Minister’s Report: Pastor Julie reported that the Maundy Thursday service was well attended, and that the Easter service was full of joy, smiling faces of 60-70 people.
Pastor Barry reported he is continuing to do visitations and that he had preached at McGee Baptist church in Berkeley in addition to participation at the Bay Assoc. service in Orinda on Good Friday. Barry and Julie are now considering “What do we do now, Jesus?”
Financial Secretary’s Report: Joe Pratt reported that pledges are coming in as expected, and The Black Wealth Builders Fund offering during Lent was nearly $7,000, plus Orinda UCC Church also took an Easter offering for BWBF. A Neighbors in Need grant totaling $7,500 was also received and will be applied to the BWBF.
Treasurer’s Report: Randy Laferte reported that expenditures exceeded receipts for the month by $8,141, however receipts exceeded expenditures for the year by $4,984. Expenditures were normal other than catching up with pastor’s salaries and higher than usual PG&E bills.
Randy is opening a 2nd checking account that will be at Mechanics Bank due to problems we’ve had lately with our checking account at Citibank.
1st Quarter Board Reports: Eleanor Crump has acted on behalf of Dudley Thompson to gather the information from the boards about their activities during the first quarter of the year.
Old Business:
Restroom Upgrade is waiting for completion of permits, and the starting date is still hoped to be May 1. Before that construction begins, we are required to do some work on our sewer lateral, which will require shut off of all water and no bathroom use. This work will be performed over two weekends April 22-23 and April 29-30. (Weekend work was necessary because we cannot shut off the water while the schools are in session.) Portable toilets with sinks will be available for the duration of all the construction. Decisions on colors for materials in the restrooms have been made; this will avoid delays later in the project.
Interim/Designated Term Minister Search Committee: Sara Laferte reported that as of today, the committee has received 8 profiles, and 6 of those candidates have been excused. The 2 remaining are strong candidates, and the committee feels that one of these 2 will be our designated term minister. There is work that needs to be addressed on salary and housing for the minister:
A) The committee has asked and encourages Council to ask Endowment to increase the yearly $9000 housing allowance. There has not been an increase in that amount since the parsonage was sold.
B) There is a need to consider an equity sharing system to help a pastor to buy a house and arrange for possible return of funds to the church when/if the house is sold.
Motion made and passed: “A committee be formed to review the Building Fund for the possibility of increasing the allowance from Endowment, and to explore options for housing support for a called minister.”
A sub-committee of Dudley and Ruth will contact David Hertzer, Chair of Endowment, to address the housing issue.
Pastors Julie and Barry have graciously agreed to stay on as Interim Ministers until someone is found.
Resolution re: Black Wealth Builders Congregation: Barry has sent the resolution to Ginny Straus of the Bay Assn. and The Bay Assn. has agreed to co-sponsor the resolution. Celeste, from the Conference has submitted the resolution to Raegan Baker, Moderator of the Conference, so it is on its way to the Annual Gathering June 15-17 to be held at First Congregational Church, Palo Alto.
Deck/Roofing needs: Bob Stokstad is the lead on the project of repairing the deck and putting a cover on it. This will be coordinated with the completed work on the restroom as to when it will be possible to identify what is going on between the ceiling and above it. Bob is in the process of getting bids.
Sewer line project. Completion of this project at a cost $26,000 will hopefully go smoothly so restroom upgrade work can begin.
Randy Laferte’s replacement: As no one has volunteered from the congregation to replace Randy as Treasurer, Dudley will be looking into other options.
New Business:
Mc Gee Avenue Baptist Church-Sister Church partnership? This is the church near where Pastor Barry lives. There is some interest for a possible sister church partnership, but it was suggested we should wait until a new pastor is in place. We will then need to decide if we are interested in this possibility, before figuring out what a partnership might mean.
School question: Montessori school owner Rachel LaField wrote that the school is experiencing a continued decrease in enrollment and she wants to have a discussion about their use of rooms. Randy and Nina will follow up with this discussion.
Faith Abel, ACC Moderator