First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma 2020 Annual Report

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PETALUMA ANNUAL REPORT 2020

CONTENT

Pastor John

3

Budget & Finance

7

Bookkeeper & OďŹƒce Coordinator

10

Facilities

12

Mission

17

Personnel

19

Student & Family Ministries

20

Student Ministries Coordinator

22

Worship

24

Music Director

28

Deacons

30

Nominating Committee

32

Session & Statistical Report

33

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The Pandemic Season JOHN CHASE, PASTOR My dear friends,

What a year. Seriously. What. A. Year. It’s certainly not one I would have imagined (or wanted) as we entered 2020. COVID-19.

Shelter In Place. Face masks. Zoom. Australia and US wild fires. George Floyd. Black Lives Matter. Presidential election. Murder Hornets.

Beirut explosion. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Every day a new reminder of how much we need each other. How much we need community. How much we need God.

Despite everything the pandemic threw at us, we shifted gears, adapted and discovered new ways to be God’s church. And it's all recorded and celebrated in the pages of this Annual Report. Though it may not be as extensive or robust as previous years’ reports, don’t let that fool you. God was present. God was active. God was with us in our grieving and our fear. In our loneliness and our joy. In our Netflix watching and our puzzle making. God was with us on our walks through neighborhoods, and our drive-by birthday parties.

Yes. God was with us.

Once again, you cared for one another and those in our local community. You prayed, delivered meals, picked up prescriptions, and gave rides to doctor visits. You sewed face masks, volunteered musical gifts, pruned shrubs, harvested and delivered vegetables. You shared your lives over cups of coffee on Zoom, or socially-distanced in backyards, and you sat with children through hours of online schooling. We broke bread with friends in Sonoma County and around the country, and we welcomed strangers who became friends. In the worship you led in the courtyard and online, the Bible studies you facilitated with 3

faces on a screen, and your Facebook words of encouragement, you were tireless. You made God’s presence visible in the world. Church was never canceled, because you are the church and you were there—and continue to be there—for one another.

At the end of 2020 I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for your generosity in giving.

Congregational giving was steady and helped us get through the year. The revenue we lost was from rentals, but rainy day reserves got us through the downpour.

The pandemic slowed us down. Committees met less frequently, taking advantage of technology to get work done. It also forced us to learn news skills, and we quickly adapted to and became proficient on Zoom, Instagram and Facebook. This opened the door to longdistance friends joining us on Sundays and throughout the week.

This year we laughed together, and we also cried together. Many of us faced physical, emotional and/or relational struggles. God was present as we held one another in our grief and said goodbye to some dear friends and family who died or moved on to their next adventure.

My year definitely looked different. I quickly learned how to set up a Zoom worship service; became a regular creator of content for Facebook, Instagram and the church website. I edited our worship videos in iMovie and uploaded them to YouTube each week. I hosted Cafe Babble-On, our weekly online cafe. In December, I produced the Longest Night worship service video with contributions from members of the congregation, and have since updated the church’s YouTube channel homepage. Our online presence is something I am absolutely committed to continuing to build.

Besides all that, phone calls were made, emails, texts and cards were sent. My Useless Pastors group started meeting every two weeks on Zoom, and I eagerly 4

partnered with the Mission Commission to start our Honest Conversations book series on race and racism.

On a more personal note, Tara and I are now in our eighth year in Petaluma. Our ministry of presence in the community was more focused this year because of the pandemic. We nurtured our friendships with friends at The Wild Goat Bistro, Pearl, and a few friends who we welcomed into our COVID bubble. Tara is amazing in all that she does, including the way she has loved these friends. Her grace and love for people astounds me, and I am again so grateful for her unfailing support. The way she cared for me through my sinus surgery this year was incredible. I couldn’t do this without her.

In person or online, it is a blessing to be a part of this congregation. As your pastor, I strive to to help you, the people I serve, to deepen your Christian faith. I know this is really the work of the Holy Spirit, but still, my human task is to create opportunities by which that Spirit might open us up—as individuals and as a congregation—to God’s presence and leading.

And finally, I can’t say enough about our wonderful staff, who stepped up big time, and have worked countless hours behind the scenes to make it all happen.

