Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia

Board of Trustees

Minutes of June 18, 2014 Meeting

Attendance

Trustees present:  Ivy Coleman (Co-President), Robin Scherer (Co-President), Regina Moody (President Elect), Buzzie Kelly (Secretary), Bob Whitaker (Treasurer); Members at Large: Sandy Chubon, Marc Drews, Caroline Eastman, Phil Turner; Ex-Officio Members: Linda Brennison and Mike Sullivan (Finance Committee Co-Chairs), Ann Johnson (Past President), and Neal Jones (Minister). Also attending: (Trustees and Officers elected for 2014-2015): Barbara Beeler, Dot Brown, Richard Culler, Patty Drews (Co-President Elect), and Janet Swigler.

Call to Order and Establishment of Quorum

The meeting was called to order by Ivy Coleman (Co-President) at 6:39 p.m. She noted a quorum was present.

Reading and Check-In

Ivy opened with “Human Family,” a poem by Maya Angelou; all present gave brief personal updates to check in.

Approval of Minutes

On a motion from Phil Turner, seconded by Bob Whitaker (Treasurer), the minutes of the May meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s Report

Bob Whitaker noted that from now on all financial reports (Treasurer’s Report and the Budget Variance Report) will be sent electronically to Board members and no paper copies will be handed out. Trustees are expected to read the reports prior to the Board meeting and bring up any questions they have at the meeting. The current shortfall in pledges is $24,000, although it is projected that the final shortfall at the end of June will be $15,700. The collection of prior year pledges is also much lower than projected.

Although rental income is above projections by $1,300 and wage expenses are under by $14,000, expenses are still projected to be greater than income, resulting in a negative variance of $3,792. As there is currently a Board Reserve of only $2,369.12, it may be necessary to use this to offset the negative variance, leaving us with no cushion at the beginning of the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

On a motion from Bob, seconded by Phil, the Board voted to put the Memorial Garden fund and the refrigerator fund into restricted accounts.

It was mentioned that pledge envelopes are not always available in the back of the chairs. Since no one knew who is charged with the task, Neal agreed to ask Andrea to take on that responsibility.

Membership Review and Waivers

A review of the process to determine membership in the UUCC was gone over. The bylaws state that individuals need to pay the minimum pledge in order to be considered a member or request and receive a waiver. These waiver requests are made to the Minister or Membership Committee Chair, who give the requests to the Executive Committee to consider for approval. If the Executive Committee approves the request, the Minister informs the member of the decision and the Secretary sends a memo to the Treasurer.

A number of individuals who did not pay the minimum or receive a waiver have been notified that they have been removed as active members. The bylaws state that only active members may be committee chairs and that some committees require that all committee members be UUCC members. Inactive members may be restored to active membership if they send a written request for reinstatement to the Minister, Secretary, or Membership Committee Chair, and are either granted a waiver or pay the minimum pledge.

Finance Committee Year End Summary

Mike Sullivan presented the Finance Committee Year End Summary and noted that the way the current bylaws define and review membership makes it possible for an individual to be counted as a member for as long as 18 months without making any financial contribution to the UUCC. The Finance Committee recommended that the bylaws be changed to require an annual pledge as a requirement for membership.

There are currently 46 members who have not made a pledge for the coming fiscal year, which represents 24% of the membership. The Finance Committee believes it’s important to learn why these members have become disengaged. The UUCC can’t support its infrastructure with almost a quarter of its members not making any financial contribution. Although the current practice is to hand new members a pledge card that must be filled out and returned before becoming a member, this low pledging from current members indicates a systemic problem that must be addressed.

Ann Johnson (Past President) suggested that community education needs to take place, stressing to members the importance of pledging and fulfilling their pledges. Barba Beeler noted that talking about money is embarrassing to UUs, but that it’s vital to explain how important it is to the health of the congregation.

