Summary of 2/16/2010 Board Meeting

The agenda for February’s board meeting was jammed and we wore ourselves out! Here is a light summary of the things we covered – please remember that these are not meant to be a substitute for the actual minutes of the meeting which are being compiled by our secretary!

• We recognized five new members, and had no resignations
• We approved the minutes for both the December and January meetings.
• Dale Bulla presented a brief analysis of our electric usage and savings since the installation of the solar panels – so far a savings of some $1,500!
• Michael West gave us an overview of the search process and timeline for calling our next interim minister, followed by the timeline for our settled minister search process. We will be appointing an interim search committee this month!
• We welcomed Walter Pearson, the UUA Ministerial Compensation Consultant for the SW District. Walter explained his role in helping our church in the search for our next settled minister and gave us some excellent insights into the process.
• Our treasurer Luther Elmore gave us an update on how the Finance Committee has chosen to calculate our reserves. While they remain a bit wonky, the good news is that we still have financial reserves!
• The board authorized the Executive Team (the minister & executive director) to make exceptions to our rental rates for non-profit groups for whom our regular rates would be prove a hardship. More specifically, the team will be able to adjust the rates for several 12-step groups that meet at our church.
• Nell Newton and Sean Hale discussed a proposal from a developer who is interested in using part of our land for restaurant valet parking. We have given Stephan Windsor authority to negotiate on our behalf. Will anything come of it? Who knows? But we’ll be looking at the details of the proposal very carefully.

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.

First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX  78756 in Room 13

In Attendance:

Trustees:  Nell Newton, President; Luther Elmore, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past President (Ex-Officio); Margaret Borden; Derek Howard; Jeff Hutchens; Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee; Brendan Sterne; Michael West; Laura Wood.

Executive Team:  Janet Newman, Interim Minister (Ex-Officio); Sean Hale, Executive Director (Ex-Officio);

Staff:  Brent Baldwin, Director of Music; Lara Douglass, Director of RE

Visitors Present: Jim Burson, Transition Team; John Keohane, Chair for Denominational Affairs; Sharon Moore, Transition Team; Corinna Whiteaker-Lewis, Co-Chair for Social Action

Call to Order

The President called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

Adoption of Agenda

The Trustees present adopted the agenda (Appendix A, 1 [numbers refer to page number where appendices may be found in attached supporting document]) after noting that there was no consent agenda report for the Bridge Builders Action Plan Update separate from the Bridge Builders Action Team Report.

Motion: Michael West – Adopt the agenda.

Second: Aaron Osmer

Discussion: None

Vote: All affirmative

Reading and Lighting of the Chalice

The Interim Minister read the opening words and the President lit the chalice.

Visitor’s Forum

The President welcomed the visitors listed above. John Keohane presented information to the Board of Trustees on a letter he had written to the Austin American Statesman (Appendix I, 45) and on the Great Moments in UU History Classes (Appendix J, 46) he had been presenting at the church and would repeat again in March. The President thanked him for his outstanding efforts.

Corinna Whiteaker-Lewis presented a recommendation from the Social Action Forum that had occurred on the previous Sunday. The recommendation would establish a monthly special offering (an extra passing of the plate) to benefit non-profit organizations nominated and elected by the congregation (see Appendix K, 47). This would be for 2010 only as a substitute for split the plate.

The Trustees and Corinna Whiteaker-Lewis discussed the following:

• There would be eleven recipients chosen with the first special offering beginning in February.
• If something similar to the Haiti earthquake were to occur again that was an emergency and urgent, there would be two special offerings in the month it occurred – one for the chosen non-profit and the other regarding the emergency need.
• Recipients will be selected through an appeal for nominations from the congregation and then a congregational vote, probably at a Social Action table in the Gallery during Sunday services. It is likely that organizations with long-term associations with the church will be selected through this kind of process.
• A Trustee suggested linking the recipient’s work when possible to what is being discussed during sermons.
• The Treasurer reported that the collection for Haiti on the prior Sunday had collected $4,000. He suggested moving the special collection for the UUA to February so there would not be a special collection two Sundays in a row.
• This idea will allow the selected non-profits to spend a greater time educating the church about themselves and may lead to greater connections with the church.
• It will be important to report back to the congregation on how much they gave for such special collections.
• It will be important to ask church members to make their checks for these special collections to the church so that the church can account for them and pass through the giving to the non-profit.

Motion: Luther Elmore – Approve this recommendation from the Social Action Committee

Second: Chris Jimmerson

Discussion: There was no further discussion

Vote: All Affirmative

Consent Agenda Items

Minutes from the Prior Meeting: The secretary had sent a draft of the minutes from December out by email but had accidentally left them out of the final packet of materials for this meeting. The Trustees agreed to review them at the next meeting.

New Members and Resignations: The following new members had joined since the last meeting: Anna Dossett, James Dossett and Geoffrey Lorenz. The following members had resigned: Anna Fruge, Javier Cantu, Melita Cantu and Al Rogers.

Reports:  The Trustees had reviewed the consent agenda items prior to the meeting.  These included:

Executive Director: Sean Hale (Appendix B, 2)

Director of Religious Education: Lara Douglass (Appendix C, 7)

Director of Music Programs: Brent Baldwin (Appendix D, 11)

Treasurer: Luther Elmore (Appendix F, 25)

BB A-team Report: Chris Jimmerson/Brendan Sterne (Appendix E, 12)

The Treasurer noted that the 2009 financials were still being adjusted and should not be considered final. He also explained some changes to investments to earn higher interest yet maintain liquidity.

Motion: Derek Howard – accept the Consent Agenda Item Reports with the exception that minutes from the last meeting will be reviewed at the February meeting.

Second: Michael West

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Discussion and Action Items

Church Security: The President presented some work that had been done regarding security in the light of some incidents in the church where persons were either verbally abusive and/or disruptive or had engaged in physically threatening behavior. We will ask such persons to leave the premises and not return to them. If they do, we will call 911 and ask that the Austin Police Department remove them from the property. The President has also discussed this with freeze night volunteers and the Sunday Morning Services Team.

The Trustees discussed the following:

• We should adopt a zero tolerance policy for even the threat of physical assault wherein we call the police immediately.
• Trustees were concerned about vulnerability of church space with so many open entrances. The church is working toward an eventual configuration where except during Sunday services access to the building will be through only one entrance.
• There is a need to inform all of leadership about this and to develop ways that such incidences can be handled when no one in leadership is present.

Church-Wide Covenant Process and Stephan Jonasson Visit: The Interim Minister reminded the Trustees of Dr. Jonasson’s upcoming visit. Dr. Jonasson is the Director for Large Congregations at the UUA. He will be meeting with the board for dinner on January 22, conducting a workshop from 9 am to 3 pm on January 23 on preparing ourselves to call a settled minister and offering a sermon on Covenants on January 24. After this sermon, the Transition Team will begin facilitating small group sessions to gather information toward developing a church-wide covenant of right relationship.

The Interim Minister also announced that Gini Courter, Chief Governance Officer and UUA Moderator, will be visiting the church the week of March 10^th. She will send specific details as they are known.

Report from San Antonio Meeting with UUA Board: The President reported that the meeting had been very informative and that persons from across the UUA had expressed their support for our church and our effort during our transition period. The UUA Board had expressly invited church leaders to this meeting so that they could engage with them to learn of their desires for the denomination (a process known as linkage) as the UUA Board begins adopting Policy Governance.

