TRAVERSE CITY ORTHODOX MISSION CHURCH
PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
3010 Hastings Street
July Council Meeting Highlights
Our parish council held their regular monthly meeting this past Wednesday.
Present for the meeting were: Harriet Rennie, president; Karen Kain, vice-president; Judy Weston, secretary; John Batsakis, Fr. Iakovos, Helen Knapp, Stephanie Long, Doug Partlo, and Bob Underwood. Also present for the meeting was Donna Psaros, acting financial secretary and member of the stewardship committee. Absent was Mike Dennos, treasurer and Theresa Patterson.
The council was slated to hear a proposal from Dan McNamara of Nat City Investments at this meeting but Mr. McNamara was unable to attend. He will be contacted to reschedule his presentation to the council at a later date. In other news, the Stewardship Committee reported total pledged funds as of 30 June of $103,850. The average pledge amount is $1,462.88 per household and total pledged funds received for the first six months of 2008 are $44,720. The parish profit and loss statement for the month shows total income of $13,380.60 and total expenses of $9,436.47 resulting in a surplus for the month of June of $4,152.05. Looking at our six month report, total income for the period is reported as $52,392.76 with total expenses of $60,430.33 for a deficit of $6,625.43. After factoring in interest income our deficit is reduced to $5,060.10 for the six month period.
The council agreed to set up a sub-committee to begin developing a “strategic plan” for the parish. This committee would be responsible to generate a plan for the erection of a church, community center, etc., after going through a process of honing the parish vision for the future. The committee would be working with a five year time horizon. This committee will be organized after a presentation made to stewards at our Annual General Meeting which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 7 September. In the interim an ad hoc committee will work together to develop the presentation for the AGM.
The finance sub-committee has requested a meeting with the Metropolitan in order to generate our 2009 budget and expects to have that meeting sometime in August. The sub-committee will then complete the proposed budget for presentation to the stewards at the 7 September meeting.
Parish Council Secretary Judy Weston was asked to complete the official list of stewards eligible to vote in our annual election as well as an official list of stewards eligible to hold office. She expects to be able to provide this list over the next few weeks. Excerpts from our by-laws explaining the process of voting and office holding will be made available in the future editions of the parish bulletin and on our web site during the month of August.
Bob Underwood and John Batsakis provided a comprehensive Taste of Greece report. We are faced with a number of unforeseen challenges this year. Some of these challenges are the result of internal changes in faculty and administration at St. Francis High School; some are the result of the on-going bad economy and high price of our supplies. The TOG
committee will meet tomorrow to discuss last things with respect to the fund raiser. Another meeting will be held later in the week if necessary. Mr. Underwood reiterated the need for volunteers and helpers, especially with respect to our cleanup activities. We must have the venue clean and ready for use first thing Friday morning. This means that all cleaning,
etc., must be completed on Thursday night following the close of the event. Additional information will be made available to the parish via our web site and telephone chain.
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