ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH BOARD MEETING
September 12, 2007
Preliminary Minutes, Posted on the web if approved
|
Board
Officers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Murphy,
John |
President |
Present |
|
Wetzel,
Ed |
Treasurer |
Present |
|
Sibert,
Tom |
V
President |
Present |
|
Middleton,
Mike |
Secretary |
Present |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Board
Members |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dunkin,
Ray |
Exp 2008 |
Present |
|
Griffith,
Debi |
Exp 2009 |
Present |
|
Hansen,
Carol |
Exp 2008 |
Present |
|
Most,
Richard |
Exp 2009 |
Present |
|
Merriman,
Sharon |
Exp 2008 |
Absent |
|
Basile,
Frank |
Exp 2010 |
Present |
|
Spencer,
Gary |
Exp 2008 |
Present |
|
Burns,
Linda |
Exp 2010 |
Present |
|
Basson,
Rodney |
Exp 2009 |
Present |
|
Fox,
Lucia |
Exp 2010 |
Present |
|
Brunner,
Bob |
Exp 2009 |
Present |
|
Wendt,
Caroline |
Exp 2010 |
Present |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Others
Present |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clear,
Bruce |
Minister |
|
|
Woods,
Kathryn |
Office
Adm. |
|
|
Clear, Nancy |
RE |
|
|
Atwater,
Rich |
Prop.
Mgmt. |
|
|
Sands,
Elsa |
Membership |
|
|
Bartley,
Brian |
Backus
Library |
|
|
Burns,
John |
|
|
|
Wendt,
John |
|
|
John Murphy called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm.
Minutes of the June 13 Board meeting were approved with minor corrections.
Kathryn discussed the building insurance with Church Mutual. The commercial building portion of the insurance has increased from around $8,000 to $10,000 due to the renovation. Church Mutual will cover the TC Steele’s and not require an alarm system. Kathryn will find out about the additional cost.
Brian presented a written framework for using Library money ($6,000) held by the endowment. The single year maximum expenditure was changed to the greater of 20% or $1000. The word Universalist was removed from the title. A motion was made to adopt the framework with these changes. The motion was seconded and passed.
Linda presented a budget for operating the Parent’s Day Out program. The PDO program operates two days a week, is self-sustaining and pays rent to the church. Linda has been involved with it from the beginning. She shared thank you cards that she has received from program participants. A motion was made to approve the budget. The motion was seconded and passed.
Elsa presented a list of members (65) that she recommended be removed from the membership list. There are several bases for removal. Some have requested to be removed. The other basis is that the member has been inactive for several years. They have not responded to mailings and efforts to be contacted in the past and just recently. From that basis the membership committee called on the churches social resources to discuss individual cases and discern the individual’s interest or need. People are not recommended for removal if just infirmed. Bruce and Bob identified three people from the list they will contact.
A lengthy discussion ensued and the following points made. Organizations occasionally need to clean up their membership list if there is no requirement (dues) for being a member. Elsa and her committee put a lot of effort into culling this list from our membership roll. Debi expressed that she would not remove someone from the roll without his or her acquiescence. While it costs the church at least $74 per member (UUA and Heartland dues), inactive members do not trigger that cost.
A motion was made to remove the people listed (excluding the three to be contacted) from the membership roll. The motion was seconded and passed with two no votes.
Ed presented financial statements for 2006, 2007 to date and an update of the accounting status. His points summarized and in writing showed a system on the mend. The next area he will be working on is the custodial accounts. Rich presented the BRC status. They are holding about $39,000 for contingency and unfinished projects. Rich will present a prioritized list of projects at the next meeting. Tom discussed the Capital Campaign and financing. He expects the Financing committee to reform and take up the issue of paying off the mortgage. That could happen with some combination of the Endowment and another Capital Campaign. The committee will also look into the idea of getting new members involved in the campaign.
It was moved that since the Building project has around $200,000, $150,000 should be used to pay down the mortgage at this time. The motion was seconded and approved.
Bruce expressed a de facto policy of the church coined by Beattie called the “Freedom of Conscience”. While the Church encourages groups to be active and take stands on issues the Church as a whole will not. After a lengthy discussion a motion was made to continue the policy of not endorsing or supporting non-UU organizations. The motion was seconded and passed.
Bruce presented his report. Nancy presented her report.
Ray opened a discussion of the Welcoming Congregation proposal to be presented at the fall congregational meeting. Ray made a motion for the board to ask the Welcoming Congregation committee to extend the program to be visibly welcoming to others with signage, publications and the web page. After discussion the motion was seconded and passed. The Welcoming Congregation committee will be asked to present their proposal at the October Board meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 9:27 PM
Mike Middleton, Secretary to the Board