Wednesday, September 9, 1998
Christ Church, Newton, New Jersey
Adopted Minutes of Regular Monthly
Meeting
Present: Bishop McKelvey, Vice President; Mr. Michael F. Rehill,
Esq., Chancellor; Mr. John Zinn, Treasurer; Mr. Michael Francaviglia,
Secretary
Bishop's Appointments: Mr. Steven Boston; The Rev. Scott Hoogerhyde;
Mr. Michael James; Ms. Diane Kaczmarek; The Rev. Dr. Robert
A. Schiesler
Elected by Convention: Mr. E. Kim Byham; The Rev. Emory Byrum;
Ms. Peg Dengel; Ms. Dorothy Gould; The Rev. Scott Kallstrom;
The Rev. Harry Smith; Ms. Lynn Tyler
Elected by Districts: The Rev. Susan Butler; The Rev. William
Coats; The Rev. Margaret Hodgkins; The Rev. William Lantz; The
Rev. Mark Lewis; Ms. Pamela Lindquist; Ms. Dagi Murphy; Mr.
Christopher Neglia; The Rev. William Parnell; Ms. Susan Schink;
The Rev. Steven Steele; Ms. Mary Sunden; Ms. Nancy Weidbrauk;
Mrs. Virginia Whitehouse
Absent: The Rev. Kevin P.J. Coffey; Mr. Richard Fifield; Mr.
Scott Helsel; Mr. Russell Murphy; The Rev. Kenneth Near; The
Rev. Isaac Persaud; Mr. Junius Powell; Mr. Robert Simmons; The
Rt. Rev. John S. Spong; The Rev. Dr. Franklin Vilas; The Rev.
Fain Webb. On leave of absence: The Rev. Lawrence Falkowski
Others present: Ms. Hope Lampe and Ms. Ellie Rood, Commission
on Aging.
The Rev. Brad Whitaker introduced Harriet Whitaker and Mark
Hoyer, senior warden, who were responsible for the meal. He
presented a history of the church and distributed a written
history published on the 225th anniversary of Christ
Episcopal Church. He reported on the growth within the neighboring
communities that was reflected in the parish growth. The congregation
had begun outreach programs, including involvement in the Interfaith
Hospitality Network of Sussex County and Habitat for Humanity.
There had been growth in stewardship areas of time, talent and
finances. The church received a bequest of $2 and million several
years ago and that helped with the outreach planning. Worship
services focused on education and participation of children.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Bishop McKelvey.
AGENDA
It was moved and seconded to adopt the agenda. The motion was
adopted.
MINUTES
It was moved and seconded to accept the minutes for the June
10, 1998, meeting. The motion to accept the minutes was adopted.
EPISCOPAL COMMUNICATIONS: THE RT. REV. JACK M. MCKELVEY
Reported on the status of Bishop Spong's health - at home with
viral meningitis - and was expected to return to work in several
weeks.
Announced information on the new clergy hired into the diocese
recently: Eric Hinds to Mountain Lakes from Westfield; Mildred
J. Solomon to Newark Regional Ministry; Mark Bagay to Sparta;
Mark Beach as an exchange rector for Richard Wrede in Millington.
Reported on several clergy changes: Hank Dwyer to St. Peter's,
Clifton, from St. Thomas', Lyndhurst; Jo-Ann Murphy to Fairfax,
Va., from St. Paul's, Morris Plains; Dana Rose to St. John's,
Ramsey; Tom Logan to North Carolina from St. Paul's, North Arlington;
David Hamilton to Trinity + St. Philip's Cathedral as interim
dean.
Reported that Jay Powell was hospitalized for double by-pass
surgery; Margaret Reinfeld-Karda was hospitalized recently;
and Lyn Headley-Moore was hired as the new director of SBARC;
Angela Ifill left for a position in Cleveland Heights; and Russ
Murphy will be leaving Council in October.
Welcomed Ms. Hope Lampe and Ms. Ellie Rood who were representing
the Commission on Aging.
TREASURER'S REPORT
Mr. Zinn presented the Treasurer's Report. Finances were on
target. It was moved and seconded to accept the report, subject
to audit. The motion was adopted.
He reported that the Trustees approved funding for the transition
costs of the bishop coadjutor, including the consecration expenses
and fifteen months of compensation for the bishop coadjutor
and a secretary. The coadjutor's compensation was set at 90%
of the diocesan; the suffragan's was 83%.
INSURANCE COMMITTEE RESOLUTION
Mr. John Zinn presented the following resolution on behalf
of the Insurance Committee:
RESOLVED, that the Diocese of Newark include as part of its
group medical insurance plan a Medicare HMO option through the
Episcopal Church Medical Trust, effective January 1, 1999.
Supporting Information: There was a change underway in Medicare
coverage which would allow those on Medicare to choose a Medicare
HMO. This was a purely voluntary arrangement whereby the insured
chose a Medicare HMO instead of the traditional Medicare coverage.
There was a small monthly charge which was significantly less
than the cost of a Medicare supplement.
The Episcopal Church Medical Trust which provided Medicare
supplements for our retired clergy was introducing such a program
effective January 1, 1999. Initially it would be limited to
residents of New Jersey, Florida and a few other states. This
program was totally optional; clearly it would be most attractive
to those whose existing doctors were already participating.
