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Parish Council Meeting Minutes

Nativity of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

7:30pm

In Attendance: Maxine Calamos, Michael Euripides, Christine Fulmore, Steve Giannopoulos, George Kartoudi, Daniela Langa, John Manolis, Robert Morrison, Nicholas Pappas and Sandy Winkler.

Nicholas Pappas left meeting at 9:00pm.

1. Meeting Call To Order

· Steve Giannopoulos (“SG”) called meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

· Father John opened with a prayer.

· SG requested that all council members submit their contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) to him. SG will prepare electronic spreadsheet and forward to all council members.

· SG advised that all future PC meeting agendas and minutes from prior meetings will be emailed to PC members at least 24 hours before the meeting so they can be reviewed.

2. Reading and Approval of Parish Council Minutes from 11 January 2009

Corrections Needed:

  1. Secretary Nominations: Daniela Langa’s name was misspelled and the ballot count was 3 votes for Nicholas Pappas and 7 votes for Christine Fulmore and not 4-7 Correction Noted.
  2. Vacancy in Parish Council: Nicholas Pappas states the wording is incorrect. Instead of “hold off discussing until next meeting” it should read “tabled until next meeting”. Nicholas Pappas’ recalls that Steve Giannopoulos asked for all Parish Council Members to submit a name of potential candidates to the next meeting. Correction Noted
  3. Tie Vote: Nicholas Pappas states the minutes should reflect that Father John believed that the UPR 25 Section 8 addresses this situation but after review during the meeting, it was decided that this particular UPR section did not apply nor did the UPR address this scenario. Nicholas Pappas believes the issue should have been settled at the PC meeting and Fr John should not have contacted the NJ Metropolis for a resolution because the PC was capable of resolving it. Correction Noted
  4. Next meeting date did not state 7:30 p.m. and the year 2009 was missing. Correction Noted
  5. A motion (motion 1) to accept the minutes with corrections was made by Nicholas Pappas, seconded by Sandy Winkler and passed with a majority voice vote.
  6. Nicholas Pappas requested that signature lines should be inserted on the final draft of the minutes and that Fr John, President and Secretary will need to endorse it. Steve Giannopoulos stated that he has provided Christine Fulmore a sample of minutes that he used in the past.

  1. Nicholas Pappas suggested that the final draft of minutes (with endorsements) should be forwarded to Steve Noonen for posting on the church website. Steve Giannopoulos advised that he will create a “Parish Council” bulletin board to post all PC minutes as well as other items for the parishioners and for transparency.
  2. Corrections made on 11January2009 Minutes and signed accordingly.

3. Executive Session

· At 7:45pm Steve Giannopoulos requested the PC enter into an executive session, in compliance with Roberts Rules of Order so that Fr. John could discuss a sensitive issue.

· A motion (motion 2) to go into an executive session was made by Maxine Calamos, seconded by John Manolis and passed with a majority voice vote.

At 9:00pm the executive session was over and the meeting continued.

4. Old Business

a. Tie Vote between Sandy Winkler and Steve Giannopoulos.

· Father said that he foresaw this as a problem on 10 November 2008, the day after the elections and contacted the Metropolis for some guidance on how to proceed and rectify this situation. The Metropolis responded that the current Parish Council resolve issue on its own.

· John Manolis suggested that Sandy Winkler and Steve Giannopoulos both have a 3 year term.

· Parish Council members had a lengthy discussion on various options but a final decision was not reached.

· Steve Giannopoulos requested this matter be tabled until next meeting.

· John Manolis made a motion to table and George Kartoudi seconded the motion.

b. Nomination of 11th Person to Parish Council

· John Manolis recommends Pauline Gorton for the 11th member of the Parish Council. He has already spoken with her and she will accept the position if asked. The Parish Council members agreed she would be an asset to the Council.

· No other nominations.

· A motion (motion 3) to nominate Pauline Gorton to the Parish Council was made by John Manolis, seconded by Sandy Winkler and passed with a majority voice vote.

