The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM. Pastor Nettleton’s opening devotion returned to the sermon theme from the prior Sunday worship service and its emphasis on Romans 6, baptism and redemption from sin. The devotion was followed by a prayer. The minutes for the November 12 meeting were approved. (The Council did not hold a monthly meeting in December.) There were no official acts in November. For December Pastor mentioned his having performed the December 5 wedding of Felecia Lessman née Hart and Troy Lessman, the December 10 funeral of Harry Peters and the December 22 baptism of Owen Tolar, son of Todd Tolar and Racheal Bauder. Eric gave the Treasurer’s report and emphasized the overall end-of-year budget balance improvement aided, in part, by having five Sundays in December. Noted expenses included snow removal, involvement of the Colorado Brass and the year-to-year relationship between monthly gas and electric expenses vis-à-vis installation of the new boiler system.

Board Reports

• June mentioned that she had only heard a single comment related to the church not hosting a Thanksgiving dinner. She also highlighted participation in the three Advent dinners.
• Stephen noted that the preschool would be participating in a kids’ activity fair January 25 and hosting an open house February 6 for recruiting purposes. In addition he discussed that there will be a Colorado Shines evaluation in either March or April that will culminate in the preschool receiving a rating from the state that may also be helpful in recruiting future students.
• On behalf of the Trustees Grant noted sheetrock work being done following boiler installation.
• Jim indicated that the Human Needs board is scheduled to meet in the coming week.
• Don noted that the Human Resources board had been interacting via email and that it would also be meeting in the near future.

Parish Administrator’s Report

• Tom included three primary items in his report: (1) the City of Fort Collins’ removal of a tree along Elizabeth Street; (2) transition to and the status of the new cleaning service being provided by ARC on Tuesdays and Saturdays as well as the continued search for some part-time cleaning and the prospects for involving Congregation member volunteers in some occasional or once-a-month “deep” cleaning activities; and (3) continuing with the same Lent and Holy Week service schedule that was used in 2019.

Old Business

• Don provided an overview of a church security training workshop being held in February in Castle Rock. Following discussion it was agreed that it is timely for the Council to review policies and practices related to overall church security. The Council also concurred that it would support one or two of its members to participate in the February workshop.
• The other item of old business is the ongoing congregational restructuring process. Given the inclusion of three new members to the 2020 Council it was agreed that restructuring will be a primary topic for discussion during the next Council meeting scheduled for February.

New Business

• The first item of new business was to assign each of the three new Council members to serve as a Board liaison. Following discussion Jill agreed to serve as liaison for the Fellowship Board, Dorothy will be the new liaison for Parish Education and Brandon will work with Outreach. Brandon also agreed to fill the shortened 2020–2021 Council term whereas Dorothy and Jill will be serving 2020–2022 Council terms prior to all three being eligible for reelection to a subsequent term.
• Following discussion and in compliance with Saint John’s bylaws, Grant agreed to continue serving as the Council’s at-large member of the Executive Committee.
• The final item of new business involved discussion of the end-of-year budgets in 2019 and 2020. In light of the modest budget deficits each of the past two years it was agreed that the Council emphasize both giving efforts as well as exercising frugality in budgeting and with expenditures. Dale mentioned that he would like to see the Council and the Congregation as a whole focus on stewardship and that we prayerfully start looking at upcoming board budgets by mid-summer. Pastor also mentioned that he will be sending out a stewardship letter to help Congregation members reflect on the 2020 giving.

The meeting closed at 7:47 PM with Council members standing and saying the Lord’s Prayer.

The thirteen members of the Church Council are the “Board of Directors” of the congregation, tasked with general oversight of the life and activities of the congregation to the end that everything be done in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws.