View from the Pew: Approved February 2023 Board Minutes
/Below are the approved minutes of the February 2023 meeting of the Official Board of the Congregation. These minutes were voted on and approved at the meeting of the Official Board on Sunday, March 26, 2023.
Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023
UACC Board Meeting (via Zoom)
Attendees:
Board Members Present:
Kathy Davis, President of the Congregation
Frank Proctor, President of the Board
Michelle Mueller, Vice-President of the Board
Anya Weber, Secretary of the Board
Doug Rademaker, Finance & Stewardship
Jacque Foster, Outreach & Social Justice
Neil McNeill, Plant & Property
Richard Jones, Investments
Carla Duncan, AGUA
Board Members Absent:
William Brickhouse, New Media
Others Present:
Cheryl McNeill
Randall Palmer
Dianne Benjamin
Call to Order / Opening
Richard led us in an opening prayer at 6:07 PM.
Verification of Quorum / Approval of Minutes from Last Meeting and Agenda
Anya verified that we had a quorum.
The last Board meeting was 12/18/22 and minutes were sent the same day. Michelle moved to approve those minutes and Neil seconded. Anya will share those minutes with Ron Lindsay for posting to UACC website.
Agenda items:
Personnel changes at UACC
Ron Lindsey sent an official letter to the executive team announcing his plan to retire from his role as church administrator on Feb. 28.
Michelle pointed out that we will need to have a checkout system in place for Ron. Carla stated that NBA is having meetings in the gallery on 2/28 and 3/1 which are two of the last days Ron will be present at the church, depending when he arranges with the exec team to “check out.” Exec team to discuss these matters further.
Frank will ask Ron to send his retirement letter to the congregation before 2/12 so all can be aware of his upcoming departure before our Town Hall Meeting (2/12).
Ron has stated that he does not want a goodbye party. Frank pointed out that the congregation will still need closure. Neil suggested making a video of people saying goodbye and thank you to Ron might be a nice option that would not be too overwhelming and would still respect Ron’s wishes.
Charles Green, custodian at the church, has accepted a full-time position at QuikTrip. Charles has voiced interest in continuing to work for UACC.
Charles’s regular UACC hours are Sunday – Thursday, 9 AM – 2 PM. He also has done extra contract work for Union Avenue Opera and West End Players. He has provided janitorial services to the National Benevolent Association. Randy checked the NBA lease and it stated that trash removal and cleaning must be done for NBA on the same schedule as they are for UACC, with anything extra being NBA’s responsibility.
Board members felt it is important to share details with NBA about any upcoming changes to Charles’s availability, as well as to check in with NBA about 6 months before their current lease ends in 2024. (Month that lease ends was not stated in meeting.)
2. Interim minister search updates
The exec team has received 6 profiles from interested candidates for the intentional interim position. One candidate then accepted a job elsewhere, and 3 others were decided by the exec team not to be a good fit. This narrowed it down to 2 candidates the exec team feels could work well as interims.
Frank sent letters to the 3 candidates we are not moving forward with, thanking them for their interest. He also emailed the 2 candidates we are interested in to see if they are still available and would like to schedule a Zoom interview.
Of those candidates, one’s earliest availability would be in May, and the other will need to give a 90-day notice to their current church.
3. Discussion of potential funding for a bridge pastor
Due to this gap between now and when we can get an interim in place, the exec team would like to hire a bridge pastor. Rev. David Woodard has shared a list of 5 people with Frank and Frank will be outreaching them shortly.
The bridge pastor would be paid an honorarium ranging from $450-500/week, up to $750-$1000/week. This would depend on the bridge pastor’s willingness to take on additional tasks that will need coverage with Ron’s departure. If the bridge pastor were to mostly do just preaching and pastoral care, $500/week might be appropriate, but if they are stepping up to fill admin tasks and building tasks, more like $750-$1000 might be needed.
Doug pointed out that most bridge pastor candidates will probably not be up for “an 80-hour-a-week job” and may be only interested in preaching/pastoral care.
Jacque suggested that members of the church will need to step up to fulfill some of Ron’s job tasks, such as creating the liturgy and worship bulletin. Others agreed. The possibility of hiring a temp for some of those tasks was discussed and will be explored by the exec team. Frank will discuss with some congregation members what tasks they might be able to take on and will voice this need at the Town Hall Meeting (2/12).
The exec team will be interviewing bridge pastor candidates selected by Frank and will discuss more about the budget range.
Richard moved and Neil seconded to approve the request from the exec team for this funding, with the exact amount to be determined and the Board informed.
4. Updates on provisional budget
Doug will go over in more detail at 2/12 Town Hall Meeting.
Pledges have been updated; Ron met with copier people and got proposal for much cheaper copier deal; might be room for other savings on items around administration (looking like these changes can decrease our projected deficit by about $20K).
There was a delay on the roof loan repayment due to Bette waiting for Doug to give her the OK to send it, while Doug thought she had already done so. Bette is now in the process of making that payment.
5. Updates on Urban Mission Inn
The Outreach and Justice Team discussed UMI in detail with Ron and have voted not to bring any youth services groups to the church this summer, due to it being a time of transition at the church. Neil stated that we might still be able to use the church as a one-night stopover for visiting youth who are traveling to another mission site, and volunteered to stay over with them as needed.
Jacque stated that the Outreach Team plans to gather a larger team to assess UMI--is it meeting community needs? Do we have capacity? If we do it, what should it look like and how should we carry it out?
6. Update on work of Constitution and By-Laws Committee
This committee continues to meet to review our constitution and by-laws and compare them with those of other DOC churches. Rev. David Woodard will be consulting with them, and they will meet again in 10 days.
7. Discussion of next steps with HOPE sign
Neil has looked into ways to weatherproof the sign but it is looking ragged after about 3 years of being outdoors. Neil asked the Board for our thoughts. Frank stated that the sign has served its purpose and it is time to take it down and find another inspiring visual symbol to take its place. Carla pointed out that the theme of this year’s “Who is God?” exhibit will be Peace and this could be a good theme to express creatively.
Board had consensus that it is OK for the HOPE sign to come down. Neil will take away the sign and burn it.
8. UAO request for fundraiser event at UACC
Union Avenue Opera is requesting to host a fundraising dinner at the church sometime in April. Their vision (spearheaded by Scott Schoonover) is for an Italian dinner and opera with wine—one glass with meal, no open bar.
The Board discussed pros and cons to saying yes to this request. On the pro side, this would be different from the wine sale request that has previously been rejected by the Board; it would be wine in the gallery only; it would be handled by whatever licensed catering company is hired by UAO for the occasion and thus would not entail liability for UACC.
On the con side, people voiced concerns about this creating a precedent of going against UAO’s lease (which specifically prohibits sale and consumption of alcohol at their events), as well as not showing support for community members who are in recovery from alcohol use disorder.
A vote was taken on this matter. The results were as follows: 4 yes, 4 abstentions, 1 no that changed to an abstention during the discussion.
Due to a lack of consensus about this, at Anya’s request the matter was tabled. Anya will send an email asking Board members to share their vote over email if they would like to change how they voted in the meeting, or if those who abstained would like to vote after having reflected on the conversation. If no changed responses come in, the “yes” vote will stand. Scott will be informed on Friday 2/17 either way.
Additional Ministry Team Reports
Doug stated January financial statement will go out soon.
Neil reported that he received 2 bids for bathroom repairs in the apartment in the church; hopes it will be completed by mid-March.
Frank closed the meeting with a word of prayer and we adjourned at 8:22 PM.