Seriously, they have all gone above and beyond. Thank you Roger, Grete, Jane and Jenny. Your leadership and support was invaluable. I don’t know what I would have done without you. And then there is you, the members of this congregation who I have come to love, the faithful members of Session, Deacons, and all with whom I count it a privilege to minister. May we continue to turn toward God and be transformed by Christ’s presence. Regardless of what 2021 brings us, I’m glad to be in it with you.

I hope you will take the time to read through this Annual Report. Despite the challenges of the year, we stayed strong, and with God’s help, we will come out the other side stronger and more faithful than ever. In all seasons of life, to God be the glory, now and always.

Your pastor, servant leader and friend,

John Chase

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We are a Christ-centered community, committed to encountering God through— • Scripture, prayer, sacrament and song • Welcoming all • Breaking bread together • Caring for creation • Serving the community • Offering our lives as a witness to God’s love and justice in the world (FPCP Mission Statement adopted by Session April 25, 2019)

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Budget & Finance SHAWN DOOLEY, ELDER Commission members: Shawn Dooley, (Chair, Treasurer), Dan Ellecamp, Eric Goodrich, Dan Mulkey, Pastor John Chase (ex-officio) Staff: Roger Johnson (Bookkeeper).

General fund 2020 experience and 2021 budget: The table below presents the line by line detail of the general fund budget and actual experience for 2020. The Budget and Finance Commission recommended a 2021 budget to Session. The budget will be presented to the congregation at the January 2021 Annual Meeting.

Actual pledge giving came in below budget, while non-pledge was above budget, leading to a slight shortfall in actual giving versus the budget. Due to safety precautions and the COVID-19 mandates, we saw a shortfall of rents from the various groups on our campus of approximately $9,900. On the expense side, we did have to reduce hours for nonordained staff during the latter part of the year. BFC commends the commissions for managing expenditures. Overall, we have stayed in relatively good shape through this pandemic thanks to the faithful giving of the congregation.

We continued to pay down the mortgage principal associated with the reconstruction of the sanctuary 7

in 2003 as part of the loan renewal with Synod. The principle balance is now below $55,000!

Ray Swain Building Fund (RSBF): Giving to the RSBF in 2020 totaled $26,190, which funded mortgage payments.

Accomplishments/actions during the year: • Bookkeeper Johnson continued to maintain high standards of accounting.

• This year per capita giving covered approximately 75% of our members, who actually participate in church activities.

• Eric Goodrich continued to organize and manage a dedicated and faithful counting team through mid-March. Then Eric was the team all by himself! He collected, counted and deposited the weekly giving.

• Conducted a detailed analysis of pledge giving during the year.

• Completed and delivered employee performance review for Bookkeeper.

BFC wishes to again acknowledge our wonderful Banking Team members who entered the data and made the deposits at the bank through the first few months of 2020: Dianne Trumpy, Mike Glose, Mark Hale, Lonna Mulkey, Karyl Crook, Michelle Carroll, Gil Dias, Amy Dooley, Dan Mulkey, Shawn Dooley, Eric Goodrich, Donna Wall, Nelda Roberts, Dan Ellecamp, and Mark Sturges under Eric Goodrich’s leadership.

Respectfully prepared and submitted,

Shawn Dooley, Chair

2020 Budget and Finance Commission

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First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma General Fund Income

2020 Budget

2021 Actual

Budget

125,000

115, 327

109,680

18,000

21,708

15,000

Plate Offering

2,000

409

1,000

Other Offering

0

0

0

145,000

137,444

125,680

50,695

50,049

32,525

195,695

187,693

158,205

Pastor

88,842

82,520

88,842

Personnel (non ordained)

59,863

44,910

30,712

Facilities

35,543

39,091

32,935

Office

3,050

2,941

3,250

Per Capita (PCUSA)

4,274

4,274

3,901

Mission Pledge (PCUSA)

1,000

1,000

1,000

250

108

250

0

0

0

192,822

174,844

160,890

Worship

1,800

960

2,350

Congregational Life

1,250

392

500

Student & Family Ministries

500

0

500

Outreach

870

525

870

1,500

1,500

1,500

Adult Ministry

500

0

500

Stewardship

200

35

200

Total Ministries

6,620

3,412

6,420

Miscellaneous

0

4

0

Total Expense

199,442

178,260

167,310

Excess (Deficit)

-3,747

9,233

-9,105

Pledge Offering Non-pledge Offering

Total Offering Other Total Income

Expense Overhead

Budget & Finance Session Total Overhead Ministries

Missions Local

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The Office ROGER JOHNSON, BOOKKEEPER & OFFICE COORDINATOR

Bookkeeper: My job at the church, like for so many of us, changed dramatically in March, 2020, when the pandemic struck. Fortunately, technology and the help of Eric Goodrich, we have been able to keep things working for recording offerings, paying bills and reporting to Session and the Budget and Finance Commission. You will see in the report from the Budget and Finance Commission that giving in 2020 was above expectations, and with the adversities presented by the pandemic, this was such a blessing for all of us that work for the church.

