Council Corner
Council Meeting –
The council met briefly on Thursday, July 17th. Topics of discussion involved the third-party audit of our financial records, the purchase of a new riding lawn mower for the grounds, and the status of our separation process which will be discussed further below. The audit did not identify any concerns but did make some recommendations to improve our financial process. These recommendations have been incorporated in our process. The lawn mower was needed to replace some older mowers and to assist our volunteers who keep up the grounds. The cost of the new mower was a little over $4000, and donations from our Christmas in July dinner will be used to offset a portion of this expense. The status of our separation process is discussed further below. Our next council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 16th at 6PM. Shortly after this meeting, we will hold our annual congregational meeting. This meeting will most likely be on Sunday, November 2nd at 3PM but the exact timing will be announced later.
Status of our separation process –
Lynn Chapman participated in a conference call with NCLL and many of the other churches involved in the separation process on Thursday, June 26th, where the following information was provided. NCLL is currently representing fifty-eight (58) churches involved in the separation process, but there are several other churches also proceeding in this effort using attorneys of their own choosing outside of NCLL. The SC UMC is filing lawsuits against one or two churches each week, but it is not known when the suit against our church will be filed. No ruling is expected from the SC Supreme Court until September or later concerning the SC UMC motion to consolidate all cases. NCLL has responded with a motion to deny due to separate communities and circumstances for the various churches. NCLL has successfully defended the request to consolidate in Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina with a ruling pending in Pennsylvania. NCLL has also petitioned the SC Supreme Court to review the relevant laws associated with the case including property ownership, to clarify certain legal principles associated with the cases, and to provide an initial consistent ruling that may be followed as each case is handled. The SC UMC has responded to this petition, but their response lacked clarity in the opinion of our NCLL attorney.
Since that council meeting, our NCLL lawyers in conjunction with the lawyers for the SC conference have prepared a “Status Quo Stipulation and Agreement” document. This document was approved in the past week and will be recorded at the Aiken County RMC office in the near future. Basically, this document prevents the conference from interfering with our continued use of our facilities as long as we continue to appropriately manage and care for them as we have always done.
Also of note is that the conference lawyers continue to update the “Lis Pendens” document at the Aiken County RMC office. As previously discussed, this document only says that a lawsuit against St. John Methodist Church will be filed within 20 days. No lawsuit has been filed as of this date, so the conference lawyers just keep up-dating the Lis Pendens document prior to the end of the 20 days. As soon as we are served with any documents associated with the lawsuit, we will announce this information during the next Sunday morning service.
Volunteers –
If anyone would like to assist our church and be a member of the council or any of our committees, please let one of the existing council members know of your desire so that we can include you in the future planning for our council and committee membership for the future. It would be extremely difficult for our church to function without all of the volunteers that we presently have assisting our various efforts. Please think prayerfully about stepping forward and help our church as we move forward during these uncertain times.
Finally, please continue to pray for our church and its leaders as we continue on our journey for separation. These are trying times for us all so please be patient with the process, and if you have questions or concerns, please see me or give me a call (803-645-6396).
Peyton