Early in 1990 Pastor Paul listed additional goals for his first full year as Pastor in Manlius. He would be responsible for leading himself and the Church in their fulfillment. Some of the goals were as follows: He wanted the Church to host several events for married couples and/or families; to hire a part-time youth worker, to arrange short term mission trips and to revise the Church Constitution. He had let it be known early in his pastorate in Manlius that he wanted at some time to pursue a Doctor of Ministry program. In 1990 he asked to begin preparation for the program to be given at the Eastern Baptist Seminary in the Fall of 1991.
In 1990 Margaret Vermilya took on the task of sending sympathy cards to all bereaved people in the Manlius Community. She kept a record of all families contacted by pasting the obituaries in a notebook. She continued this mission until she was no longer able to do so in 2003.
Deaconesses began to aid the Deacons in serving Communion in February 1990. They have continued this practice monthly ever since.
The Music Committee strongly recommended a new sound system for the Sanctuary and at a March 6, 1990, Church Meeting, Howard Eckerlin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, described the new system which included an amplification system, microphones, and three auxiliary units for the hard of hearing. He estimated the cost at $6450 to be met from Legacy Funds ($2000), Memorial Funds ($1000) and by a Church-wide collection for the remainder. The Hillside Committee at that time had excess funds in its Treasury and contributed $3000 to the project. The Hillside Committee was thanked by the Church for their significant contribution toward the sound system as well as for the impact the School has had on the children and the community. (Pastor Paul Bailey at this time requested from the Hillside Board a written statement of purpose for the school!)
Interest in a major project was gaining and the Advisory Council informed the Board of Trustees that it was about to commission a task force to explore the possibility of installing an elevator in the church building. Although the funding for an elevator would be difficult, the project was felt to be too important to be dispensed summarily without exploring all of the possibilities. An estimate of $200,000 as the cost of the elevator was made (actual cost was $350,000). The Trustees reported that they were not ready to make recommendations at the moment because of budgetary limitations.
A much more affordable project that was also a topic of discussion at Church Meetings during the Spring was the need for pulpit scarves. Howard Eckerlin complained that the one in use had no emblems. The Women’s Fellowship was asked “if they would be interested in embroidering scarves appropriate for Advent, Lent, Easter, Summer and Communion. Karen Procopio volunteered to make the scarves and they were beautifully done. A new concern, however, was where to store the scarves when they were not in use.
In April, 1990, a new Committee was formed by Nina Lewis and Pastor Paul. The subject of their interest was Marriage and Family. Another Committee was formed by the Trustee Board to study the use of the church facilities by King’s Kids, Hillside, and the Church at large. The Committee was to equate costs and provide a better basis for rental charges to King’s Kids and Hillside. Sandy Haase and Ellen Everly were considering attending the Green Lakes Conference as Counselors. They were requesting $250 each from the Church to help cover expenses.
In the fall of 1990 the Trustees asked the Women’s Fellowship to redecorate the Library with new carpeting, window coverings and new furniture. The Trustees offered to do the painting. The women accepted the challenge. The church kitchen was judged to be in bad shape by the Trustees and needed to be brought up to health standard requirements.
In late 1990 State Inspectors were critical of the fire doors between the old and new parts of the church not being closed. Howard Eckerlin was to check into the feasibility of a magnetic door opener that would automatically release in the event of a fire.
Prayer Chains were just that in 1990. One person would be responsible to call several people with a list of prayer needs, and they in turn would each call several more people. Eventually, if the Chains were not broken at some point, the whole Congregation would hear the good/bad news. The problem was that the Chain was indeed often broken, with members being ill or out-of-town and not able to keep the news moving. In 1991 the system was reorganized to provide more callers resulting in fewer calls per person, but problems still persisted.
In late 1990 Pastor Bailey requested from the Church some time away from Church duties to pursue the Doctoral Program in Marriage and Family. Paul’s plans for continuing education had been made known to the Pulpit Committee and the Church Membership and agreed to, and therefore, permission was readily granted.
Early in his pastorate Pastor Paul became aware of the inadequacy of the Church Offices. Originally they were located in what is now the Historical Room. The room across the hall was used as a mimeograph room and storage. Then, when the Church built a new parsonage at 5063 Sherbrooke Rd., the old parsonage was used for Sunday School rooms and Church Offices. When the Educational Annex was built, the old parsonage had to be demolished and the offices returned to their old cramped location. However, on the south end of the upper floor of the gymnasium wing, there were two large airy well-lit rooms connected by two doors, which would make ideal separate offices for the Pastor and the Church Secretary. Because of the new construction they were not needed for Sunday School rooms. Approval was given by the Board of Trustees and in 1991 the move was made and the offices have been located there ever since. The installation of an elevator in 2001 solved the problem of access to the office.
Bernadine “Bud” Hapeman, a long time member of the Church, died on October 4, 1990. She left in her will $1000 to the Church to be used as a scholarship for a young man studying for the ministry in memory of her son Charles who had died at a very young age.
