BOARD MINUTES 2005

Congregational Meeting
November 20, 2005
Agenda: Revised 2005-2006 Budget

Olga Turner, Board President, opened the meeting at 10:15 am, following the first service of worship. She introduced John Wagner, Chair of the Finance and Budget Committees, who then reviewed the need for revising the 2005-2006 budget approved by the congregation in April.
John explained that it’s not unusual to have to revise the budget mid-year, considering that when we passed it last spring, we had not completed the canvass and were only estimating what the pledge total would be. He pointed out that, although we didn’t reach our pledge goal of $300,000, the actual pledge total of $272,000 from 225 households is more a positive than a negative, representing an increase of 28 percent over last year.

To explain the need to approve a revised budget now, John then read Board Policy 5.1 under Budget Expenditures: “During the fiscal year, if the remaining deficit exceeds two percent of the total budget and the board does not believe the deficit can be made up in the following month, a special meeting of the membership shall be called with at least 14 days written notice to deal with the situation.”

John said the Budget Committee (BC) worked hard to retain all significant increases in staff pay to maintain our commitment to fair compensation. The committee also held the line on most program areas, allowing a small gain in some, and added some badly needed hours to administrative and custodial time. The BC “zeroed out” some new line items and some that were minimally funded. In essence, he said, this budget does not represent a backsliding.
Turning to Page 1 of the revised budget, John highlighted the note under pledges that anticipates increased pledges and new member pledges before the end of the fiscal year, both of which are supported by our history. He also explained that “other income” included such miscellaneous items as rebates and funds put aside for emergency medical expenses for the custodian that were never used.

On Page 2, he drew attention to the church programs as being either even or better than last year in most cases, though reductions from what we had hoped. Reduced line items for staff were achieved largely because of technical matters, such as less money required than initially estimated for some benefit and pay areas. Being one-third into the budget year, we simply know more about our needs than during the budget process. Four hours were added to the custodian’s job for Sunday hours. Although the Sunday hours are itemized separately this year to show where the added hours went, on next year’s budget those hours will be rolled into the regular custodial time.

On Page 3 he pointed out that the stewardship budget item is far less than the Stewardship Committee asked, but the Budget Committee had no choice but to shave it off further. Line item #79, the projected pledge deficit, is based on an historic 3 percent shortfall, and is included to show what we may need to address at the end of the fiscal year.

Although we need more in the repair reserve, John pointed out that at least we did not reduce the amount budgeted. And under membership growth, the BC took out the money for lay leaders to attend conferences. John lamented that we’d like to be able to fund this, but we can’t right now.

At this point it was moved and seconded that the budget be accepted as revised and Olga opened the floor for questions. Jack Stevens spoke against the revision, and for adopting the original (larger) budget approved in April. He said he and Kathy Dillon promised to raise their own pledge by 10 percent to help achieve the original goal of $300,000 and urged others in the church to do so as well. He said that as a denomination, we’re known as cheap compared to others—and, considering that we will soon have to hire a new minister, we need to step up to our real needs and stop “poor-mouthing.”

Someone else suggested that, if each church member paid their share of the dues to the UUA (a total of $15,351 or approximately $120 per member), we would easily reach the original budget goal. Truman Grandy supported Jack’s suggestion in principle, but suggested we still go with the revised budget and try to meet our original goal. Michael Mattick expressed thanks to the Budget Committee for all their work and explained that the Board didn’t want to be in the position of asking the church for more money again, considering that we went through a late canvass last year and are on the threshold of beginning the next.

Gil Osgood agreed with Michael and said his concern was that, in the past when the church had chronic budget shortfalls, members learned to hold back on their initial pledge in anticipation of a request for more money later in the year. Monica Frank reminded us that Larry Wheeler spoke to us about “budget fatigue,” and urged everyone to give it their best voluntary pledge at canvass time. Jim Weldy thanked the board and the Finance Committee for bringing the budget revision to the congregation this time, instead of letting a budget deficit drag on.

Olga finally called for a voice vote. The revised budget passed by all but one “no” and a couple of abstentions.

John closed the meeting by thanking everyone who worked so hard on the budget, including Betty Hosokawa, Ann Taylor, Barbara Greenley, maria, Jim Weldy, Jean Weick, Marta Powers, and Olga Turner.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Sawyer
Board Secretary

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees Meeting
MINUTES
November 10, 2005, 7:00 pm

Present: Carolyn Colbert, Candee Cole, Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Sally DeCou, Pam Dillehay, Sarah Hendrickson, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips, Marta Powers, Judy Sawyer, Olga Turner
Guest: Erik Fisher

The meeting opened at 7:10 pm with chalice lighting, “good words” from Sally DeCou, and check-in. The minutes for the October board meeting were approved as corrected.

Green Sanctuary. Erik Fisher presented the case for establishing a “Green Sanctuary Committee” based on the UUA’s Seventh Principle Project (see attached description from the UUA Website). He explained that the term “green sanctuary” is actually a misnomer; that the term embraces a commitment to minimizing, and pushing for eradication of, both environmental and social injustice on an individual, congregation and community-wide level. The committee would begin the long-term process to move the church toward the Seventh Principle Project’s goals.
He reported that Rev. Jesch, head of the UUA’s Seventh Principle Project, is coming in January to give a sermon and workshop on the project, and that that would be the perfect occasion to form and kick off the Green Sanctuary Committee.
After some questions and discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the creation of the new committee. Olga asked that Erik and/or the Green Sanctuary Committee keep the board apprised of information gathered to better answer their questions, especially as it relates to costs, if any, of the Seventh Principle Project."

Church Member Database. Sally DeCou reported that she and Dave Franzen had chosen as a starting point to their information-gathering, the strategy of interviewing all church committees to get their input on the skills needed to do the work of their groups. They tried to begin by e-mailing the Facilities Council to explain what they were looking for, but got no data about skills, only the attitudes, needed to serve on the FC. Apparently, they need to meet face-to-face with each group. Therefore, Sally said it will probably take at least a year to create a meaningful database of church members’ interests, talents and skills. The board suggested that these difficulties be brought to the next Leadership Council meeting for guidance and help.

De-brief of Milly Mullarky’s visit. Milly Mullarky, our UUA Ministerial Settlement Representative, met with the board on Saturday October 22 and spoke to the congregation about the full search process for a settled minister at the worship services on October 23. The board expressed appreciation for her thorough, straightforward, informative presentation, although at least one person thought she should have spoken more about the search and need for an interim minister as well.

Interim Task Force. Sarah Hendrickson reported that she, Sally DeCou, Olga Turner, and Judy Sawyer met to initiate the creation of a task force to hire an interim minister. Sarah and Sally agreed to co-chair the task force and Judy and Olga agreed to step down. Although the UUA suggests that the board select the interim minister, the board felt the task force should involve at least three to five members at large from the congregation as well. Therefore, the group put together a list of members who they felt would be good candidates to work with them on this project.

Strategic Planning Committee. Patrick Phillips reported that, although the SPC anticipated asking the board for money to hire a consultant to assess the feasibility of building on our current site, they can obtain that information at a much reduced cost through a consultation with Steve Keating, the engineer who has been advising us on the structural status of the back wall. The SPC will meet with Mr. Keating in December at a cost of $80/hour, which will either be paid for directly by an SPC member or rolled into Mr. Keating's previous consulting bill (as Marta Powers suggested). The SPC will also be taking field trips to the Corvallis and Salem UU churches to evaluate their facilities and recent expansions. The SPC hopes to have a recommendation and begin a congregational decision-making process in January or February.

Organizational Chart. Anita Cowling presented the final version of the Church Organizational Chart that she, Olga Turner, Ken Ross, Martha Osgood, the church staff, and members of the Leadership Council have been working on for more than a year. Kay Crider crafted the PDF graphic of the entire church and Kay and Anita, with staff input, crafted the narrative explanations. The board voted unanimously to approve the new chart. Sometime in the near future, the narrative will become part of a New Member Handbook.

