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Governing Council Meeting – May 2024

Present (in person or on ZOOM): Maggie Wilkinson, Caren Cate, Marion Axmith, Donna MacCandlish, Kathleen Hull, John Blevins, Hugh DesBrisay, Gord Thompson, Peter Wilkins, Charlie Roden, Bob Blair, Gord Brookes, Rev. Sarah Chapman, Rev. Dr. Paul Hutchison

Regrets: Marilyn Piotrowski

Guests: Patti Thompson, Susan Moore, Christine Lawson

Maggie opened with an indigenous prayer.

Priorities:

EVOLVE Update from Marketing and Communications (M&C) Team

  • Targeting 3 groups: those worshipping in the building/on-line; those attending other activities in building/on-line; those not going into the building
  • Priorities: systematized, integrated marketing/communication; enhanced contact management; “more than members”.
  • On-line submission form, 6-month marketing calendar, integrated events, new website, success metrics.
  • Showcased array of tactics used to promote Rumage Sale which contributed to new volunteer recruitment, higher attendance, increased sales.
  • Website creation update – goals, status, next steps. Target launch: September.
  • Conveyed next steps to organize information on members, friends, fans, tenants, participants, guests, visitors.
  • Outlined the “More than Members projects goals, desired outcomes. Approach: “listening meetings” with staff and volunteers represented of 20+ active groups. Led by M&C, success will require commitment, leadership, and action from others to be successful.
  • Outlined plan for marketing initiative (September to June) and priority group assessment.
  • Shared work in progress, encouraging results to date, implementation priorities and next steps.

EVOLVE Update from Program Team re Worship & Music

  • The Evolve Program Team is comprised of Janet Hardy, Paul, Sarah and Hugh.
  • As approved at the last GC meeting, the Team has entered into a consulting agreement with STRAAD (lead consultant Rev. Ayana) and work has begun on the first ‘engagement’ phase of the work.
  • Ayana has now completed one on one meetings over ZOOM with Paul, Sarah and Don and a meeting with Shawn is going to take place this week.
  • Group meetings over Zoom will follow. The Program Team has identified groups to be engaged. Ayana will be meeting over Zoom with the following groups: Evolve, Worship Committee+ Music 1 and 2, Pastoral Care, Finance, Family Ministry+, Newcomers/young adults, Technology, More and less established ESG worshippers and selected others.
  • These meetings will begin in the week of May 27 and be completed in the weeks of June 3 and 10.
  • For each group session there will be an interview guide provided in advance, so that participants can consider the questions prior to the sessions and come prepared to provide input. There will be an opportunity to provide additional input through a survey. That survey is being prepared.
  • Input from the choir leads will be elicited from surveys.
  • The group sessions will also include discussions about the organ.

25th Anniversary Report

  • Detailed event report circulated prior to our meeting outlining plans to date, anticipated attendance (250 adults plus 50 children), ticket pricing and anticipated revenue ($5,000), sponsorship target revenue ($3,000) and expenses.
  • Open discussion re ticket pricing, potential other revenue mechanisms (e.g., 50/50 raffle), contingencies if numbers don’t materialize.
  • MOTION – Maggie moved that in support of the ESG 25th Anniversary event, GC approve that funding of $1,000 be allocated to the 2024/25 budget to cover possible (unlikely) shortfall. Marion seconded the motion. Carried.

Business Items:

Minutes of the April 16th, 2024, meeting

  • MOTION – Donna moved that the minutes be accepted. Caren seconded. Carried.

Paul’s update:

  • We are celebrating ten years of the Music Ministry of Shawn Grenke on the 26th of May, as well as the reception of the Camerino Family into full membership of ESG.
  • Paul attended the Festival of Homiletics in Pittsburgh last week and appreciated his time there; is currently working to complete budget numbers for his areas; has been working with Irina, Alan Walker, and Sarah to help update ESG accounts for NextGen integration; has requested the .25bps increase to the transfer to ESG from the trustees happen this month (either 11/12 or 12/12 of the year), so that the June Statements include that income.
  • The staff team had their final bag lunch and planning meeting – week of May 12th.
  • The Payment for the suspended mic has happened.
  • The Welcome TVs run a slide show of the Sunday Announcement slides that MJ manages on a thumb drive during the week. Someone donated a TV to rummage that Paul and Murray claimed – we will order a TV stand to have a third portable screen available for slide shows (often all used at funerals). The oldest TV, on a stand – is now in the gym, offering the announcement slide show to pickle ballers.
  • Paul worked with Susan Moore on the stewardship letters that just went out. They were produced in-house at ESG. Kevin and Suzanne Maynard sent their office admin to work with MJ to merge the WORD data and printing, stuffing, and stamping. We are grateful for that gift of training and support.
  • The guest preacher amount for the 25th anniversary is already in the worship budget.

