2011 Annual Meeting

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  • Our 2011 Annual meeting took place on Monday, September 19th at 7pm Pacific / 9pm Central / 10pm Eastern time.
  • It was a time for reflecting on our previous two years of ministry in Second Life.
  • It was a time for discerning where God is calling us in the present day, and in the year to come.
  • A financial report was provided to account for funds received and spent in the past year.
  • As a starting point for our discussion, we used the following Congregational Resource Guide.



Meeting Summary

  • The meeting began at 7:16 SLT. Neill Loxingly opened with prayer.
  • In attendance were Menchor Barbosa, Aeldyn Belfire, JoySophia Northman, Suemoon Magic, Malachi Hissop (Nathan), Nodius Tyrellium, deadpooljeeves Resident (Jeeves), MB Deed, and jazzdeb Resident.

Finances

Tre (via Menchor & JoySophia) did a presentation on 1PCSL finances (charts at bottom of this page) and entertained questions about our financial status. Since we began accepting regular contributions last summer, giving has declined slightly overall, but with a few "spikes" including the present month. Contributions have on the whole exceeded expenses, even when not counting the $200USD payment from Presbyterians Today Magazine for a jointly authored article earlier in the summer. It was noted that there are sufficient funds in reserve to cover five months of expenses, and that this is a good position to be in. There was some discussion and review of our financial accountability arrangements, and the roles of Menchor, JoySophia, Miguelski Simsider, and Tre (our avatar treasurer). Since Miguelski has been inactive for awhile (due to his increased involvement in global mission work) it was agreed that Neill would ask him if he would like us to continue in his capacity on the finance team, and if he does not, that we find a suitable replacement. It was also agreed that the password for Tre's account be changed periodically, as those who have access to the account rotate in and out of the financial team.

Land Addition

MB Deed made an offer of her adjacent land (on which the labyrinth is located) as a donation to the church. This would increase our monthly tier (rent) by L$2,000 per week, but since MB is already paying this amount in tier, she offered to simply shift her payment to the church instead. Suemoon offered to contribute towards the cost of this addition as well. After some discussion, it was agreed by vote that we accept MB's donation of land, while preserving and encouraging her freedom to continue to develop the land as her creativity leads. It was also agreed by consensus that we should mention the existence and availability of the labyrinth for public use on both our SL directory listing and the church website.



  • Needs/Wants reflection time -- several people shared
  • Some discussion about sharing gifts
  • MB offered her adjacent land/labyrinth to the Church. After discussion, it was agreed (by vote) to accept her gift while preserving and encouraging her freedom to continue to develop the land as her creativity leads.
  • Discussion of gifts 1PCSL would like to offer our two communities SL and PCUSA in the year to come:
    • One of our gifts is writing:
    • Seek out opportunities to write another article for a Christian publication (several possibilities were mentioned)
    • Develop two books to be published in SL: One about Presbyterian Life, and another (possibly) about Advent
  • Continuation of our support for other ministries in SL, particularly through cooperation on special services/occasions/events.
  • Discussion of pursuing 501c3 non-profit status -- it was agreed by vote that Suemoon should research this further and report back to group.
  • MB Closed in prayer.