Irvine United Congregational Church

Administration Board Meeting Minutes

September 21, 2015

Attendance:

Board: Dave Schofield, Renae Boyum, Tricia Aynes, Cindy O’Dell, Mark Allen, and Ron SteinerCommittee/Task Force Chairs: Bill Lawrence, Lyle Norton, and Laura Long

Staff: Michael Spindle and Matthew Redrich

Visitors: Tommie Kozlov and Pat Sauter

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Chair Dave Schofield.

2. Opening Prayer: The opening prayer was led by Matthew Redrich.

3. Approval of August Meeting Minutes: The August 17, 2015, Administration Board Minutes were accepted as submitted.

4. Treasurer’s Report: Mark Allen distributed the 9/15/15 draft of the Financial Statements for the eight months ended August 31, 2015, the summary of which is as follows:

  • Total IUCC results for August 2015 produced a profit of $14.8 thousand, consisting of an $11.6 thousand profit in the church’s general fund and a profit of $3.2 thousand for the Early Childhood Center (ECC).
  • Year-to-date (YTD) total IUCC results produced a total profit of $36.1 thousand, driven by a small profit in the general fund YTD of $2.3 thousand and a $32.8 thousand profit in the ECC YTD.
  • For total IUCC, August YTD results of $36.1 thousand vs. a budged loss of ($48.1 thousand) were $84.3 thousand better; and vs. LY results of a ($28.1 thousand) loss results TY were $64.2 thousand better (primary factors were ECC improved results driven by increased headcount).
  • For total IUCC, cash flow from operations was $34.3 thousand for the period and $70.9 thousand YTD August 2015.

The board agreed that while our finances show a growing, dynamic church, we need to factor in the following potential expenses when constructing the budget: program costs may increase; proposed capital campaign may affect pledges; and some building and grounds issues may need to be addressed. There was a question about the wording of the stewardship letter being developed – should it reference the possibility of an upcoming capital campaign? We decided by consensus that it would be best not to do so, since the capital campaign has not yet received congregational approval.

5. Building & GroundsReport: Co-chair Lyle Norton reported as follows: (1) Terra Verde has been replaced with Seed Landscape, but the cost is approximately the same; and (2) The carpeting in choir loft has been stretched and re-glued; this is a stopgap measure because the carpet is 20 years old, worn, and needs to be replaced. New carpeting would run $3,000-4,000, and new wood flooring would run about $17,000 (this would provide better sound quality for the choir).

Still to do: Replace blinds on door of church office; fix missing doorknob in ECC; fix transition strip in ECC; add sand and remove green tarp for ECC small playground; weld/attach retaining rod to ECC back gate; and add two steps for back row of choir.

Per Dave, last year we had a building and grounds work day in conjunction with Stewardship Sunday. Lyle said the committee would consider it.

6. Fund Development/Stewardship Report: Chair Bill Lawrence reported that the stewardship campaign will start soon. He requested that church leaders make their pledges early because it helps inspire other members to make a pledge. He distributed pledge request letters to the board members.

7. Child Care Committee Report: Chair Laura Long distributed her written report (see attached), the highlights of which are as follows: participating teachers in the Quality Start OC initiative this year had a choice of the type of support they wanted to receive, and each lead teacher selected a different type of support; ECC Director Irma Rosales continues to recruit for a part-time assistant teacher in the pre-kindergarten room and a full-time assistant teacher for the three-year-old room; current enrollment is 47 children; the Boy Scouts are making good progress in re-doing the garden boxes; thanks to congregants for their help in getting the rooms ready; and Sarah Fiske-Phillips and Irma Rosales have begun a dialogue to understand how the ECC and the Sunday School can work more cooperatively in sharing space and materials.

8. Reports: Dave asked those who provide reports for this meeting to get their reports to him by the Sunday night before the meeting so he can send them out as a packet.

9. Technology Committee Report: Chair Matthew Redrich reported that using the new sanctuary TV screens for the Faith & Works Conference worked out really well. The new deacons are running the content on Sunday mornings. Everything else is going well. He is now approved for ordination pending call.

10. Ministries Chair Report: Chair Dawn Price sent out her report previously (see attached), the highlights of which are as follows: the Faith & Works Conference was successful both in terms of attendance (100+) and financially – the Adult Ed team is looking at making it an annual event; a small group met to discuss the 25th Anniversary of IUCC’s decision to become an Open and Affirming congregation and decided to devote a year of programming to it; and upcoming events include Crop Walk on October 18, Thanksgiving Service on November 24 at University Synagogue, and Choir Winter Concert on December 6.

11. Moderator’s Report: Moderator Renae Boyum distributed her written report, the highlights of which are as follows: the fundraiser at California Pizza Kitchen was a success and raised almost $300 for the CROP Walk; Anne Rosse has agreed to chair the Capital Campaign Pre-Planning Committee; there is an AIDS Services Foundation Fundraiser planned for September 23; Priscilla Bizer will visit from September 23-27 to help us plan for a possible capital campaign; a long range planning task force has been formed with Keith Boyum as chair (others on the task force are Cindy O’Dell, Jessie Billings, Steve Goetz, and Greg Woolfson); the Open and Affirming 25th anniversary commemoration will take place in 2016; and the 2016 budget process is underway.

12. Old Business

Refinancing Cornerstone debt (update): Mark Allen reported that he had no update at this point.

Boy Scout Troop project (update): Ron Steiner reported that the original planter boxes in the ECC were rotted out and had to be removed. The Boy Scouts took on the job of taking out a lot of the dirt, building new boxes, and adding 2 x 6s for seats. There will be a trellis feature for plants that grow upward. The Scoutswill level them up and tie everything together. They were originally going to paint the boxes, but may decide to seal them instead. They will add soil and label plants so kids can see what they are. The Scouts are doing popcorn sales as a fundraiser. They will show people a list of plants to be used and invite them to sponsor a plant or supply one. They will keep working on the project this coming weekend.

13. New Business

Policies & Procedures (update): Dave Schofield reported that the Administration Board’s request that a disclaimer be included on advocacy materials distributed by ministries has met with considerable resistance from the Advocates for Peace & Justice and the Mission & Service ministries. He suggested we withdraw the request and instead continue the current practice of having letters say that they are from that group (and thus do not represent a church-wide stance, which would require a vote of the congregation).

Stephen Ministry proposal: Chair Brian Pearcy-Schofield emailed a proposal from the Stephen Ministry asking for funds to send two people instead of one to Stephen Ministry leadership training at a cost of $812 per person. The plan is to send new Stephen Minister trainees Janet Johnson and Cheryl Trobiani to the leadership training. The funds would need to come from the discretionary fund.

MOTION: To approve funds to send two people to the Stephen Leadership training and to distribute those funds from the 2015 budget to take advantage of early bird registration. Moved by Renae Boyum, seconded by Cindy O’Dell. Motion carried.

14. Adjournment/Closing Prayer: The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. The closing prayer was led by Matthew Redrich.

Our next Administration Board meeting will be October 19, 2015.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tricia Aynes, Clerk of the Administration Board