of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia SC

December 10, 2003

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Members Present: Regina Moody, Joe Kyle, Jo Conner, Sandy Chubon, Becky Dickey, Rob Harper,
Mary McGriff, Dwight Pregler, Don Thacker, Sharyn Walters, Patrick Price, ex officio.
Members Absent: Rusty Wenerick, Mary Heriot, ex officio.
Guests: Tootsie Holland, Peter Kandis, Gertrude Edge, Isabel Oake, Carita Barr.

Summary

Motions Passed

• We will find out the cost of having a doorbell installed.
• We will continue our rental policy as follows: We reject the idea of a discounted rate for members. While the use of our building for rites of passage (weddings and memorial services) and the attendant receptions is considered a privilege of membership, this does not extend to the more common milestones such as anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, and the like. One exception to this is events which are open to the entire congregation and advertised as such in our newsletter.
• We approved the staff reports.
• By January 14, 2004, we will revisit our income and expenses based on deposit slips and check registers through December and not rely on Shephard Staff's data.
• We approved the Ministerial Relations Committee description.
• We approved the Endowment Committee description.

Decisions Made 

•         We will follow up on our work with Qiyamah Rahman after we receive her notes summarizing the December 6 meeting.
•         John Starino was appointed to the Finance Committee.

Action Items

•      Regina will ask Pat Mohr to get an estimate on the cost of having a doorbell installed. We would like a report in January.
•      Patrick will ask Susan Corbett to provide us with RE attendance data for November.
•      Joe will communicate the board's suggestions to the respective committees for revisions of the Finance and Fundraising Committee descriptions.
•      Joe will provide Membership and Worship Committee descriptions before the next board meeting. Board members will review them and come prepared to discuss them.
•      Patrick will call the heating contractor and get clear information about thermostats and on/off controls. He will e-mail that information to board members by Friday. Board members will e-mail Regina by Sunday, telling her whether to go ahead with the furnace installation.
•      Regina will ask Qiyamah Rahman whether she has dates available for a Conflict Management Workshop in March, 2004.
•      Board members will bring ideas/suggestions to the January board meeting for how we can pay UUA/TJ district dues for the current fiscal year and for next fiscal year.

Proceedings

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:20 pm by Regina Moody. She lit a chalice provided by
Becky Dickey. Opening reading was presented by Mary McGriff.

MINUTES
The minutes of the November 12, 2003 meeting were reviewed. Two errors were corrected.
Don Thacker and Joe Kyle (not Jo Conner) organized the Conflict Management Workshop.
On page 2, under the Treasurer's report, the second sentence in the second paragraph was
deleted and replaced with the following:  "We will need to address budget adjustments in
January."
With those corrections, the minutes were approved.

REPORTS
Minister -- Regina asked how much it will cost to repair/replace the light fixture in Patrick's
office. He does not know.
Regina questioned why the new Young Adult group has age parameters of 18-22 since the
UUA's age grouping is 18-25. Patrick responded that he did not know how the age limits
were set; he assumed it was built around the people who happened to be involved.

Administrator's Report - Isabel keeps the building locked when she is here alone. If she is in
her office she can hear people knocking at the side entrance but she cannot hear if she is
making copies or working in another area of the building. She requested that we install a
doorbell. Joe moved that we find out the cost of having a doorbell installed. Becky seconded.
The motion passed. Regina will ask Pat Mohr to get an estimate and to report back to us in
January.

Religious Education -- The board requested that November attendance data be provided to us
within the next week. Patrick agreed to relay that message to Susan.

Interim Youth Coordinator -- Board members commended Isabel for the amount of work she
accomplished in 3.5 hours/ week.

Acceptance of Reports -- Joe moved that we approve these staff reports. Mary seconded. The
motion passed.

