The papers for the Annual Congregational Meeting can be downloaded below.

On the 25th August a congregational meeting approved the creation of a position of office manager. (minutes here)

The Session has formed an interview panel consisting of two elders (Warwick Smith and James Hansen) and two people in the congregation with HR expertise. Please direct enquiries to Warwick Smith.

Commence: Negotiable, ideally October 2009.

Part-time (50%) Office Manager on a total package of $30,000 (includes super).

A consultancy by Robert Benn with the DPC elders last November recommended that the DPC staff would be far more effective if we had an Administrator/Office Manager in the staff mix freeing up Darryl, Anna and particularly Craig from a large administrative load.

It is envisaged that the Office Manager would work 5 days a week (Monday to Friday) for 4 hours a day, with the start and finish times on each day being negotiable. The role will involve evening meetings (about two per month) which will be included in the total 20 hours of the week. It is envisaged that the Office Manager would attend one of the dpc congregations, but would not be expected to attend all three each Sunday. The Office Manager would be under the direction of the minister for day-to-day duties.

4 weeks annual leave.

Mature Christian happy to work within the dpc mission.

Good people and conflict management skills.

Good at keeping a confidence.

Needs to be good at working with volunteers.

As a rough idea of duties, the Office manager may be asked to do the following, but the position will not be limited to these specific items.

Daily

• receive, filter and pass on emails
• sort the mail, make sure it gets to the right people (like kids church stuff to Astrid, distributing Scripture leader manuals to scripture teachers)
• answer the phone, return routine calls.
• manage Craig's appointments and correspondence

Weekly

• Attend Mon Staff meeting, organise agenda, take minutes and communicate outcomes,
• help with white card responses
• Assist with roster planning for Sunday meetings
• maintain contacts & regulars database
• Organise stationery, food supplies, etc
• backup office computer and stuff on Staff hard-drive.
• transfer Bible talks to web site
• Update Website Announcements
• Routine web site maintenance (updating stuff)
• Friday team meeting , organise agenda, take minutes and communicate outcomes
• print and collate bulletins & inserts (including WofP, Deb Chen, Session update, Committee update)
• Load up Easy Worship Each Sunday (3 congs): song lyrics, video, pics, etc...
• Hymn board setup
• Friday clean up of church

Less Often

• print and collate Meeting Papers for church meetings (Session, HGLO, AGM, Kids church training meetings)
• attend Committee meetings and Session meetings
• distribute planner
• attend 6:30pm co-ordination meeting (once a term), organise agenda & minutes
• attend 10:30am co-ordination meeting (once a term), organise agenda & minutes
• Baptism & Marriage Service Paperwork
• FES Paperwork & Student Assessment Paperwork
• Be on church premises for tradesmen and chase/follow-up during office hours
• Bi-Monthly DPC booklet
• Bookstall admin
• Tracking, authorising and training on swabs for church. Hall Key distribution.
• Track Church & Hall bookings
• Lost property monitor
• Update job descriptions on web site
• Keep Software up to date.
• Head Office Liason
• Lock and unlock for funerals, etc.
• Manage office/admin volunteers
• doing one-off projects (such as Address book, Weekend Away data entry, Weekend Away booklet),
• small video projects for Sunday
• Music Admin: sourcing sheet music, updating musos folders, getting lyrics onto EasyWorship, CCLI reporting.

Essential Computer Skills:

Good with Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint.

Can install and manage new software

Needs to be able to pick up: Wave Editor, Picture Editor, Easy Worship, Wordpress, Facebook, Basic Video Editing, Troubleshoot Windows LAN and WLAN issues.

A congregational meeting was held on Monday 13th July 2009 approving capital works to the Cottage at 10 Bowman St Drummoyne for less than $40,000.

Please find the minutes of the meeting attached to this post.

Background:

The cottage at 10 Bowman St was owned by Sir Thomas Henley, local MP, businessman and elder at dpc for many years who on his death bequeathed the cottage to the Church. The Session and Management Committee share the view that the most strategic use of the cottage at this time is as accommodation for ministry staff. However, both Session and Committee have become increasingly aware of some of the shortcomings of the cottage as a home for anyone and particularly as a ministry home where groups, meetings and hospitality usually place a greater demand on the home. (Ian & Liz Halbisch and others in the past have been very gracious about this.) After much thought and consultation the Committee are proposing that the following renovations be made to the property.

