First United Methodist Church- Douglas, Wyoming

What a beautiful and enriched month we have ahead of us. We are so fortunate to have God as our guide!

OCC met on November 15 with six members present and Mark Calhoun, our district superintendent, via phone. The major discussion was on our insurance. Church Mutual for a variety of reasons is either dropping churches or increasing rates up to fifty percent. We happen to be in the second category because of the claims for the parsonage over the past six years. Your council has been proactive in this concern and has been working with Daniel York of Tegler Insurance about church coverage. Mountain Sky Conference will allow us to leave Church Mutual as long as we meet the criteria that the conference has set. We have a deadline of December 1 to opt out of Church Mutual. The council advised Lorraine and Connie of deductible amounts so we should have everything to the district by their due date and have a new policy covering us, beginning January 1, 2024.

Lorraine is working on the church’s 2024 budget. We have dividends from Church Mutual and general interest plus trustee utilities that will be placed in the general fund to make the budget clearer. That amount totals $1,851.08. In the past we had many entries, so we have condensed it so that it is easier to see where the church’s dollars are going.

The council was updated on Vyve; the construction of lines is in progress to replace Lumen and Century Link, which will save the church money. We have repairs to do to the windows (caulking) outside the office and in the hallway of Nana’s. We are also having a quote for wood flooring for the Prayer Room since the odor in the carpet cannot be removed. That cost will come from the Memorial Fund. Then church members can finish the history portion of the room.

Plans were made for December services and the hanging of the greens on Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m. The Sunday service for December 24^th will be at 3 p.m. to incorporate both morning and Christmas Eve services together. Please plan to join us for the five worship services in December. December 31^st will be our Potluck Sunday Dinner.

Merry Christmas

Connie Woehl

Chairperson of One Church Council