Revised 2005-2006 Budget. Marta Powers reported that the Budget Committee began the revision process by taking out what was new and adding back in what was essential, such as some additional hours for the custodian and administrative assistant. However, the revised budget includes a line item projected pledge deficit of $8,453. That was expected, but the board was unhappy with the line under pledge income that anticipated approximately 30 additional new pledges at approximately $350 per pledge. Several people pointed out that many of the new members had already pledged as friends of the church, so that figure was unrealistic. Marta said that was because the Budget Committee had received incorrect or outdated information.
A long discussion ensued, including a suggestion that we cut the revised budget further and countervailing suggestions that this is the wrong time to make further cuts, especially as we plan for an interim minister, a settled minister and the associated costs of each. Ultimately, the board voted to accept the revised budget as is, with the following line item revision: Under Pledge Income, the note should read: “Anticipates additional pledges from new members and current members increasing their pledges.”
Marta pointed out, in support of the suggestion that we take action throughout the year to achieve additional pledges or gifts to counteract the projected pledge deficit, that if every pledging unit gave just $35 more, we would meet our budget goal. If each pledge unit gave an additional $50, we would meet our budget goal and be able to set up a fund to find an interim minister.

Attached Reports:
Executive Committee Minutes (Judy Sawyer)

Leadership Council (Ken Ross)

Minister’s Report (Carolyn Colbert)

DRE’s Report (Candee Cole)

Treasurer’s Report. Marta Powers reported that our expenses are still lower than projected to date. Also that Suzanne Whaley has agreed to be our new pledge secretary, and that Ann Taylor and Barb Berry are working on a simpler presentation for the Treasurer’s Report, one more compatible with QuickBooks and therefore easier to maintain. It will still maintain the concise summary page for the board’s review as well as our comparative financial history over time.

President Olga Turner announced she would be attending the Leadership Training Workshop in Bellevue, Washington on the coming weekend.

Appreciations. Sally DeCou will send thank you notes to Erik Fisher & the Green Sanctuary Committee and to Kay Crider for organizational chart.)

Assignments: Pam Dillehay is responsible for “good words” in December. She also agreed to make signs announcing the upcoming Congregational Meeting.

Following check-out, the meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Judy Sawyer, Secretary

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
MINUTES Board of Trustees Meeting
October 13, 2005, 7:00 pm

Present: Olga Turner, Marta Powers, Pam Dillehay, Michael Mattick, Rachel Cummings, Carolyn Colbert, Candee Cole, Sally DeCou, Sarah Hendrickson, Anita Cowling

Absent: Judy Sawyer
Guest: Sally Diehm

I. OPENING BUSINESS

A. The chalice was lit at 7:07.

B. Good words (Rachel Cummings)

C. Check in

D. The minutes for the September board meeting were approved as corrected.

E. Adjustments to the board agenda.

V. B. Report from the Stewardship Council (Sally Diehm)
Sally reported that she would have to be away for a time visiting her parents, but that a meeting had been held and many key people were in place for the coming year’s stewardship campaign, some are returning from last year.
-many of last year’s canvassers had agreed to serve again
-she was seeking a co-chair
-they will work with the model of division leaders
-April 9th has been scheduled as Stewardship Sunday, kick-off visits will occur on that date with follow-up canvass calls until May 7th
-target date for campaign materials to be developed in January

II. NEW BUSINESS

A. Board Policies (Ken Ross was not present)
Olga announced that this item will be put to an email vote. Olga and Judy will circulate a resolution to adopt policies that are codifying current practices for the board to act on by email.
B. Facilities Repair Task Force (Olga)
Olga reported on the outcome of the work of this task force.
1.) Facilities Council will caulk the cracks in the exterior wall at the rear of the church to prevent moisture from entering. This will include exterior walls of at least Rooms 1 & 6 and the mechanical room. In addition, subject to FC judgment, it may be appropriate to caulk cracks in the wall between the Mechanical Room and Room 6 and/or between the foundation and the Mechanical Room floor.
2.) FC will arrange to have the beams at the first floor patio deck replaced. They will do the necessary research and bid out the work to a contractor.
3.) FC will mark several points where the foundation and back wall have separated, measure the crack width at each of these points every 3 months, and maintain records of these measurements in a file in the church office.
4.) The Building Repair Task Force, though not formally disbanded, will be dormant until spring, when it will re-convene to assess what other work if any, needs to be done based on the Keating report.
5.) The Keating report will now go to the SPC as part of their working materials.
6.) Neither the Building Repair Task Force, nor any other committee, will be making any design decisions at this time.

C. November Congregational Meeting to Approve Revised ’05-’06 Budget
-Scheduled for November 20th between the two morning services.

-In conjunction with this item, Candee reminded board members that all church functions are to have childcare provided if needed, and that such childcare provision needs to be arranged by the event or meeting convener or coordinator. At the RE committee’s request, the DRE is delegating the arranging of childcare to the working groups in the church, and we are asked to lead the way in changing our community thinking on this. She is in the process of updating the childcare provider list and will be asking groups to use the “how to arrange childcare for your meeting or event” procedure that she disseminated before her sabbatical. It was also mentioned that when a committee schedules an event on the church calendar with the office administrator, that they be reminded of their responsibility to offer/find childcare. The process will not be seamless initially as we all try to re-train ourselves.

D. Milly Mullarky’s visit
Milly Mullarky is the Ministerial Settlement Representative. She will visit our congregation on Sunday Oct. 23rd, to begin the process of educating us on how a congregation searches for and calls a new settled minister. Olga will pick her up and provide the home stay for her. She will meet with the board for a dinner meeting on the evening of the 22nd. Kay and Patrick have graciously opened their home for this dinner, which will be a potluck with a Mexican food theme. Milly will be in the pulpit Sunday morning for both services to present to the entire congregation while Carolyn is away in another pulpit. Milly will also be available to answer questions after both services.

E. Marg Keip’s workshop
Sally distributed specifics on the Healthy Congregation Workshop that the Rev. Marge Keip will offer on Saturday, Jan. 21st. It will be held from 9 to 3 and is intended for the leadership. Its purpose is strengthening our congregation’s ability to act in right relations with one another as we plan and experience the many changes that are in front of us. She will be in the pulpit on Sunday, Jan. 22nd at both services. The cost of the workshop will be minimal.

III. OLD BUSINESS

A. “The Interim Opportunity” video & Interim Minister Task Force
The board viewed a video that was produced by the Rev. Heather Lynn Hanson that describes the purpose and process around having an interim minister between settled ministers. An accompanying brochure was distributed and board members had an opportunity to rate the priorities of a number of potential interim tasks. It was decided that the Leadership Council meeting would be a good opportunity for additional church leaders to rate the same items.
An Interim Minister Task Force was formed to begin the process. It is a time-sensitive process so the group will meet soon. Sarah, Sally, Olga and Judy will meet to consider first steps. Please send ideas for names of potential non-board participants to Sally so the group can be expanded to include other congregants.

B. Purpose Statement Discussion
To prepare for this discussion, Carolyn suggested that we each ask ourselves, “How will this purpose statement help guide my work?”
The board conducted a pre-meeting email vote and after all had voted the following results were offered:
Building community is our spiritual path (7 asterisks)
Nurturing right relations (3)
Nurturing a growing community (3)
There was discussion about the process and it was decided that there was not time to reach consensus on this and the item was tabled.


IV. TASK FORCE REPORTS
A. Organizational Chart (Anita Cowling)
Copies of the draft of the org chart were distributed by email prior to the meeting and available at the meeting. The task force including Ken Ross, Kay Crider, Martha Osgood, Olga Turner and Anita Cowling has met since the board retreat and offers a draft for feedback. The chart is accompanied by a narrative on “How Our Church Works” that is also intended to be part of a member handbook. Please provide feedback in writing by email or on a hardcopy to Anita’s or Olga’s box in the church office. Feedback will be accepted until Oct. 31. Meetings or email conversations with the church staff are invited in order to fine-tune the accuracy of the relationships and processes described. Candee commented that we need to include the Young Adult group (Y.A.C.), which has a variety of different activities and forms but was not represented.

B. Leadership Training Report—Oregon City (Sally DeCou)
Sally commented briefly on this workshop she attended. She had previously sent attachments from the workshop to board members, which included excellent information describing UU church infrastructure and including a sample organizational chart.

