1. Attendance and Apologies for Absence

   The meeting was attended by:
   Pamela Arnaud, Linda Bisig, Walter Bisig, Angus Carrick, Tricia Carrick, Hector Davie, Joanna Davie, Roxanne Eicher, John Eze, Rebecca Eze, Sue Faillettaz, Ruth Freiburghaus, Art Funkhouser, Donna Goepfert, Hans Goepfert, Giuseppina Güntert, Heinz Güntert, Heidi Gusset, Peter Hawker, Vreni Hawker, David Hoag, Kathy Hoag, Jennifer Hockley, Beat Hodler, Chloü Holder, Jacqueline Holloway, Esther Hutchison, John Hutchison, Paul Jayaraj, Isabel Jordan, Sonia Klein, Cecily Klingler, Ulrich Leifeld, Annemarie Low, David Low, Allison Masciadri, Peter Masciadri, Kate Mühlethaler, Ellen Nee-Whang, Liz Perrett, Elisabeth Pfyffer, Hans-Karl Pfyffer, Peter Potter, Shareene Potter, K. Jerusha Priscilla, Tony Read, Daniel Sovilla, Kelly Sovilla, Libby Stewardson, Annemarie Walthert, Joan Wehrli, Adorée Weibel, Niklaus Weibel, Hans Wenger, Janet Wenger, Edi Wildhaber, Maxine Wildhaber, Barbara Winfield, David Winfield, Mary Wittwer, Julian Wong.
   This represents 59 members of the electoral roll, 3 clergy and 1 guest.

   Apologies were received from:
   Sharon Bachmann, Doreen Bangerter, Dorothy Beriger, Yvonne Bomonti, Martin Brawand, Shelagh Brawand, Mary Lou Gugelmann, Richard Gugelmann, Neil Hockley, Sara Hutchison, Andree Kamarys, Hans Kamarys, Philip Klingler, Rolf Klinger, Jana Kutesko, Brian Morgan, Eva Perrett, Pieter Perrett, Rosalind Richards, Lynn Robb, Marianne Simon, Roslind Staehlin, Vanessa Wenger, Fritz Zysset, Sue Zysset.

2. Reception and Approval of the Electoral Roll
   The Electoral Roll, which had been on display for over two weeks, was approved by the meeting. There had been 12 additions and 2 deletions giving a total for 2009 of 119 members.

3. Approval of the Minutes of the last AGM held on 20 April 2008
   The minutes of the last AGM were approved nem con.

4. Approval of the Audited Accounts for the Year 2008

   Treasurer's Report
   The Treasurer, Hector Davie, presented the consolidated audited accounts for the church and the charitable association, which had been approved by council and displayed for over 8 days.

   There was income of Fr289,000 and expenditure of Fr248,000, giving a surplus of over Fr40,000. Although this is very good, there were special circumstances last year, (e.g. locums), which led to lower expenditure. But income was also lower than in 2007, mainly because of the reduction in giving. Our reserves, at Fr140,000, are healthy so we can cope with fluctuations in income and expenditure. There is more information in the written report. Questions can be posed at any time.

   In response to questions raised at the meeting, the treasurer commented that:

   • The collections in 2007 were unusually high because of Fr20,000 given in the collection which could perhaps have been a pledge.
   • The new photocopier was cheaper to buy and is cheaper to run than the last one. It also doubles as a scanner and printer, and prints in colour. We need a good photocopier and the volume we produce easily justifies the expense. Of course, we are trying to cut the number of copies we make - the magazine and notice sheet are available on the website and we use the beamer during worship. But some people still want paper copies of these, so we have to print them.
   • There appears to be no correlation between the number of people attending a service and the collection.

   Thanks were expressed for getting the church painted. Also to Rolf for getting replacement light shades made and to Jana who brought them back from UK.

   Auditors' Report: Angus Carrick reported briefly on behalf of the two auditors, concluding that both the full accounts and the consolidated account statement provided to the AGM give a true and fair view, in all material respects, of the financial situation of the Association of St Ursula's Church and of St Ursula's Charitable Association at 31 December 2008. He thanked the treasurer for his work in keeping the accounts and also the many other people who had contributed e.g. those who deal with the money at various events. The chairman thanked the auditors for their work.

