Heard it at Council: September 2024

By Kate Silfen, Church Historian | September 10, 2024 Council Meeting Report

The Reverend Ashley Popperson opened the Council's first fall meeting by leading us through the Examen, a spiritual exercise developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola. It was a fitting opening prayer for a meeting focused on envisioning what is next for the Old South Church in Boston.

On August 10, the three governing boards (Council, Trustees, and Deacons) gathered for a day-long retreat to begin a visioning process for Old South. Retreat participants discussed and reflected on three key themes: 1) Deepening connections within the Church, 2) growing the Church, and 3) doing justice. At the end of our time together, John noted that Old South's leadership structure (three governing bodies and multiple standing committees) requires a great deal of time and effort to maintain. John invited Old South's leaders to think about new ways of organizing the Church so that we can focus on fostering deeper connections within the community, growing our membership, and doing justice in the city. John has charged Council with re-visiting our by-laws and envisioning a new structure for our lay leadership. Accordingly, Council approved a motion to empower the Leadership Committee to form a task force to re-imagine Old South's organizational structure.

Treasurer Bill Bulkeley shared good news about Old South's budget. The projected deficit is 150,000 less than he anticipated it to be. Revenue is ahead of schedule due to member pledges coming in earlier than expected. Spending is below budget because only two ministers are eligible for a housing allowance, and we have not had an operations manager for the past few months. Bill said we have ample resources to keep the Church running without cutbacks.

Rebecca Pasipanodya has been hired as our new Director of Operations. She is well-known to Old South, having previously served as our Assistant Church Administrator for several years. Rebecca also helped spearhead Boston Warm and the 350th anniversary encyclopedia. John said that the staff is thrilled to have her back in this new capacity, as she is a wonderful and trusted colleague!