia Biafore, Carolyn Ball’s mother. It is intended to be donated to Maria Chavalan Sut when she has successfully gotten her driver’s license and purchased her own insurance. We are hopeful this will occur this summer.
Outreach report-Maury submitted the written report below.
PACEM
Will Wesley Memorial sign up to host PACEM for 2 weeks in 2024?
IMPACT
Investment drive is going on now.
Celebration is at Ix Art Park, Tuesday May 23, 6-8 PM, food, fellowship, updates, awards, caucuses….
UMCOR kits
Kits will be delivered to the district collection site Saturday morning June 3. Money will be sent for UMCOR advance # 5041 by Treasurer David.
Discussion noted that the leadership board voted by email to host PACEM for 2 weeks in 2024. Maury reports PACEM will return to sheltering men and women separately. WMUMC will ask to serve men for 2 weeks in either January or February. At this time we do not know what number of guests we will have, but Jayson reported to Maury that there were guests in the warm room at the
Salvation Army every night & PACEM would prefer to house all guests in the churches.
David reviewed the finance report. Giving has fallen behind the projection for 2023. Income taxes for parking income have been paid, with the following deductions from the tax paid: snow removal expenses, signage needed, property taxes, and the storm water runoff fee. Additionally, insurance has been paid for liability, umbrella, and auto ($3500). Next month property tax will be due to the
City ($5300). No apportionments have been paid. David noted there are deadlines for insurance and taxes, but no deadline for apportionments.
John made a motion to approve report and consent calendar packet. Maury seconded and council approved the reports.
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION: Juliana
*Review of Leadership Covenant Draft from the work group of Pastor Matt, Juliana, Sue and Rocky. Discussion of the current draft followed. Council members expressed views about both the current format of the covenant document, and the necessity of having a leadership covenant. Pastor
Matt noted that the leadership covenant is not a requirement of the UMC but there was direction to come up with such a document from the Simplified Accountable Structure system, which is the new leadership structure of the UMC. A covenant might have guidelines to show how work gets done during council meetings, lay out expectations of all council members and what we can expect from each other, such as meeting attendance, and list information that new council members would need to know when they come into the leadership group. It might be helpful to the nominations committee in letting new people understand the role of council members when they are asked to serve. It was suggested that a covenant could be in a format similar to the vows one takes upon joining the church/UMC. It might not need to be signed. It was noted that the document has been circulated by email but the working group has not met together. The working group will continue to evaluate the covenant.
*Staff Reviews: John
Staff have submitted self evaluations to the working group (Pastor Matt, John, Andrea, David & Juliana). The working group will put together the final evaluations. It was noted that Pastor Matt’s evaluation uses a different form than other staff. Also Pastor Matt’s evaluation is due on June 1, while other staff have no deadline. The working group will try to complete Pastor Matt’s evaluation
by the end of next week. Juliana will step down from this work group as she will be out of town next week. If anyone else would like to participate in evaluations, please contact John ASAP.
*Follow up Fellowship Time-Sherry
Monica has a list of those who are willing to participate in fellowship time. Sherry will coordinate this group. Ten people are needed, two for each Sunday with an occasional 5 th Sunday. Hopefully fellowship will resume in late summer.
ACTION ITEMS: Juliana
Funding for apportionments, Wesley Foundation and Impact -topic is deferred to the June meeting.
Furnishing parsonage-David noted that $5035 in donations have been collected with another $1000 pledged. Robertson’s has evaluated the plumbing and found the pipes to be galvanized steel. Also the breaker box needs to have the loads adjusted. Aiden is awaiting an estimate for these and may seek a second estimate for these items. No update on the furniture at this time
PASTORAL AND CONGREGATIONAL CARE CONCERNS: Pastor Matt provided the
written report below.
Friends,
The Apostle Paul writes in Philippian 4:4, “rejoice in the Lord always, again, I say rejoice!” So I begin with a number of items to rejoice and celebrate:
I celebrate the meaningful worship services and opportunities we had from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. I celebrate children participating in the procession on Palm Sunday, enjoying an easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, and hearing the good news of Jesus’ resurrection in worship. The amount of children reflects what you will see in the numbers report from this April compared to last April. We continue to experience an increase in attendance since last year, which remains a source of celebration.
Though a number of church members or others connected with Wesley have been laid off in the last 3 to 6 months, they have recently found employment. We give thanks to God for answered prayers.
I also want to share with you a few items that are on the horizon:
Our website is in need of a refresh. Those who specialize in websites and media recommend updating every 3 - 5 years. The last time our website had a refresh was in 2019. The website, along with what we put out on social media, and YouTube, is the “storefront” of the church. Most visitors will check us out first and foremost on those platforms, before ever stepping foot inside the doors
of the church. One of the reasons for refreshing a website every 3- 5 years is because an organization changes so much within that time. Just think of all the changes Wesley Memorial has gone through in the last 3 years. Maria is no longer in sanctuary. The church is growing in young families. The landscape of the church has changed and so the website should reflect this too. The
process of refreshing a website takes time. One reason it takes time is because it requires input from leadership, from staff, and from the congregation so that what people see on the website offers an accurate picture of the life of the church. I fully anticipate this process taking up to a year. We are in
the process of researching what it will take to do a refresh and developing a plan to accomplish this goal. Your input along the way will be invaluable.
Next, In the last 4 months, I have found myself spending more time dealing with parking, or more accurately errant parkers than I ever thought I would. We are exploring options for parking lot management. More to come on that as we find out more information.
Lastly, I met with staff, Rocky, and Julianna in April for quarterly planning. The next few months will have potlucks, a VBS celebration in worship, welcoming students back from summer break, and more. The aim for our planning was to have one all church event per month, and if possible, a small group opportunity. Beginning in June, there will be a book study on Life Together by Dietrich
Bonhoeffer on Wednesday nights, at 7 pm. One opportunity for the whole church together is coming up soon on May 21. Worship is at 4 pm, with a potluck to follow, and the musical group Fire will offer a concert at 6:30 pm! Small group opportunities and large group fellowship opportunities strengthen our community and our faith.
CLOSING: Pastor Matt closed the meeting with prayer.
NEXT MEETING is June 20 at 7pm.