Board Covenant: The Interim Minister and President presented the Board Covenant, slightly revised after the discussion at the prior meeting (Appendix G, 40).

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Adopt the Board Covenant

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Overview of New Financial Reporting: The Executive Director (ED) presented a draft version of new financial statements (Appendix H, 41) based upon a new chart of accounts for 2010 that simplifies expense categories and includes numbers as well as names for the chart of accounts. The ED gave an overview of the financial reports that will be possible in 2010 which both simplify the information given to the board but also make “macro-level” understanding of them much easier. Anyone wishing the underlying detail will still be able to request it.

The Trustees complemented the ED on how much of an improvement the new statements will be.

The President welcomed the members of the Transition Team who would be joining the Board of Trustees and the Interim Minister after a break for a separate meeting to evaluate the Interim Ministry.

With no further business, the President adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chris Jimmerson

Secretary

Appendices (Supporting Documents)

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX  78756 in Room 13

In Attendance:

Trustees:  Nell Newton, President; Eric Stimmel, Vice-President; Luther Elmore, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past President (Ex-Officio); Margaret Borden; Jeff Hutchens; Brendan Sterne; Michael West; Laura Wood.

Executive Team:  Janet Newman, Interim Minister (Ex-Officio); Sean Hale, Executive Director (Ex-Officio);

Staff:  Brent Baldwin, Director of Music

Call to Order

The President called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m.

Adoption of Agenda

The Trustees present adopted the agenda (Appendix A, 1 [numbers refer to page number where appendices may be found in attached supporting document]).

Reading and Lighting of the Chalice

The Interim Minister read the opening words and the President lit the chalice.

Visitor’s Forum

There were no visitors present.

Consent Agenda Items

Minutes from the Prior Meeting: The Trustees had reviewed the minutes from the November 2009 meeting prior to this meeting (Appendix B, 12) and noted one grammar change changing the word “effect” to “affect”.

New Members and Resignations: The Secretary reported that the following had become new members since the last meeting: Gregg Welch; H.I. “Sam” Long; Deidre Autry Madres; Troy Madres; Leona Perez

The Secretary reported that Susan Lowrance had resigned since the last meeting because she had moved.

Reports: The Trustees had reviewed the consent agenda items prior to the meeting.  These included:

Interim Minister: Janet Newman (Appendix C, 9)

Executive Director: Sean Hale (Appendix D, 11)

Director of Religious Education: Lara Douglass (Appendix E, 15)

Director of Music Programs: Brent Baldwin (Appendix F, 20)

Treasurer: Luther Elmore (Appendix G, 22 – includes Finance Committee Reports)

BB A-team Report: Chris Jimmerson/Brendan Sterne (Appendix H, 51)

The Bridge Builders Action team gave an overview of upcoming events including a training on Policy Governance on February 26^th and 27^th of 2010 and a training in March for board members and facilitators on how to do the purpose and values sessions in the church. The team will poll the board soon on a date for the purpose and values sessions training.

These trainings should be very informative, exciting and motivating and the training for the purpose and values session will be the boards’ chance to participate in establishing the information we will use to develop values, mission and ends (vision) statements. The sessions with church members will begin in April and run through early May and will provide a great opportunity to listen directly to church members’ dreams and aspirations for the church. A Trustee advised the team to avoid Spring Break when scheduling these items.

The Interim Minister reported that she and the transition team would begin working with the congregation soon on developing a Covenant of Right Relationship. Stefan Jonasson, Director for Large Congregations with the UUA, will be coming to the church to assist and will have dinner with the board on January 22, 2010 followed by working with the congregation on January 23, possibly on the topic of “What a church need to accomplish before ready to call a settled minister”.

The Treasurer noted that the current membership count for the church was 567. The Secretary noted that Paradox Players would still be making one final contribution before the end of the year of the proceeds from their final production of the season.

Motion: Luther Elmore – accept the Consent Agenda Item Reports with the noted change to the minutes of the last meeting.

Second: Michael West

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Discussion and Action Items

Committee on Ministries (CoM) Proposal: The Chairperson of the CoM, which had been on hiatus, brought forward a proposal to disband the CoM. This committee is not normally maintained during the interim ministry period, and churches practicing policy governance also do not use a CoM. Stefan Jonasson had made this same recommendation for our church in the past. The CoM can end up serving as a “triangulation point” between the minister and the board. As we move forward, we will need to re-envision how the role formerly played by the committee will be fulfilled.

The Trustees discussed the following:

• Church members are likely to ask whether this committee will be revived. Under policy governance it will likely not be.
• The history of the CoM has been that the role it played varied greatly from year to year, and some church members have been frustrated that when they bought concerns about the minister to the CoM, the CoM did not have full authority to address such concerns.
• A Trustee asked if perhaps this could wait until the church fully adopted policy governance since the committee was on hiatus anyway; however the Chair of the CoM believed it was cleaner to go ahead and act now.

Motion: Michael West – move that the Committee on Ministries at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin be disbanded and that all reference to the Committee and its roles and responsibilities be struck from the church’s Policies and Procedures

Second: Chris Jimmerson

Discussion: A Trustee asked where under policy governance concerns about the minister might be brought. Another Trustee noted that policy governance grants both greater authority and accountability to the minister and because of this, monitoring of the minister’s performance falls to the board. The bylaws mention the CoM; however, this is only in reference to how its members are appointed and may be changed later.

Vote: Affirmative – 7, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Margaret Borden)

Nominating Committee Policy and Procedure Update: The Trustees reviewed a change to this policy and procedure that had been recommended by the Nominating Committee (Appendix I, 54). This change outlined new duties regarding leadership development charged to the committee and made the Policy and Procedure match the bylaws as regards this committee. A Trustee recommended removing a reference to the Bridge builders Report and replacing that reference with “In addition”

Motion: Brendan Sterne – approve the update with the change to remove the reference to the Bridge Builders Report made

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion

Vote: All affirmative

Congregational Meeting Review: The trustees discussed that the meeting had gone professionally and that people came to the meeting well prepared. The Pre-Congregational Meeting had helped with this. The congregation members who had attended seemed to have supported the idea of a Covenant of Right Relationship. The Trustees discussed the need to establish a Parliamentarian position.

Interim Minister Evaluation Process: The Interim Minister presented a description of the process and the theory behind it and presented the evaluation form (Appendix K, 57) that the UUA provides. She stressed that the form is intended to be a memory “jogger” for an honest exchange between the minister and board to be held in person. This session normally take about an hour but can go as long as two hours.

The Trustees and the Interim Minister established Sunday, January 17 at 1 p.m. at the church as the time and place for the evaluation. The Secretary volunteered to send out electronic versions of the form and description of the process prior to this date.

Audit Request: The Treasurer noted that the board needed to formally request that the internal audit committee audit payroll, as this is this is this most critical area of our accounting and the place where the most corrections have been noted in the past. The board would ask the committee for a proposal on the parameters of the audit and would work with staff to ensure such parameters do not create an unachievable burden for staff. The Chair of this committee must appoint its remaining members as soon as possible so that the audit can occur in a timely manner.

The President will contact the Chair of the committee and ask that the names of the other committee members and a proposal for a payroll audit be submitted by the next board meeting.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Charge the Internal Audit Committee with doing an audit of payroll

Second: Jeff Hutchens

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: All Affirmative.