C. Database of member skills, talents, interests (Judy Sawyer)
Tabled since Judy was ill.

V. OTHER REPORTS

A. Executive Committee (EC) Minutes

B. Stewardship Council (Sally Diehm presented as above)

C. Minister’s Report (Carolyn Colbert)
Carolyn distributed her report. Highlights included an adult RE series she and Candee will offer together called Parents as Resident Theologians and Spiritual Guides starting the firstTuesday in November. Many congregational events and special services are detailed.

D. DRE’s Report (Candee Cole)
Candee distributed her report. Much is happening with every age group. The RE program is still in need of more childcare workers and volunteers. Most slots have been filled but recruitment and finding substitutes has been more than a full-time effort. Candee offered a display of some beautiful materials on Islam that are available for RE this year, as this is the year in which our children and youth study world religions and Judeo-Christian heritage.

E. Treasurer’s Report (Marta Powers)
Marta distributed budget statements and noted that we are still ahead for the year.

F. President’s Report
Olga informed us of another Leadership training opportunity on November 12th. See her for more information.

VI. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPRECIATIONS

VII. PROCESS CHECK AND ADJOURNMENT

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING MINUTES
Sunday, September 25, 2005

Welcome and Candlelighting: Olga Turner, Board President, opened the meeting at 12:30, with a tallied quorum of 68 people.

Proposed Bylaw. Sarah Hendrickson, Board Member, introduced a new bylaw proposed by the Bylaws Task Force led by Ken Ross and approved by the Board of Trustees.
Under Section 020, which describes the purposes of this church, we currently have the following:

020.1 The purposes of this church shall be the development and enrichment of human lives through the study, practice and promotion of liberal religion. We covenant to affirm and promote:

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The proposed bylaw was as follows:

020.2 Welcoming Congregation: In 1991, having engaged in a process of self-examination and education in accordance with the Welcoming Congregation Guidelines of the Unitarian Universalist Association, this congregation took the additional step to declare itself to affirm bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, to be responsive to their concerns, and to celebrate and be inclusive of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons as members of our church community and our community at large.

However, many in the congregation felt the bylaw was too long, and there was considerable discussion about the wording and whether we even needed a new bylaw, given that the first principal citing “the inherent worth and dignity of every person” already covered the “Welcoming Congregation” territory. Ultimately, the congregation approved the following Welcoming Congregation bylaw:

We covenant to affirm and promote the full participation of all persons in all our activities and endeavors—including membership, programming, hiring practices, and the calling of religious professionals—without stereotype based on race, color, gender, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, class, national origin, or political affiliation.

Election of Strategic Planning Committee members. Patrick Phillips explained that the Strategic Planning Committee is composed of seven members Although initially staffed by the Board of Trustees in January 2004, its members will now be elected by the congregation for staggered two year terms. As they do for the Board, the Nominating Committee will research and recommend a slate of members for congregational approval. SPC currently has seven members. In October 2006, we will need to replace four of them—George Carroll, Gretchen Miller, Patrick Phillips, and Bonnie Phipps—one of whom will be a board representative. Those who are moving off the committee this year are Linda Anson and Jennifer Sorensen.

John Wagner expressed disappointment that we couldn’t find another young person (in Jennifer Sorensen’s age group) to serve on the committee, but that was because those active in the church had already agreed to serve in other arenas of the church.

The congregation approved the slate of proposed candidates for 2005-2007: Betty Hosokawa, who agreed to serve for another two-year term, Pat Christgau and Vern Cederlund.

Proposal to Meet the ‘04-’05 Budget Shortfall: Marta Powers, Board Secretary, explained the Finance Committee’s recommendation that we balance the ’04-’05 budget by taking a loan from the Future Expansion Fund at 5 percent and adding it to the balance of our old loan (taken to meet a deficit of several years ago), collapsing them together to amortize over a five-year period. With an ’04-’05 shortfall of $5,147 and $2,000 still owed on the previous loan, our monthly payments would be only $1 more than they are now. After some discussion and dismay that we had to meet another shortfall, the congregation voted to approve the loan to ourselves as proposed.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Sawyer, Board Secretary

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees Meeting
MINUTES
September 8, 2005, 7:00 pm

Present: Carolyn Colbert, Candee Cole, Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Pam Dillehay, Sarah Hendrickson, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips, Marta Powers, Judy Sawyer, Olga Turner; Visitors: Monica Frank, George Koris, Pam Love

The meeting opened at 7:00 with candle lighting and “good words” from Patrick Phillips.

The minutes of the August 14 board meeting were approved as corrected.

OLD BUSINESS

Planned Giving. Monica Frank and Pam Love of the Planned Giving Committee outlined the extensive work this new committee has performed thus far to enhance and promote giving to the church’s neglected endowment fund. (Committee members include Monica, Pam and George Koris.) The committee has:
• Instituted regular newsletter articles on the importance of planned giving to the church through wills and other bequests, such as memorials to loved ones.
• Created an “honor roll” or “Legacy Society” of those who have contributed to the endowment fund and listed those who gave them permission to do so on a plaque that will hang in the foyer for all members to see.
• Created an “Endowment Fund” handout that describes ten things you can do to leave a legacy to the UUCE.
• Begun calling “giving units” (member households) to see if they have included the church in their wills and to encourage them to do so.
• Identified the obstacles that are preventing some members from including the church in their wills. These include saving the money for their children, not having a will, and not wanting to pay an attorney to change their will.
• Begun honoring past members through Profiles about them in the church newsletter, which will be collected in a Remembrance Book for all to see. Two profiles—on Robert Leonetti and Gerald Nelson—have been completed so far.

In the planning stage are:
• An Estate-Planning Workshop. This would probably include bringing in a specialist to answer questions about living wills, codicils, and other concerns.
• A Healthcare Directive Workshop, featuring chaplains from Sacred Heart Hospital
• A workshop on Death and Dying
• A newsletter article about making wills and writing codicils
• A Memorial Garden with Ed Price (The committee learned that $1,000 is sitting in a fund for this, and they would like to be able to use the money to defer their expenses.)
• Working on the best language to use in talking about legacies, wills, and estates that won’t scare people off and prevent them from making decisions about where they want their money to go after they die.

Patrick Phillips commented that it would be good to create an endowment structure or model that creates various opportunities for, and levels of, giving. The board applauded the committee for the excellent job they are doing and the obvious passion they have brought to the work.

’04-’05 Budget Shortfall and Treasurer’s Report. Marta Powers relayed the Finance Committee’s recommendation that we balance the ’04-’05 budget by taking a loan from the Future Expansion Fund at 5 percent and adding it to the balance of our old loan, collapsing them together to amortize over a five-year period. With an ’04-’05 shortfall of $5,147 and $2,000 still owed on the previous loan, our monthly payments will be only $1 more than it is now. The board unanimously approved the Finance Committee’s solution to the deficit and will take its recommendation to the congregational meeting on September 25th.

$1, 450 in additional pledges for the ’04-’05 year came in after the books were closed, but those have gone into the Stability Fund for ’05-’06.

In general, Marta reported that our cash flow looks good for the current year, with $10,000 more income than projected to date, and expenses have been considerably lower than projected. Furthermore, more than 10 percent of this year’s pledges are on automatic payment, which also improves cash flow. (See treasurer’s report.)

Marta also reported that Barbara Greenley has resigned her position as pledge secretary because of health problems and other family commitments. Olga will recruit a replacement, and Barbara has agreed to train that person. Meanwhile, Kim will send out the regular quarterly pledge update mailing this month. Barb Berry has agreed to do some of the bookkeeping until we can hire a paid bookkeeper.

Revised Welcoming Congregation Bylaw
The board unanimously approved that we accept and send to the congregation for approval on September 25th the following bylaw, as revised by Sarah Hendrickson and others:

Strategic Planning Committee Nominees. Patrick Phillips reported that Pat Christgau and Vern Cedarland have accepted the Nominating Committee’s nomination to serve for a two-year term on the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC). However, the SPC needs a slate of three. The Nominating Committee is working to find a younger member to fill the third slot. Patrick said they would work hard to have a full slate ready for the Congregational Meeting on September 25th. Nevertheless, if they don’t find someone in time, it won’t be fatal, as the entire SPC has agreed to serve again this year.
Meanwhile, Patrick said the Nominating Committee was willing to make the selection of a slate for the SPC part of their regular duties, probably recruiting candidates for the Board of Trustees and the Nominating Committee in the spring and for the SPC in the fall.

