Building Relationships with People in Christ

May 13, 2019 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -pending request to use memorial funds – see #4 below

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –-none

Items for information only – see below

Members present:  Bill Melewski, Sandy Moore, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, & Ed Ingram and Paul Luce (via speaker phone)                 Also present:  Pastor Ron                    Members absent:  Barry Holmes

Linda opened with a devotion and a prayer.

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     The first stage of converting our data from Shelby .v5 to Shelby Next is complete so Linda will be letting them know we are ready for training.

o     Linda will be on vacation 6/28-7/12 so no deposit will be made into BRPC bank account for two weeks.

o     Linda asked whether she should issue mid -year statements in mid-June or mid-July – consensus =mid July.

2.  Treasurer's Report (see April 2019 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the April financial reports with the committee.  Receipts were more than expenses but some of that was due to interest which may disappear again.

o        On H2 – the $115 shown as transferred from savings is in error.  Paul will fix.

3.  Joy Scholarship 

o   Thank you note was received from Meagan Berry for the $500.

o   Sandy has been talking to some potential applicants and they have been reminded of the June 1^st deadline.

o   In comparing our BRPC guidelines for the Joy Scholarship to the original letter from Presbyterian Foundation describing the restrictions for issuing these funds, it became apparent that some revision is needed to make the information matches.  Linda Schumacher will create a revision and send to the committee for input.

4.  Last month’s request to use approximately $700 from memorial funds to purchase a portable Kawasaki keyboard..  Sandy reported that the Session had tabled their decision on this and would discuss it again at their May meeting.

5.  Transfer of CD to bank account.

Pastor Ron shared the concern that by removing Music from the budget we had made it necessary for our organist and director to request funds through the Finance Committee which doesn’t seem right since that isn’t true for anyone else in a leadership role in the church.  The committee agreed that this was not something we had considered.  Consequently, Don Pine made a motion to transfer our CD into the general bank account and to use $500.00 of it to establish a budget account for Music.  Motion carried.  HOWEVER, on further review, we realized that there is $53.31 in Account Number 28701 – WOR-Special Music; $273.00 in Account Number 28702 – WOR-Bell Fund; and, $727.66 in Account Number 28704 - WOR-Choir Discretionary Fund that is available for use by our music department.  SO, Don P made a second motion to amend the original motion to be that we will move the CD into the general bank account to cover operating expenses. Motion carried

Next meeting is 1:30 p.m. on June 10, 2019.  Opening devotional prayer will be given by Bill Melewski.

Pastor Ron ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted,   Linda Schumacher

Building Relationships with People in Christ

June 10, 2019 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -none

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –-none

Items for information only – see below

Members present:  Bill Melewski, Sandy Moore, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, and Paul Luce (via speaker phone)                

Also present:  Pastor Ron                   

Members absent:  Barry Holmes & Ed Ingram

Bill opened with a devotion and a prayer.

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     We are far enough along with the process to begin training on the Shelby Next program.

2.  Treasurer's Report (see May 2019 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the May financial reports with the committee. The transfer of $4048.60 – Burchette Scholarship – was mistakenly closed out instead of the $1833.04 CD.  The error has been corrected and will show in the June reports.

o        Diligence in reminding to pay per capita/pledges and to be careful with expenses seems to be paying off.  So far, we have not had to dip into saving.

o        Sue and Paul will be in town in September – and Paul will be able to come to our September meeting which will be at Sandy’s house.

3.  Joy Scholarship 

o   Yvonne Chi, Owen Lockwood, Brennen Lee, Celeste Cummins all submitted applications for the fall semester.

o   Don Pine made a motion that we grant $500.00 to each of the applicants.  Bill seconded.  Motion carried.

