Organization & Committees

The Stewardship and Finance Committee encourages members of Eastminster United Church to commit time, talents and dollars to God’s Mission through the work of the church at home and abroad. Our committee keeps the congregation aware of what their gifts are doing and invites members and adherents of all ages to live a stewardship lifestyle.

The committee is responsible for managing the financial obligations of the congregation through the volunteer Treasurer and paid bookkeeper positions. Annually this committee coordinates preparation and approval of an operating budget, identification of a commitment to the Mission and Service Fund, distribution of offering envelopes, subscription to the United Church Observer for all members as well as arranging for an external audit of the financial records.

On an ongoing basis, the committee is responsible for counting the Sunday offering and deposits, reporting on actual spending and budget overruns to Church Council, maintenance of all office equipment as well as disbursing funds according to the approved budget. Stewardship & Finance works closely with the Eastminster Trustees, through the Church Treasurer, to ensure the timely transfer of funds as required to the operating account of Eastminster United Church in a manner that optimizes overall investment income.

In November each year, the committee facilitates a Stewardship Awareness campaign to encourage active participation in the life of Eastminster, strengthen the financial commitment of members through pledging, increase the utilization of Pre-Authorized Remittance for stability of forecasting and raise support for the wider church through the United Church of Canada’s Mission and Service Fund.

2011-2012 Chair: Melodie Mui

Members: Christopher Gage, John Lee, Norman Tanaka, Kim Wilson

With an aging building this committee is kept on their toes as they constantly work to keep the building running.  With a dedicated team of custodians there is a constant round of cleaning, repairs, room set up for groups, painting, providing security and attending to the needs of our many user groups and tenants.

2011-2012 Chair: John Brown

Members: John Day, Bill Fraser

The presbytery is a court of ministry personnel and representatives of local churches gathered to provide fellowship and support among congregations in the area.  The presbytery is a cluster of pastoral charges, usually geographically based.

Eastminster’s Presbytery Representative: Winston Roach

The Nominating Committee is an ad hoc committee struck annually by Eastminster Church Council to encourage members of the congregation to bring their talents to committee work and to offer canidates for membership on the various committees.

Terms of office are defined by Eastminster’s constitution, so it is important that members of the Nominating Committee liaise with committee chairs to understand the needs of a given committee and to put forward the candidate(s) whose talents are a good match for the work of the committee. The Nominating Committee also strives to ensure that the committees remain diverse, vibrant and representative of the congregation.

The Ministry and Personnel Committee is responsible to:

(a)     review and resolve problems of a private and personal nature pertaining to staff and, in certain instances, members of the Congregation.

(b)     hear and make recommendations to the Church Council on appeals from non-ministerial staff who feel they have been unfairly dealt with in regard to reprimand or dismissal.

(c)     review at least annually the job description, priorities and performance of all staff after consultation with supervisors or the Church Council;

(d)      advise staff and discuss with them all salary revisions on the basis of budgets prepared by Stewardship & Finance, ratified by the Church Council and approved by the Congregation;

(e)      make recommendations concerning the hiring and dismissing of all caretaking, music, office and other professional staff, with the exception of the inducted minister(s), to the Church Council for ratification. This will be done in consultation with other committees or staff members as appropriate.

2011-2012 Chair: Chris Bennett

Members: Ruth Plant, Stephanie Speal, Raymond Storey, Cindy Zwicker-Reston

The Trustees of Eastminster are a separate body from Council who are charged with managing the financial and other gifts received by Eastminster United Church.  With the support of MGI Investments who act as our investment advisors, the Trustees invest the funds received to optimize financial return for the benefit of Eastminster United Church. Investment policy is established by a subcommittee of the Trustees, and follows the “prudent investor” approach to investing.  At present, the Trustees manage approximately $1.4 million in assets on behalf of Eastminster United Church.

The annual financial obligations of the Trustees are to provide for the salaries and housing allowance of the ministers, to make-up any operating deficit incurred by Eastminster United Church, and to cover other financial obligations of Eastminster United Church (such as capital expenditures) as directed by its Council.  Another important function of the Board of Trustees is to ensure that the congregation carries adequate property and liability insurance; thus the Trustees manage all matters related to insurance for the Eastminster building on behalf of Eastminster Council.

The Board of Trustees serves under the direction of Eastminster Council, and reports regularly via a Trustee representative who sits on Eastminster Council. Typically Eastminster’s Trustees are members of Eastminster United Church who are serving or have served on other Council committees.

Board of Trustees

Rev. Sarah Bourcier-Miller

John Brown

Andrew Cassidy

Victor Chan (Treasurer)

Bruce Clark

Marjorie McAughey

Alistair Murray

Judith Ramsay

Winston Roach

Ted Sievenpiper (Chair)

David Stokell

Norman Tanaka

Marilyn Wilcoxen