Claudia Draffin – Chair

 Dana Lange, Chair-elect

Staff:  Chris Tuttle

Mary Beck Sutton

Personnel Committee

This committee meets as needed to discuss current issues but has met more than once a month during the summer and fall of 2009.  During the summer, when Bruce Cunningham was chair, the committee examined the Personnel Policies Manual, made a few changes and presented it to the Session for approval at its October meeting.  During September, the committee conducted staff evaluations and followed up with a written summary to each staff member.

 During the fall of 2009, Christi O. Brown was interviewed by Personnel and hired by the Session as Parish Associate in charge of the Young Adult Ministry at Westminster.  This contract was then extended for 2010.  Also during the fall of 2009, as Kay Wellemeyer approached the end of the 2 year period as volunteer in charge of the Health Care Ministry at Westminster, Personnel met with her and the Health Care Ministry Board to assess the needs of our congregation and to make a recommendation for the future. 

 With the resignation of Gail Reynolds, Administrative Assistant, in September, Barbara Fletcher began a very successful search, and Personnel interviewed Mary Beth Phillips to fill the position.  Also hired during this time to work in the Nursery were Natalie Wolf and Marketa Dickinson.  Since the Childcare Oversight Committee chaired by Monica Nichols is a subcommittee of Personnel, the accomplishments of that committee are noteworthy and a part of this report.  Jennifer Feiler reports that the main accomplishment of the COC this year is “the creation of the dedicated infant nursery, an age-appropriate, up-to-safety-codes room where our littlest friends can play or sleep.  We also have a full complement of paid caregivers for the Infant and Toddler rooms.”  A nursery that is well-run and creates confidence in the eyes of anxious parents is necessary to the growth of membership. 

As the Personnel Committee deals almost entirely with the needs of the Staff, words taken from Guidelines for Session Personnel Committees summarize the responsibility we bear and its indirect affect on the “inreach” of the congregation.

 A session personnel committee can provide the following benefits:

• An orderly, focused and considerate way for sessions to build a healthy work environment.
• Recommendations to the session of policies, procedures and practices that anticipate outcomes before they happen.
• Counsel and support for the staff.     
• A place where issues can be dealt with before they are personal situations.
• Shared expectations so there are no surprises.

 As a session works with staff and encourages the full use of the gifts and talents of each staff member, a shared ministry evolves.  Valuing each person’s worth and seeing the work of each as a part of the ministry of the church puts meaning into the words of the Book of Order:  “The church of Jesus Christ is the provisional demonstration of what God intends for all of humanity.  As such, the church is called to be a sign in and for the world of the new reality which God has made available to people in Jesus Christ.”         (G-3.0200).  When a particular church treats each staff member as a valued partner in ministry, it becomes a sign to the world of a new reality.  These guidelines are provided with this concept in mind.