Boards/Committees

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees primary mission is threefold: (1) to develop and present for Congregation approval of the First Church of Christ’s budget; (2) to oversee the repair, maintenance, capital improvements, and general cleaning of the church facility; and (3) to provide investment oversight of First Church endowment funds. The Board of Trustees is responsible for balancing the use of Church facilities while preserving the building with a long-term maintenance strategy.

Board members this year included: Heather Jackson (Chair), Forbes Warren (Vice-Chair), Brian Davis, Jean Haberman, Jean Linderman, James Morrissey, Harold Parmelee, John Preston, John Reid, and Jill Carpenter (Church Treasurer, ex-officio).

Total operating revenue income from all sources for the year was $882,647 which was under budget by $7,277. Pledge income was $659,502 which was slightly under budget by $4,915. We transferred $144,268 of investment income from the endowment funds to the operating budget based upon the 5 % spending policy approved by the Congregation for 2007. Special offerings provided income of $30,006 which was spent for the purposes designated in the special offering.

Expenses were $877,761 which was $12,164 below budget. Compensation, including salaries and benefits, was on budget for 2007. We finished the year with a surplus of $25,588 which will be carried forward to help in future years’ budgets.

First Church’s total assets as of December 31, 2007 were $3,563,926 as compared with a year end balance of $3,706,004 as of December 31, 2006. The decrease was due to the purchase of the Hale Property with donated cash funds in January 2007. These balances exclude the church’s real estate and personal property located in the church building. These funds belong to various endowment, reserves and other funds as shown in the financial statement.

The Connecticut Conference United Church of Christ Consolidated Trust (formerly known as Connecticut Missionary Society) had a balance of $2,860,672. The Burnham Trust Funds, invested with Bank of America, totaled $387,683. Two money market accounts are maintained to provide liquid funds to meet cash flow needs. Our Vanguard Federal Money Market account was $34,315. Our Webster savings account was $39,712. Our checking account with BankNorth had a balance of $159,018 at year-end.

Other assets were $82,527 at year end.

First Church is insured through the United Church of Christ and the Insurance Advisory Board (IAB). We have blanket coverage of $6 million for building and contents with a $10,000 deductible.

As with the previous year, all facility maintenance contracts were reviewed for content and efforts were made to improve terms and conditions and pricing. Contracts were reviewed for the YMCA and Foodshare. All contract information including vendors, pricing, and renewal dates are being kept in the church office.

The board was active this year in continuing to address many repair, maintenance, and general cleaning projects while staying below budgeted levels. Major projects completed during 2007-2008 included numerous miscellaneous repairs completed through the Volunteer Maintenance Program which was coordinated by Facilities Manager, Roger Yost, the driveway was relocated and straightened to coordinate with Town of Glastonbury improvements to Main Street, and development of plans for universal access. The board also continued replacement of electrical fixtures and installed motion-detector light switches to promote energy conservation. Savings estimated to be $3,000 per year in electricity costs. The Board also continued to use Jani-King of Hartford for cleaning services of the facility.

A small group of dedicated volunteers, known as the "Sweat Equity Group," worked on several projects on the Hale Property during 2007-2008. The value of the time and professional services donated by these volunteers is in excess of $45,000. The projects they worked on include continued cleaning of the house of debris and unnecessary fixtures, demolition of the non-historic rear wing, clearing the back lot of damaged trees and debris, repair of the picket fence which now outlines the original historic house, installation of exterior lighting to the front of the house, and creation of a new grass area at the front side of the Hale property after the driveway relocation project was completed.

Safe Rides continues to use our facility on Friday and Saturday nights as a base of operations to provide safe transportation to teenagers. The program is run by Glastonbury teenage volunteers and overseen by adults.

Board members also participated in other committees during the year. Forbes Warren served as liaison to the Memorial Committee. Jean Linderman acted as liaison to the Stewardship Committee. James Morrissey worked with the Human Resources Committee and represented the board at the Opportunity Fair. Rebecca Fleahman, Office Manager, and Jill Carpenter, Treasurer, assisted the board in a variety of issues as ex-officio members. John Preston served as our finance liaison and also assisted Executive Committee in drafting the 2008 budget. Heather Jackson served a board representative at church council, executive committee, and personnel committee.

The board participated in the Homecoming picnic in September. In October, the board organized "Blue Jean Sunday," where church members participated in fall clean-up activities after services. The turnout this year was good with many new families volunteering to help with the clean-up activities. The board also organized and provided a Wednesday Lenten supper in March.

The issues facing the Board of Trustees over the next year include maintaining fiscal responsibility for the operating budget, continuing a responsible and coordinated approach to maintenance of the church facilities through use of the Facilities Manager and Volunteer Maintenance Program, use of outside contractors (Jani-King), and the Hale Property Sweat Equity volunteers, initiation of several capital improvement projects using Founders Fund monies approved by the congregation, replacement of the oil furnace in the admin wing with a more cost efficient natural gas burner, continuing to upgrade office computers, and completion of the universal access project.

In summary, the Board of Trustees has had a successful year in financial management of the church funds and implementing a maintenance and repair program within our operating budget.

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Jackson
Chair, Board of Trustees
April 2008