of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia SC September 8, 2004
NOTE: since not yet approved, these are draft minutes only.
Members Present: Joe Kyle, Pat Mohr, Sej Harman, Sandy Chubon, Beth Crawford, Donald Griggs, Jessica Kross, Don Thacker, Sharyn Walters, Jessica Porter, ex officio.
Members Absent: Rob Harper.
Guests: Don Mohr, Morgan Maclachlan, Tootsie Holland, Isabel Oake, Audrey Muck, Carita
Barr, Mike Paget.
Summary
Motions Passed
Approved the Worship Committee's proposal to contract with Rev. Dr. Doug Reisner to provide one service per month from October 2004 through June 2005 and to contract with Rev. Neal Jones to provide one service per month, conduct rites of passage for members and contributors, and to provide pastoral counseling services from October 2004 through June 2005.
Approved the proposal for the Friendly Ear Group to handle calls for assistance and agreed to delegate the discretionary fund to Tootsie Holland for a two-month trial.
Empowered the Finance Committee to take bids and make an offer to someone to clean up our books and accounts (see specific six tasks on page 2) for $1000 or not to exceed $1500.
Approved the Personnel Committee description.
Approved the Interim Planning Group Role Clarification document.
Decisions Made
The Board will meet with the Anti-Racism Conference Committee on September 19 after the service to discuss financial needs.
Action Items
Mike Paget will report to the Board in December or January about the Coffeehouse.
Audrey Muck will report to the Board in two months about how things are going with Adult Programming.
Donald Griggs will work on a method to inform the congregation about the importance of supporting the larger denomination.
The Anti-Racism Conference Committee will provide a proposed budget to the board.
For October 13, Beth will bring snacks and Jessica will provide a reading.
Proceedings
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 PM by Joe Kyle. Sej provided a reading.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Minutes of the August 11 meeting were approved as circulated.
INTERIM ISSUES
Worship Don Mohr presented a proposal from the Worship Committee to contract with
Rev. Dr. Doug Reisner, Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church of
Charlotte, to provide one service per month from October 2004 through June 2005. A
second contract will be made with Rev. Neal Jones to provide one service per month,
conduct rites of passage for members and contributors to the UUFC, and provide pastoral
counseling services from October 2004 through June 2005.
Jessica Kross moved that we approve the proposal. Pat seconded. The motion passed.
Pastoral Care Tootsie Holland presented a proposal for the Friendly Ear Group. Plans
are for a member of the group to be on call daily and to handle calls for assistance. There
was also discussion of the Minister's Discretionary Fund. People from the community
are showing up fairly regularly asking for money. There was discussion about having
two people agree before writing a check and limiting funds to members only. Sharyn
moved that we accept the proposal for Friendly Ears and that the discretionary fund be
delegated to Tootsie for a two-month trial, after which Tootsie will report back to the
board. Jessica Kross seconded. The motion passed.
Finance Jessica Porter presented a proposal from the Finance Committee to hire a
consultant with a CPA to achieve these outcomes: (1) The monthly Report of Income and
Expense is accurate and the Balance Minus dedicated Report is accurate. (2) The
WITHHOLDING accounts, which are found under Liability Accounts in Shepherd's
Staff, are accurate and periodically zeroed out. (3) The Dedicated accounts in Shepherd's
Staff are accurate. (4) The PAYROLL accounts in Shepherd's Staff include health
insurance and FICA broken down by employee. (5) The FY 2003-2004 is closed out on
Shepherd's Staff. (6) The consultant will present the Finance Committee and Board with
recommendations for on-going fiscal operations. The Committee requested $1000-1500
to pay for this service. They propose getting two bids for the task. Jessica also reported
that the CPA she has talked to recommended that we have an audit as soon as the
accounts are cleared up. After some discussion, Pat moved that we empower the Finance
Committee to take bids and make an offer to someone to do the specified job (1-6) for
$1000 or not to exceed $1500. Don Thacker seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Adult Programming Audrey presented a template for Adult Programming Proposals.
The board approved the template and asked her to report back in two months about how
things are going.
Personnel Committee description Pat Mohr presented the latest revision of this
committee description. Jessica moved that we approve it. Sharyn seconded. The motion
passed.
Interim Planning Group Role Clarification Joe presented a document intended to clarify
the role(s) of the IPG. Don Thacker moved that we approve the document. Donald
Griggs seconded. The motion passed.
COFFEE HOUSE
Mike Paget presented the plans for the 04-05 Coffeehouse Season. He is excited about
the artists who are booked. Board members were also enthused and asked Mike to report
back in December or January about how things are going.
TREASURER UPDATE
There was discussion about paying UUA/TJD dues. Again the idea of requiring people
to pay dues in order to be a member was discussed. Donald Griggs volunteered to work
on finding a way to inform the congregation about the importance of supporting the
larger denomination.
STAFF REPORTS
The reports of the Administrative Coordinator and the Director of Religious Education
were approved.
ANTI-RACISM CONFERENCE
Don Thacker reported that the theme of the conference will be Dismantling Racism:
Promises to keep, and miles to go. The committee has decided to invite James
Loewen to be the keynote speaker. His speaking fee is $3000 and his expenses are
estimated at $1000. The committee is working on ideas to encourage attendance at the
conference. They would like to have information presented at different levels for people
with more or less experience in the area of anti-racism. The TJ District has laid off staff
and cannot provide seed money. The committee proposed using some of the Carnesale
bequest ($2000) for the conference. If the conference runs a deficit, the UUFC is
responsible. Joe asked for a budget. He proposed having another meeting in about 2
weeks to discuss this further. A meeting was scheduled for Sept 19 after the service. The
committee asked if they could solicit contributions from the angels in our fellowship.
The board consented to their polling the angels to get a verbal commitment from them.
KITCHEN COMMITTEE
Sharyn identified that the major problem now is to find people to clean up the kitchen on
Sundays. It was proposed that we get 8 people to commit to one Sunday per month. Pat
suggested that the board serve as role models and she volunteered for next Sunday.
NEXT MEETING
For the October 13 meeting, Beth will bring snacks; Jessica will provide a reading.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.
Minutes recorded by
Sandy Chubon
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In the event of discrepancies the paper copy of the minutes as contained in the board minutes binder shall be the official version. This binder is maintained by the administrator in the congregation office.
Your comments/corrections are welcome. Email to Donald Griggs at dgriggs@chaliceweb.org