Facilities Repair Task Force. Olga Turner passed out copies of the report of a structural engineer, Steve Keating of Keating Engineering, who the Facilities Repair Task Force hired to conduct an investigation of problems in the foundation system at the northwest end of the church building. The good news is that he found that “none of the problems appear to be causing a progressive structural failure, and the structure will be safe and maintainable over the near term even if no repairs are attempted.” So when the task force meets once more, it will recommend what to do with the information. Per the task force’s instructions, Keating also submitted diagrams showing three options for the Strategic Planning Committee to consider when making the repairs. These include a couple of possible expansion scenarios. (See the Keating Report.)
The board voted unanimously to authorize payment of up to $700 from the Carley Fund for Keating’s work.

Minister’s Retirement. In the wake of Carolyn Colbert’s letter announcing her resignation a year in advance (to take effect as of August 15, 2006), Olga Turner described some of the decisions we as a board will have to make to carry us through the transition before calling a full-time minister. The UUA recommends that we appoint an interim minister for a year, during which time we will initiate a search for a full-time minister. After reviewing and discussing UUA guidelines, the board voted unanimously to create a task force of board and non-board members that will initiate the process to find and hire an interim minister for at least one year.

Meanwhile, the board has invited Millie Mullarky, MSR (Ministerial Settlement Representative), to meet with the board on Saturday, October 22, to outline the full search process and to address the congregation on this matter at the worship services on October 23.
For future reference, Olga passed around copies of the UUA’s step-by-step “In the Interim” guide for congregations and ministers to use when a minister leaves, as well as the UUA’s “Application for Interim Minister.”

Task Force Reports
~ Social Justice. Sarah Hendrickson reported that her group is conducting interviews with church members to assess the past and present engagement of our congregation with social justice issues, pursuant to launching a social justice empowerment program recommended by the UUA.

~ Leadership Training & Development. Sally DeCou agreed to call Marge Keip, head of the PNWD’s “Contact” Team, to ask her to present a “Healthy Congregation, How to Deal with Change and Transition Workshop" for us. Carolyn said she would invite her to preach on the Sunday following the workshop.

~ Adult RE. Michael Mattick met with Carolyn and agreed that they would recruit at least one other person to create an Adult RE Steering Group similar to the Shared Ministry Steering Committee. This group will evaluate ourAdult RE offerings and oversee the development of more classes.

~ Member Database Judy Sawyer reported that when Sally DeCou returns, a task force consisting of Dave Franzen, Sally, Kim Harris, and Judy will meet to assess the information we already have on file and to craft a questionnaire and a gathering process that will be effective in building a comprehensive database of member skills, talents, and interests.

~ Purpose statement. Pam Dillehay gathered some preliminary suggestions from board members, but there wasn’t time to discuss them. We tabled that discussion until the October meeting. To prepare for that discussion, Carolyn suggested that we each ask ourselves, “How will this purpose statement help guide my work?”

OTHER REPORTS RECEIVED
NOTE.  There are references to "attachments".  To avoid clutter, attachments are not normally included with the Minutes, though they will become a part of the official church records in the office and in the Secretary's files.  Copies can be viewed in the office or obtained from the Secretary.  Also, Board information, including minister's report, DRE's report, complete Minutes, the current Treasurer's report, are all posted on the "Business Board" in the hall between the rest rooms (across from the coat rack).

Executive Committee (EC) Minutes (Judy Sawyer)

Minister’s Report. (Carolyn Colbert)

DRE’s Report. Candee Cole said she still needs 15 teachers for RE, but of those, only four lead teachers are needed, all for the 11:00 am service. This weekend she will be conducting teacher orientation for 20 people. RE classes resume on September 18. Curriculum books are ready. Rob Tobias will do the music for the peace pole dedication on September 11 and for the service on that day. Five UU youth are donating the peace pole.
She was very pleased that almost all the tasks she needed done were completed during the Labor Day Sunday work party, for which we had a turnout of 85 people. Room 6 is still undergoing renovation, but she has purchased carpet remnants to cover the floor, the inner wall is completed and painted, with a new window that lets in welcome light. The window still needs trim.
This summer the turnout was higher than ever, with an average of 20 children per day, and many days with 30.

President’s Report. Olga Turner recommended that we send a contingent from the board to attend a board training workshop to be held at the Atkinson Memorial Church in Oregon City on Saturday, September 24, from 9:30 to 4:00 pm. Those interested can get the details from Olga. Another workshop will be held on November 12 in Bellevue, Washington for committee chairs and board members/presidents. Carolyn explained it has been a good lay leader networking opportunity.

Appreciations. Board members recommended that Sally DeCou send appreciations to Linda Anson for her work on the Facilities Repair Task Force, to Chuck Wagar for his unflagging work on the church all year, and to the Planned Giving Committee for their excellent work.

Assignments. Rachel Cummings will have “good words” for the October board meeting.

Following check-out, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40.

Respectfully submitted,
Judy Sawyer
Board Secretary

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees Meeting
MINUTES
August 11, 2005, 7:00 pm

Present: Carolyn Colbert, Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Pam Dillehay, Sarah Hendrickson, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips, Marta Powers, Judy Sawyer, Olga Turner

The meeting opened at 7:00 with candle lighting and “good words” from Judy Sawyer.

The minutes of the July 14 board meeting were approved as corrected.

OLD BUSINESS

Facilities Repair Task Force. Patrick Phillips reported that he met with Olga Turner, Ed Zack, Linda Anson, and Michael Mattick two weeks ago to investigate the condition of certain parts of the church building. Ed Zack showed them that the back wall is rolling out at the foundation and that a badly rusted steel pillar is all that is holding that corner up.
The group’s consensus is that we have a significant structural problem that we must address to ensure the building’s safety. Therefore, the key questions of the moment are: What must we do about the wall and foundation and when (i.e., can we put off the repair for a while or must it be fixed right away?). Once we know the answer to those questions, we must decide what to do.
Some task force members said we needed an engineer’s report before we could determine what needs to be done. But one structural engineer who was contacted contradicted that notion, saying that a contractor is what we need. Thus, the task force—and the board—were left feeling confused about who or what should come first: a full engineer’s report costing $2,000 or more or an evaluation and estimate of repair costs from a contractor. Furthermore, if the cost of the repair is significant, say $70,000 or more, the task force suggested we might want to explore the possibility of using the repair as an expansion possibility. This would also involve hiring an architect.
The task force will continue to seek more definitive input from other engineers and or contractors. Then, depending on their recommendations, they see three possible outcomes:
1) that we fix the specific wall/foundation problem only;
2) that we fix the wall/foundation and remodel inside to make more space in the sanctuary;
3) that we fix the wall/foundation and expand the building’s footprint to create more space.
In the meantime, Ed Zack says that the beam supporting the deck outside the social hall has
extensive dry rot and needs to be replaced. That can proceed with use of the current repair fund.

Church Organization Chart Task Force. Anita Cowling reported that Ken Ross, Martha Osgood, Olga and she had been meeting weekly since the board retreat to create a functional organization chart that gives a snapshot of how our church is operating now. However, because we are growing and changing, the lines of communication and responsibility are hard to nail down.
Kay Crider, who has worked extensively with the DRE Advisory committee, has helped the task force by consulting with the UUA district on what other UU churches’ organization charts look like. The Org Chart Task Force has wrestled with the problem of describing how the Leadership Council fits with the committee structures and how the staff and various committees, boards, and task forces relate to one another. What seems to be needed is a visual org chart accompanied by a narrative that describes the various lines of permission and accountability.
The Task Force expects to issue a draft for the board to sign off on by September. Afterward, they will send the approved draft to staff, standing committees, and the Leadership Council for wider review and feedback. The important thing for everyone to recognize is that this will be an interim snapshot that will change as we identify issues that require us to make modifications. In short, it will be a useful guide to how we are functioning as a church now, as well as an indicator of how we are changing.