4.  Manual of Operations – needs to be condensed to a one page summary of 1 page – what we have now will go in Policy and Procedure

5.  Transfer of CD to bank account.

Pastor Ron shared the concern that by removing Music from the budget we had made it necessary for our organist and director to request funds through the Finance Committee which doesn’t seem right since that isn’t true for anyone else in a leadership role in the church.  The committee agreed that this was not something we had considered.  Consequently, Don Pine made a motion to transfer our CD into the general bank account and to use $500.00 of it to establish a budget account for Music.  Motion carried.  HOWEVER, on further review, we realized that there is $53.31 in Account Number 28701 – WOR-Special Music; $273.00 in Account Number 28702 – WOR-Bell Fund; and, $727.66 in Account Number 28704 - WOR-Choir Discretionary Fund that is available for use by our music department.  SO, Don P made a second motion to amend the original motion to be that we will move the CD into the general bank account to cover operating expenses. Motion carried

No meeting July.   Next meeting August 12^th..  Opening devotional prayer will be given by Don Young.

Pastor Ron ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted,    Linda Schumacher

Building Relationships with People in Christ

 April 8, 2019 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -request to use memorial funds – see #5 below

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –-none

Items for information only – see below

Members present:  Bill Melewski, Sandy Moore, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, & Ed Ingram and Paul Luce (via speaker phone)

Also present:  Pastor Ron                    Members absent:  Barry Holmes

Ed opened with a devotion and a prayer.  We were thrilled that he was feeling well enough to attend after his hospital stay last week.

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     Linda’s schedule slows down some this week and she intends to buckle down and seriously tackle the steps needed to convert from Shelby  .v5 to Next.

2.  Treasurer's Report (see March 2019 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the March financial reports with the committee.  Expenses once again exceeded income.

o        Account #53214 has been added to use to pay Mike Schumacher for custodial services.  This expense should be more than covered by the funds in Account #54118-Contract Labor

3.  Per Capita

o   Per Capita has continued to trickle in.  We will continue to remind folks about the importance of paying this.

4.  Joy Scholarship 

o   $500 has been sent to Meagan Berry as decided last month.

o   We have been promoting this for at least a month and believe there could be a couple of applicants.

5.  Request to use approximately $700 from memorial funds was received from Music Director, Grace Cox-Johnson,  to purchase a portable Kawasaki keyboard..

Don Pine made a motion to approve this request.  Don Young amended this motion to include that we would use the funds in two  of the memorial funds designated for Music Ministry - acct #28314 ( Marguerite Starcke) and acct #28320 (Jim Sinden) AND that we transfer the $1832.79 CD in to the General Bank Account to help cover this expense and to, hopefully, keep enough in the bank account to cover upcoming expenses.

Next meeting is 1:30 p.m. on May 13, 2019.  Opening devotional prayer will be given by Linda Schumacher.

Pastor Ron ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Schumacher

Building Relationships with People in Christ

March 11, 2019 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -none

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –-none

Items for information only – see below

Members present:  Bill Melewski, Sandy Moore, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, & Ed Ingram and Paul Luce (via speaker phone)

Also present:  Pastor Ron                    Members absent:  Barry Holmes

Sandy opened with a devotion. 

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     Linda electronically signed the contract agreeing to convert from Shelby .v5 to Shelby Next and set it up so that the initial $1000.00 due and the monthly charge of $177.00 that will begin once the conversion is complete will be charged to the church credit card.  Actual work on this has not begun as Linda has not been able to get a response yet to questions she has about answering the initial questionnaire that was received from Shelby.  It appears this may be a complex, complicated, and time-consuming process.

2.  Treasurer's Report (see February 2018 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the December financial reports with the committee.  Receipts were down – probably due to not having worship for two Sunday’s in February – but the checking account balance has, thankfully, remained large enough to cover expenses.

o        There was discussion about probable future cash flow deficiencies.   If we need additional money to cover expenses, Paul recommends we cash out the CD  10110 first since the interest earned is minimal.

3.  Per Capita

o   We have sent $1000.00 and will continue to send a monthly payment to try to get caught up with this obligation.