Board Covenant: The Trustees had reviewed a draft of the covenant (Appendix J, 56) that had been prepared by the Interim Minister and the President based upon the discussion of it at the last board meeting. The Trustees discussed several ways of streamlining and editing the document while noting that there is a need to balance conciseness with making expectations explicit. The Trustees also discussed potential ways to better define some of the issues contained in the covenant, as well as some ways of rearranging the order in which the issues are presented. The President made specific notes of the discussion and the agreements that were reached among the Trustees. She and the Interim Minister will bring a revised version to the next meeting for review and approval

With no further business, the President adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chris Jimmerson

Secretary

Appendices (Supporting Documents)

The following are summaries of the above meetings. The minutes will be posted as soon as they are approved (there was a delay in reviewing the December 2009 minutes)

January 2010 Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

After the heavy-lifting of the December budget process, January’s meeting was fairly light. Here is a light summary of the things we covered – please remember that these are not meant to be a substitute for the actual minutes of the meeting which are being compiled by our secretary!

• We recognized three new members, and four resignations.
• The December meeting minutes were accidently omitted from our report packets, so we agreed to wait until February to approve them.
• We approved a recommendation from the Social Action Committee that will add one extra plate collection each month to benefit local non-profits. Look for details soon!
• We reviewed the reports from our Executive Director, our DRE, the Music Director, the treasurer, and the Bridge Builders team.
• Nell Newton and Sean Hale discussed recent steps taken to improve church security.
• Nell Newton and Margaret Borden gave a brief report on meeting the UUA Board of Trustees at a special meeting in San Antonio.
• The board adopted our new covenant, based upon work done in November and December. It’s cool!
• Sean Hale gave us an overview of what our financial reports will look like using a new accounting software system. They will be MUCH easier to read!

We then adjourned the meeting, had a good snack, and fifteen minutes later convened an entirely new meeting dedicated to evaluating our interim ministry. The second meeting included members from the Transition Team and our Interim Minister Janet Newman. We followed a set of questions provided by the UUA Office of Transitions, which oversees the Interim Ministry Program. The 15 questions were thought-provoking and generated a good deal of discussion about the progress of our church during Janet’s ministry. In general, we agreed that we are well on track and that Janet has been a capable leader during this transition time.

We wrapped up our evaluation work and then discussed our second year of interim ministry. Janet recommended that we seek another minister to help us with the special work of the second year. While this news was a bit sad to hear, it does reflect the excellent progress we’ve made, and we will soon assemble a search committee to find our next interim.

December 2009 Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

• We accepted several encouraging reports including great progress on planning for activities to develop a Church Covenant of Right Relationship and to pursue some of the objectives established in the Bridge Builders Action Plan. Other discussion and action:
• We recognized five new members. No members had resigned in the prior month.
• We approved a recommendation from the Chair of the Committee on Ministries that the committee be disbanded. The UUA recommends this for larger churches and it is in keeping with our move toward policy governance.
• We approved a change to policy containing the description of the Nominating Committee that the Nominating Committee had recommended.
• We discussed the process for the upcoming evaluation of the Interim Ministry.
• We requested that the Internal Audit Committee begin an audit of payroll.
• We continued our work on establishing our covenant among Trustees.

All Council meetings generally are held with executive and program director staff, the Chairs of church committees/groups and/or their designees once per quarter, normally on a Sunday at 1:30 p.m. You can find a listing of the All Council dates for the 2009/2010 year here:

http://www.austinuu.org/wp/category/board-docs/2009-2010-meeting-dates/

The Vice-President of the Board of Trustees establishes the agenda for meeting. If you have a request to place an item for discussion/presentation on the agenda, please send an email to the Vice-President at vicepresident@austinuu.org and copy the Secretary at secretary@austinuu.org. Whenever possible, such requests should be sent to the Vice-President by noon on the Friday one week prior to the meeting along with any written materials to be distributed related to the topic. Please provide an estimate of the time that will be required to discuss the agenda item.

Generally, church committees, groups and programs will be asked to provide any major update on their activities. Time is often very limited for such reports and you are encouraged to submit them in writing ahead of time so that persons planning to attend may read them ahead of time, making a verbal report at the meeting optional. Written reports should be submitted to the Secretary at secretary@austinuu.org by noon on the Friday one week prior to the meeting.

Thanks to everyone for their work supporting our church!

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

All Council Meeting Notes from January 10, 2010, 1:30 P.M.

Attending: (See Appendix A)

Call to order and Welcome:

The Vice-President of The Board of Trustees (VP) welcomed those present.

Reading/Lighting of the Chalice: The Interim Minister (IM) presented the reading and the VP lit the chalice.

Overview: The VP briefly reviewed the agenda for the meeting (Appendix B, Page 1).

Introductions: The attendees introduced themselves and what committees and groups they were representing (see Appendix A).

Upcoming Visits from UUA Representatives and Covenant Work:

The IM noted that the Transition Team would be giving the next Sunday service based on common themes and threads from the church timeline on which the congregation had noted their proudest church moments, disappointments and dreams for the future upon.

She announced that Stephan Jonasson, Director for Large Congregations for the UUA, would be giving the sermon on January 24 on Covenants of Right Relationship, after which the Transition Team would be holding a series of small group discussions on developing a covenant at First UU Austin. Dr. Jonasson would also be presenting a workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 23 on what to do to be ready to call a settled minister. Church members could contact the IM by phone or email to RSVP, and lunch would be provided for five dollars.

The IM also announced that Gini Courter, Chief Governance Officer and UUA Moderator, would be visiting the church the week of March 10^th.

The IM noted that she and several members of the Board of Trustees would be attending a session with the Board of Trustees of the UUA in San Antonio on January 16 from 3 to 5 p.m. This session would be for the UUA board to hear from the congregations they represent, a process known as linkage.

The IM noted that the sign up sheets for participating in covenant sessions would be available immediately after the sermon on January 24 and that the sessions would run for the next two weeks. Anyone who might be interested in hosting a session should contact the minister. She noted that work on a covenant for All Council would occur between this meeting and the next.

Policy Governance Update:

The Secretary of the Board of Trustees noted that he is a part of the Bridge Builders Action Team that also includes Margaret Borden, Brendan Sterne, Janet Newman and Sean Hale. The team was formed to address most of the issues identified by the congregation in the Bridge Builders Action Report through moving the church toward a system of governance know as policy governance. This system would be a means to unite church structure (policy) and church decision making (governance) with our values, purpose and vision.

He gave an overview of Policy Governance and its potential benefits, how the system might work on a broad level (Appendix B, pages 2 through 7) and stressed that the first step in moving to policy governance would be establishing values, purpose and vision.

He noted a series of dates, starting with developing the church covenant, after which church leadership would receive training on Policy Governance and facilitating values and purpose sessions. In April, the congregation would work together in these facilitated sessions on our values and purpose (Appendix B, page 8).

Discussion:

• Inclusiveness will be vital in the process of establishing values, purpose and vision. It will be important to use as many means as possible to invite church members to participate – phone calls, email, announcements, the newsletter, etc. – treat this as a campaign.
• The church worked on a mission statement in the past that is in the bylaws and might serve as a starting point. The process of involving the congregation in establishing purpose is vital though and many current members were not a part of developing it and are not generally aware of it.
• We should set our sites on a vision of being a “shining church at the top of the hill” – a beacon for liberal religion.
• Some churches have come up with covenants, statements of purpose, etc. that were considered draft for 6 months or more to allow time to live with them and see how they work.
• It is likely that the overall church covenant will include the items that have been discussed specifically regarding membership.