On a motion from Caroline Eastman, seconded by Marc Drews, the Board voted to ask the Membership Committee and the Finance Committee to propose wording for a bylaws change to more clearly define membership and include a requirement of a pledge as a condition of membership. The proposed revisions will be presented at the July Board meeting. There were 5 yeas and 3 nays.

Analysis of Pledges for Next Year

Mike handed out detailed analyses of the pledges that have been received for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. This year there are 139 pledging units; last year there were 142 units. Half of the pledging units account for only 15% of the budget; the other half contribute 85%.

Minister’s Evaluation

The Executive Committee met and completed the Minister’s Evaluation, which is part of the process for Minister Neal Jones to complete his fellowship.  He will be granted Final Fellowship as a UU minister at next year’s G.A. in Portland.

Technology Changeover

Caroline Eastman explained that the Technology Services Committee will help new Committee Chairs and Trustees to change their passwords at Committee Night on July 2. She noted that Committee Chairs need to receive better training on how to keep their committee’s web presence current. She explained that the Technology Services Committee recommends that there be three “super users” who are able to access the website and understand how it functions. She suggested that the UUCC Administrator be one of the super users, which will insure institutional continuity. Caroline will meet with Neal to discuss how to accomplish this goal. All Board members were instructed to clean out their UUCC mailboxes and to remove any UUCC materials that may contain sensitive information  from their personal mailboxes.

Committee Reports

The Director of Religious Education (DRE) has requested additional funds for OWL training. She is also expanding the number of classes this coming fall and needs more volunteers (30+ for the coming year).

Ivy announced that the congregation is sponsoring a float for the PRIDE parade on September 20. This will allow people who aren’t able to walk an opportunity to participate in the parade. The float will hold 15 people.

The Worship Committee has services planned through the end of 2014.

Membership Directory

The deadlines were missed for receiving free copies of the Membership Directory offered by Lifetouch, due to the Administrator (Andrea Dudick) being on medical leave. The photos for the directory were taken in late August and early September 2013. On May 20, 2014 the proof of the directory was sent back to the Lifetouch with final changes. Because of the missed deadlines, the UUCC will receive 123 free directories (the number of photos taken). Additional directories will cost around $5 each. An electronic directory will be available on the Lifetouch website, but not on the UUCC website.

It was agreed to announce that individuals who will not receive a free directory (those who didn’t have their pictures taken or who joined after the photos were taken) will be able to order a copy at cost (which will be determined, based on the number of orders received). Individuals will be required to pay in advance, and then Andrea will place the order. She will order additional copies to be handed out to new members and to be kept in the main office.

Memorial Garden

The contract for work on the Memorial Garden has not been finalized and work has yet to begin.

Safe Congregation Task Force

Keitha Whitaker (Chair, Safe Congregation Task Force) delivered a timeline and will present the final report at the August Board meeting.

Policy on Policies

Regina Moody (President Elect) and Buzzie Kelly (Secretary) presented the second reading of the proposal for creating a Policy on Policies, detailing how new policies are presented to the Board for approval and the creation of a Policy Manual. On a motion from Robin Scherer (Co-President) and Phil Turner, the Policy on Policies was unanimously adopted by the Board.

The Finance Committee is near completion on their policies and procedures manual. Although the Personnel Committee has worked on an Employee Policy Manual, none has been completed. Ann Johnson (Past President) indicated that such a manual is needed and it should conform with the Safe Congregation Policy that was adopted last year.

Coffeehouse Issues

None of the other UU Coffeehouses Marc Drews contacted have written policies guiding their coffeehouse practices. However, it was agreed that a written policy is needed to insure clarity and continuity. It was pointed out that the Coffeehouse finances are a separate account, but issues such as any UUCC liability and the relationship between the UUCC and the Coffeehouse need to be addressed. Marc agreed to submit a policy on the Coffeehouse at the July Board meeting.

It was also mentioned that the person recommended by Mike Paget to handle Coffeehouse finances has recently been classified as a non-active member of the UUCC. Since it was decided that individual should be an active member, either a different person needs to be assigned those duties or that person should be required to become an active member.