Office Coordinator: I have to say that Office Coordinator has been pretty limited, since I go to the office only once a month or so. The phone is forwarded to my personal line, and remote access lets me keep up on the bulletin and the weekly Exchange message.

I have to tell you that a minor miracle occurred this year – the office was repaired, painted and rearranged by Steve and Karyl Crook during the first weeks of the pandemic shutdown. What a blessing that is. Everything is neat and tidy.

We will be producing a new updated directory in the 1st quarter of 2021. We would love to have updated pictures of you and your family to include in the directory. Please send them via email to fpcp@petalumafirst.com.

I look forward to continuing to support Pastor John and the Congregation in the day-to-day functions of the church in 2021, especially when we can return to in person worship and gatherings.

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“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.”

Isaiah 58:11

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Facilities STEVE CROOK, ELDER Facilities Commission Members Steve Crook (Chair), Pastor John Chase (exoďŹƒcio), At-Large Members - Karyl Crook, Dan Ellecamp, Chris Olson, Mike Roberts, Wayne Roberts, Mark Sturges and Jack Schipper.

Your Facility Commission Members have been quietly at work this year behind the scenes maintaining and improving our church facility. Various members of facilities have shown up on a daily and sometimes weekly basis to take care of the mundane and challenging tasks this church facility requires.

With a limited budget, this amazing group of volunteers with their awesome dedication of service to this church was able to accomplish the following projects:

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2020 Project Achievements Cleaned and sanitized the entire church facility in compliance with Covid-19 requirements.

Renovated the church office.

Installed and updated the office/sanctuary/ Hope Wifi system.

The Fireside Room remodel was completed with the installation of the stained-glass window over the fireplace.

The Mow Team of Dan Ellecamp, Dan Mulkey, Wayne Roberts, Jack Schipper, Andrew Schipper, Mark Sturges and Troy West kept the lawns edged and mowed throughout the year. Thank you!

Performed the following:

Painted walls in Koinonia Hall, the main entrance and bathroom hallway

Installed new bulletin board in Koinonia Hall

Painted over graffiti on outside wall behind Koinonia Hall

Ordered/procured church and janitorial supplies

Cleaned gutters

Cleaned up behind Koinonia Hall, the Fireside and Discovery Room

Rebuilt the box to house the Fireside Room stained-glass window

Replaced lighting system behind the stained-glass Fireside Room window

Installed the stained-glass window in the Fireside Room

Painted the tan and blue walls behind the Communion table

Had carpets cleaned in sanctuary and CE

Scrubbed and cleaned mildew on several sanctuary walls

Gave the sanctuary a general cleaning

Put away bell choir tables and washed the tablecloths

Put away the stars, cleaned and straightened closets and updated worship bags

Power washed the walkways and sanctuary

Sanded and painted the sanctuary roof eaves

Power washed, sanded, and stained the church office porch and steps

Installed new improved Sonic Wifi system for the church

Installed new underground Wifi cable system to the sanctuary

Scraped, sanded, and caulked the outside sanctuary beams.

Stripped floors in Kitchen, CE & Koinonia Hall

Over a two-week period, sealed Scrubbed and sanitized kitchen floors in CE, Koinonia, & the stainless steel table, and all the Kitchen carts

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Cleaned and sanitized all the garbage cans

Regularly cleaned and sanitized Replaced lightbulbs in kitchen & all the bathrooms at the church sanctuary

Repaired and replaced exterior walkway lights

Disposed of florescent lights

Disposed of used batteries

Hauled landscape debris to the dump

Worked with Recology Waste & Recycling representative

Used the leaf blower to clean walkways and main patio

Unclogged sinks and toilets

Repaired Toilets

Repaired sanctuary and Koinonia Hall doors

Performed various general handyman jobs.