Budget Update:

The Treasurer gave an update on 2009 church finances and presented a draft balance sheet (Appendix C), noting that corrections were still being made but that it was looking as if the 2009 deficit will be smaller than had been projected. He urged committee chairs to look over balances for committee funds and noted that Paradox Players had contributed $13,703 in 2009.

Discussion:

• Would it be possible for Committee Chairs to get financial statements for their committees? Answer from Executive Director — Under the old accounting system it was difficult to do this; however, a new system is being developed that should make it much easier.
• The Treasurer may be able to provide some of these reports in the next few weeks.

Upcoming Leadership Training:

Lynn Adams presented the “Harvest the Power” series of workshops that the Nominating Committee will be offering to persons interested in church leadership over the next year (Appendix D). This series offers a spiritual take on management training and will occur as 12 sessions of about 2 hours each on Wednesday evenings.

Discussion:

• Do the modules stand on their own well enough that it would be OK to miss some sessions? Answer from Lynn Adams — They are intended to be sequential, and the relationship developed between participants is important. It would be best for participants to commit to the whole series with the realistic knowledge that conflicts might come up. The schedule could also be discussed.
• Does this cost money? Answer from Nominations — No, the modules are from the UUA website.
• Are these leadership-training sessions a church priority? A board priority? Answer from Board Secretary and others — Yes, this was a priority the congregation identified in the Bridge Builders Action Plan. In adopting the plan, the board charged the nominating committee with developing them.
• The Nominating Committee will also be interviewing persons interested in serving in leadership positions soon, so please contact a member of the committee if interested in serving. The committee will also be holding a Leadership Forum at 12:45 on Sunday, January 17 to discuss the nominations process.

Calendaring Exercise:

Emily Wethington led the group in this exercise wherein upcoming church events were posted on monthly calendars for the next several months. The calendars will be posted in the volunteer office.

Discussion:

• There is a need for a prioritization process whereby scheduling of events and facilities utilization gives priority to those that most closely match church values and so that scheduling is done in a way that allows the most people to participate. Several people gave examples and the group noted the difficulties inherent in this.
• The new software system will provide online access to the calendar of church events.
• The process of moving to policy governance will help with this.

Committee Reports:

Congregational Care Committee (Pat Walters): the committee has been operating “under the radar” but will engage in several more visible activities soon:

• Greater activity from the Memorial Services Group
• The Blood Drive
• Targeted events to provide transportation for those who need it such as Easter and Christmas.

If you aware of people who are ill or experiencing grief please let the committee know.

Public Affairs Forum (Cris Cunningham): The forum has had great speakers and good attendance and has been collecting more than in the past from donations given at the forum. Cris presented a document of upcoming dates and speakers but asked that it not be made public as some of it was still tentative.

Meet and Eat (part of Membership Committee) (Jeanette Swenson): Meet and Eats are the third Wednesday evening of each month and feature discussions on different issues and groups:

• January – Paradox Players
• February – New church members
• March – to be determined
• April – Purpose and Values Session

Please let Jeanette know if you have potential topics.

Membership Committee (Jacob Williamson): The membership committee is working on an Easter party and a Spring Connections Fair. Jacob announced that current membership stood at 560 and that 67 people had become members in the last year.

Children’s Programming Committee (Vicky Bailey Miller): Sixty-five people attended the Halloween Party, 65 attended for Thanksgiving and 120 came to the Christmas Pageant. The committee needs volunteers!

RE (Lara Douglas): Lara presented a list of dates to remember (Appendix E). Volunteers are needed to help repair the children’s’ playground.

Denominational Affairs (John Keohane): The committee needs members (see page 15 in Appendix B). The UUA General Assembly will be in June. See the UUA website. Thanks to all involved in setting up purchases from the UUA bookstore.

Sack Lunch Program (Mary Jane Ford): Please see page 17 of Appendix B for statistics. Volunteers pay for a large part of this program. They meet on Monday nights and are divided into teams.

Social Action Committee (Corinna Whiteaker-Lewis): Please see the report on pages 16 and 17 of Appendix B. We will be holding an open meeting at 1 p.m. on January 17 to discuss alternatives to split the plate and will have information on the hunger walk soon.

Finance Committee (Stephan Windsor): It is encouraging that 2009 may end essentially balanced after projecting a large deficit. We should hold out hope that we can exceed revenue expectations in 2010.

IT/Media Committee (Becky Moon): We are working with Sean to implement new software from a local company that is used by large churches and several UU churches. It will make membership and facilities scheduling available online and we expect it to be ready to use by the summer.

IT (Aaron Osmer): Aaron has trained his replacement for videoing services and they hope to have streaming video available soon.

Interim Ministry (Janet Newman): Information of Stephan Jonasson’s visit will be in the announcements sheet. Please RSVP early. The Interim Minister will be at a ministers’ retreat January 25 through 28 and also out of town January 20 and 21, returning the evening of the 22^nd. We are working on gathering the lay leaders into a more cohesive group, perhaps using Yahoo Groups to coordinate.

Worship Services Committee (Carol Ginn): The Worship Services Committee will be gearing up again this Spring after enjoying a break during Janet’s tenure.

Facilities Committee (John Payne): In the committee’s mailbox there are two binders for submitting requests for work on the building.

Men’s Fellowship Breakfast (Michael West): We are meeting every second Saturday morning – whoever gets here first, start cooking!

Paradox Players (Chris Jimmerson on behalf of Ann Edwards): There is a full written report on page 14 of Appendix B. Paradox Players is upgrading the stage and house lighting in Howsen Hall. The new stage lighting will be much more flexible and allow greater effects for plays and forums. The new house lighting will be bright enough to be used with the fluorescent lights turned off and will have several settings on a fader switch such as “movie” or “dinner”.

Stewardship Committee (Bill Edwards): The Stewardship Committee is continuing the process of creating a culture of generosity in the church. The 2010 canvass raised $450,000+. See Appendix F for more information,

Website/Library (Andi Windham): Andi introduced Peter Roll, who is helping with the website. They are working on a new look for the website. The library committee is working on getting it ready for a grand opening soon.

Joys/Concerns/Follow-Ups:

The VP noted that the format of the meeting had been based upon comments received after the last All Council meeting and requested that folks continue to send him their ideas for these All Council meetings.

The Secretary noted that further information and resources for learning about Policy Governance could be found on pages 11 through 14 of Appendix B.

The VP asked that presenters email their reports to the Secretary.

Michael West thanked all who had presented for coming well-prepared.

With no further business, the VP adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chris Jimmerson

Secretary

Appendix A — Attendees

Appendix B — Agenda, Policy Governance, Paradox Players, Denominational Affairs and Social Action Reports

Appendix C — Draft 2009 Balance Sheet

Appendix D — Harvest the Power Leadership Training Reports

Appendix E — RE Save the Dates

Appendix F — Stewardship Committee Report

Appendix G – Written Reports from Music, Adult RE and Nominating not Presented Verbally at Meeting Also, see below from the Grounds Committee:

1. Sanctuary Garden:  workdays continue to complete the renovation of the Sanctuary Garden.  A number of folks have pitched in with work days, plus special help from Paige Hill (design) Lynn Adams (funding of pots-as-fountains) and David and Karen Matthis (funding of dirt, possibly plants and fountain innards).
2. Rebidding lawn and garden contracts to conform with reduced budget, with help from Barb Denny.  Contract emphasis will be on maintaining the front (eastern end) of the church, and reducing frequency of maintenance of the back (western end, grass parking lot).

