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Council News March 2005

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Focus on the Future
• 3. Word from the Moderator
• 4. Civil union celebrants
• 5. Te Aka Puaho
• 6. Assembly Office staff
• 7. Finance update
• 8. Policy Group updates

1. Introduction

Council has a “no-surprises” approach to communication. This newsletter is part of our programme to keep the wider church up-to-date with what is going on in a timely way. Finance matters rightly took up a considerable portion of the most recent Council meeting as we discussed the way forward in light of the larger than projected deficit. Living within our means, and the opportunities this presents to consider new ways of doing God’s work were the key themes from our gathering.

On behalf of Council of Assembly
Kerry Stotter, Convener – Council of Assembly

2. Focus on the Future

The South Island round of Council’s Focus on the Future conversations occurred in early March with good attendance at all meetings (over 200 people in total). Council gained a lot of useful feedback, and is looking forward to the North Island meetings in early April. Many people expressed thanks for the opportunity to be involved, and meeting attendees also took the opportunity to remind Council that they will be interested to see what changes result from the conversations.

Written submissions are also encouraged, and should be with the Assembly Executive Secretary by Friday, 8 April 2005.

See http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/?id=3118 for an update on Focus on the Future, or for a submission form.

3. Word from the Moderator

Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Garry Marquand, gave Council a thought-provoking presentation on mission for today’s world. Garry is giving this presentation, which challenges the whole Church to look at new ways of doing God’s work, at presbyteries around the country. Council encourages people to attend the presentations where possible.

4. Civil union celebrants

Council discussed a resource paper to aid ministers, sessions and parish councils in their reflection on the matter of civil union celebrants. The paper will be circulated widely within the church over the next week or so.

5. Te Aka Puaho

Council noted the induction of Mrs Millie Te Kaawa to the office of Moderator of Te Aka Puaho on 26 February 2005. In another major event, fifty years of service by Te Aka Puaho will be marked by jubilee celebrations at Ohope on 17-20 March 2005.

6. Assembly Office staff

Council noted that the Rev John Daniel had commenced his position as National Mission Enabler. John will be inducted to the new position by the Dunedin Presbytery on Thursday, 14 April.

Fiona Stenhouse, Human Resources Manager also started in March. A big part of Fiona’s role is to further develop and oversee processes that support ministers and others who work for the church.

7. Finance update

Council endorsed Administration and Finance’s view that the projected deficit was unacceptable. The need to move to a sustainable financial position was restated. A&F reported to Council about General Assembly’s current financial position, including factors contributing to the deficit and actions to be taken to address the issue.

Current General Assembly financial position

• In particular, Council endorsed the following A&F recommendations:

- Council of Assembly, related groups and committees will contribute to expenditure reductions by not incurring travel or accommodation costs for the remainder of the financial year. Committees and groups are being challenged to look at creative ways of meeting – for instance split meetings between two centres – so that progress on key initiatives will continue.

- Assembly Office has already begun implementing austerity measures to prudently manage available funds for the remainder of the financial year.

- This financial year, reduce Assembly operating expenditure by $200,000 through a range of specific measures. More information will be made available about the implications for parishes and presbyteries over the next week once specifics have been finalised. Options for increasing Assembly income were discussed, and more information will be made available to the wider church about this next week.

- The strong focus on recovering unpaid Assembly Assessment is to continue. A&F is to work in partnership with presbyteries to recover unpaid monies. Council agreed that a case-by-case approach be taken with those parishes that have made no Assembly Assessment contribution. This will enable the development of tailored, creative solutions that maximise the ability of those parishes to make their Assembly Assessment payments.

• In order to meet Assembly’s bills as they become due, Council approved an increased borrowing level of $1.1 million. A&F is provisionally looking to fund repayments from the sale of property assets owned by General Assembly. A further report is due to Council before a final decision is made about possible sale of the assets.

2005/06 General Assembly budget

• A&F was authorised to investigate and consider a range of measures to decrease expenditure and/or increase income with a view to setting a balanced budget for the 2005/06 financial year.
• A&F will continue to focus on recovering unpaid Assembly Assessment monies while it is developing a budget that reflects realistic income and expenditure levels.
• The General Assembly budget is being prepared with reference to the General Assembly 2004 decision that encourages Assembly to develop a balanced budget that reflects a realistic estimate of income. It will also take into account outcomes from the Focus on the Future conversations and the church’s future priorities. More information about the budget will be available following Council’s consideration in June 2005.

The Finance Support Group continues to assist the work of A&F and Assembly’s finance team.

Looking to the future

The discussion on short-term solutions to address the current situation raised questions for Council about how the whole Church can function effectively and sustainably. Council spent considerable time discussing medium and long-term opportunities to look at different ways of doing things. To this end Council authorised the investigation of a number of initiatives that will contribute to more effective stewardship of Church resources.

Parish statistics

• Council noted that around 40 parishes had yet to provide their annual statistics. Up-to-date statistics are needed to ensure that Assembly Assessment calculations are accurate, and to provide accurate data for the 2005/06 budget.

8. Policy Group updates

• Council accepted recommendations from the nominations committee and appointments were made to Core Doctrine Reference Group, Connecting with Society Policy Group and the Churches Agency on Social Issues.
• The detail of policy group reports to Council can be found on the Presbyterian website at http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/?id=1090
• The Book of Order Rewrite, Stipend and the Focal Identity Statement Task Group made work in progress reports to Council.