TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011
The Montreal Presbytery held its stated meeting, called by the Chair, Rev. Phyllis Smyth, to meet on Tuesday December 13, 2011 in Webster Hall, Westmount Park United Church, 4695 de Maisonneuve West, Westmount, Quebec.
PRESENT
Ministry (31): Rev. Phyllis Smyth; Chair, Rev. Arlen Bonnar; Secretary, Rev. Jeff Barlow, Rev. Barend Biesheuvel, Rev. Janet Bisset, Rev. Barbara Bryce, Rev. Kent Chown, Rev. David Clinker, Rev. Frank Giffen, Rev. Cathy Hamilton, Rev. Helen Hliaras, Rev. Ellie Hummel, Rev. Bill Jay, Rev. Phil Joudrey, Rev. Tom Kurdyla, Rev. David Lefneski, Rev. Patricia Lisson, Rev. Wendy MacLean, Rev. John Matheson, Rev. Heather McClure, Rev. Joe McInnis, Sally Meyer-DM, Rev. Birgit Neuschild, Rev. Emmanuel K. Ofori, Rev. Scott Patton, Rev. Catherine Smith, Rev. Doug Stewart, Rev. Fred Tees, Rev. Faye Wakeling, Rev. Neil Whitehouse.
Laity (42): Mr. Han Min Bai, Ms. Debbie Beattie, Mr. Guy-Lin Beaudoin, Mr. Fred Braman, Mrs. Virginia Bryce, Ms. Judy Campbell, Ms. Cindy Casey, Ms. Beverly Clark, Mr. Lloyd Coffin, Mr. S. H. Dho, Mrs. Feher White, Ms. Linda Gagnon, Ms. Johanne Gendron, Ms. Marcie Gibson, Mr. Bob Graham, Mr. Marc Grenon, Mr. Gerard Gouw, Mr. Don Green, Mrs. Joan Hagerman, Mr. Marc Hammond, Mr. Bruce Haughton, Mrs. Rosemary Hooker, Mr. Andrew Johnson, Ms. Paula Kline, Mrs. Janice Knowles, Ms. Eileen Lewis, Ms. Lorane McKenzie, Mrs. June Millar, Mr. Peter Mundie, Mrs. Valerie Nickson, Mrs. Patricia Nielsen, Mr. Kelly Running Wolf, Mr. Arthur Schweitzer, Mr. Rick Sheffer, Dr. Tom Smith, Mr. Roger Snelling, Ms. Gail Spence, Mr. Paul Stanfield, Mrs. Shirley Stark, Ms. Nancy Stewart, Ms. Rolanda Taylor, Dr. James Vanstone, Ms. Susan Wolker.
Visitors: Mr. Finlay Nicolson, Ms. Tessa Ann Griffin, Ms. Catherine Donaldson
Corresponding Members:
Regrets: Dr. Helen Budd Hanna, Rev. Georgia Copland, Mrs. Undeg Edwards, Mr. Norm Haslam, Rev. Reg Jennings, Rev. Elisabeth Jones, Rev. Darryl Macdonald, Rev. Marie Claude Manga, Rev. Alice McAlpine, Mr. Peter Mundie, Rev. Mark Rawlings, Mr. Diony Delos Reyes, Rev. Rosemary Lambie, Ms. Emily Robertson, Rev. Ian Smith, Dr. Ingrid Thompson, Rev. Ralph Watson, Mr. Rod Young; Treasurer
At 7:00 p.m. the Reverend Phyllis Smyth constituted the meeting of the Montreal Presbytery with these words, "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the authority given to me as Chair, I hereby declare this gathering to be duly constituted as a meeting of the Montreal Presbytery to deal with any business that may come before it."
Motion: (Ellie Hummel/Heather McClure) that the Montreal Presbytery adopt the agenda as printed and set the time of adjournment for 9:30. Carried
Members of the Education and Students Committee led the worship. Students, who are candidates for the ministry, assisted with the communion service.
Following the worship service the following motion was presented.
