VIEW FROM THE MANSE 2.0 - NOVEMBER 2025

 

A few times throughout the year, the elders, deacons, and trustees take the time to meet together. This is important for our church because we want our leadership team working together and we want to have a common culture across the church.

          During our October meeting we celebrated those who are cycling off our boards. When you are elected for one of these positions, you are elected for a 3-year term, with a good chance that you will be invited to serve for a second term.

          Ellen Fullerton and Ray Steidle are cycling off the session after serving for 6 years each. They both came on session shortly after Steve and Kim moved to Texas. It is hard to believe that 6 years have passed. They both had the privilege of serving during some unfamiliar waters (pastoral transition and COVID) and I am grateful for their steady leadership.

          Ida Williams is cycling off after having served 6 years as a deacon (many of those as co-chair). Ida brought a great deal of compassion, enthusiasm, structure, and creativity to her role. Aside from her role as deacon, she has done a wonderful job helping us design slides for Sunday morning and keeping our website up to date.

          Both Jolene Jenks and Kelsey Tuttle are cycling off after 3 years as deacons due to some changes in their own personal lives. We are so glad that they served us with such kind spirits and a heart for our congregation.

          Jordan Tuttle is stepping away from the trustees work after his 3 year term as well. We are so grateful for all the work he and our other trustees have put in to maintain and improve our properties.

          In our October meeting with all of our teams we go over the budget in the coming year. We will discuss these things at our annual meeting in January of 2026, but let me mention a few things by way of preview:

1.             Our church recently changed it’s weekly cleaning team and we have hired ALL-PRO. This has changed our expense slightly, but we hope it works better for the weekly rhythms of our church.

2.             The cost of water has gone up in the village. This is true for everyone and is necessary if we are going fix some of the ongoing problems in the village water system.

3.             We have earmarked $15,000 for a new stove for the kitchen. The stove is more than 30 years old and it is time to replace it. While this shows up in the regular budget, our plan is to look to savings that have already been set aside to fix it.

4.             We try and give a cost of living increase to each person who works at the church. This year that was 2.9%

5.             We have added a $2k line for disaster relief.

          Finally, you may have noticed a giant crane blocking Barkley Ave recently. It has become obvious that the weathervane has become a bigger problem in recent years. We sent a drone up to look and we are afraid that it might lead to water damage or fall and cause damage to someone or something. It has to come down. We are grateful that the trustees have been proactive with this issue.

          Bryan Fitzgerald, Pastor (bryan@argylepresbyterian.org)