Sarah’s Update – Next Generation & Growth presentation shared:

  • Profiled updates on recent events (Love Alive – Sculpting with Clay (35 participants), Food Justice Cooking Event, and Cooking for a Cause).
  • Looked ahead to future events: Love Alive Garden Party, Community Garden expansion (# of garden plots – on site and remote/garden workshops, Confirmation Classes, Family Zoo Visit, Sunday Picnic),
  • Also profiled upcoming Queer Youth Drop-in event planned for June in conjunction with Pride Month. Discussion took place acknowledging the uniqueness (and importance) of this offering in North Toronto (for that matter the broader City).
  • Also updated on Sabbatical, Flourish House (pending turnover of occupants) and Re- Generate Leadership Moderator Training.

M&P

  • Detailed gameplan for Chad’s duties going forward distributed prior to meeting illustrating fairly significant scope of his involvement and coverage for Sarah throughout her sabbatical (Food Justice, Love Alive, Cooking for a Cause, Community Garden, longer term food ministry visioning, administration, volunteer base and grants).
  • MOTION – Bob moved that Council, having been advised that the Flourish Grant will cover the expense through to June 2025, approve the extension of Chad Lewis’ contract from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, at the current rate and on essentially the same terms and conditions per his current contract. Marion seconded. Carried.

Shining Waters

  • Proposal provided ahead of meeting outlining current challenge vis-à-vis meagre support for GTA ministries under threat of being under-resourced and the need to develop policy for addressing preservation/development of property assets and strategies for marginalized communities – for adoption and implementation in 2025.
  • MOTION – Peter moved that ESG support the proposal “A Strategy for Ensuring the Viability of Ministries in the Greater Toronto Area” put forward by Fairlawn Avenue United Church, as circulated in advance of our May 21, 2024, GC meeting, to be presented at the Regional 2024 annual meeting. Caren seconded. Carried.

Property

  • John’s property report, shared ahead of meeting, providing updates on new camera installations, progress report on fire system false alarms, updates on building maintenance and our sound system.
  • Question raised during the session regarding placement of the monitoring system radar in Murray’s office and adding to his responsibilities. Early discussion pointed out that this this is an enabler rather than a detractor vis-à-vis his responsibilities. John to follow up.
  • Discussion held regarding the past financing of the Labyrinth (actual vs. plan).
  • MOTION – John moved that in reference to a motion passed by Governing Council and recorded in the minutes of the June 20, 2023, meeting for the funding of a Labyrinth Project it is proposed that the outstanding balance on this project of $12,797.40 be paid from the Property Maintenance Fund. Gord seconded the motion. Carried.

Finance

  • Financial statement was shared ahead of and was reviewed during the meeting. A positive variance of $43,399 YTD relative to plan is gratifying but Gord emphasized that notwithstanding this, we are likely to fall short of target and that our year end campaign targets are very ambitious with a short two-month time frame to attract significant $$.
  • Gord also signalled that the response to his request for budgets has been disappointing.

Volunteer Leadership

  • Donna provided a pre-read announcing the positive news that Susan Moore has accepted to take over the Honorary Congregational Chair role from Doug McWhirter. As Susan was present at the beginning of the meeting, we took advantage of the opportunity to acknowledge our enthusiasm for this development and thank her directly.
  • The pre-read also set out the challenges with respect to volunteer leadership and most particularly replacing Maggie in the GC Chair position. Fruitful conversation took place. It appears that the notion of co-leadership is widely supported with various ideas offered as to how we might arrive at the optimal solution.
  • We also discussed the need for all of us to participate in succession planning. Donna will follow up on a one-on-one basis with GC members to solicit their ideas for potential replacements. Bringing new blood (ideally younger generations) onto GC would be beneficial.
  • Based on the broader conversation, it appears to be widely understood that volunteerism (particularly as it relates to responsibilities outside of “projects”) is a real issue. Hopefully we may gain insights from the work that Ayana is undertaking.

Next meeting: June 18th, 7 PM – hopefully in person – note to follow from Maggie. Marilyn to offer our opening prayer. Sarah to offer our closing prayer.