Heard It at Council (December 2014)

December 15, 2014

Council gathered after a one-month break. Spirits were not dampened by the torrential rain, although a few roof leaks made an appearance! The meeting focused on the 2015 draft budget, the Outreach Committees 2014 grants, and initial planning for a capital campaign.

The church continues to maintain deficit budgets but has a short-range plan to become budget-neutral by 2017. The 2015 draft budget is largely similar to 2014. Notable exceptions are accounting changes for office staff, children’s services, and music. The 2014 budget is running smoothly. Roughly speaking, the church’s endowment tends to fund structural maintenance whereas congregational giving tends to fund programs and operations. In recent years, the figure for deferred maintenance has been large, therefore, both Council and the Trustees have taken steps to close current and projected gaps. Such steps include a multi-year plan to set aside reserves for structural maintenance. A budget vote will be held at the next Council meeting.

Another step toward preserving the structure and vision of Old South Church is the initiation of a capital campaign, the first in our church’s history. The Capital Campaign Committee was formalized a few months ago by Council with co-chairs Wayne Davis and Todd Krohne. Together with sub-committee chairs Allison Cooley (Vision) and Tom Grant (Readiness), the chairs presented a summary of planning. The main goal is to help the church develop a vision for the future while mapping out financial alignment. Council agreed with the Committee that it would be in keeping with Old South’s values to conduct an open and transparent campaign with opportunities for members to be involved. The timeline involves fact-finding activities next spring, and building on the outputs of the now-dissolved Vision Task Forces (Sanctuary in the City, Faith at the Crossroads, and Christians in Formation). The final timeline is still being developed but the campaign will likely conclude in 2019, coinciding with the church’s 350th birthday.

There were updates from Stewardship, Operations, the Trustees, and Christian Service and Outreach, The 2014 pledge cycle is coming to a close with strong results. The Committee is already looking to the future and will take time for discernment with hopes of adding new energy to the process. In terms of operations, Project AIR is nearly complete, with only minor, punch-list issues remaining. Remarkably, the project will close having tracked extremely close to the budget while accomplishing most of the major goals! The Trustees update noted the successful sale of two pieces of heritage silver to the Museum of Fine Arts. Remaining non-restricted silver is now in the possession of Christie’s with a two-year plan for disposition. An exciting update from Outreach came in the form of grantees. Old South Church now has a new grant vetting process which is more streamlined. The process focuses on fewer organizations, making partnering and support more effective. This year’s grantees are as follows: Boston Living Center, City Mission Society, Common Cathedral, Fourth Presbyterian Church, and Casa Myrna. Each will receive a little over $20k. Council approved these five with much excitement, as well as two named grants to the homeless outreach program Saturday’s/Sunday’s Bread. The congregation will have opportunities to learn about the sponsored organizations in the coming weeks.

Lisa Mahnke, Clerk