Performed various general handyman jobs.

Repaired fences

Pumped water out of the sanctuary ducting Pumped water out of the sanctuary ducting

Changed sanctuary, office, and Agape’s furnace filters Repaired large hole in church office ceiling Installed new lighting in the church office Over several weeks removed, recycled & relocated outdated records and material from the church office and attic Weeded and removed vegetation around church office and Peace Garden Repaired bookshelves in the Fireside room

Repaired fences Met with neighbors and contractors regarding fence replacement Primed and painted the church office interior Enlarged the main office desk

Reset walkway timers and thermostats Made repairs to the back door of the Agape House Removed a dead tree and pruned other trees and shrubs

Relocated and removed office furniture to back office and small conference room

Arranged for removal of the three dead redwood trees in the front lawn

Primed and painted the church office entry door

Upgraded the watering system for the vegetable boxes

Made repairs to the John Deere lawnmower

Painted walkway handrails and step warning strips on patio

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“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Proverbs16:3

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2021 Facilities Commission Goals Replace all the windows in the church office.

Re-establish the rose garden in the front of the sanctuary.

Install an exterior support post at the end of Koinonia Hall.

De-clutter the basement of the Agape House.

Power wash and paint the exterior of the sanctuary.

Paint the church office exterior.

Make temporary repairs to the parking lot and driveway asphalt.

Have a tree service trim and remove trees.

Continue developing a strong volunteer team to help maintain our wonderful, yet aging facility with limited funds.

The Facilities Commission welcomes input to any physical plant issues as well as volunteers to help accomplish them. Please feel free to contact any member of the Facilities Commission.

Steve Crook I Facilities Commission Elder

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Mission Commission LEDRA BRADY, ELDER The year 2020 certainly put a challenge before the Mission Commission, but we did the best we could.

The garden project continued unabated under the watchful eyes of Jack and Joyce Schipper, and with the help of their crew of 12 volunteer workers. Food grown in the garden was delivered each week to folks who requested it.

Nearly $2000 was raised in donations from those to whom the food was delivered. About 1/3 of that was used for expenses...plants, soil, etc.

The remainder was donated to local food banks.

We had three meetings this year, two of which were on Zoom. January 9th was the only one in person. We had some great ideas to pursue, but they were tabled until we are pandemic-free again. The March 12th meeting was cancelled because of the COVID-19 virus and we didn’t meet again, on Zoom, until June 16th. We discussed how handicapped we were from being locked down, but answered a request of the Salvation Army for money for their Petaluma Food Bank. We donated $1500.00...nearly the entire budget. Our next meeting was November 4th where we decided to fund the garden again in 2021 and donate the rest of the proceeds to feed our community in Petaluma.

In its sixth year, our Advent Matching Gifts Program matched donations members made to local agencies, which raised, including the match from the Church, $3,605.00. Some members gave more than $50 per – we matched up to $50. We had excess funds so we evenly distributed the remainder to the agencies.

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Matching Gifts Recipients for 2020

Agency

Member Gifts

Matching Gift

Total Giving

Hope Counseling

1,855.00

994.00

2, 849.00

COTS

50.00

114.00

164.00

Community Matters

50.00

114.00

164.00

Redwood Empire Food Bank

100.00

164.00

264.00

Toys for Tots

50.00

114

164.00

Totals

2,105.00

1,500.00

3,605.00

Another of our successful efforts has been the Honest Conversations: A Book Series on Race + Racism discussion group which we started on August 6th.

This, of course, was in response to the issues of racial injustice. We started weekly meetings for discussion on Zoom beginning in August and continued through October, when we took a two month break for the holidays. We started again January 14th with our third book, Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God, by Kaitlin B. Curtice. You are welcome to join us.

With God’s help, we are hoping to make 2021 a more robust year for Mission.

We’ve figured out the communications aspects and are finding that we are not totally unable to function.

We participated in fundraising for Pedal 4 Protein and the Alzheimer’s Association Walk this past year. Our congregation supported participants financially through member contributions.

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Personnel Commission MARK STURGES, ELDER During 2020 the personnel commission successfully facilitated, and filed all the required annual personnel reviews for all FPCP staff and Pastor John Chase. We completed revisions to our new, simplified review process which begins at the end of January and concludes by early spring.

