Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of St. Ursula's Church, Berne
held in the Church on Sunday 2 April 2017 at 12:00
Chairperson Tricia Carrick welcomed all present. Archdeacon Adèle Kelham led us in prayer.
The meeting was attended by:
Dorothy Beriger, Angus Carrick, Patricia Carrick, Susan Faillettaz, Art Funkhouser, Donna Goepfert, Hans Goepfert, Hans-Martin Grieper, Maja Grieper, Susan Higson, Beat Hodler, Chloë Hodler, Kathy Hoag, Henry Hope, Esther Hutchison, John Hutchison, Vinitha Jacob, Andrée Kamarys, Adèle Kelham*, Richard King, Janiffer Kingori, Jorum Kirundi, Cecily Klingler, Wendy Martinek-Inward*, Mary Mead, Oluwafemi Babatunde*, Elisabeth Perrett, Pieter Perrett, Elisabeth Pfyffer, Hans-Karl Pfyffer, Mark Pogson*, Pat Tristram*, Annemarie Walthert, Joan Wehrli, Isabelle Wienand, Mark Wienand, Darcy Wildhaber, Edi Wildhaber, Maxine Wildhaber, Ruby Wildhaber, Barbara Winfield and Mary Wittwer.
* - Not on the electoral roll.
This includes 37 electoral roll members, two clergy and three guests.
Apologies were received from:
Annamma Chittazhathu, Joy-Koshy Chittazhathu, Hector Davie, Ruth Freiburghaus, Sara Hutchison, Archana Jacob, Emil Jacob, Hans Kamarys, Sonia Klein, Rolf Klingler, Cibin Kurian Kuruvilla, Yojena Kuruvilla, Jana Kutesko, Brian Morgan, Lynn Morgan, Rosalind Richards, Elizabeth Stewardson, Belle Täuber, Martin Täuber, and David Winfield.
There were five additions and four deletions making a total of 118 members. The electoral roll, which had been on display for over two weeks, was approved by the meeting.
With the addition to item 6 that Donna Goepfert was later elected as the third Synod Representative, the minutes of the last AGM were approved nem con.
5a. Treasurer's Report
The treasurer, Sue Higson, presented the consolidated accounts for the Church and the Charitable Association, which had been approved by council and displayed for over eight days.
The treasurer explained that 70% of our income comes from giving and 15% from events and reminded us that the many volunteers add greatly to the financial health of the church by doing work that would otherwise have to be paid for. There is currently an excess from ordinary activities of 43,680.02CHF. The 365,534.10CHF in the building and development fund will all be spent in 2017 for improvements and renovations.
Sue Faillettaz thanked the treasurer for her clear, understandable report.
5b. Auditor's Report
Angus Carrick reported on behalf of himself and Koshy Chittazhathu, the appointed auditors, that both the full accounts and the consolidated account statement provided to the AGM give a true and fair view, in all material respects, of the financial situation ending 31 December 2016 of the Association of St Ursula's Church and of St Ursula's Charitable Association.
Approval of the Accounts
Sue Higson proposed and Chloë Hodler seconded that the 2016 accounts should be approved. The congregation unanimously agreed.
The treasurer anticipates expenditures in 2017 to be similar to those in 2016 for basic running costs.
Although we still need approximately 40,000CHF to cover the building project and 40,000CHF for further improvements, we will go ahead and do as much as possible with the money we have. Angus Carrick asked how we will determine where the money will be spent. After some discussion Tricia Carrick proposed and Sue Higson seconded the motion that that the council could decide upon expenditures. The congregation unanimously agreed.
Esther Hutchison requested that the congregation be well informed about work being done. The congregation agreed that information about work progress should be published on the church website and in the magazine.
Henry Hope asked about charity giving. The treasurer explained that we give 10% of our church income to charity. The amount was over 10% in 2016 due to various factors but this year has been adjusted to a true 10% of our income. Esther Hutchison pointed out that if we counted extra giving from special collections we actually still give more than 10%.
The treasurer was thanked by the Chairperson for her work.
Two Churchwardens
| Nomination | Proposed by | Seconded by |
|---|---|---|
| John Hutchison | Isabelle Wienand | Archana Jacob |
| Maxine Wildhaber | Lynn Morgan | Brian Morgan |
As there were no other nominations, the Chairperson declared John and Maxine duly elected and their election was greeted with applause.
Three Synod members
| Nomination | Proposed by | Seconded by |
|---|---|---|
| Hector Davie | Maxine Wildhaber | Edi Wildhaber |
| Susan Faillettaz | Hector Davie | Maxine Wildhaber |
| Donna Goepfert | Maxine Wildhaber | Edi Wildhaber |
| Richard King | Maxine Wildhaber | Hector Davie |
As there were four candidates for three positions a vote was required. There was a short break while Pat Tristram and Mark Pogson counted the votes. Hector Davie, Donna Goepfert and Richard King were declared duly elected and the congregation applauded
Six Council Members
| Nomination | Proposed by | Seconded by |
|---|---|---|
| Tricia Carrick | Maxine Wildhaber | Susan Higson |
| Sue Faillettaz | Art Funkhouser | Tricia Carrick |
| Hans Goepfert | Susan Higson | Maxine Wildhaber |
| Henry Hope | Maxine Wildhaber | Susan Higson |
| Lynn Morgan | Maxine Wildhaber | Susan Higson |
| Tony Read | Maxine Wildhaber | Susan Higson |
| Marc Wienand | Maxine Wildhaber | John Hutchison |
| Edi Wildhaber | Susan Higson | Donna Goepfert |
| Ruby Wildhaber | Isabelle Wienand | Archana Jacob |
The Chairperson informed the congregation that it is allowed to appoint someone who is not on council to be treasurer. Treasurer Sue Higson thereby removed her name from the list of candidates. It is also possible to add the name of any candidate who had not been elected to Synod to the list of candidates running for council. With Art Funkhouser proposing and Tricia Carrick seconding, Sue Faillettaz' name was therefore added to the list of candidates.
John Hutchison proposed that the candidates give a very short introduction of themselves, which they did.
There were nine candidates for six positions. While Pat and Mark were counting the votes the congregation could partake of light refreshments in the Upper Hall.
Tricia Carrick, Hans Goepfert, Henry Hope, Tony Read, Edi Wildhaber and Ruby Wildhaber were declared duly elected and the congregation applauded.
Annual Reports
The Chairperson thanked all who contributed reports to the Annual Reports booklet. These were taken as read with no questions. The Chairperson also thanked Jana Kutesko for putting together the booklet and also for her help in preparing for the AGM.
Joy-Koshy Chittazhathu stepped down as auditor. Angus Carrick and Beat Hodler were appointed auditors for the upcoming council year.
Maxine thanked Isabelle for her two years of hard work as warden and presented her with flowers. Isabelle in turn gave thanks for her opportunity to serve together with Maxine as warden.
Hans-Karl Pfyffer thanked the wardens and council for their work during the time of interregnum.
Beat Hodler gave a presentation on his work with refugees in the former Ziegler Spital and suggested some areas where individuals from St Ursula's could possibly get involved such as offering language courses or coaching families. There will no longer be long term refugees staying there but there are nevertheless ways to get involved.
Cecily Klingler thanked Beat for his talk and said that the Charity and Missions Team wants to help enable those who so desire to get involved in working with refugees. She and Esther Hutchison had produced a sheet entitled "Refugees and Migrants - How can We Help?" with various ideas of ways of giving help. The sheet also lists web sites with information about who one could contact.
The meeting closed at 13:54 with the grace.
Donna Goepfert (Council Secretary)