4.  Joy Scholarship 

o   Meagan Berry, a Heartland Presbytery seminary student has applied for a scholarship from the Joy Scholarship Fund.  Don Pine made a motion and Don Young seconded to give Meagan Berry $500.00 from the Joy Scholarship Fund – motion carried.

o   Sandy will get reminders out to the congregation via weekly email, newsletter, and bulletin about the availability of these scholarship funds and the future deadlines.

Next meeting 1:30 p.m. on April 8, 2019.  Opening devotional prayer will be given by Ed Ingram.

Don Pine ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Schumacher

Building Relationships with People in Christ

January 16, 2019 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -none

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –-FUND RAISERS  - see 6 below

Items for information only – see below

Members present:  Sandy Moore, Bill Melewski, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, & Ed Ingram and Paul Luce (via speaker phone)

Also present:  Pastor Ron

Members absent:  Barry Holmes

Bill Melewski opened with a prayer. 

.

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     Linda began distributing 2018 Statements on Sunday, January 6^th.  Worship was cancelled due to bad weather last Sunday but hopefully, some more can be distributed this Sunday 1/20.  Then the remaining will be mailed.

o     Packets of Special Envelopes – Per Capita, One Great Hour of Sharing, Pentecost, & Joy will be available for pick up on 1/20, also.

o     Linda has ordered 200 memorial envelopes with lines for donors to provide their name and address.  She is going to remove all memorial envelopes from the pews since they are messy, and it requires a lot of envelopes just to have some in each envelope spot.  A basket will be available during funerals containing both the envelope with donor’s information and envelopes with BRPC mailing address.

2.  Per Capita – The total we currently owe Presbytery is $14000.00.  This is the balance due for 2018 and the amount due for 2019.  Don Young made a motion that we divide this total amount by 11 and make a monthly payment to pay this debt.  Motion carried.  The committee discussed stressing at the congregational meeting how important it is that everyone pay their per capita to avoid depleting our savings to meet this commitment.

3.  Shelby conversion from v5 to Next – A Shelby representative is scheduled to call Linda on 1/22.  So, she, hopefully, will have information about options and pricing to share at the February meeting.

4.  Treasurer's Report (see December 2018 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the December financial reports with the committee.  Investments have had a 7%

               decrease which is not reflected in the December 2019 report.

o        Paul reported that he has reviewed the books, and everything looks fine

o        Paul also stated that he has provided information to Avis for the statistical report

5.  Congregational Meeting

o   It was the consensus of the committee that we should not ask Paul to rearrange his Sunday morning to be available via phone for this.  If a question arises that we can’t answer, we will find out and communicate the answer after the meeting

o   Don Young volunteered to share the “spokesperson” spot with Sandy.  Finance Committee members are to send any anticipated questions to Sandy asap so that answers can be formulated prior to 2/3/18.

6.  Fund raising requests – Ed Ingram made a motion, Don Pine seconded to recommend approval of the following Fund Raisers.  Motion carried.

From Missions and Outreach:

o   Souper Bowl Sunday –2/3/19 -  “betting” on Super Bowl winner by bringing canned soup for REAP

o   REAP Pancake Day/Bake Sale – March 16

o   CROP WALK/ - second Sunday in October

o   Sloppy Joe’s Café – October sometime

o   Popcorn Sales – orders taken November 3 & 10 in parlor with delivery on November 24

o   New Opportunities for Orphaned Romanian Children & PEB-Pakistani Schools – supported mostly by other fundraisers but M & O will collect a free-will offering if they have a speaker for either of these missions

o   Bake Sale during Rummage Sale

o   Summer Lunch Program

o   Micah Ministry

o   Raytown Easter Eggstravaganza – may ask for candy or egg container donations

o   Be the Church: a new Presbyterian local mission in greater KC – M & O did not give any timeframe for this

From Christian Education Committee:

o   Rummage Sale – Set up in first floor meeting rooms  5/20 -6/11; sale 10am-4pm 6/12-6/15; sale to worship attendees after worship 6/16; REAP gleaning and packing 6/17; pick up of left overs 6/18

7.  BRPC P. O. box -the Office Manager’s door is being replace with a solid door to eliminate all the cold air that comes in through the current mail slot.  Karen Argo and Pastor Ron are willing to pick up mail at the Post Office.  Don Pine made a motion which carried to approve this expense.