End of Old Business.

5. New Business

  1. Church candles

· Candles need to be counted to determine if an order needs to be placed.

· Steve Giannopoulos agreed to conduct an inventory and place order so that supply last for the rest of the calendar year.

· All Parish Council Members agreed as stated above.

  1. Future Parish Council Meeting Dates:

· Council members agreed that scheduled meetings will be held on the 1st Thursday of the month at 7:30pm.

· Because of urgent business, all agreed that for the next few months meetings will be held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month.

· The time will remain at 7:30pm.

  1. Schedule for Narthex:

· Agreement that 2 Parish Council Members should be stationed in the Narthex every Sunday.

· George Kartoudi volunteered to create a schedule and will email all Parish Council members a copy (Maxine will get a hard copy).

  1. Budget for 2009:

· Steve Giannopoulos wants to begin budget review for calendar year 2009 at the next scheduled Parish Council meeting.

· Bill Nosal is creating a spreadsheet and based on information privided by Maxine Calamos

· Maxine Calamos states that it will be completed by the next Parish Council meeting.

· Steve Giannopoulos advised that the Diocese needs the budget by the end of February (his recollection).

  1. Stewardship Update:

· Michael Euripides asked the Parish Council members to submit a list of “Talking Points” for Saturday, 24 January 2009 stewardship workshop with Father Nick Triantafilou.

· Steve Giannopoulos requested that these questions sent to his attention via email

· Per Sandy Winkler’s request, Michael Euripides will share useful items from his prior experience of being involved with successful stewardship workshops to give us some guidance.

· Father Nick Triantafilou has declined to accept a stipend for stewardship weekend.

· Father John recommends that we present Fr Nick Triantafilou with an icon of The Nativity of the Theotokos.

· Sandy Winkler feels as though this is a nice gesture but does not want to insult Father Nick Triantafilou by not giving him some kind of stipend and asked Michael to see what has been done in past where he was involved.

· Christine Fulmore will ask her dad (retired priest) for his recommendation regarding the stipend.

  1. General Assembly Dates- Budget/By-Laws

· Parish Council needs to calendar 2 dates for a General Assembly per the UPR.

· The By-Laws General Assembly is scheduled for February 15, 2009. This date was established at the last General Assembly for By-Laws completion.

· Steve Giannopoulos does not recall everything that was discussed at the past General Assembly and will ask Nicholas Pappas and Bill Kaltsounis (By-Law Committee) on what steps need to be taken in order to comply with General Assembly recommendations.

· The other General Assembly should be scheduled is for Budget Approval.

· Steve Giannopoulos stressed the importance of having this General Assembly as soon as possible.

· Sandy Winkler will work with Maxine Calamos and strive to have budget completed within next few weeks.

· Sandy Winkler wants to coordinate with the auditors to set guidelines and parameters for an audit.

· Sandy Winkler and Maxine Calamos will take care of the signature cards required for the treasurer transition and handle as expeditiously as possible.

· General discussion about having both the By-Laws and Budget discussed at one General Assembly but general concern that this meeting could be too lengthy.

· Michael Euripides suggested having a General Assembly during a weeknight with possibly supplying some food.

· A motion (motion 4) that we have the Budget General Assembly on a weeknight by the end of February, was made by John Manolis, seconded by Michael Euripides and passed with a majority voice vote.

· The By-Laws information as well as Budget information for the General Assemblies will be sent in advance to Parishioners so they can review per the UPR.

End of New Business.

6. Adjournment

A motion (motion 5) to adjourn was made by Maxine Calamos, seconded by George Kartoudi and passed on a majority voice vote at 10:30pm. Father said closing prayer.

7. Next Meeting Date and Time

Thursday, 22 January 2009 at 7:30pm

Fr John Katsoulis, Parish Priest

Steve Giannopoulos, Parish Council President

Christine Fulmore, Parish Council Secretary
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