Glossary of Funds Task Force. Olga Turner reported that the group has met four times, but that the players have not been the same at every meeting. However, the core group is essentially the Finance Committee (maria, Barbara Greenley, John Wagner), except for herself, Jack Stevens and Ruth Nelson. She said there are between 20 and 30 different funds, not including the endowment fund, so progress is slow, but exciting. The group is documenting what they know about the history and purpose of each fund, its stakeholders, its limitations for use, and the existence of any sunset clauses. Although the task force has established no specific timeline for completing the glossary, Olga expects it will be finished by the end of October. This will be important to have fully documented so we know what funds are available to us as we grow.

NEW BUSINESS

Fall Congregational Meeting. Following considerable discussion about the need to call a congregational meeting to ratify a revised ’05-’06 budget, pay for a ’04-’05 budget shortfall, approve bylaw changes and additions, and authorize a possible building repair, the board agreed to an early fall meeting with a narrower agenda than first proposed to allow time to deal with budget revisions and repair needs and to focus on programs that build connection and depth as the new church year gets underway.
Therefore, the board agreed to call a Congregational Meeting for Sunday, September 25, with the following agenda:

• How to Meet the ‘04-’05 Budget Shortfall
• Election of new Strategic Planning Committee members
• Proposed Bylaw on the UUCE as a Welcoming Congregation

This will clear the way for a Town Hall Meeting run by the Strategic Planning Committee on Sunday, October 16 and allows time for three orientation meetings for potential new members and those considering membership (October 4, 11, and 18) before dealing with a revised budget for ’05-’06. If necessary, a second Congregational Meeting might be held on November 6 or later to approve a revised budget and possibly to approve expenditure for major repairs.

Welcoming Congregation Bylaw. The Task Force on Board Policies and Bylaws, convened by Ken Ross, recommended that the board endorse and send to the congregation for approval a new bylaw, to be designated 020.2 Welcoming Congregation. The proposed bylaw reads as follows: “In 1991, having engaged in a process of self-examination and education in accordance with the Welcoming Congregation Guidelines of the Unitarian Universalist Association, this congregation took the additional step to declare itself to affirm bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons, to be responsive to their concerns, and to celebrate and be inclusive of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons as members of our church community and our community at large. We covenant to affirm and promote the full participation of persons in all our activities and endeavors, including membership, programming, hiring practices, and the calling of religious professionals; without regard to race, color, gender, physical or mental challenge, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, class or national origin.”

The board approved the above bylaw in principle, but agreed that some of the language was too stilted and did not reflect the sensibilities of our church members. Therefore, Sarah Hendrickson offered to revise the language, in concert with Ken Ross and others on the Policies and Bylaws Task Force before taking the bylaw to the congregation for approval on September 25th.

EC & Board Meeting Schedule for ’05-’06:

Task Force Assignments. Based on the goals that the board targeted following its June retreat, various board members agreed to spearhead certain programs or tasks. Their aim is not to become new committee or task force chairs but to facilitate the creation of committees or task forces that will take responsibility for the following areas:

Social Justice. Sarah Hendrickson has already begun investigating social justice issues that the UUA has targeted and the study materials they recommend to further those causes; their information about what works and what doesn’t, and the process they suggest to reinvigorate congregations and incorporate social justice issues into all programs of the church. Following their example, we could develop a broader-based, better-coordinated task force or council for local, regional and national advocacy. This would give us opportunities for common ground and coalition with other congregations (not just UU) in the Eugene community and elsewhere and give us the public presence we’ve been lacking.
Sarah said we need to decide what process we will use to institute this. The administrative task will be for one or two board members to identify the people who are most interested in social justice, see what we are doing now, and decide what we want to be doing.
Carolyn would like to see board approval of a once-a-month Social Justice offering that would be presented to local non-profits in alignment with our Purposes and Principles. Based on the reports of other UU congregations across the country, this is appreciated by both the recipients and congregants who would like to contribute and are pleased to make their small contributions enlarge the church's gift. Other congregations have found that this practice cultivates generosity and is very effective in establishing our name in the community. Obviously, it also educates folks about a wide variety of worthwhile organizations since, on the designated Sunday and/or in the newsletter, a brief article would tell about that month's agency.
Possible organizations would include: HIV Alliance, CALC (and its specific projects), Relief Nursery, St. Vinnies' Family Place, etc. A small, well informed task group appointed by the board could meet quarterly to decide where each month's contribution would go. They would be open to suggestions from congregants but would also be proactive in gathering information from community groups. This, she said, takes nothing away from regular pledges, but gives people the sense that we are doing useful things in the community.
Rachel and Judy said they would meet with Sarah to launch the larger social justice effort.

Leadership Training & Development (including conflict resolution training). Carolyn brought the board a PNWD resource on conflict management in response to one of the board's goals, set at the board retreat, which acknowledged that because of all the changes in the church, conflict management skills will be essential. Carolyn spoke to the Rev. Margaret Keip, head of the PNWD's CONTACT Team. They offer a workshop for the congregation and leadership that is designed to develop skills in engaging conflict, in empowering churches to understand and work with conflict, and to address conflict with strength and hope. The cost is minimal. Sally DeCou, who expressed interest in this area, will be asked to put a task group together to set this up. NOTE: This is not to set up a committee. A "Healthy Congregation" team may very well
be formed after the training.
Carolyn also said that a leadership training for board members will be held at Memorial Church in Oregon City on September 24. She urged board members to attend.

Adult RE Steering Group: Michael Mattick volunteered to work with Carolyn to set up an Adult RE Steering Group to assess our current adult RE offerings and strengthen our program offerings

Database of Member Interests & Talents: Judy said she would see where this is and try to reinvigorate the effort to create and maintain this.

Purpose Statement: Pam Dillehay will pull together a few people to propose a core statement that will inspire us.

COMMITTEE, STAFF & BOARD REPORTS

Executive Committee (EC) Report (attached)

Minister’s Report. Carolyn Colbert has been on vacation, so she will have no report until September.

DRE Committee Report (see attached) Candee Cole was not present. This report came belatedly by e-mail.

Treasurer’s Report. Marta Powers. The actual ’04-’05 deficit is a little over $5,000 if we use the Stability Fund, which is a reserve fund created when we get more money than we budgeted for. As the books are closed and the deficit is more than 1 percent of the budget, we must get approval from the congregation to pay it, through a loan to ourselves, at 5% interest, from the Future Expansion Fund or by using the FEF to pay the deficit outright. The deficit is therefore on the agenda of the September 25 Congregational Meeting. Judy Sawyer will announce this meeting and its agenda in the September newsletter.
Marta said she would like to create a treasurer’s report that gives the board what it needs to know in a more useful summary page format. She will provide a draft of this before the next board meeting. Starting in September, the members of the congregation will receive monthly pledge statements rather than quarterly.
Marta and Ann Taylor are working on getting bids to hire a bookkeeper for next year. In the meantime, Marta plans to ask Barb Berry if she will volunteer to keep the books until a paid bookkeeper can be found. Marta also mentioned that the line item budgeted for a bookkeeper is likely to get cut when the budget is revised. Patrick urged her not to accept that—or a least not to do the books herself in addition to serving as treasurer. Otherwise, she will be in danger of burnout.

Facilities Council Report (Anne Fuller) and Carolyn Colbert’s reply (both attached)

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPRECIATIONS

There were no announcements or appreciations. Patrick Phillips will provide “good words” for the September meeting.

Following check-out, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Judy Sawyer, Secretary
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UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees Meeting
July 14, 2005, 7:00 pm

Present: Carolyn Colbert, Candee Cole, Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Pam Dillehay, Sally DeCou, Sarah Hendrickson, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips, Marta Powers, Judy Sawyer, Olga Turner

The meeting opened at 7:10 with candle lighting and some unusually interesting “good words” involving aliens discussing humans as “meat that thinks,” read by Michael Mattick.

The minutes for the June 9th board meeting were approved as corrected.

