UUCGV Board Meeting February 9, 2017
In attendance:
Gary Poush, President
Janet Cummings, Vice President
Tim O’Brien, Treasurer
Robert McDonald, At Large
Joel Prudhomme, At Large
Rev. Wendy Jones, Minister
Andrea Tanner, LDT
Mallory Rice, Administrator & Note Taker
Not Present:
Opening/ Chalice Lighting
7:04 Opening, Rev. Wendy
Board Business:
TLC Report
Andrea Tanner
· Political Action Group has formed – usually Wednesday nights, TLC gave their blessing
· Cottage Meeting – Melissa & Jay are going to facility the discussion at the Town Hall Meeting
o Andrea compiled the notes
· Black Lives Matter Banner & Location
· Interfaith Earth Day Service – GVIN – Evening weekday
o Will piggy-back with other actions around Earth day
· Stewardship March 11 – April 3
· Celebrations – Talent Show, March 11, spaghetti dinner
· Worship – Do we need hymnals? Mallory is tasked with pricing them
· Membership – is combined with Celebrations
o Really looking for a strong team for next year
· Social Outreach/action
o Blessing Box – basically a “free box” – Emily will research legalities
o Sanctuary for Immigrants, we have been asked to sign on as a safe congregation – see your email
§ This is a real issue – it’s not theoretical anymore
§ Discussion – What about HAP? We’ve let them know we’re here to help and are in communication
· Letters to government officials
o Getting a letter on a big piece of paper, many can sign with addresses, etc.
§ This would be great for the political action group
§ We do need to keep in mind our 501c3 status
§ Wednesday night group is also
· March Change for Change is Grand Valley Pets Alive (help low income families pay for spay and neuter)
· Hospitality Changes – Will start this month
· LDT is working on the leadership slate for next year
o For the board – Janet will become President, Gary will stay on as past president (at Large)
§ Robert is term limited
· LDT Discussion on Leadership Slate
o Aspiration: Total number of people who serve in leadership positions in any given year, and be able to replenish with 10 or 20% of people who have never been in leadership before. Keeping fresh minds is great.
§ And LDT has done this – Melissa, Richard, Barb, etc.
o People who have been in leadership forever need to remember to step aside and let new folks in too. It can be hard to step back.
o It’s easier to get people to start on TLC rather than the board too, then rotate onto the board after their TLC commitment
o LDT has people rotating off too. One or two positions. One of our most important teams!
§ Intention should be a strong and active team
Finance Report
Tim O’Brien
See report below
· Biggest change was in the operating account, increase of over $9000
o Auction, end of year income, etc.
· Capital fund was up $1400, but is now back under $1000 after paying for the carpet
· Auction funds due, almost all are in and we won’t meet our budget goal
· Reserve fund – We probably don’t need to pay it back right away, income does slow in the summer time. Vangard fund is doing ok, and stock market has been up. Maybe putting the money back in (we have $3600 in the bank) but you never know.
o We could look at putting money into another fund. Currently it’s in a midcap indexed fund. We could look at bonds or other funds
· Budget planning meeting – March 7 at 11 am
o Possibly budgeting for paying the mortgage. Either principle or interest.
§ Currently, our interest is someone’s pledge, and we’re not sure if they’ll pledge the same thing next year.
o Town Hall Meeting – Tim will talk about what we want to do with next year’s budget.
§ Income streams rather than budget cuts with the goal of being able to pay the mortgage
Town Hall Meeting Planning
Sunday, February 12
· Agenda
o Introduction – Gary
o Minister’s Report – Wendy
o Leadership Development Team – Andrea
o TLC – Cottage Meeting Report back – Melissa
o Finance Report – Tim O’Brien
o Building Report – John Mayo
· Other discussion
o We really need new people and new energy to get involved
o Maybe talking about our outward work in the community
o Stewardship. Letting people know the process.
§ Time & Talent
§ Sunday morning – Peg & Lance
· Mallory will have Peg call
Facility Use Policy Changes
See Report Below
· The Board passes the changes to the board unanimously
· Another building use issue to think about in the future is kitchen use.
Current Attendance Stats
· Current Attendance stats
o We have 8 new members
o Gary will meet with Chris Coolidge for strategic planning, and will look at attendance stats and cottage meeting results
§ Long term planning will commence!
· Cottage Meeting
o We could use a statistician
o There are a lot of responses and there are some trends
o Joys & Sorrows are exclusive and may not work in a congregation that is our size
o
Stewardship Update
Stewardship Team
· Stewardship team met tonight
· Robert can be the liaison from stewardship to the board
· We’re looking at electronic giving
· Stewardship Talent Show is on March 11
Extra fundraising discussion
· If we did want to bring in an outside speaker, and someone wanted to offer to pay for half of it, they may be discouraged to by our earmarked donation fund.
· Maybe we could bring someone in to help us with new ways of fundraising too.
· Special event: Terry Tempest Williams
o Working with other organizations to bring someone like this, would need another venue, but it would really get our name out in the community
o Good time for good voices
Closing
8:36
The Bin
· Bylaw changes?
Additional Reports
ADD: Finance Report, Text From facility use policy