New Committee Chairs

On a motion from Robin, seconded by Phil, the new committee chairs were confirmed, subject to verification that all chairs are active members of the UUCC.

The new committee chairs are:

Adult Religious Education:  Pat Mohr

Caring and Hospitality:  Ann Johnson

Denominational Connections:  Tom & Judy Turnipseed

Endowment Fund:  Phil Turner

Finance:  Dot Brown

Green Sanctuary:  Shawn Drury

Leadership Development:  Joan Watterson

Membership:  Patty Drews

Personnel:  Glenn White & Dave Crockett

Shared Ministry:  Keitha Whitaker

Social Action:  Mike Sullivan

Technology Services:  David Roof

Worship:  Kate Noel Wells

Committee chairs still need to be appointed for Building and Grounds and CYRE. The Leadership Development Committee will identify prospects and present the names to the Board at the July meeting.

Building Assessment and Need for a New Strategic Plan

Ann suggested that an ad hoc committee be established to assess building improvement needs as outlined in the Strategic Plan, in particular the need for expanding the bathrooms and assessing the need for fire safety in the RE wing. Caroline Eastman pointed out that the ad hoc Safe Congregation Committee has addressed some of the building safety concerns in their work. Other work has been done by other committees and groups and it was agreed there is a need to consolidate all the existing reports to get a better picture of where we are. The Long Range Plan was established in 2006; the Strategic Plan was created in 2011 and was intended to last through 2014. Perhaps it is time to look at creating a new Strategic Plan, taking into consideration all the above. No decision was reached and no action assigned.

Process for Prioritizing and Restoring Funding

In order to create a balanced budget for 2014-2015, the Board reduced expenses in several areas, notably the UUA contribution, staff salaries, the position of Music Coordinator, and funds requested by the Worship Committee. It was suggested that no action be taken at this time to prioritize how additional funds might be allocated until additional funds are actually available.

Shared Ministry Committee

On a motion from Robin, seconded by Marc, the Board voted to approve Joe Long to serve on the Shared Ministry Committee for 1 year and Ivy Coleman to serve for 3 years.

Action Items

Below are the action items to be followed up at the next Board meeting.

1. Neal Jones will ask Andrea Dudick to make sure pledge envelopes are available in the back of the chairs in the sanctuary each Sunday.
2. The Membership Committee and the Finance Committee will present proposed revisions of the bylaws to more clearly define membership and include a requirement of a pledge as a condition of membership.
3. Caroline Eastman will meet with Neal to determine how best to make the UUCC Administrator one of the super users for the oversight of the website, thus allowing for institutional continuity.
4. All Board members will clean out their UUCC mailboxes and remove any UUCC materials from their personal mailboxes.
5. An announcement will be made that individuals who will not receive a free directory from Lifetouch (those who didn’t have their pictures taken or who joined after the photos were taken) will be able to order a copy at cost (which will be determined, based on the number of orders received). Individuals will be required to pay in advance, and then Andrea will place the order. She will order additional copies to be handed out to new members and to be kept in the main office.
6. Keitha Whitaker (Chair, Safe Congregation Task Force) will present the final report from the task force at the August Board meeting.
7. Marc Drews will submit a policy on the Coffeehouse at the July Board meeting.
8. The Leadership Development Committee will present nominees for chairs to the Building and Grounds and CYRE Committees at the July Board meeting.
9. [carryover from previous Board meetings] Caroline will ask the Technology Services Committee to create an “open house” meeting in 2014 to train committee chairs who were unable to attend the Committee Night Training in 2013 to learn how to access and update their committee’s web page.
10. [carryover from previous Board meetings] Caroline will continue to provide an update on the website at Board meetings.
11. [carryover from previous Board meetings] Caroline will investigate what visitor information can be gathered for the website and will explain it at the next Board meeting.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9:31 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Buzzie Kelly, Secretary