OLD BUSINESS

Sally Diehm, Stewardship Co-Chair, gave an update on the ’04-’05 Stewardship Campaign. To date, we have received 217 pledges totaling $266,859.40 and 21 new pledges totaling $13,126.74. Encouraging news is that the 186 pledging units renewing their pledges pledged a net increase of $45,379.66 over their pledge amounts last year. This generosity indicates that the canvass campaign has made strides in educating the congregation about the concept of fair share pledging and that members are rising to the challenge.
Several households have not made a formal pledge this year, but have said they will contribute to the church. Sally also anticipates that the ongoing stewardship effort with new members and contributing friends will boost the total of pledges for the ‘05-’06 fiscal year.
Al Landy, follow-up chair, believes we will receive $5,000-$7,000 from former pledging units that have not yet finalized their pledges. However, the follow-up is still dragging on, through letters with pledge cards. The lesson is that we need to begin the follow-up in mid-May and wrap the canvass up by mid-June. Sally, as chair of the ’05-’06 Stewardship Campaign, will meet with the Stewardship team to explore plans for next year and to find a new co-chair.
Carolyn is sending a letter out to confirm peoples’ pledges and to let them know how they can pay (for the ’04-’05 fiscal year) if they haven’t. Marta added that in September the church will begin sending monthly letters that remind members how much they’ve paid on their pledges for the ’05-’06 year. The belief is that if people are reminded monthly rather than quarterly, they will be less likely to forget or neglect to pay their full pledge.

NEW BUSINESS

Facilities Council Proposal
At the Executive Committee’s suggestion, Patrick Phillips has called a meeting of representatives of the Facilities Council, Strategic Planning Committee, Linda Anson, and the Board to ensure that all parties investigating the need for building repairs sit down face-to-face and agree on a prioritized course of action. Michael Mattick agreed to be the second board member, besides Patrick, at this meeting. Whatever the task force’s recommendation is, the congregation will likely have to vote to approve expenditure of the (unbudgeted) funds needed to make those repairs possible. Thus, a congregational meeting may need to be called in the near future.

Review of Board Retreat & Plans, Task Forces for 2005-2006 Church Year
Asked about their assessment of the retreat with Janine Larson, Pacific Northwest District Executive Director, board members agreed that the discussion was valuable, “not boring,” even energizing, and led to many good ideas; that the camaraderie was good; and that Janine had obviously grown in her job and did a good job of listening, guiding and reflecting what we were saying. Several pointed out, however, that despite our long list of good ideas and hopes, we need more clarity about our goals and direction for the coming year.
After much discussion, therefore, the board came up with a list of both overarching and task-specific goals for the new year. Our larger goals are to enhance
1) the church’s social justice ministry
2) development of its lay leaders, and
3) our process for dealing with change, using training in conflict resolution, among other tools.
Task-specific goals include completing processes already in motion or restoring others:
1) Finalize the first stage of our strategic plan
2) Complete our infrastructure audit and church organizational chart
3) Create task forces or empower standing committees to improve communication and adult religious education, and complete the church’s database of members interests and talents.
Finally, Janine suggested that we need to rethink our mission (or vision) statement. Although our current mission statement (crafted just last year) reflects our values, she said it should be brief enough to remember easily, be inspiring, and express our “singular purpose” for the church in the community. This provoked considerable discussion—and some distress over the prospect of having to come up with a new statement of purpose. Although the board did not take a specific decision on what to do or not do about this, Patrick’s view on this is that we don’t need to rewrite our mission statement but only to be more attentive to what we view as our core mission/action and to try to verbalize that as a major touchstone. He suggested that we develop a short, action-oriented "purpose statement" to supplement our existing mission statement and, especially, to remind the board how to make each of its actions as effective as possible.

REPORTS
The following reports were received:
• Executive Committee (EC) Report (attached)
• Annual Fundraising Report (attached)
• Membership Committee Report (attached)
• Minister’s Report (Carolyn Colbert).
• DRE’s Report (Candee Cole) (attached)
• Treasurer’s Report (Marta Powers). Highlight is a current budget deficit (for ’04-’05) of more than $13,000. The books won’t be closed until July 31st. At present, $14,000 in pledges have not been submitted yet. And, there is still $7,000 in the Stability Fund to apply against any deficit. By the August board meeting, we’ll know if we still have a deficit big enough to require a congregational meeting to resolve.

Patrick pointed out that from a budgetary standpoint, we did well this year. We overspent our budget on the Stewardship Campaign: $14,000 rather than the budgeted $3,000. And one-time gifts which have historically been embedded in the “Pledges and Gifts” income line have now been separated so they are a stand-alone item in the budget and are therefore easier to track. Now there are also lines in the budget to reveal non-payment of pledges.
Marta will ask the Finance Committee to research our typical budgetary shortfall in terms of percentage, not the dollar amount. Then we will be able to better anticipate how to deal with it in the future.
Marta will also serve as bookkeeper until September.

There was no president’s report.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPRECIATIONS

Sally DeCou will send appreciations to Ed Zack (once again) for his further repairs to the building

Judy Sawyer is responsible for good words at the August board meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 10 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Judy Sawyer, Secretary

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UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees
MINUTES
June 9, 2005

Present: Carolyn Colbert, Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Sally DeCou, Pam Dillehay, Sarah Hendrickson, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips, Marta Powers, Judy Sawyer, Olga Turner,

Joint Meeting with Stewardship Team and Larry Wheeler. To start the evening, at 5:45 the Stewardship Team and the Board of Trustees reviewed the canvass campaign and Larry gave feedback and suggestions for next year. Afterward, Larry met with the Stewardship Team. [Details to come from Olga Turner]

I. OPENING BUSINESS

A. Chalice Lighting. At 7:30 pm Board President Olga Turner lit the chalice to guide our way to be fully present, respectful of each other’s hearts, minds, souls and ideas.

B. Good Words. Carolyn Colbert provided a litany of good words that we all shared.

C. Check in

D. The minutes for the May 5 board meeting were approved.

E. Business by email. Following a discussion at the May board meeting regarding Bylaw 100.2, the board approved the recommendation that the congregation approve the following change at its June meeting: The Committee on Ministry shall consist of five persons selected by the Board President in consultation with the minister, the Board of Trustees, and the Committee on Ministry. Members of this committee may not be members of the Board of Trustees.

F. Adjustments to the board agenda. Rachel Cummings asked to add discussion of a request from the Methodist Church in Springfield. See II E.

II OLD BUSINESS
A. Budget Committee (John Wagner). John reviewed the proposed budget for FY 2005-2006, explaining changes section by section, as it will be presented to the congregation for their approval on Sunday, June 12. (Budget attached.) John pointed out that the total pledge goal as income is 25 percent higher than last year’s final pledge income, and he highlighted the needs that call for that increase. Those include staff salaries closer to UUA guidelines, enhanced programs, stewardship and growth needs, a paid bookkeeper, and better building maintenance, among others. John also mentioned that our EWEB expenses now include the eco-friendly windpower-generated electricity for a minimal cost
After thanking John for taking on and completing the full budget process this year, Patrick Phillips expressed his concern about current pledges not yet equaling the pledge goal upon which the 2005-2006 budget is primarily based. John replied that the Finance and Budget committees would be watching the pledge total closely in the next two months. He said if the discrepancy between the budget and the pledges are too great, they would re-examine and adjust the budget accordingly, then bring it to the congregation for approval in the fall. After the follow-up campaign, he expects to get a clearer idea of where we are.
Marta mentioned that about $40,000 annually (about $3,400 per month) is now on auto deposit. Olga said she would like to see someone from the Strategic Planning Committee on the Budget Committee. Patrick remarked that, collectively, staff salaries are now only $25,000 away from our goal of fair compensation. As that figure has represented our annual increase in pledges, we may be close to realizing that goal.
B. Future Expansion Fund (John Wagner)
In light of some long-time members’ concern about the proper use of what historically has been called the Future Expansion Fund (FEF), the Finance Committee recommended that the board take the following actions:
1. Recognize that the Future Expansion Fund is actually the Capital Fund and therefore requires congregational approval for expenditures.
2. Rescind its previous decision to pay Larry Wheeler’s stewardship consultant fees from the Future Expansion Fund
3. Authorize the treasurer to move the consultant expense to Canvass
Expenses (Account 538).

John reminded the board that special funds are created for specific purposes. He said the Future Expansion Fund was derived from the sale of a former church property, which shows that it is, in fact, the same as the Capital Fund (despite lack of clear written evidence that the funds are one and the same) and therefore subject to congregational approval and to be used for capital expenditures only. That is why the Finance Committee recommended the above actions.