Treasurer's Report - Rusty was ill and sent a written report which he reported contained
numerous errors. Apparently the Shephard's Staff software uses unexpected or incorrect data
in the production of reports.
Joe moved that on January 14, 2004, we revisit our income and expenses based on deposit
slips and check registers through December and not rely on Shephard's Staff data. Rob
seconded. Peter Kandis spoke in favor of the motion. He said we could switch over to other
software, like Quick Books. He suggested that the Finance Committee talk with Rusty and
come back with a recommendation. The motion passed.

Committee Council
Ministerial Relations Committee -- Sharyn moved that we approve the latest
description of the MRC. Becky seconded. Regina suggested that we delete the statement at
the end which says the description was reviewed with additional input from various people.
The motion passed with Regina's amendment included.
Endowment Committee -- Don moved that we accept the latest version of this
committee description. Sharyn seconded. The motion passed.
Finance Committee -- The committee description was reviewed and revisions were
suggested. Joe will communicate the suggestions to the committee.
Fundraising Committee -- We discussed this committee description and made
suggestions for revisions. Joe will communicate with the committee.
Membership & Worship Committee Descriptions -- will be discussed at the January
meeting. All board members are to read them before the meeting and come prepared to
discuss them.

OLD BUSINESS

Capital Improvements -- The library roof has new shingles. Appreciation has been expressed
to the donor who paid for that repair.
We have the money to replace the social hall furnace but a question has been raised about
installing a different thermostat. Regina got an estimate of $700 for a better thermostat but it
is not clear exactly what advantages it would offer. There is interest in having controls on the
social hall wall to turn all 3 furnaces on and off so people would not have to go into the
control room. Concern was expressed that it might cost more to make these kind of changes
after the new furnace is installed. After some discussion, we agreed that Patrick will call the
contractor and get better information on what would be needed to get more accessible on-off
controls; Patrick will e-mail board members with this information by Friday; board members
will e-mail their responses to Regina by Sunday. If possible, Regina will call the contractor
Monday and tell him to install the new furnace.

Conflict Management Workshop -- Some board members and fellowship leaders met on
December 6 with Qiyamah Rahman, the TJ District Executive, for a workshop. We planned
to learn about conflict management, but Qiyamah determined that the group needed to deal
with other communication issues before attempting a structured workshop. Members who
attended found the session useful and would like to talk further about issues which were
identified that day. We will wait until we get Qiyamah's written feedback to plan a follow-up
meeting. We agreed we will need time outside the board meeting to follow up on our issues.
We will plan to do that some time after mid-January.
Qiyamah would like to reschedule the Conflict Management Workshop to be held at the
UUFC. She would like us to invite members from the UU churches in Newberry, Clemson,
Augusta, Greenville, etc. to participate also. If we host the event, our members can attend
free of charge. The group agreed to ask Qiyamah if she has a date available in March.

Congregational Meeting -- December - The new mission statement was approved. Regina
commended the Mission Possible Committee for their hard work. She has asked them to find
ways to measure what we are doing against that standard or statement. Joe Kyle will send
board members the suggestions that were made or submitted at the congregational meeting.
Board members commended Rusty for his excellent presentation at the congregational
meeting on our current financial situation.

Fundraising -- Regina asked board members to plan to assist with the Canvass and other
fundraising activities.

NEW BUSINESS

New Member of Finance Committee --The board approved the appointment of John Starino to the finance committee.

UUA Dues Proposal  --Regina reported that Donald Griggs had suggested that we collect two
offerings before the end of the fiscal year to be used to pay our UUA/TJ District dues. Regina
reviewed past board meeting minutes and found no mention of dues in those minutes since
February, 2001. She asked board members to think about the dues issue and come to the next
meeting with suggestions about what we might do before the end of June and what we should
do for the budget for the next fiscal year.

Plans for January Meeting  -- Becky will bring snacks. Jo Conner will provide a reading. Rob
will bring a chalice.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm.

Sandy Chubon

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In the event of discrepancies the paper copy of the minutes as contained the the board minutes binder shall be the official version.  This binder is maintained by the administrator in the congregation office.

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Your comments/corrections are welcome. Email to Donald Griggs at dgriggs@chaliceweb.org