Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of St. Ursula's Church, Berne

held in the Church on Sunday 13 September 2020 at 11:30

  1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence
    Chaplain Helen Marshall welcomed all present, gave a short Biblical reflection and led us in prayer.

    The meeting was attended by:
    Michael Agoba, Dorothy Beriger, Martin Browne, Patricia Carrick, Hector Davie, Agnes Derory, Ruth Freiburghaus, Art Funkhouser, Donna Goepfert, Hans Goepfert, Peter Hawker*, Johannes Hewel, Susan Higson, Esther Hutchison Funkhouser, Andrée Kamarys, Diane Lohri, Urs Lohri*, David Marshall*, Helen Marshall*, Mary Mead, Brian Morgan, James Morgan, Lynn Morgan, Liz Perrett, Pieter Perrett, Elisabeth Pfyffer, Hans-Karl Pfyffer, Tony Read, Rosalind Richards, Christine Sager*, Manuel Sager*, Belle Täuber, Martin Täuber, Annemarie Walthert, Adorée Weibel, Niklaus Weibel*, Janet Wenger, Isabelle Wienand, Eduard Wildhaber, Maxine Wildhaber, Ruby Wildhaber and Barbara Winfield.
    This is 35 electoral roll members, plus three clergy and four guests indicated by an *.

    Apologies were received from:
    Sheila Berger, Judy Chisholm, Beat Hodler, Chloë Hodler, Hans Kamarys, Jana Kutesko and Wendy Martinek-Inward.

  2. Reception and Approval of the Electoral Roll
    There are a total of 83 members on the electoral roll which includes three deletions and nine additions. The electoral roll had been on display for two weeks before the AGM.

  3. Approval of the Minutes of the last AGM held on 31 March 2019
    The minutes were approved nem con by the congregation.

  4. Approval of the Audited Accounts for the Year 2019

    a. Treasurer's Report
    The treasurer, Sue Higson, presented the consolidated accounts for the Church and for the Charitable Association, which had been approved by council and displayed for over eight days.

    The treasurer reported hat it has been a challenging year financially because of the lockdown due to Covid-19 but that generous pledging and donations have helped us achieve a fairly balanced budget. She recommended the accounts to the congregation.

    The Chaplain thanked Sue for the huge amount of work she has accomplished with grace, energy and thoughtfulness as Treasurer.

    b. Auditor's Report
    Diane Lohri, on behalf of herself and Beat Hodler, the appointed auditors, reported 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 2019 of St Ursula's Church and St Ursula's Charitable Association.

    The treasurer's and auditors' reports were accepted unanimously by the congregation.

    The Chaplain thanked the auditors for their careful work.

  5. Presentation of the Budget for the Year 2020
    The treasurer reported that, because we are having our AGM six months later than usual due to Covid-19, she is presenting a forecast for 2020 rather than a budget. She predicts that we should break even financially.

    The treasurer mentioned that Pledge Sunday will be 11 October.

  6. Elections
    The Chaplain thanked Martin Browne for his commitment and support as sole Warden during the past year.

    Two Churchwardens
    NominationProposed bySeconded by
    Martin BrowneMaxine WildhaberRuby Wildhaber
    Sue HigsonMaxine WildhaberDonna Goepfert

    There were two candidates for the two positions so the congregation was asked to elect them by a show of hands, which was unanimous.

    Two Archdeaconry Synod Representatives
    NominationProposed bySeconded by
    Hector DavieMaxine WildhaberRuby Wildhaber
    Maxine WildhaberSusan HigsonDonna Goepfert

    There were two candidates for the two positions so the congregation was asked to elect them by a show of hands, which was unanimous.