The Executive Committee meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:45 at the church to set the agenda for that month’s board meeting. The Board of Trustees meets on the Third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the church, usually in the gallery. You can view a list of church governance meeting dates here:

http://www.austinuu.org/wp/category/board-docs/2009-2010-meeting-dates/

You can view the online calendar for the Board of Trustees here (may take awhile to load):

http://www.austinuu.org/wp/category/board-docs/board-calendar/

Board meetings are open to church members and there is time set aside on each agenda for members to make comments and/or bring items to the attention of the board that do not require extended discussion and/or board action. Such items do not require an additional agenda item.

Committee Chairs or others who have business requiring extended discussion and/or board action may request an agenda item by sending such a  request to secretary@austinuu.org by 5 p.m. on the day before the next regularly scheduled Executive Committee meeting. Please indicate how much time you believe will be needed for the item. Please submit any written materials related to the item of business to the same email address by noon on the Friday before the Board of Trustees meeting.

In the event that an urgent item of business becomes needed after the Executive Committee has set the agenda for that month’s board meeting, contact secretary@austinuu.org with an explanation. Please reserve this option only for items requiring action that cannot wait until the following month.

The Board of Trustees welcome your ideas and participation and invites you to attend our meetings!

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX  78756 in the Gallery

In Attendance:

Trustees:  Nell Newton, President; Eric Stimmel, Vice-President; Luther Elmore, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past President (Ex-Officio); Margaret Borden; Derek Howard; Jeff Hutchens; Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee; Brendan Sterne; Michael West; Laura Wood.

Executive Team:  Janet Newman, Interim Minister (Ex-Officio); Sean Hale, Executive Director (Ex-Officio);

Staff:  Brent Baldwin, Director of Music, Lara Douglas, Director of Religious Education

Visitors Present: Bill Edwards, Chair of Stewardship Committee

Call to Order

The President called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

Adoption of Agenda

Motion: Luther Elmore – adopt the agenda (Appendix A, 1 [numbers refer to page number where appendices may be found in attached supporting document]).

Second: Brendan Sterne

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Reading and Lighting of the Chalice

The Interim Minister read the opening words and the President lit the chalice.

Visitor’s Forum

There were no visitors other than those scheduled to present for an agenda item later in the meeting.

Consent Agenda Items

Minutes from the Prior Meeting: The Trustees had reviewed the minutes from the October 2009 meeting prior to this meeting (Appendix B, 2).

New Members and Resignations: The Secretary reported that the following had become new members since the last meeting: Suzanne Chambers, Daniel Chambers, Carolyn Lindell, Emily Sorensen, Kim Sorensen, Peg Frederick Frey, Brandon Labash, Kirsten Clay, Veronica Miller, Stephanie Mayoral Armond, Jacob Hodges, Emily Hodges, Jerry Perkins, Alice Morrow Harris, Ruby Edmond, Bonnie Nieves, Jose Nieves and Daniel Lillie.

The Secretary reported that two members had resigned since the last meeting, Mark Skrabacz, who is now in Kerrville, and Jane Laessie, who had written a very nice note wherein she had said that she had come to the realization that she is a Quaker

The Secretary reported that the following members had not made a pledge in the last 18 months and had not responded to a letter the church had sent them requesting that they contact the church if they wished to remain members; thus, they were being considered as having resigned: Moriarty, Thomas; Edwards, Leslie; Reynolds, Claire E.; Quarles, Kim; Quarles, Rob; Bostick, Bruce; Soto, Jo; Bottler, Carolyn; McAfee, Sean; Sosa, Jennifer; Doggett, Lisa; Williams, Don; Garland, Mathew; Robinson, Colleen; Fajkus, Michelle; Couvillion, Marion; Couvillion, Shirley; Garza, Bianca; Kaulfus, Jack; Nada Brahmananda, Swami; Ford, Chris.

Reports: The Trustees had reviewed the consent agenda items prior to the meeting.  These included:

Executive Director: Sean Hale (Appendix C, 9)

Director of Religious Education: Lara Douglass (Appendix D, 12)

Director of Music Programs: Brent Baldwin (Appendix E, 15)

Treasurer: Luther Elmore (Appendix F, 16 – also see Finance Committee Reports Appendix K, 35)

Bridge Builders Action Plan Update: Margaret Borden (Appendix L, 50)

BB A-Team Report: Chris Jimmerson/Brendan Sterne (Appendix G, 29)

A Trustee requested information on what was included in the potential contract from the Bridge Builders Action Team report. The Team reported that there was not yet a contract; however, after screening several candidates, two had submitted excellent proposals in terms of proposed work scope and procedures. Of the two, one was much more cost-effective and seemed best suited to the needs of the church. A Trustee asked why actual pledge collections thus far this year were going so well compared to prior years. The Treasurer commented that the reason was unknown. Several trustees noted that this might be due in part to the efforts of the Executive Director to collect credit card pledges on cards that had expired and such. The Treasurer also commented that the special Spring Campaign had contributed. The Treasurer pointed out that there had been a positive trend in plate collections for September and October.

Motion: Michael West – accept the Consent Agenda Item Reports.

Second: Brendan Sterne

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Discussion and Action Items

Stewardship Update: The Chairperson of the Stewardship Committee gave an update, noting that total pledges through November 16, 2009 had been $436,194 (see full report attached as Appendix M, 51). He recommended a resolution (Appendix H, 30) to rescind the July 2010 resolution the board had made to present a balance budget for 2010, as there is a need to build the congregation and future pledges and the budget cuts necessary to achieve a balanced budget might well make building the congregation and future pledges extremely difficult.

2010 Budget Discussion: The Trustees began a discussion of proposed changes to the budget based on recommendations and further discussions that had occurred since the presentation of the draft balanced budget (Appendix N, 52) presented to the members of the congregation at the Pre-Congregational Meeting that had been held on November 8, 2009.

Resolution to Rescind Prior Resolution to Present a Balance Budget for 2010

They began with a discussion of the proposed resolution noted above to rescind the July 2010 balanced budget resolution. The Treasurer noted that the calculations for moving funds to the Memorial Savings Fund would be done at the end of the year and that there would be enough funds held in the Schwab Accounts by the operating fund that a withdrawal from the Memorial Savings Fund to finance any deficit would not be needed.

Motion: Michael West – Approve the proposed resolution amending the second bullet point to state that any shortfall would be financed from the Operating Fund Reserve rather than the Memorial Savings Fund.

Second: Derek Howard

Discussion: A trustee noted that the third bullet point would also have to be changed and that the discussions of the budget to be held later in the meeting might also alter the specifics of the proposed resolution; thus, all that was needed to proceed was a motion to rescind the July 2009 balanced budget resolution.

Michael West withdrew his motion.