8.  Property Tax Exempt Status - to maintain this there is now a form with a lengthy series of questions to be answered and a list of documents to be submitted.  Don P offered to help Sandy with this project.

Next meeting 1:30 p.m. on February 11, 2019.  It was the consensus of the committee to change our meetings to daytime

Pastor Ron ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Schumacher

Building Relationships with People in Christ

December 10, 2018 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -none

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –- 2019 Budget, Super Bowl Sandwich Sales (see 4 below)

Items for information only – see below

Members present:  Sandy Moore, Bill Melewski, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, & Ed Ingram and Paul Luce (via speaker phone)

Also present:  Pastor Ron

Members absent:  Barry Holmes

Pastor Ron opened with a prayer.  Bill volunteered to provide devotional/prayer for our next meeting.

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     An article detailing information about offering envelopes for 2019, plan for special offering envelopes, and deadline for contributions to be credited in 2018 appeared in the December newsletter.  A shorter reminder will appear in weekly email and bulletin for the next two weeks.

o     Linda will print and mail 2018 statements and prepare packets of special offering envelopes in January.

o     And in January, she will research the new Shelby program with the goal of presenting options and cost information to the Finance Committee in February.

2.  Treasurer's Report (see November 2018 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the November financial reports with the committee.  Since November ACH of $3810.00 did not get posted until December, it is not reflected in November as it should have been.

o        There was additional discussion of items to be considered in preparing the 2019 budget.  Paul will send a revised budget based on the figures recommended by the Finance Committee at this meeting

3.  2019 Budget – (see proposal in Session drop box)

o   Discussion was held on the revised draft provided by Paul Luce which currently would require a planned transfer of $28,052.52 to balance the budget

o   The committee discussed some possible areas that could be reduced.

§    Those present agreed that the Property Committee will be asked to split out the projected cost of snow removal from the projected cost of cleaning the church.

§    The Finance Committee recommends that the Property Committee finalize terms with Mike Schumacher for him to take over the job of cleaning the church and to notify the current cleaning company that we will no longer be using their services

§    The Finance Committee recommends that 54701-Choir Music and 54709-Guest Musicians be reduced to $0.  These expenses can be taken from 28704-Choir Discretionary Fund, 28314-M Starcke Memorial Fund, or 28335-T Wright Memorial Fund

§    The Finance Committee also recommends that the 54713-Pulpit Supply be reduced to $750.00.

o   And, we reiterated that we regretfully cannot consider giving any salary increases in 2019.  We will ask Paul to remove the percentage increase amounts from the next revision of the 2019 budget.

4.  Fund raising requests

o Super bowl sandwich sales request received from CE – proceeds to go to 28206-Youth Activities – orders to be taken from 1/13-1/30, 2019 on Sundays in the parlor – pick up to be on Sunday, February 3, 2019.  Don P moved recommend approval of this request to the session – Bill seconded – motion carried

Next meeting 6:30 p.m. on January 14, 2019

Don Young ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted, Linda Schumacher

Building Relationships with People in Christ

November 13, 2018 - Finance Committee Meeting     (H)

Items to be included in Session's consent agenda -none

Items to be voted upon or needing discussion by Session –- 2019 Budget, REAP Pancake Breakfast (see 4 below)

Items for information only - Committees are asked to provide their fundraising requests for 2019 by the end of 2018.