Whereas the Montreal Presbytery has exercised supervision as required by The Manual Section 346 and
Whereas Ms. Paula Kline has successfully met with the Conference Interview Board of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference and on recommendation of its Education and Students Committee which has met with the applicant
Motion: (Jeff Barlow/Nancy Stewart) be it resolved that;
the Montreal Presbytery recommends that Ms. Paula Kline be accepted as a candidate for the ministry of Word, Sacrament and Pastoral Care in The United Church of Canada. Carried
A covenanting service was held with Ms. Paula Kline to recognize her status as a Candidate for ordained ministry.
The Chair of the Education and Students Committee introduced Mr. Mark Hammond and Ms. Rolanda Taylor, who will be ordained at the rise of Conference, pending successful completion of tier studies.
Motion: (Jeff Barlow/Nancy Stewart) that the Montreal Presbytery recommend to the Montreal and Ottawa Conference that Mr. Mark Hammond, pending successful completion of all courses and requirements, be ordained to the ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral care at the celebration of ministry service to take place at the Annual General Meeting of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference May 2012. Carried
Motion: (Jeff Barlow/Nancy Stewart) that the Montreal Presbytery recommend to the Montreal and Ottawa Conference that Ms. Rolanda Taylor, pending successful completion of all courses and requirements, be ordained to the ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral care at the celebration of ministry service to take place at the Annual General Meeting of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference May 2012. Carried
The Members of the Presbytery congratulated Ms. Taylor and Mr. Hammond with a chorus of Halle Halle Halle
Motion: (Tom Kurdyla/Kelley Running Wolf) that the Montreal Presbytery adopt the minutes of the November 8, 2011 meeting. Carried
2012 Presbytery Assessments
Mr. Fred Braman presented the following two options for calculating the 2012 Presbytery Assessments.
Option one is based on income and is calculated using statistics gathered in the fall 2011 and applying them to the following formula:
Formula = (Total giving + U.C.W. raised for congregational support + fundraisers + rental income + investment income) – (M&S + paid out for appeals + paid out for other purposes + investment income used for capital) x 2.7%
Option two is based on 2011 Assessments plus a 10% increase. The court was asked to vote on their preference after having asked questions for clarification.
The following proposal was put forward as motion.
Motion: (Fred Braman/Rick Sheffer) that the court be presented with option one and option two separately and that the option with the most votes be chosen as the method of calculating the 2012 assessments. Carried. The motion was opposed by Mr. Kelley Running Wolf and Ms. Joan Hagerman.
Motion (Fred Braman/Rick Sheffer) that the Montreal Presbytery adopt option one which is based on income statistics and the standard formula. Nine votes were counted
Motion: (Fred Braman/Rick Sheffer) that the Montreal Presbytery adopt option two whereby the 2012 assessments equal a 10% increase over the 2011 Presbytery assessments. Carried with the most votes
The Chair announced that the members of the Montreal Presbytery had chosen option two as its preferred method of calculating the 2012 assessments.
The Administration and Finance Committee will review the current assessment formula before preparing the 2013 assessments.
Rev. Wendy MacLean, Rev. David Lefneski, Rev. Barbara Bryce, and Rev. Cathy Hamilton led the Presbyters in an exercise on Respectful Communication Guidelines.
The steering group demonstrated the mutual invitation tool outlined by Eric Law in his book The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb. The Respectful Communication Guidelines were introduced. The Presbyters broke into table groups and used the mutual invitation tool to discuss the question "Do one of these RESPECT guidelines speak to you? A copy of the guidelines is attached to the minutes.
The following members of the combined working groups were introduced as follows Mr. Fred Braman, Mr. Roger Snelling, Ms. Gail Spence, Rev. Patricia Lisson, and Rev. David Lefneski.
Rev. Lisson reminded the court of the five key tasks (goals) of the mission statement of the Montreal Presbytery.
Performing administrative tasks set out by the
manual
Promoting the religious life of congregations
Supporting outreach missions and ministries
Inspiring those who lead
Seeking new opportunities for ministry
The Presbytery was reminded that it faces some challenges namely i) establishing sound criteria ii) setting clear priorities iii) allocating resources iv) achieving our goals v) fulfilling our mission.
