December and January Prudential Committee News

As is typical for this time of year, the bulk of our leadership's energy has been focused on preparing the church budget for the coming year (2011). Anticipating the impact of transition in the Religious Education program complicated this task somewhat, but also provided a rich opportunity for a broader collection of church leaders to be interested participants in the budget process.

In December 2010, the members of the Search Committee delivered an extremely impressive, informative, and well-documented case for hiring a full-time successor to Sierra-Marie Gerfao (but redesignating this job as Director of Faith Development Ministries), as well as to go ahead with the part-time youth coordinator we had budgeted for but failed to hire this year. The plan is to fill these two new positions in sequence: the Director to start work in mid-August, and the youth coordinator in September. The job description for the Director of Faith Development Ministries will be published and advertised by the beginning of February.

By January's meeting, the Finance Committee, with the input from the Search Committee, had arrived at a budget which keeps us on schedule to finish paying off the 2009 and 2010 planned deficits by 2012, exactly as proposed in the multi-year budget developed one year ago. This budget also incorporated recommendations by the Search Committee, which included keeping Sierra-Marie Gerfao on as RE Director until the end of July, as well as the hiring of the two new positions (though the youth coordinator will start at just 12 hours/week, not 15). The Prudential Committee approved the proposed 2011 budget, and so it will go to the full Parish for consderation and approval at the January 30 Annual Meeting.

In other business, the Prudential Committee heard formal reports by the Music Director in December and from the RE Director in January.

Three new members were approved in December (Ann Merry, Sam Politz and Betsy Bronstein), and four more were approved in January (Christine and Michael Keating, Jennifer Reidy and Phil Bolduc).

The Prudential Committee voted to continue supporting the Jhamtse Gatsal student for another year, asking that the $400 cost be solicited as a portion of the Christmas Eve offering again this year (Dec. 24, 2010).