Motion: Brendan Sterne – Rescind the July 2009 resolution requiring a balanced budget in 2010.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Potential Changes to Budget Proposal — Income

The Trustees then began a discussion of several changes to the proposed 2010 budget (Appendix O, 57) that had been discussed at and since the Pre-Congregational Meeting, beginning with new revenue projections. Based upon current pledges, the Trustees felt comfortable increasing budgeted pledge revenue from $400,000 to $450,000. Also, based upon current year miscellaneous income, the Trustees also felt comfortable increasing budgeted miscellaneous income for 2010 by $500.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Increase budgeted pledge income for 2010 by $50,000 and budgeted miscellaneous income for 2010 by $500.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Potential Changes to Budget Proposal – Expenses

Church Closure – The Trustees discussed the proposal to budget for closing the church during the summer of 2010 to achieve approximately $50,000 in expense savings. Given the discussion of this at the Pre-Congregational meeting and the need to rebuild the church, several Trustees felt that this was not realistic or advisable.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Do not include a proposal to close the church during the summer of 2010 in the budget the Board of Trustees (BoT) recommends to the congregation.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 7, Negative – 2, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Reduce Overall Earnings Package in Next Minister’s Contract by $5,000 – This would in effect treat the next Minister the same as all other church staff, as church contributions to the UUA pension plan for staff had been cut from the 2010 proposed budget.

Motion: Luther Elmore – reduce the compensation package in the next Minister’s contract by $5,000.

Second: Michael West

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Increase the Director of Music’s Salary – this increase would be to balance this salary against the loss in total salary and benefits this employee would receive if the church were to switch to the UUA recommended health benefit, which is to pay 80% of the costs for staff and 50% for their dependents (currently the church pays 100% for staff but 0% for their dependents). The Trustees noted that the decision as regards what benefit policy to enact was now under the authority of the Executive Team; however, the Executive Team did not object to this particular policy change recommendation. The Treasurer noted that he supports the idea of the policy change but thought it should be delayed one year to allow further examination.

Motion: Brendan Sterne – Increase the Director of Music’s salary to offset the increased costs he will incur due to having to pay 20% of the costs of his health insurance.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Restore $12,000 to the Religious Education (RE) Budget – This would restore $10,000 in previous personnel reductions and $2,000 in other expense reductions for RE, leaving $5,000 in proposed cuts that RE would draw from their restricted fund to cover.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Restore $12,000 in expenses that had been cut from the proposed RE budget.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: Cutting RE would harm future church growth as RE is an area of the church that is currently experiencing large growth.

Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Restore $20,000 in budget expenses for building repairs and maintenance – in prior discussions, the BoT had thought this was a budgeted line item for emergency building repairs and thus might better be taken from long-range savings; however, this has been an ongoing yearly expense and thus would be more properly considered an ongoing operating expense.

Motion: Derek Howard – Restore $20,000 in building repairs and maintenance expenses to the proposed 2010 budget.

Second: Brendan Sterne

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Increase budgeted utilities for 2010 by $4,000 and increase budgeted gift/donation/contributions by $350 – these were recommendations from the Finance Committee to reflect a more accurate projection of likely utilities expenses and to add line items for gifts to a) partner church of $150, b) UU Service Committee of $100 and c) UU United Nations Office of $100.

Motion: Derek Howard — Increase budgeted utilities in the proposed 2010 budget by $4,000 and increase budgeted gift/donation/contributions by $350.

Second: Brendan Sterne

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative 8, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Split the Plate – The current 2010 budget proposal eliminated split the plate for a cost savings of $15,000. Other options such as restoring one Split the Plate per month (an expense increase of $7,500 to the proposed budget) or restoring it back to twice per month (an expense increase of $15,000 to the proposed budget) had been discussed.

The Trustees discussed the proposal with some Trustees reasoning that 2010 was a difficult financial year requiring the church to concentrate its resources internally in order to rebuild. Other Trustees expressed concern that Split the Plate is an important part of our social action for many in our church and cutting it entirely might distract from rebuilding; thus, restoring at least one per month might be worth the additional deficit amount it would create.

Motion: Luther Elmore – suspend Split the Plate for 2010.

Second: Jeff Hutchens

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 5, Negative – 4, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

The motions as approved above would result in the proposed budget for 2010 containing an approximately $32,050 deficit.

Transfer of $2,400 from the Caring Fund to continue paying a custodial benevolence to Victor Gonzales – this would be a transfer on the balance sheet and would not affect revenue as regards the operating budget.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson — The First UU Board of Trustees approves the use of $2,400 ($200/mo) in payment of custodial benevolence to Victor Gonzalez during the year 2010.

Second: Michael West

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

The Trustees then discussed the need to vote on a motion to present to the congregation a 2010 budget as amended by the above votes.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Present to the congregation a 2010 recommended budget as amended by the prior approved motions with an approximately $32,050 deficit.

Second: Luther Elmore

Discussion: One Trustee noted that they would vote against the motion based upon concerns over the effect of eliminating Split the Plate on congregational members. Another noted that they would vote against it because they believe that the congregation must have a greater debate over the consequences of running deficit budgets when pledges are not enough to cover expenses.

Vote: Affirmative – 7, Negative – 2, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)

Congregational Meeting Planning: The Secretary noted that final versions of the following documents would be needed for the December Congregational Meeting:

• The budget proposal as amended by the prior motions.
• A document “redlining” the proposed minor changes to the Financial Assets Management Policy (FAMP).
• A document showing the proposed policy level changes to the FAMP
• A document showing the proposed changes to the bylaws to match the above changes to the FAMP.
• A document showing the Membership Committee’s proposed changes to the bylaws.

The Executive Committee will prepare before the meeting to ensure that mechanisms exist to fairly ensure that the Rules of Procedures as adopted at the beginning of the meeting are followed.

Contract Signing Authority: The Finance Committee and Executive Director had agreed to leave this policy as is until they consider a larger revision to financial policies and procedures early next year.

Director of Religious Education (DRE) and Director of Music (DoM) Reporting: The Interim Minister had proposed the policy as contained in Appendix I, 31. The Trustees discussed whether the last sentence (noting that these positions would report to the Settled Minister once he or she has been hired) was needed or could be addressed at the time a Settled Minister is hired. Since this had always been the intent for the organizational structure of the church, the Trustees believed the sentence could be left as presented. Another Trustee recommended that the clause containing a projected time period for the ministerial transition period be removed from the first sentence of the proposed policy, as this time period could vary.

Motion: Brendan Sterne – Adopt the proposed policy as amended by the suggestion to remove the clause on a projected time period for the ministerial transition period. (The policy would now read: “During the Church’s ministerial transition period, the Director of Music (DoM) and Director of Religious Education (DRE) shall report directly to the Board.  Although they are expected to collaborate and work collaboratively with the Interim Minister(s), the Interim Minister(s) will work with them as a colleague, not as a supervisor.  Once the Church hires a new Settled Minister, this paragraph shall become null and void and the Director of Music and Director of Religious Education shall report directly to the Settled Minister.”)

Second: Luther Elmore

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: All Affirmative.

Board Covenant: The Interim Minister facilitated a discussion on developing a covenant of right relationship among board members. She noted that the reasons to have covenants included:

1.)   They make the rules for interacting explicit,

2.)   They serve as guidelines to help new people coming in to know what is expected of them and what they can expect from others and

3.)   They provide guideposts for reviewing right relationships from time to time.

She provided some examples of covenants (Appendix J, 32).

The Interim Minister facilitated brainstorming among the trustees on when they had felt meetings they have attended went well and why, stressing what behaviors had resulted in the success. She listed the results on an easel pad. The Interim Minister and President agreed to work together to consolidate this list and bring back suggestions that could serve as the basis for developing a board covenant.

