Saturday, January 14, 2006
Busy week at church
I got a note overnight last Saturday from our minister asking for confirmation of his salary so he could complete a contract style document for headquarters. I was expecting that we wouldn't have to worry about this until the end of the month when his paycheque had to be written.
I was able to contact the church treasurer that night and worked out some numbers. The Chair of the Unified Church signed off the document the next morning. After I emailed the final numbers to the treasurer, they were challenged. It turns out we have overstated his salary. The Chair made a deal that we would pay him the amount of any benefits (pension, health insurance, CPP) that we didn't have to pay headquarters or the Receiver-General. He thought that we weren't paying pension deductions, but we are. This means another meeting after church this weekend.
That Sunday morning, we also had a meeting to nail down last minute details for a dinner meeting on Tuesday night. This is part of the Visioning process we have been going through for the last five months. The committee had hit a roadblock when we tried to set up an action plan. We just couldn't get anyone to commit to actually doing the work. We set up the meeting to preview our work to the congregation and to get some ideas from them as well. The meeting was well attended, and the food (chicken breast/salmon, vegetable casserole, roasted potatoes) was great if late. We even got some of the last holdouts to attend. Almost every active member of the church who was able was there. Still, it was only about three dozen people.
At the end of the meeting, they announced the deficit for last year. It looks like it's going to come in at about $10,000. We're on a slippery slope here. We need to attract new members, but we are so drained after what we went through with the last minister.
Thursday night was choir practice as per usual.
D.
I was able to contact the church treasurer that night and worked out some numbers. The Chair of the Unified Church signed off the document the next morning. After I emailed the final numbers to the treasurer, they were challenged. It turns out we have overstated his salary. The Chair made a deal that we would pay him the amount of any benefits (pension, health insurance, CPP) that we didn't have to pay headquarters or the Receiver-General. He thought that we weren't paying pension deductions, but we are. This means another meeting after church this weekend.
That Sunday morning, we also had a meeting to nail down last minute details for a dinner meeting on Tuesday night. This is part of the Visioning process we have been going through for the last five months. The committee had hit a roadblock when we tried to set up an action plan. We just couldn't get anyone to commit to actually doing the work. We set up the meeting to preview our work to the congregation and to get some ideas from them as well. The meeting was well attended, and the food (chicken breast/salmon, vegetable casserole, roasted potatoes) was great if late. We even got some of the last holdouts to attend. Almost every active member of the church who was able was there. Still, it was only about three dozen people.
At the end of the meeting, they announced the deficit for last year. It looks like it's going to come in at about $10,000. We're on a slippery slope here. We need to attract new members, but we are so drained after what we went through with the last minister.
Thursday night was choir practice as per usual.
D.