Should someone change their mind and want to go back to traditional
coverage, they could do so, but the processing will probably
take about 60 days.
Currently the Diocese paid about $1,200 per individual Medicare
supplement and $2,400 per couple. Under this arrangement we
would pay $120 and $240, respectively. The Medical Trust would
like to promote this program and seek enrollments throughout
the fall so this would be in place by January 1. This was being
brought to the Council for action in September to allow the
maximum period possible for promotion and enrollment. Since
participation was completely at the discretion of the insured
there was no real downside to including this as an option.
The motion was adopted.
COMMISSION ON AGING
Ms. Hope Lampe, Chair of the Commission, presented a status
report on the work of the Commission on Aging. She reported
on the Evensong program sponsored by the Commission and held
on May 31 which was attended by over 300 people representing
25 congregations. The Commission will have a workshop at the Celebrating
Creative Congregations conference on Saturday, October
17. An application had been made to Acts/Vim for funding of
a new program on elder abuse training and prevention. Under
the supervision of the Ms. Judith Seelbach, Executive Director,
there was more emphasis on programming rather than merely information
referral.
A SABBATH FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM TASK FORCE
Ms. Diane Kaczmarek reported that the task force planned to
survey the congregations about educational programs in their
churches. She reported that participation was mixed at the June
district meetings. However, the information and support received
at those meetings were beneficial and helpful with positive
feedback.
125TH ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE
The Rev. Mark Lewis, Co-chair, reported on the planning to
celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Diocese of
Newark during the calendar year of 1999. It was planned to publish
a map of the diocese (this news was greeted by applause) and
a commemorative book profiling the history of the dioceses and
our congregations. A fest schrift (a book of celebration with
essays) was under way with Harper Collins that would include
articles written by former speakers at the New Dimension series.
Other activities planned included a 10K race, an outdoor event
at Camp Biesler and a worship service at the cathedral.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN
Mrs. Clara Horsley reported that parochial clergy were being
asked for assistance in setting up local ECW chapters where
none existed; a survey on child advocacy was in preparation
to be mailed to all churches; a new branch of North Porch was
scheduled to open in Dover on September 19; and the national
church UTO packets were being mailed directly to each congregation.
RESOLUTIONS AD HOC COMMITTEE
Mr. Steve Boston, chair, reported that there was a general
reluctance to make change to the process if the result would
be stifled discussion and debate. It was recognized that often
too many resolutions were introduced and that there seemed to
be a discontinuity between the content of the resolutions and
whether the diocese could either provide the resources to effect
the actions called for or even if the body mandated to take
action had such authority.
During discussion, several ideas were floated. These included
returning to a process that included hearings held by the Resolutions
Committee; empowering the Resolutions Committee with more discretion
in how to handle the resolutions -- rewrite, amend or choose
not to move them to the floor meaning the mover would need to
get a 2/3 approval at the start of convention to have the matter
considered; and seeking comments from the treasurer, chief financial
office, the budget committee and the chancellor when resolutions
called for actions financial or legal.
For the 1999 convention, the process as established would more
than likely continue. The committee would report back next month
with a recommendation to the Rules of Order Committee on any
changes for presentation at the 1999 convention. The changes
would take effect for the convention of 2000.
STEERING COMMITTEE - VESTRY/EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Ms. Dagi Murphy reported that the Steering Committee met through
out the summer to plan for the upcoming visits with the churches.
A packet of information (referred to as the diocesan yellow
pages) will be made available for distribution along with
the annual financial statement. The visits will be set up in
teams of two with churches grouped together. Training for the
visits will be more extensive than in year's past. The training
will occur at the October meeting. A team list will be mailed
in advance of the meeting.
STEERING COMMITTEE - SUMMER ACTIONS
Ms. Dagi Murphy reported that the Steering Committee voted
in July to authorize the following expenditures for the Jersey
City Ministry.
- *$146,000 for the purpose of purchasing the Cator
Avenue property
- $200,000 for investment in the DIT to provide a housing allowance
- $6,380 for a two year extension of the storage contract.
*The Steering Committee recommended that a portion of the property
purchase amount be placed in escrow as advised in the site survey
prepared by Mr. Stan Kaczmarek in the event that environmental
problems were discovered after the start of construction. The
amount set aside should be a figure deemed appropriate by representatives
working on behalf of the diocese and St. Augustine's.
The Rev. Harry Smith moved the ratification of the action.
The motion was seconded and adopted.
JERSEY CITY MINISTRY
The Rt. Rev. Jack McKelvey reported on the status of the Jersey
City Ministry. The Cator Avenue property was purchased after
the authorization voted by the Steering Committee; an architect
was hired and permits were sought. The Area Ministry was working
on youth ministry development within the city and the congregation.
A disappointment was voiced that there was no architecture
committee within the diocese that reviewed new building plans
-- the planting of new congregations was ultimately a joint
venture of the local congregation and the diocese. The possibility
of establishing a committee or task force for the purpose of
reviewing building plans of new churches was raised for future
discussions.
The benediction was pronounced by Ms. Dorothy Gould.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Francaviglia
Secretary
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