Using the recently introduced tool known as mutual invitation for conversation, the table groups discussed the following observations and questions. "We have named our goals but have we thought about whether they are equally important in carrying out our mission?" and
"Have we been allocating our resources in a way that reflects our goals?"
Using tokens the Presbyters voted on the priority of each task. The following is a breakdown in percentages of the priority of each task.
Task 1: 193 (14%)
Task 2: 325 (23%)
Task 3: 345 (25%) – Initially reported as 27% then revise
Task 4: 256 (18%)
Task 5: 282 (20%)
The results will be discussed further at the February Presbytery meeting.
Chair
The Chair reported that the following three individuals had agreed to sit on the ad hoc committee on location. They are Mr. Arthur Schweitzer, Ms. Renate Sutherland, and Dr. Ken Bentley.
At the November meeting of the Executive, Rev. Angelika Piché spoke about Ministries in French and the resignation of Rev. Darla Sloane. A consultation on Ministries in French will take place in January with representatives from the General Council. The Montreal Presbytery has asked for and received an invitation to send two delegates to the meeting.
The Chair reminded the court of the upcoming event celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity taking place at Saint Joseph's Oratory on January 22, 2012. Rev. David Fines will be the guest preacher.
The Chair reported that she had attended the Presbyterial Advent Event.
Rev. Ofori: Presentation on Intercultural Ministries
Rev. Ofori addressed the Presbytery on the work of the General Council in the area of Intercultural ministry. The church seeks to be a diverse, intercultural community where all peoples are welcomed, are safe from racist attitudes & behaviours, find a place to belong, see their cultural heritage celebrated and reflected, are empowered to offer visible and congregation-changing leadership.
At the 39th General Council (2006), The United Church of Canada agreed to "commit itself to becoming an intercultural church." This commitment means "that intercultural dimensions of ministries will be a denominational priority in living out its commitment to racial justice where
"there is mutually respectful diversity and full and equitable participation of all Aboriginal, francophone, ethnic minority, and ethnic majority constituencies in the total life, mission, and practices of the whole church."Rev. Ofori defined the difference between multicultural, cross-cultural, and intercultural.
Being an intercultural congregation or presbytery encompasses every aspect of its life i.e. welcome, worship, vision/mission, leadership, meetings and decision-making, Christian education, et cetera.
The Chair thanked Rev. Ofori and noted that the conversation around inter-cultural ministry would be ongoing.
December 13, 2011 Presbytery Archives Committee
Questions concerning the heritage status of St. Andrew’s United Church (Lachine) were forwarded to the Administration and Finance Committee for follow up.
December 9, 2011 Michael Blair, Executive Minister, Communities in Ministry, General Council
The Montreal Presbytery has been invited to send two representatives to the Ministries in French consultation taking place in January 2012.
December 9, 2011 General Council Office
In an open letter the Moderator of the United Church sent her thoughts on the United Nations climate change conference in Durban South Africa.
November 25, 2011 Virginia Morato, Finance Unit, General Council
Information on the Directors and Officers Insurance programme has been sent to all Pastoral Charges.
The court agreed by consensus to extend the time of adjournment to 9:40 p.m.
Consensus Motion
Motion: (Heather McClure/Jim Vanstone) that the Presbytery adopt the motions, each and every one, as part of this single action. Carried
Education and Students
Motion: (Jeff Barlow/Shirley Stark)
Whereas in exercising supervision as required by The Manual Section 024, 36 and 722 and on recommendation of its Education and Students committee.
Be it resolved that the Montreal Presbytery by formal action on December 13, 2011 confirms the status of the candidates Ryan Fea, Paula Kline, Mark Hammond, and Rolanda Taylor for Ordained Ministry. Carried
Motion: (Jeff Barlow/Shirley Stark)
Whereas in exercising supervision as required by The Manual Section 024, 36 and 722 and on recommendation of its Education and Students committee
Be it resolved that the Montreal Presbytery by formal action on December 13, 2011 confirms the status of the candidate Marcie Gibson for Diaconal Ministry. Carried
Motion: (Jeff Barlow/Shirley Stark)
Whereas in exercising supervision as required by The Manual section 343 and on recommendation of its Education and Students committee.