Position Descriptions for the Office Coordinator and Bookkeeper were modified to bring them up to date with current responsibilities. Lonna Mulkey decided to end her many years of service on this commission, and will be missed by me, Eric Goodrich, and Mike Glose, who will remain on this commission in 2021. Thank you Lonna!

We look forward to better times ahead, when our staff can be back and working full time on our wonderful church campus.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark R. Sturges

Chairman, FPCP Personnel Commission

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Student & Family Ministries DIANE OLSON, ELDER Commission Members: Diane Olson (elder), Grete Hansen (Student and Family Ministries Coordinator), Mike Roberts, Susan Lehman, John Chase (ex-officio).

As we close the pages of 2020 and reflect on the past year, I find that the list of things our commission couldn’t do far exceeded what we could. We couldn’t gather our children in our wonderful Worship Center to hear the beautiful Godly Play stories. We couldn’t hunt for eggs on Easter Sunday and experience the excitement and wonder of our youngest congregants. We couldn’t collect toiletry items for our annual drive for COTS or provide back-to-school backpacks for their residents.

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But the short list of what we could do still made a difference in our community.

We collected $600 from our generous worshipers for the annual Souper Bowl of Caring fundraiser in February, donating these needed funds to the Food Box Program of the local Salvation Army. We donated $1,500 from an unused “youth group” fund overseen by our commission to Westminster Woods to enable the camp to weather the total loss of income due to the corona virus shutdown. And we learned to use Zoom to worship and stay connected with the children in our congregation.

I want to especially thank Grete Hansen for her unwavering faith and hard work to maintain connections with our children during the challenges of the past year. Her creativity, dedication and willingness to go the extra mile to assist Pastor John in developing meaningful worship experiences for our members of all ages is deeply appreciated. Her worship leadership on Sunday mornings brought much joy to all of us.

I also want to thank Susan Lehman for her dedicated service to the Student and Family Ministries Commission over the past several years. Susan stepped down from the commission this year to focus on her family and the added responsibilities of teaching high school English in the Covid era. We appreciate her deep faith, thoughtful wisdom and infectious laugh that she brought to each of our meetings.

Diane Olson

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Children (at home) In Worship GRETE HANSEN, STUDENT AND FAMILY MINISTRIES COORDINATOR What to say about 2020? The year started o like normal. We celebrated Epiphany and talked about our goals and resolutions for the year to come.

We were looking forward to fun and exciting things: new Godly Play stories, working in the garden, finding ways to help in the community.

In February, we had our Souper Bowl Sunday fundraiser and raised over $600 to help feed people in our local community.

And then March came. And the world changed seemingly overnight. We all had to adapt to a new way of living.

Many of us started to work from home, our children learned how to go to 22

school from a computer screen. Zoom became the way to connect, even for worship.

Things were (and still are) scary and hard to fathom. But we are learning to adapt, to pivot, and to connect in new ways. So here are a few highlights from 2020 and our new world.

Christmas decorations started to reappear in neighborhoods. We all just needed a little bright spot. Our church wasn’t able to have our traditional Easter service, but I still filled and delivered eggs to our kids so that they could have the annual egg hunt from home.

We focused on the importance of showing compassion to others. My family delivered food to local families once a week. We found new ways to have fun. Our Sunday School kids participated in a Bingo activity and Sophie was our winner!

In my home, we were continually thankful for the additional time we had together as a family.

We learned to step outside of our comfort zones and find new ways to reach out to our church family. We rallied together with our ideas, our devices, and our prayers and found a way to offer a courtyard worship service.

And then we took it one step further and had the Zoom service and the courtyard service simultaneously! It wasn’t easy but it was rewarding to work through new ways to be “together” even when we were apart.

It is hard to know what 2021 will hold for our church and for Student and Family Ministries.

We are still moving forward with Souper Bowl Sunday and we will continue to find ways to stay connected until we can see each other again in the beauty of our Sanctuary. I am thankful for each and every one of you and I feel blessed to be a part of this church family.

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Worship LONNA MULKEY, ELDER As we entered 2020, we had no idea how much worship would be changing. In March, when California and Sonoma County went into lockdown and in person gatherings were prohibited because of the COVID 19 pandemic, we had no idea how long it would be before we could be worshiping in our sanctuary.

