Ministry Spotlight

Barbara Weiss, Committee Chair, bweiss1952@gmail.com Rev. Craig Goodrich, Senior Pastor, craigg@fpcnaples.org

• Review ordained staff annually and recommend any changes to their Terms of Call to Session for final vote by Congregation. • Consult on termination of and hiring of nonordained employees • Hire new staff

A Behind-the-Scene Peek: The Work of the Personnel Committee

Of all of the committees and task forces supporting the work of First Presbyterian Church of Naples, perhaps the least visible committee is the Personnel Committee. We are like the stage crew for a stage play, or the lighting and tech team for a big named band on tour. Except for the annual meeting to approve the Terms of Call for our Pastors (prepared by the Personnel Committee), the principal purpose of the committee is to care and appreciate our wonderful staff. The PC(USA)’s Book of Order requires Sessions to provide for the administration of the program of the church, including the employment of nonordained staff, with particular concern for equal employment opportunity, fair employment practices, personnel policies, annual review of the adequacy of compensation for all church staff.

The BYLAWS of our church require the Session to provide for the supervision, compensation and administration of the Church staff. The Session has delegated these responsibilities of its Personnel Committee. The Personnel Committee works with the Head of Staff and our Executive Office Manager on all employment matters. The Members of the Committee are asked to serve based upon needed areas of expertise to carry out the assigned duties. A Ruling Elder is selected to Chair this committee. Currently, Ruling Elder Barb Weiss is chair of the Personnel Committee. She is joined by two other Ruling Elders serving as members, Jim Mahon and Fran Englehardt. Norm Brown, Janie Casassa, Nick Linn, Pat Nordbrock, Betty Plum and Chuck Work are non-Session members of the committee.

The Basic Responsibilities of the committee are to: • Prepare and/or approve job descriptions • Review staff performance • Develop a Human Resource Manual • Adopt and review annually all benefit packages offered to non-ordained staff • Prepare annual budget of salary adjustments for Session approval. These basic responsibilities take up the majority of our meeting time, and often require scheduling extra meetings when working on a big project. Some of the major improvements the committee has made to our ongoing documents and processes include: • Changing an annual performance appraisal from numeric ratings to a conversational appraisal highlighting work accomplishments and future goals. Supervisors check in with their staff quarterly to go over staff performance. • Constantly updating HR Manual as laws and needs make necessary. For example, a large amount of time was spent on how to most fairly protect and care for staff during the COVID epidemic. Policies were drafted, revised and changed as each protocol was changed by the CDC and local governing authorities. • Annual Salary Adjustments are made based on Presbytery recommendations and the Consumer Price Index. Whenever possible, we try to recommend an extra percent to those guidelines to affirm our dedicated staff! • We have been in a process of reviewing and updating position descriptions of staff. We began with an update on the Director of Facilities and Communications Coordinator positions, as these belong to two of our longest serving staff. When we reviewed how much their responsibilities had grown and changed over the years, we determined that both positions were Exempt/Professional positions. We changed the Communications Coordinator title to Director of Publications and Social Media which more clearly describes her duties. And both treasured employees were given salary increases to bring them into alignment with others holding similar positions. What a joyous meeting this was!

Peek-A-Boo. . . We See You!

While our staff is well cared for with our salary and benefits plans, sometimes it is fun to surprise staff with a little “somethin’ somethin’” to let them know that they are SEEN. The Committee started with looking to our policy manual and encouraging eligible staff to USE some of the benefits that the church provides to them. For example, our policy manual encourages professional staff to take continuing education courses in areas of interest. Both Craig and Rex have utilized this policy to increase their effectiveness. Sharman uses continuing education time and funds to keep her HR certification current. Nancy has used her time to explore Spiritual Practices with Richard Rohr and is now taking seminary classes.

Our manual also provides professional staff with a sabbatical leave every five years. Well, after 21 years of service, Brice just returned from his FIRST sabbatical leave. Members of the committee (Chuck Work and Fran Engelhardt) worked with Brice to make sure all the paperwork was in place for Brice’s experience. In 2023, Craig is planning for HIS sabbatical leave (two years late). And Rex is up for sabbatical in 2024. Speaking of Rex, he asked the committee to think about updating our Maternity Leave policy to include Paternity leave. As a result, the committee agreed and the policy was amended to provide new fathers six weeks of Paternity Leave. The Committee enjoyed planning the first annual Staff Appreciation Day during worship service and after worship! What fun to have all staff with us in worship to be introduced to you. And then to honor staff celebrating special anniversaries. Because this was held during COVID “social distancing” time, we gave each special celebrant their own cake to take home and share with their families! The second annual Staff Appreciation Day was at a time where we could all celebrate together during worship, after worship and in Spencer Hall. Long live this tradition! Or how nice it was one year to give out a $100 gift card and small notebook to each staff member during their January staff meeting to use as a “Soul Day” a day off to do whatever restored their spirit and brought them joy. Another year, each staff member received a Christmas bonus as a surprise. And yet another year, they received two extra days off of work between Christmas and New Years to enjoy time with family and friends. Oh true...our committee is filled with competent people ready, willing and able to handle the important responsibilities given to us. But the Personnel Committee is filled with people who have loving, caring and generous hearts. Not because it’s required, but because we care. We are always striving to show our staff how important they are to all of us at The First Presbyterian Church of Naples, “In the Heart of Naples with the Love of God: we worship, we love, we grow, we serve.” Here are some quotes from your dedicated staff... The Personnel Committee has done a great job at structuring the new A/V position, which is personally for me, a job in technology that has answered my prayers. - David Fister, Audio Visual Technician

The Personnel Committee is so supportive! The Soul Day was such a thoughtful gesture and provided an extra day of rest during a very stressful time (COVID). Thank you! - Sharman Pfaus, Executive Office Manager

Thank you for being so “in tune” with our staff and for working with us to make us the best possible versions of ourselves. - Kathleen Law, Dir. of Publications and Social Media

I am so thankful for the Personnel Committee and their recognition of the Preschool staff as an important, meaningful component of FPCN. The support I feel from the Personnel Committee is not only vital to my role as the Preschool Director, but also to the success of the preschool as a whole. - Ashley Houk, Preschool Director

I am so grateful to be a part of the FPCN team. I’ ve never worked anywhere that was more welcoming, encouraging, or excelled at training and support. I feel very appreciated and needed, and I am in awe of the varied generosity the Personnel Committee gives, whether it be paid time off, flexibility with hours, or closing the office for our Staff Retreat. Thank you so very much for taking such good care of the staff. - Sandy Knight, Office Assistant/Receptionist

Thank you so much for all your commitment, love and support given each day to our staff. I am so blessed to be a part of this caring church for many years. - Sandy Poore, Director of Facilities

Three cheers for the Personnel Committee! Thank you for your loving care for our staff and your faithful wisdom and guidance. - Craig Goodrich, Senior Pastor

FPCN has gone above and beyond to make me feel welcome and happy in my position here. It was so nice to be invited to the Personnel Committee meeting to be formally introduced to them, which is just another way that FPCN goes out of their way to welcome new staff! - Debbie Savage, Director of Finance

The Personnel Committee is such an amazing support to us!. Through-out the year they make us feel loved and supported and we are truly blessed to have their support! - Ashley Hancock, Christian Education Assistant