With no further business, the President adjourned the meeting at 9:25 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chris Jimmerson

Secretary

Appendices (Supporting Documents)

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, October 20, 200 at 6:30 p.m.

First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX  78756 in the Gallery

In Attendance:

Trustees:  Nell Newton, President; Eric Stimmel, Vice-President; Luther Elmore, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past President; Margaret Borden; Derek Howard; Jeff Hutchens; Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee; Brendan Sterne; Michael West; Laura Wood.

Executive Team:  Janet Newman, Interim Minister; Sean Hale, Executive Director

Staff:  Brent Baldwin, Director of Music, Lara Douglas, Director of Religious Education

Visitors Present: Bill Edwards, Chair of Stewardship Committee; Jacob Williamson, Chair of Membership Committee; Stephan Windsor, Chair of Finance Committee

Call to Order

The President called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

Adoption of Agenda

Motion: Margaret Borden – adopt the agenda (Appendix A). 

Second: Luther Elmore

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Reading and Lighting of the Chalice

The Interim Minister read the opening words and the President lit the chalice.

Visitor’s Forum

There were no visitors other than those scheduled to present for an agenda item later in the meeting.

Consent Agenda Items

Minutes from the Prior Meeting:  The Trustees had reviewed the minutes from the September 2009 meeting prior to this meeting (Appendix B).

New Members and Resignations:  The Secretary reported that the following had become new members since the last meeting: Rebecca Frazier-Smith, Chris Smith, Susan Stolar, Erik Mackdanz, Merlyn Dyches-Bessent, Stephanie Larsen, Juliette Owens, Stphen Owens, Daesene Willmann.

Reports:  The Trustees had reviewed the consent agenda items prior to the meeting.  These included:

Interim Minister: Appendix C

Executive Director: Appendix D

Director of Religious Education: Appendix E

Director of Music: Appendix S

Treasurer: Appendix O

Internal Audit Committee: Appendix F

 The Interim Minister reported that she would be giving a sermon on loss on the next Sunday, including loss that church members may still be feeling over the dismissal of the Settled Minister and asked for the Board of Trustee’s support in raising this potentially emotional issue.

A Trustee reported that the church had been paid $175 for the old phone system hardware by a wholesaler. The Treasurer noted that the church is projecting a loss of near what had been budgeted for the year and the members present discussed that the contingency options developed earlier in the year could be reexamined should cash flow become threatened. The Treasurer also noted that plate collections were down around $10,000 compared to the prior year though whether this could be attributed to a decrease in the number of people attending or to other reasons was unclear.

The Bridge Builders Action Team reported that they were still working to clarify responsibilities for some of the items in the report. The Treasurer asked that the members present review the options for what the Internal Audit Committee might examine (on page 29 of the board materials) as this is a decision the board will eventually make.

Motion: Michael West – accept the Consent Agenda Item Reports.

Second: Chris Jimmerson

Discussion: None

Vote: All Affirmative

Discussion and Action Items

Policy Proposal on Contract Signing Authority: The Chairperson of the Finance Committee presented a proposed contract signing authority policy (Appendix G) that closely mirrored current check signing authority and noted that currently there is no definition or limit on who can contractually obligate the church. He noted that the Executive Director (ED) would be presenting an alternative policy proposal on contract signing authority and the differences between the two essentially came down to how far and how quickly the Board of Trustees (BoT) wanted to move toward policy governance (PG).

The ED presented the alternative proposal allowing the Executive to sign contracts that fall within budgeted expenses with some limitations depending upon length of the contract (Appendix P) and answered several questions regarding it. The trustees discussed the following:

• There are some practical issues regarding requiring a BoT level signature on relatively small contracts that fall within already approved budget parameters.
• It was noted that the minister would not sign contracts.
• The ED’s proposal seemed to be in the spirit of where the church is moving with PG.
• How would the policy be monitored? Through monthly reporting and if so at what level?
• Perhaps the single signature authority in the Finance Committee proposal could be raised to a higher dollar level as a potential compromise.
• How many contracts are signed each year? The ED answered that there have been very few.
• A Trustee noted that contractual authority for the ED may be needed to administer his budget.
• The Treasurer suggested that perhaps the ED and Finance Committee could get together before the November BoT meeting and draft a new version that combines and compromises between the two.

Motion:  Michael West – Adopt the proposal from the Finance Committee for now and ask the Finance Committee and then ED to bring back a combined version at the November meeting.

Second: Derek Howard

Discussion: There was no further discussion.

Vote: All Affirmative

Overview of the UUA Recommended Policy for Funding Staff Medical Insurance:  The Chairperson of the Finance Committee gave an overview of the UUA recommended policy versus current church policy (Appendix H). The UUA recommends paying 80% of the costs of medical insurance policy for the employee and 50% for their dependent children. Current church policy is 100% for the employee and none for their children. Changing would mean very little in costs to the church. The Finance Committee is recommending that the BoT consider voting on making this chance at their next meeting.

Membership Committee Bylaws Change Proposal:  The Chairperson of the Membership Committee gave an overview of changes to the bylaws that the committee was recommending (Appendix I). He noted that the committee had been tasked with clarifying membership requirements and developing a new member orientation class. The recommended changes to the bylaws included adding a requirement to attend the new member orientation and adding language requiring that the contribution of record be “generous within the member’s means” (to avoid the mindset of contributing $1 to maintain membership).

He noted that the committee had engaged in long discussions over whether the new member orientation should a requirement or strongly encouraged and that there was not unanimous agreement but that there was ultimately consensus around the need to address engagement of new members.

He also noted that the committee would take responsibility for administering and tracking of the orientation, that the classes would be offered at least quarterly and that current church members would not be required to attend.

The Trustees discussed the following:

• A Trustee asked how much this would effect youth membership and the committee Chariperson answered that it would not effect it.
• The classed would be 2 sessions of 1.5 to 2 hours each.
• The Interim Minister had worked with only one church that had required a new member class but had not really implemented the requirement.
• There were some concerns expressed around whether the class a required would make it harder to join and become a member, which would indicate a preference for using the phrase “strongly encouraged” rather than making it a requirement.
• Some concerns over the practical logistics of tracking such a membership requirement and making sure that this did not fall to staff were also expressed.
• A Trustee noted that language such as “strongly encouraged” and “generous contribution” are not specific enough requirements to be placed into the bylaws and might better work within the context of the covenants that were being developed within the church. A “new member covenant” might address these issues.

The Trustees were in consensus that adding a new member covenant that would address these and other issues would be an exciting means to implement the new member class and raise contribution expectations and new member engagement.

The President asked that the Membership Committee revise the recommended bylaws changes to require the signing of such a covenant and then work with the Interim Minister and those she is assembling to develop covenants to put language around contribution expectations and participation in the new member orientation into the covenant.

Stewardship Committee Update: The Chairperson of the Stewardship Committee gave an update on the Fall Canvass (See Appendix R for details). As of the date of the meeting, 147 pledges totaling $320,000 of the $650,000 goal had been made. The Trustees and Chairperson of the Stewardship Committee discussed the following:

• Stewardship does not yet have a final projection for the canvass.
• The canvassers have encountered a number of persons who were unhappy over the dismissal of Davidson Loehr and faced a backlash over this. Eight people have refused any pledge and others who pledged last time have not returned phone calls and email messages.
• The Interim Minister would like to meet with any canvassers who encountered anger and hostility.
• Several Trustees noted that if the Team Leaders could come up with estimates of the number of times this happened that it would be useful information to have.
• Having the pledge table set up in the gallery has gone well.