Worship Together, but Apart: Successful services would not have been possible without many people. First, thank you to the members of the congregation, who patiently supported the eorts of the Worship Commission, with prayers, suggestions, and participation. Our attendance was 30-40 logins each Sunday, often with more than one person on each login.

In the nearly 9 months our sanctuary was closed, we transitioned to a ZOOM service and then to two services (one in the courtyard, followed by a ZOOM service), and then to a combined courtyard and ZOOM service.

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Thank you to the staff—Rev. John Chase, Jane Shelly—Music Director, Jenny Smith—Pianist/Organist, Grete Hansen—Student and Family Ministries Coordinator, and Roger Johnson— Bookkeeper/Office Coordinator. Each of them had to change how they do their job and often learn new technology.

Thank you to the members of the Worship Commission—Carol Goodrich, Jenny Smith, Jane Shelly, Marcille Roth Roberts, and Pastor John. Many of our meetings included Karyl and Steve Crook (facilities), Grete Hansen, and Roger Johnson.

We thank Steve Crook for writing COVID-19 safety protocols that were approved by session. Steve and the Facilities Commission ordered supplies, made signs, and prepared for what our sanctuary would look like when we were able to return to the sanctuary. Later, Steve led the team preparing the campus for our outdoor worship service.

Karyl was there to greet attendees, ask protocol questions, and take temperatures.

Thank you to Jane Shelly, Music Director, for figuring out how to add music to our Zoom service. Thanks to Jenny Smith for learning to record music at home to be put into the service.

Thank you to Worship Leaders who willingly started leading worship from their homes, and to our Discovery Time leaders who had to adjust to presenting to children they could only see on a computer screen in their homes.

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We were able to continue having Communion from our homes, with members of the congregation providing their own bread and juice.

Zoom Service allowed former members and others not in Petaluma to be able to join our services. Unlike a prerecorded service, ZOOM gave members an opportunity to interact with each other before, during and after the service. The service was recorded for those who were not able to login.

We were able to hold Special Services on Easter, Pentecost, Longest Night and Christmas Eve.

We praise God for the opportunities we have to worship together, giving thanks for His faithfulness, and the many gifts He has given us during this unusual year.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. . . .

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“Worship the Lord with gladness…”

Psalm 100:2

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Worship In Place JANE SHELLY, MUSIC DIRECTOR What a year it has been! We started 2020 with such huge plans – on top of all the service music, we were going to launch a cabaret in May. The excitement was building – and then…… well….. the pandemic hit. We were told to Shelter in Place in mid March but we thought “Surely, we will be back face to face for Easter”……. Hmmm not so much.

Little by little, it dawned on us that it could be a while before we were all back together singing in person – so we started working on improving our zoom services. I personally love the zoom style service we adopted. It gives us a chance to be interactive. So we bought microphones and researched the best zoom settings for music.

Then the Acapella app came into our lives and we started trying to learn how to make musical collaborations. This app is not user friendly but thanks to Amy Dooley’s willingness to fearlessly experiment with it, we slowly started to work on it as a choir. It took several months for the choir to put together our first collaboration. By then it was early October and it started to look like we would still be celebrating virtually at Christmas time.

We came up with the brilliant idea of creating a bunch of Christmas carols and anthems which we could use during the services but also could put together as a Christmas Carol Singalong to premier on YouTube.

The choir came up to speed with the Acapella app and worked really hard through November and early December to put all the pieces together and, it all came together for Advent and Christmas.

Mastering this technology and all the challenges it presents was a huge accomplishment for the choir. Many thanks to Jenny for creating all the

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individual parts for the members to practice with and then creating the accompaniments. Many thanks to the choir for being able to work so hard and so well to learn the parts and sing them. You truly have given me great inspiration and a wonderful gift to the congregation to keep the music alive during this time.

We are looking forward to working more in this model until such time as we can come together as a choir and sing together again!

Jane Shelly

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Deacons IRENE ROWLEY, DEACON VICE MODERATOR 2020 Deacons: Phoebe Antonio, Susan Lehman, Nelda Roberts, Andy Schipper, Dan Ellecamp, Victoria Ellecamp, Irene Rowley

The deacons handled quite a lot of things at church, before the state went into a mandatory shutdown that also shut down in person church activities. We served at the memorial services for Betty Cooper in January, and Geri Brown in February. In February, we cleaned and did a full inventory of the kitchen, and approved the selection and purchase of some old or missing dishes, and first aid kit supplies.