The Executive Committee (see Executive Committee minutes), and other board members agreed that the Finance Committee or a task force should proceed to create an accurate glossary of funds, describing their intended use and authorization process. They also agreed that the purpose of the FEF or Capital Fund (described in Bylaw 090.5) should be clarified and documented. However, they affirmed that the Board acted in good faith with the best information they had at the time of their decision to use the fund to pay for Larry Wheeler’s expenses, because his efforts contributed to our overall strategic growth plan, which may indeed include a capital campaign.
After much discussion, John finally explained that some people were upset about what they saw as the misuse of the fund because they or others had contributed to the purchase of the house that was sold and whose proceeds were then allocated to the Capital Fund, now known as FEF. Anita said it was important to know who those people were. And she expressed dismay that this information wasn’t provided to the EC earlier.

The upshot of an extensive discussion about the appropriate use of the FEF and the board’s former decision to use it to pay the consultant’s expenses if necessary, was as follows: Patrick Phillips moved that the board expense the remaining stewardship consultant fees (above the $4,000 already raised) to the Stewardship Campaign. The motion was seconded and approved with one abstention.

Patrick also pointed out, however, that the board can still ask for congregational approval to draw from the FEF to pay for the consultant’s fee, if necessary, or take a loan from the FEF for the same purpose.

D. Board Retreat update. (Sally DeCou & Rachel Cummings) (See attachment #2 for agenda suggestions to date.) Olga reported that Janine Larson has agreed to facilitate our retreat. Sarah Hendrickson agreed to host our Friday night retreat potluck.

E. Methodist Church in Springfield. Rachel Cummings said that the Methodist Church in Springfield had seen our mission statement, been impressed with it, and asked for our board’s comments about theirs. Pam Dillehay and Anita Cowling both took the information and said they might do so.

NEW BUSINESS

A. Routine authorizations. MOTION. Effective June 1, 2005, the following are authorized by the board to be signatories for the church safe deposit box: Olga Turner, President; Judy Sawyer, Secretary. MOTION. Effective June 1, 2005, the following are authorized by the board to be signatories for church bank accounts: Olga Turner, President; Anita Cowling, Vice President; Judy Sawyer, Secretary; Marta Powers, Treasurer. The board approved both authorizations as written.

B. Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts has completed her term as chair of the Membership Committee. Al and Norma Landy have agreed to serve as the new co-chairs. The board approved the change.

C. Anita Cowling has completed her term as board representative to the Safe Congregation Committee. Sally DeCou agreed to take her place.

IV. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES

A. Report of the Executive Committee (EC). (Attached)

B. Report of the Leadership Council. (Attached.)

C. Report of the Facilities Council (Ann Fuller). (Attached) Based on the mold and water damage mentioned. Olga said it was possible that We may need to authorize another inspection sooner than expected, though we’re waiting to hear a proposal from the Facilities Council.

D. Report of the Strategic Planning Committee (Patrick Phillips) Patrick was congratulated for the comprehensive report put together by the SPC. Nevertheless, he said, there is more work to do when the group reconvenes in July. He said we need to structure the committee as a formal church entity with rotating two-year terms, similar to the board. It was pointed out that a bylaw is necessary to include the SPC as a standing committee. Patrick said we may also need to tap the Nominating Committee to staff it, because it is a committee of the congregation. But the point is, we need to start the replacement process. To that end, we’ll probably need to schedule a congregational meeting in the fall to elect new SPC members and approve new or amended bylaws.

E. Report of the 2005 Board Policies Task Force. Ken Ross reported that the following seven people have agreed to serve on the task force: Sally DeCou, Truman Grandy, Barbara Greenley, Martin Lewis, Gil Osgood, Ken Ross, and Jack Stevens.

V. OTHER REPORTS

A. Minister’s Report (Carolyn Colbert)

B. DRE’s Report (Candee Cole)

C. Treasurer’s Report (Marta Powers) (filed) Marta prepared a new profit and loss statement that gives a more meaningful look at where we stand in terms of net income and expenditures. She pointed out that net income includes the year’s stewardship expenditures, and that we have 6,000+ in the reserve fund. So we should be able to pay the stewardship consultant without borrowing from ourselves. She also mentioned that, as part of prudent fiscal management, someone else is needed—possibly the office administrator—to deposit money on behalf of the treasurer. Jean Weick still does it, but she wants to give it up.

D. President’s Report (Olga Turner)

VI. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPRECIATIONS

A. Future meetings:
Board Retreat, July 8-9
Board Meetings:
July 14 (EC, July 7)
August 11 (EC, August 4)
September 8 (EC, September 1)

B. Appreciations (Sally DeCou). Sally will send appreciations to David Pebworth and Patti Hansen for their work as senior youth advisors, to Larry Wheeler for his work as stewardship consultant, to Bob and Sylvia Taylor for their labors in the church kitchen, and to Jean Weick for bookkeeping.

C. Assignments: Good words for the July board meeting will be from Michael Mattick.

VII. PROCESS CHECK AND ADJOURNMENT

Respectfully submitted,
Judy Sawyer, Secretary

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Minutes
Congregational Meeting
Sunday, June 12, 2005

Board President Olga Turner opened the meeting at 12:15, with an initial quorum of 60 members (20 percent of the membership of 301).

Ken Ross, convener of the Bylaws Review Committee, introduced  two proposed bylaw changes. The first calls for the deletion of the red phrase in brackets:

A.      040.2 Voting Member: Voting Members are the caretakers of the church: A voting member is a member who is either entering ninth grade or 15 years of age or older, [who has been a member of the church for at least 30 days] and who annually makes a pledge of money and/or time, thus reaffirming membership in the church. In addition, the Board may give lifetime voting member status to individuals whose names are submitted by the Membership Committee for approval. Exceptions for those who cannot meet these requirements can be granted by the Minister or the President of the Board of Trustees.

Ken explained that the 30-day no-vote period was initially passed four years ago to prevent any group of people from joining the church en masse in order to push their own (hostile) agenda. However, in the belief that such an event was unlikely to occur, because Ken and others believe greater “safeguards” to membership are in place and because the waiting period is unwelcoming to new members, the Board of Trustees recommends that the 30-day waiting period be removed. On April 17, for instance, 22 people became new members of the church but were unable to vote at the Annual Congregational Meeting on April 24. This was not a welcoming experience for those members.

It was moved and seconded that the amendment be approved. An extensive debate followed. Those for the amendment cited the following:

• that the fear of a hostile takeover from outside was theoretical and highly unlikely
• that hostile factions usually form within a congregation and a 30-day grace period wouldn’t change that possibility;
• that when a person becomes a citizen, they don’t have to wait 30 days before they can vote, so why should we impose such a wait
• that the church should live up to its mission statement of being a welcoming congregation
• that if any group should try to take over the church for the purpose of acquiring and selling its building and assets, such a move would require a 2/3 majority of the congregation to accomplish, not a simple majority of a 20% quorum
• and that if a hostile takeover seemed imminent, church members would see it coming and could rally their own friends to become members, if necessary, to forestall such an event.
• Carolyn Colbert also stressed that although a person only has to sign the membership book to become a member, there are now systems in place to induct people into membership slowly, including several introductory orientation sessions on UU-ism, its history and meaning.
  

Nevertheless, others pointed out that “practice” is not the same as the
by-law, meaning that the membership process itself needs to be accurately aligned with the written by-law.

Those who wanted to keep the 30-day waiting period cited:

• the need for a safeguard to prevent even the possibility of a sudden hostile takeover, no matter how theoretical or seemingly unlikely
• the example of the recent attempt to stack the  Sierra Club Membership in order to elect people to the board who wanted to impose stricter limits on immigration
  

The congregation voted 45 to 9, with one abstention, to remove the 30-day waiting period to become a voting member, as recommended.

The second proposed bylaw change was to bring the bylaw into accord with current practice without changing the bylaw’s intent, by removing the red bracketed phrase and adding the one in blue parentheses, as follows:

B.      100.2 The Committee on Ministry shall consist of five persons selected by the Board President [from lists of names provided by the Minister and the Board of Trustees] (in consultation with the minister, the Board of Trustees, and the Committee on Ministry). Members of this Committee may not be members of the Board of Trustees.

