Prudential Committee actions - April 19, 2010

At our April meeting, a group somewhat diminished by school vacation week and a simultaneous Future Ministries Task Force listening session conducted a full slate of business:

A Finance Committee recommendation to designate the first Sunday of each May as "Local Worcester Charities" plate collection Sunday was approved. On May 2, 2010, the first $200 collected will go to the Center for Nonviolent Solutions. Any excess donations made to the plate that day will go to a temporary fund, to be distributed at the Prudential Committee to other worthy local charities before the end of the calendar year 2010. Suggestions for other recipient organizations are welcome - and may be made directly to the Moderator, David Spanagel, for consideration in the coming months.

Prudential Committee approved our first new member according to the newly revised by-law on membership - we look forward to May 9 when Jean McInerney will sign the membership book as a part of the worship service.

A petition signed by well over 75 members of the parish required Prudential Committee to call a Special Meeting of the Parish for May 16. At noon on that day, we will convene to vote upon the petition's call to accord to Barbara Merritt the status of Minister Emerita upon the effective date of her retirement. We will also vote on the Strategic Vision for 2015 language that has come out of the work by Vivian Shortreed's Strategic Planning committee; and we will receive and act upon the recommendations of the Future Ministries Task Force that has been actively and intensively working all spring under the leadership of Alicia Lenahan.

A brief tour of the Bancroft Room, led by Worth Landers, informed our decision about where to place Reverend Merritt's fine portrait (painted two years ago by Charlotte Wharton). We hope to see the results of the rearrangement of the ministers' portraits in time for the retirement celebration on May 23.

A Building and Grounds Committee proposal to invest $14,766 of the Phoenix fund to convert to a dual fuel boiler capacity was approved. With the work to be done this summer, the church will be able to use either heating oil or natural gas in future, providing greater flexibility, a reduced carbon footprint, and the potential for fuel bill savings that should pay back the total cost of this investment within 3 years.

Finally, the Moderator was directed by Prudential Committee to appoint a small group to serve as a Religious Education Futures Task Force, to study various potential staffing configurations and report back to Prudential Committee by September, 2010.