Members present:  Ed Ingram, Sandy Moore, Don Pine, Linda Schumacher, Don Young, & Paul Luce (via speaker phone)

Members absent:  Barry Holmes &Bill Melewski

Don Young opened with a devotional on “patience”.

1. Financial Secretary Report

o     2019 Stewardship letters and pledge cards were mailed to congregation on October 23^rd.  Results are reflected in the proposed 2019 budget.

o     Karen Argo, Barry Holmes, Ed Ingram, Linda Schumacher and Don Young attended a round-table information meeting about the conversion from the version of Shelby that we are currently using to the newer version that will replace it in 2020.  Linda Schu. will do some further research to present options to the Finance Committee in the near future to decide whether to continue with Shelby or to try to look at other options and whether or not there is an advantage to switching prior to 2020.

2.  Treasurer's Report (see October 2018 reports in Drop Box)

o        Paul reviewed the October financial reports with the committee.

o        There was some discussion of items to be considered in preparing the 2019 budget.  Paul will send a revised budget based on the figures recommended by the Finance Committee at this meeting

3.  Overage in account number 28000.  It was the consensus of those present to transfer funds in account number 28236  -  Naomi Frost’s undesignated memorial fund of $580.00  -  into account number 28000  - Special Events (food and supplies) - to cover the current $149.47 overage and to make some funds available for upcoming events.  This is done with the request that considering the state of the church’s projected financial picture, every attempt be made to keep expenses to a minimum and donation baskets should be put out to try to recoup the cost of social events

4.  2019 Budget – (see proposal in Session drop box)

o   Prior to the meeting, Linda had provided a comparison of pledges for 2018 and pledges for 2019.  (see pg 2)

o   Discussion was held on the original draft provided by Paul Luce.  The committee increased some projected expenses (e.g. electricity, per capita, insurance) to more realistically represent what will be spent based on what has been spent in 2018 and/or other information

o   The committee discussed some possible areas that could be reduced.  Several were in the Property area.  Ed will pass those questions/suggestions along for the Property Committee’s meeting tonight.

o   It was the consensus of the Finance Committee that we cannot afford to give any increases in salary in 2019.

3.  Joy Scholarship

o       Application has been received from Christopher Gilbert

o       By consensus, the committee approved awarding Christopher $500.00 for the 2019 spring term

4.  Fund raising requests

o Request was received from Missions & Outreach to have the REAP Pancake Breakfast on March 16, 2019.

o Don Pine moved.  Ed seconded.  Committee approved. 

o All committees are asked to provide their fundraising requests for 2019 by the end of 2018.

Next meeting 6:30 p.m. on 12/3/18 (this is a week earlier than normal since several could not attend on 12/10)

Ed Ingram ended our meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted, Linda Schumacher

2018/2019 Pledge comparison/2018 Non-Pledge Estimate

as of 11/12/18 – another pledge was received after this

2018 - 55 pledges totaling $159,406.00

2019 – 45 pledges totaling $141,328.00 (net of $18,178 less than 2018)

·           5 - "new" pledges (i.e. did not pledge in 2018) +$8,120.00

·         23 - increased pledges  + $6,342.00

·           4 - reduced pledges  - $4,044.00

·         13 - same pledge

·         12 - did not pledge in 2018 who pledged in 2017: -$27,876.00.  My educated guess about them is:

o   based on their prior pledge and/or giving we can count on receiving apx $11,100.00 from 8 of the folks who pledged in 2018 but not in 2019

o   We will not receive anything from 4 folks whose pledges totaled $16,776.00 in 2018 because they have died or have moved and are no longer attending BRPC.

My estimate of non-pledged income for 2019 is $15,000.00.  This is a total of the $11,100.00 described above from folks who didn't pledge yet this year but who I think will continue to give plus $2,740.00 I expect to receive from folks who never pledge but who give to the church regularly plus $1,160.00 that I think we can safely expect to receive from one or two-time contributors.

Linda Schumacher

Financial Secretary