The proposal is to renovate the cottage with funds already held in trust for capital works. Through a bequest some time ago $40,000 was given to dpc which can only be used for capital improvements.
It is anticipated that work would commence in late July. Upon completion (in about early November) Darryl Soh and his family would move in to the cottage.

How can we afford to do this when we are struggling/unable to meet our staff budget?
The increases to the dpc staff in 2008 were perhaps getting a little ahead of ourselves. While we continue to grow we have not met the ambitious targets that were set. Ian and Liz Halbisch were due to finish in December 2009 but this has unfortunately been brought forward. Ian is expected to finish up in Drummoyne and take up a ministry position in Wagga as the Assistant Minister in July.
The renovations will be funded from a bequest made some time ago of $40,000. It is money that we cannot use for wages or other ongoing costs but is specifically for capital works. In other words we could not use this money to keep the Halbisch’s at DPC for the remainder of 2009.

While the property is vacant is the ideal time to do structural works.

Wouldn’t it better to rent the cottage out?
Currently we pay Darryl a rental allowance and he provides his own housing. Upon moving in to the cottage we would cease to provide this allowance. The saving we will make by not paying him this allowance will be roughly equivalent to the potential net rent of the cottage.

What will the renovation involve?
The renovations will remove internal walls between the kitchen and dining areas, provide internal access to the laundry and back toilet, and the provision of a modern kitchen and laundry. The cottage would then have 2 living areas, a modern kitchen and 2 internal toilets, whilst the overall external dimensions of the cottage would remain the same.

Is this a wise management of our assets?
The Committee’s primary aim is to provide appropriate housing for ministry staff in the cottage, but it is comforting that this development also makes good financial sense if the cottage needs to be rented in the future. Enquiries with local real estate agents suggest that in its current state the cottage would net approx $500 per week in rent. Advice provided to
the Committee suggests that with the proposed renovations the cottage would rent for between $600-700 net per week. Based on the proposed expenditure of less than $40,000 we would be achieving a gross Return on Equity of between 13-26%. Currently the funds are held with the NSW Presbyterian Trustees earning bank interest.

Apart from our maintenance needs for which these capital funds cannot be used, the Committee is aware that there are other
capital improvements needed at dpc including the pressing needs for toilets in the church building. On balance, the Committee believes the cottage is the best use of these funds at this time. The Committee is investigating starting a building fund for major works in the near future.

Project Team: The team consists of Dave Sampson, Richard Ferguson and Chris Wilson who bring a wealth of experience to this project. The Committee is grateful for the professional expertise donated already by Richard and Chris in bringing the project to the DA stage. The team will co-opt and consult as required throughout the project and will be looking for volunteer labour to keep costs to a minimum.

Plans for Council: Attached at Annex A are the proposed plans for council. Please note that this Development Application includes work that could be done in coming years (a back deck, etc...) but there is no plan to proceed with all this work at this stage. For expediency these extra items have been bundled into the current Development Application.
Budget: Attached at Annex B is an estimate of costings by a qualified builder. A second estimate will be secured before the Congregational Meeting. At this stage the Committee is proposing to complete only the internal work totalling $38,000. We are asking that the proposed budget figure be set at “less than $40,000” to provide for slight overruns. The Project Team will report directly to the Committee on a monthly basis. The Project Team will secure necessary quotes at each stage before work commences and the Committee promptly informed of any changes. Any significant change to the project will be reported to the congregation.

Risks: The project is containable and minimal in its scope, but is not without risk. The 2 major risks that are evident at this stage are:
1. Time / Cost overruns. Whilst little can be done to speed the wheels of Council process, the project schedule and budget will be closely followed and communicated to Committee.

2. Injury to personnel. Strict standards of OH&S will be adhered to as well as ensuring our insurance cover remains appropriate for this development.
Project Milestones:
July Congregational Approval
August DA Approval
August Demolition, structural changes
September Plaster, carpentry, electrics and plumbing
October Kitchen, tiling, finishes
Early November Move in

Questions or Feedback?
If you have any questions about this proposal prior to the Congregational Meeting please call Dave Sampson (sampsonteam@optusnet.com.au | 97052011) who is heading the Project Team or any member of the Committee.

DPC Finance Update Feb 2009

The Annual Congregational Meeting will on be on Tues 12th May at 7:30pm in the church building. We will be electing a new Committee of Management and making some important decisions about the future. Papers for the meeting will be available on the website very soon.

This is a Request for Reimbursement Form. It is for approved expenses encurred for church activities. You need receipts/invoices to claim expenses.

Fill it in and give it to a member of the Committee of Management along with your receipts.