Be it resolved that the Montreal Presbytery by formal action on December 13, 2011 confirms the status of the Johanne Gendron and Kelley Molloy as Designated Lay Minister applicants. Carried
Pastoral Relations
Motion: (Heather McClure/Kent Chown) that the Montreal Presbytery designate the position of Executive Director of La Corporation Culturelle Latino-Americaine de l'Amitié (COCLA) as a Congregational Designated Lay Ministry position for Mount Royal United Church. Carried
Motion: (Heather McClure/Kent Chown) that the Montreal Presbytery concur in the transfer of Rev. Murdoch McFarlane from the Montreal Presbytery in the Montreal and Ottawa Conference to the Kingston Presbytery in the Bay of Quinte Conference effective December 13, 2011. Carried
Administration and Finance
Motion: (Fred Braman/Rod Young) that Montreal Presbytery concur in the request of the Trustees and Congregation of Wyman Memorial United Church (Hudson) to enter into an emphyteutic lease with Treehouse Childcare Centre (CPE Maison dans l'arbre) in respect of a parcel of presently vacant land of approximately 17, 732 square feet at the rear of its property adjoining Hazelwood Avenue for the construction of a building and playground solely for use as a childcare centre, such emphyteutic lease to have a term of between 50 and 99 years with an indexed annual net net rental of $30,000 and otherwise in accordance with terms to be approved by the Administration and Finance Committee of Montreal Presbytery. Carried
Motion: (Fred Braman/ Rod Young) resolved that Montreal Presbytery, pursuant to United Church Manual section 269(b), concur in the Proposal of Saint Andrew’s United Church (Lachine) that all its Property, both Real and Personal, shall be conveyed to the Finance and Extension Board of Montreal Presbytery effective midnight December 30, 2011 (with such Board to respect all current leases through February 29, 2012) and further that Montreal Presbytery concurs in the request of the Pastoral Charge to fix the date of disbanding of the said Pastoral Charge as effective midnight December 31, 2011 whereupon the Trustees shall be automatically discharged, with grateful thanks for their service, and that Montreal Presbytery's motion of October 11, 2011 is amended accordingly.
Resolved further that Mr. Roland Randle, or failing him one of the other present Trustees of said Pastoral Charge, is hereby authorized to prepare and sign and otherwise conclude all information returns and other corporate, tax and legal filings and formalities in connection with its operations up to the date of disbanding and any other matter concerning its disbanding, and copies of all such documents and the other records of the Pastoral Charge shall be remitted to Montreal Presbytery as soon as practicable. Carried
Motion: (Fred Braman/Rod Young): that Montreal Presbytery concur in the request of the Trustees of St-Andrew's United Church (Hemmingford) to transfer $56,000 for its Housing Allowance Fund to its Building Fund, conditional on the said Trustees' confirmation that all income or growth on its funds from the Stinson Estate (principal of $56,000) be paid into the said Housing Allowance Fund and that Montreal Presbytery reserves its consent to any commitment of funds for Phase 2 of the proposed capital expenditures on the church building until it has received a report from the Administration and Finance Committee with input from the Vision and Transformation Committee working with the Congregation in its discernment of its building needs. Carried
End of consensus
Pastoral Relations
The following motion was presented.
Motion: (Heather McClure/Kent Chown) that the Montreal Presbytery appoint Ms. Joan Foster as its representative to the Joint Search Committee of St. Columba House. Carried
Notice of Motion
Rev. Jeff Barlow informed the Chair that he would like to bring a notice of motion to be placed on the Agenda of the Presbytery meeting in February 2012. At that time he will bring forward the nomination of Rev. Arlen Bonnar for the position of Moderator of the United Church of Canada. Mr. Barlow noted that a person can only be nominated for Moderator if he or she is also named a commissioner to the General Council. The motion and supporting documents will be circulated prior to the February meeting via the Presbytery mailing.
For information it was noted that a notice of motion does not require a seconder.
(Ellie Hummel) that the Presbytery meeting be adjourned at 9:30 p.m. The meeting closed with a benediction and sung blessingMotion:
Rev. Phyllis Smyth Rev. Arlen Bonnar
Chair Secretary
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