   Approval of Accounts: The approval of the accounts for 2008 was proposed by the treasurer and agreed unanimously.

5. Presentation of the Budget for the year 2009
   The treasurer presented the budget which had been approved by council last year and sent out with the pledge appeal. He reported that it was a fair estimate of what we expect to spend in 2009 with no surprises. He then showed a slide of income and expenditure over the last 22 years and commented that some years had resulted in a surplus of income over expenditure and others the opposite. He remarked on the "wave" appearance and hoped that the current downward trend would not continue, so he had budgeted for a 5% increase in giving this year. This will allow us to meet all the foreseen expenditure.

   The expenditure item "Provision for Ministry" had been added last year without specific ideas of how to use this. It is now clear that it will be used towards the cost of a part-time youth worker.

   There were no questions and the meeting took note of the budget.

6. Elections
   The following nominations had been made:

   Two Churchwardens

   Nomination	Proposed by	Seconded by
   Esther Hutchison	E Pfyffer	R Freiburghaus

   The chairman proposed that the post of the second churchwarden be left open until a special church meeting could be held for an election. The meeting agreed to this proposal.

   The chairman declared Esther Hutchison duly elected as churchwarden and the meeting greeted this with applause. Esther thanked everyone for their support and prayers over the last year and hoped this would continue.

   Six Council Members

   Nomination	Proposed by	Seconded by
   Yvonne Bomonti	H-K Pfyffer	D Winfield
   Tricia Carrick	H Davie	S Brawand
   Maxine Wildhaber	H Davie	P Carrick
   John Eze	E Hutchison	P Masciadri
   Giuseppina Güntert	W Bisig	J Hockley
   Tony Read	H-K Pfyffer	V Hawker
   Allison Masciadri	K Sovilla	H Wenger
   Edi Wildhaber	H Wenger	D Sovilla

   As there were 8 nominations for 6 places, an election had to be held. There was a short break while the votes were counted. When the meeting reconvened, the chairman announced that the following people had been elected as council members: Tricia Carrick, John Eze, Allison Masciadri, Tony Read, Edi Wildhaber, Maxine Wildhaber.

   The chairman and various members thanked Giuseppina Güntert and Yvonne Bomonti for all they do in our congregation, hoping that they will continue despite not being elected to council. The chairman also thanked everyone who had served on council in the past year.

7. Appointment of Auditors
   The treasurer thanked the current auditors for their work. Both were happy to continue, so Angus Carrick and Niklaus Weibel were appointed as auditors for 2009. This was greeted with applause.

8. Chaplain's Report
   Before he gave his report, the chaplain invited the churchwarden to speak: Esther referred to her written report and invited people to ask questions once they had read it. She said that it had been a challenging year, with all of us on a pilgrimage walking and worshipping together. Esther thanked everyone for their support and all the different parts they play. There are always things we can do better - together.

   Peter said there was not much he could add to his written report. He thanked those who were involved in some exciting new developments:

   • the team operating the beamer on Sunday mornings
   • the appointment of a youth worker
   • the establishment of a pastoral care group to support and encourage all those in our community who are doing this

   He went on to say that the life of a congregation is organic and the key factor is "growth". This includes:

   • our understanding of our identity - what does it mean to be Anglican and how can we make others feel at home?
   • exploring the place of prayer and bible study - a huge variety is possible.
   • the ongoing process of Christian formation, remembering that "Christ is caught not taught".
   • stewardship - not just our money, but also our time and talents.
   • what's happening in Thun and Neuchâtel.

   Council have an "Awayday" in June and will be taking some of these ideas forward.

9. Any Other Business
   There was none.

10. Close
    The meeting closed at 13.41.

Tricia Carrick (Acting Council Secretary)

1. Attendance
   The meeting was attended by 45 members of the electoral roll and chaired by Revd PM Potter.

2. Election of a Churchwarden
   There was one nomination made in advance for the position of churchwarden:

   Maxine Wildhaber, proposed by Esther Hutchison, seconded by Hans-Karl Pfyffer.

   As there were no further nominations, the chairman declared Maxine duly elected. This was met by applause.

3. Other
   There was no other business.

Tricia Carrick (Council Secretary)