When the state of California and thus the entire congregation was put on mandatory “shelter at home� orders in the beginning of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deacons shifted from meeting in person to meeting online through Zoom. We discussed how to best assist members of the congregation during this pandemic. We worked out many details about how to reach out and check on the welfare (by phone) of every member that were missing from the online church services in the spring, and to help them with essential shopping, errands and transportation while they were sheltering at home. We continued all year to make calls to members that had 30

needs, and to send out birthday and sympathy cards, and to coordinate meals, transportation and some grocery gift cards for people in the church and in our local community.

Due to the closure of the physical church building, there are fewer physical tasks to do (no coee hour, no kitchen cleanup, no communion preparations).

However, the prayer chain turned out to be one of the main ways that we learned of member’s needs during the pandemic, and was very busy this year. A special thanks goes out to Phoebe Antonio, our Prayer Chain Deacon, who kept a list of prayers mentioned during Sunday morning online worship services, or sent in to us by email. Phoebe sent out 107 prayer chain emails in 2020, to 54 people on the email distribution list.

Despite the challenges of the year, we found ways to care for those in our community. As they say, pandemic or no pandemic, once a Deacon, always a Deacon. And, as always, we were grateful for the opportunity to serve.

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Nominating Committee DIANE OLSON AND STEVE CROOK, ELDERS The Nominating Committee represents the congregation in selecting candidates for the offices of elder and deacon, as well as at-large members on this committee. FPCP members then vote on the candidates in the fall.

The 2020

Nominating Committee consisted of:

Elder representatives:

Diane Olson and Steve Crook (co-chairs) Deacon representative: Nelda Roberts Members at Large: Marcille Roth Mark Hale Wayne Roberts Pastor John Chase (ex-officio)

Our goal as a committee revolves around prayerfully considering open positions on Session and Deacons to nominate a diverse, capable and energetic cross-section of the congregation. We do this through being ever more purposeful in consulting with a wide variety of members, seeking input, and taking time to listen.

The pandemic this year forced us to adapt. After assessing congregational needs, the general consensus among church leadership was to keep current Elders and Deacons in place as much as possible, at least through the first half of 2021.

This is to provide continuity and stability through an unusual time, and is also an acknowledgment that there are simply fewer responsibilities when we are not meeting in person.

With that being said, we are now excited to present two oďŹƒcer candidates to the congregation at the Annual Meeting in January 2021: Joyce Schipper, who will be stepping in as our Interim Deacons Moderator, and Jeannette Anglin, who will join the Deacons and take on the Prayer Chain. We’re so grateful for their willingness to answer the call to serve.

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Session & Statistical Report SHAWN DOOLEY, CLERK OF SESSION

Session Meetings

Statistical Information

January (no mtng) February 20 March (no mtng) April 2

May 5

June 15

Membership — 12/31/18

July (no mtng)

August 25

September (no mtng)

October 20

November (no mtng)

December 10

Congregational Meetings

January 26

Those preaching the Word of

God during worship in 2020

Rev. John Chase: January 5, 12, 19, 26; February 2, 9, 16, 23; March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; April 5, 9, 12, 19, 26; May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; June 7, 14, July 12, 19, 26; August 2, 9, 23, 30; September 6, 20, 27; October 4, 18, 25; November 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; December 6, 13, 20, 24

124

Additions:

Confirmation of Faith

Reaffirmation of Faith

Certificate of Transfer

Total

0

0

0

0

Subtractions:

Deceased

Certificate of Transfer

Removal of Membership

Total

5

2

17

24

Membership — 12/31/20

100

Infant/Child Baptisms

Teen/Adult Baptisms

0

0

Holy Communion was served times:

Weddings

15

0

Linda Dragoo (children’s Christmas story): December 27

Grete Hansen (Godly Play): June 21, October 11

Lonna Mulkey (Godly Play): July 5

Rev. Chris Rhodes: June 28

Rev. Nancy Martin Vincent: August 16, September 13

33

34

Go now in peace, Never be afraid. God will go with you, Each hour of every day.

Go now in faith, Steadfast, strong and true, Know he will guide you in all you do.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PETALUMA 939 B STREET, PETALUMA, CA I 707.762.8269 I WWW.PETALUMAFIRST.COM