The Board of Trustees’ meeting was adjourned for a break and for the Trustees to place their comments on the timeline outside the sanctuary.

Proposed Changes to the Bylaws and FAMP: The Treasurer presented proposed changes to the Financial Assets Management Policy and to the bylaws regarding it (Appendix J), the first of which were grammatical and clarification revisions to the FAMP. The bylaws changes and corresponding revisions to the FAMP were more substantive and would bring the voting requirements on the FAMP and the Memorial Saving Fund in line with the bylaws rather than requiring two votes at to consecutive, regularly scheduled congregational meetings. Besides bringing the FAMP into compliance with the bylaws, the changes would also act to make it easier for the congregation to react and take action should a financial crisis occur.

During discussion, it was discovered that a few other changes to the FAMP and a Policy and Procedure on the Memorial Savings Fund would need to be made for consistency and Trustees recommended that a ‘redline” version of the grammatical and clarification revisions to the FAMP be brought to the congregation to make it easier to see that these were relatively minor changes. The Treasurer agreed to work with the Finance Committee to make these revisions and to bring them to the Executive Committee for placement on the agenda at the Congregational meeting.

Personnel Policy: The ED and Chair of the Human Resources Committee had met on the policy and presented the revised version of the personnel policy (Appendix K). The Trustees discussed the following:

• The policy details what the Executive Team may not do, so you would not have a situation where for example an executive could be mistreating staff but being judged as complying with policy because the church was doing well overall.
• Such a policy makes it vital that the board monitor reports. There is a danger in becoming complacent and not monitoring the Executive Team.
• A Trustee expressed reservations that since some of the staff will still be reporting to the board during the interim period, the Executive Team would be making decisions for that staff even though there is not a direct reporting line. The Executive Team responded that this was on the program side and that these folks are already functioning well and as a team, with the Interim Minister ultimately responsible.
• A Trustee asked that reports for monitoring be not just when an exception to the policy occurs but include progress also.

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – approve the policy as presented.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Laura Wood)

Policy Establishing Executive Team: (Included as part of Appendix K above). The Trustees had reviewed this policy revision.

Motion: Derek Howard – Approve the policy change as presented.

Second: Margaret Borden

Discussion: There was no further discussion

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 0, Abstain – 2 (Laura Wood and Luther Elmore)

Executive Committee Request for Authority to Establish Agenda and Determine Mailing Items for Congregational Meeting: The President noted that The Executive Committee will meet again in time to meet the calendar requirements for notice and such of the Congregational Meeting but that the next full board meeting would be too late and thus asked for the above authority for the Executive Committee.

Motion: Margaret Border – Authorize the Executive Committee to establish the agenda and determine mailing items for the congregational meeting

Second: Jeff Hutchens

Discussion: There was no further discussion

Vote: All Affirmative

Board Internal Covenant and Covenant with Minister: The Interim Minister presented two examples of covenants (Appendix L) and described the process of developing them, as well as work she had been doing with groups within the church to develop their covenants. She asked for volunteers who would like to help develop such covenants for the BoT and congregation.

Discussion of Proposals to Prepare for the Joint Board and Finance Committee Budget Meeting: The ED presented several proposals (Appendix M), which included:

1. Increasing the budgeted contributions to $50,000
2. Increasing rental income to $60,000
3. Funding all office staff positions at UUA midpoint
4. Increasing ED professional expenses
5. Matching rental expenses to rental income by investing 30% of gross rental income in the program support budget

Trustees expressed several concerns around proposal 5 and logistics involving implementing it. This was counterbalanced by the recognition that the ED and staff need to be able to manage increased rentals and or decreases in rentals as they occur (they are often unpredictable).

Motion: Aaron Osmer – Extend the meeting by 15 minutes to allow discussion to continue

Second: Luther Elmore

Discussion: None

Vote: Affirmative – 8, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Laura Wood) (One Trustee had had to leave the meeting)

The ED explained that eventually he would like to implement a new system for setting staff salaries based upon a range of issues. The Trustees discussed the remaining budget proposals; however, there was not consensus involving several of them, so the President recommended that the ED develop them and/or their rationale further and bring them to the joint board and finance committee meeting.

Motion: Margaret Borden – Extend the meeting by another 15 minutes

Second: Aaron Osmer

Discussion:  None

Vote: Affirmative – 7, Negative – 1, Abstain – 1 (Laura Wood)

The Interim Minister offered that discussion and/or action on disability insurance and Director of RE and Director of Music reporting could be postponed until the November meeting.

Bridge Builders (BB) Implementation Consultant: Funding Mechanism: The Secretary presented a proposal for funding the costs associated with the above from the Long-Range Fund rather than the operating budget. The BB Action Team and the members of the Executive Committee (EC) that had been at the last EC meeting had discussed the proposal as potentially a more fitting way to engage a consultant (Appendix Q). The Interim Minister passed around a copy of the current mission. The Secretary stressed that the work on values/mission/vision and policy governance (PG) were vital to the church and had been called for by the congregation in the BB Action Plan. The Trustees discussed the following:

• Question — is there a defined use for the Long-Range Fund? Response — its description was vague and included in a preamble in the FAMP but that it was never defined specifically as were some of the other church funds.
• Question — could a consultant work with the church to revise the current mission and thereby save money? Response – the process of defining mission/vision/values is often said to be more important that the actual statements that are the end result and therefore, especially given how long it ahs been since the church looked at its mission, there is a need to start “from the ground up”. Also, part of the consultant’s work would be helping the church with PG and we do not have this expertise internally.
• There is $10,000 currently in the budget draft for 2010 that would come out if we use this mechanism instead.
• The ED stated that the only description of the fund was in an introduction to the FAMP and described it as seed money for capital funds. He also noted that the FAMP requires the Board to review restricted funds annually and to reallocate those that are no longer active or for which their original purpose does not apply.
• A Trustee noted that the policy description of the Long Range Planning Committee fit well with this type of activity and that the fund’s intent is likely tied to that of this committee. Another Trustee noted that this seemed an appropriate use of the fund as this planning is needed before any other long-range plans such as a capital expansion could be considered.
• The President noted that work on values/mission/vision should not be put off another year.

Motion:  Margaret Borden — authorize an expenditure of up to $15,000 from the Long-Range Fund to fund the costs of a consultant and related costs for one year to help the church implement the mission/vision/values and policy governance aspects of the BB Action Plan

Second: Brendan Sterne

Discussion:   There was no further discussion

Vote: Affirmative – 5, Negative – 2, Abstain 2 (Laura Wood and Aaron Osmer)

Rental Rate Adjustment and Wording Clarification: The Trustees had reviewed this proposal prior to the meeting (Appendix N).

Motion: Chris Jimmerson – approve the proposal policy revision as presented.

Second:  Brendan Sterne

Discussion:  There was no further discussion

Vote:  All Affirmative

Adjourn

With no further business, the President adjourned the meeting at 10 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,

Chris Jimmerson, Secretary

Appendices (Please note, clicking on the link to the left will open a file containing all appendices from the meeting in your browser window, which may be slow because it is a large file. You can also right click on the link to download it instead).