    Six Council Members
    NominationProposed bySeconded by
    Michael AgobaMartin BrowneRuby Wildhaber
    Tricia CarrickMaxine WildhaberSusan Higson
    Agnes DerorySusan HigsonDonna Goepfert
    Johannes HewelAgnes DeroryEsther Hutchison
    Beat HodlerMartin BrowneBarbara Winfield
    Caroline MontgomerySusan HigsonDonna Goepfert
    Lynn MorganSusan HigsonBarbara Winfield
    Belle TäuberTricia CarrickSusan Higson
    Ruby WildhaberSusan HigsonMartin Browne

    There were nine candidates for six positions so the vote was done using paper ballots. While David Marshall and Pieter Perrett were counting the votes the Chaplain continued with items 7 and 8 on the agenda.

    Michael Agoba, Tricia Carrick, Johannes Hewel, Lynn Morgan, Belle Täuber and Ruby Wildhaber were duly elected and the congregation applauded.

  7. Appointment of Auditors
    Diane Lohri and Beat Hodler agreed to continue as auditors. The chairman advised us, however, that if Beat is elected to council he will not be allowed to continue as auditor. Therefore, she had asked Tony Read to be the second auditor if Beat is elected, and Tony had agreed.

  8. Resolution to Allow Postal Voting at Future AGM's
    Tricia Carrick presented slides showing facts about postal voting. Setting it up would be complicated and results would only be known 14 days after the AGM. With only two votes in favour, the resolution was rejected overwhelmingly by a show of hands.

  9. Chaplain's Report
    The Chaplain encouraged us to (re)read the 2019 reports of our different church groups and remind ourselves of all that had happened in 2019. Her priorities were then and still are to encourage us to think about our Christian discipleship, deepen our prayer lives, and strengthen our life as a community.

    Our Church Administrator for 14 years, Jana Kutesko, retired at the end of February and the chaplain thanked her not only for her work in the office but also for organizing many social events, running the British Food Store and serving as a Junior Church teacher.

    Covid and the resulting lockdown changed the life and worship of our church, but the Chaplain said she was impressed by the way many people have worked hard to keep the life of the church going. Online services enabled us to keep worshipping together, pastoral care helped preserve the sense of community and the chaplain sent out twice weekly email letters to about 150 people to inform and encourage them. The Chaplain especially thanked Hector for producing an online service week by week, Martin for being willing to learn how to do it and Art for finding YouTube versions of the hymns.

    During lockdown, the Men's Bible Study and lectio divina continued via zoom. The gardening team worked during that time to transform the church grounds. The Chaplain expressed her gratitude to them.

    Mid-June we were able to re-open the church. Many people were involved in making it happen from developing a Schutzkonzept to creating a seat booking system which is needed because the number of chairs is limited.

    We were able to hold the autumn book sale, a social fundraiser, which was blessed with good weather so people could be outdoors.

    The Chaplain thanked Peter Hawker, David and Archana Jacob for all that they offer to the ministry and life of the church, David and James Morgan for leading the Men's Bible study, Maria Avdikou who replaced Jana as Church Administrator and has had to cope with all the complexities of re-opening the church, all the members of T Com for their work behind the scenes on our building and technical issues, and Donna who is stepping down from council as Synod representative and Council Secretary. All thanks were greeted with applause.

    The Chaplain reflected on the sad loss to our church community of Vreni Hawker, Kathy Hoag and Jean Charlton White and also the loss of Shareene Potter, wife of former Chaplain Peter Potter.

    Looking to the future, the chaplain said we will soon start an online Bible study and that there will continue to be special talks and discussions via Zoom, but hopefully at some point in person. We hope Junior Church will start up again soon.

    As we look to the future we will need flexibility, patience, faith and resilience but the Chaplain said she is confident that whatever joys or struggles we will face, and however challenging this coming year will be, that we will work together and that God's grace will sustain us. She encouraged us to remember that nothing, not Covid, not lockdown, "nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord". This is good news for us as individuals and as a community and it is good news to share.

  10. AOB
    a) Anyone desiring help from T Com should use the special T Com email or phone number and not contact individual team members personally.
    b) The Chaplain thanked David and Pieter who counted the votes and thanked those who were willing to stand for council.
    c) Brian Morgan expressed thanks to Helen and David for their hard work.

  11. Close
    The meeting closed at 12:40 with the grace.

Donna Goepfert (Council Secretary)