Although a motion to approve the change was made and seconded, Jack Stevens requested that the motion be tabled until the Committee on Ministry could reword the bylaw to make it more accurate. The congregation voted to table the motion.

Proposed budget for the church fiscal year 2005-2006. John Wagner, Budget Chair, introduced the new budget, which is 25 percent higher than last year’s, highlighting the needs that call for such an increase. Those include staff salaries closer to UUA guidelines, enhanced programs, stewardship and growth needs, a paid bookkeeper, and better building maintenance, among others. He also mentioned that our EWEB expenses now include the more eco-friendly windpower-generated electricity for a minimal cost.

He explained that, although the Stewardship pledges to date total only $262,000 rather than the $300,000 goal, we won’t know whether we’re likely to have a pledge deficit for the 2005-2006 budget until later in the year, as pledge monies come in throughout the year. He felt we have a decent prospect of getting to that goal, or close to it. Al Landy, Canvass Campaign Follow-up Chair said it was unlikely that we would reach the $300,000 goal, given past history and the number of unpledged members left as a guideline.

There was considerable discussion about what we would do if we don’t reach that goal. John pointed out that the Finance and Budget Committees would keep a close eye on pledges and by September or October, if we are way off our pledge goal or if our expenses substantially exceed our income, they will revise the budget downward and resubmit it for congregational approval.

Patrick Phillips remarked that a good goal for the future would be to conduct the Stewardship Campaign early enough so we could recommend a budget in line with actual pledges.

It was moved and seconded that we accept the budget for now as presented. The motion passed with near unanimity.
- Judy Sawyer, Board Secretary

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UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees
MINUTES
May 5, 2005

Present: Olga Turner, President; Judy Sawyer, Vice President; Ken Ross, Secretary; Marta Powers, Treasurer: Carolyn Colbert, Minister; Candee Cole, Director of Religious Education

Members-at-large: Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Sally DeCou, Karen Gaffney, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips

New members-at-large: Pam Dillehay, Sarah Hendrickson

Visitors: Martin Lewis, John Wagner

I. OPENING BUSINESS

A. The chalice was lit at 6:48.

B. Good words were spoken by Anita Cowling.

D. The minutes for the April 14 Board Meeting were approved.

E. Business by email. (a) On April 22-25, by email the Board authorized use of up to $1,000 of the Carley Fund to cover the costs of a comprehensive inspection of the building and building systems, including an analysis of expected facility and system lifetimes and replacement costs, by Michael Scarola of Rainbow Valley Design & Construction. This action was a follow-up to a short conversation toward the end of the April Board meeting regarding the possibility of authorizing a building inspection that could serve both the needs of the Strategic Planning Committee and the Facilities Council. As suggested at the Board meeting, the Board liaison on the Strategic Planning Committee, Patrick Phillips, has been in contact with the members of the Facilities Council. They are generally supportive of this action and will continue to be included in the process. Everyone agrees that we need a thorough analysis of the current state of the building.

F. Adjustments to the Board agenda. The Board added the question of paying for (some) wind power on our EWEB account; see item II.E.

II. NEW BUSINESS

A. Bylaw change. On April 17, about twenty-two people became new members of the church. These energized new members of the church were not able to vote at our Annual Congregational Meeting on April 24, because of bylaw 040.2. This is not a very welcoming experience. So, Ken recommended that the Board consider forwarding the following bylaw change to the congregation to vote on at its June meeting. Remove “who has been a member of the church for at least 30 days” from

040.2 Voting Member: Voting Members are the caretakers of the church: A voting member is a member who is either entering ninth grade or 15 years of age or older, who has been a member of the church for at least 30 days and who annually makes a pledge of money and/or time, thus reaffirming membership in the church. In addition, the Board may give lifetime voting member status to individuals whose names are submitted by the Membership Committee for approval. Exceptions for those who cannot meet these requirements can be granted by the Minister or the President of the Board of Trustees.

The only downside to this change is the very unlikely possibility that several people would join just prior to a meeting in order to create chaos at the meeting. There are ample checks and balances to keep this from happening. After further discussion, the Board agreed, by unanimous vote, to take this bylaw change to the congregation.

B. The following bylaw was discussed, because the specified procedures have not been followed closely.

100.2 The Committee on Ministry shall consist of five persons selected by the Board President from lists of names provided by the Minister and the Board of Trustees. Members of this Committee may not be members of the Board of Trustees.

After some discussion, it was agreed to retain the bylaw as is, though it was agreed that it needs some editing. [After the meeting, Ken and Judy submitted a possible revision to the Board. If approved, this revision will be taken to the congregation in June.]

C. The Future Expansion Fund and other funds. At its April 28 meeting, the EC discussed our special funds. EC recommended that the Finance Committee be asked to create a glossary of funds, i.e., a list of our funds specifying their history (which church bodies created them), who has authority to use them, and any special restrictions on them. The glossary should be put on our website and included in future Board handbooks. The Board agreed to this recommendation. Furthermore, before a "new" fund can be created or established, it will need to be discussed first by the EC, then taken to the Board for approval or rejection.

Also, there was a discussion regarding the status of the Future Expansion Fund. See attachment #1. Olga noted that, in view of the lack of documentation, the Board had not erred in authorizing use of this fund to partially pay for our stewardship consultant, but it is sensitive to the memories of several members of the congregation. The Board agreed to defer any decision, including whether to convert the authorization to a loan, until the June Board meeting when the Board will have more information about the success of the canvass. Both Anita and Carolyn reminded the Board that, in general, our processes will need to change as the church grows.

D. Revised Board Policies. (Ken Ross) In December 2004, Ken provided the Board with his plans to update the bylaws and Board Policies by working with an informal task force by email. This process sort of worked with the bylaws, and the recommendations were approved by the congregation on April 24, 2005. When Ken started collecting needed new and revised Board Policies, it quickly became clear that this informal process will not work for Board Policies. See attachment #2. The Board passed the following motion that was recommended by Ken. MOTION: The Board authorizes a 2005 Task Force on Board Policies and requests that Ken Ross chair and organize this task force.

E. Paying for wind power; see attachment #3. The Board passed the following motion unanimously. MOTION: The Board requests that the Budget Committee increase the budget allocation for EWEB by $300 to pay for 100% wind power. I interpret the change with EWEB to be effective July 1.

III. OLD BUSINESS

A. Budget Committee (John Wagner). John is seeking last-minute input from the Board regarding the budget, anytime before the Budget Committee’s next meeting on May 16. John mentioned that the budget has $2600 to allocate, and he mentioned many possibilities where the money is needed. The line for the Annual Stewardship Drive is only $6000, though nearly $8900 was requested. Another urgent need is for more administrative time, which is now budgeted at 7.5 hours per week, though 10 hours per week was requested. Other needy areas include music, Board development, church growth planning and development, paying off our loan, leadership development, and the Facilities Council. Visitor Martin Lewis suggested that the money be put into the Board discretionary fund so that the decisions can be made later. General consensus seemed to support this move. No decision was formalized, because John will be revisiting these questions at the next Board meeting. John also mentioned that, while the Budget Committee meetings have been pleasant so far, a procedure is needed in case it becomes necessary to reduce expenses in the budget. Board input is desired on this too.

B. Stewardship update (Martin Lewis). Martin indicated that all went well with the celebration on Saturday, April 30, thanks to the hard work of many people. A special thanks was given to Judy, because she was unable to attend that event and receive thanks then. Martin mentioned that, in the near future, we need to obtain a co-chair for the Stewardship Team. The other issue that needs more work is working with the congregation over money issues, both for the health of the church and of individuals in the church. It was observed that comments obtained during the canvass will be vetted by Sally Diehm; she will forward them to the appropriate people. An update: 82 pledges have been received totaling $162,000.

C. Board Retreat update (Rachel Cummings, Sally DeCou, Olga Turner) The dates, July 8-9, and location of the Saturday portion of this retreat were confirmed. Sally’s Shared Ministry Group has agreed to supply food for Saturday. Here are possibilities for the agenda that were identified earlier, plus item 4 that was added on Patrick’s recommendation.

1. How to address/deal/allay congregational concerns/fears/anger about up-coming changes, especially as it relates to our tendency as a Church community to be "conflict adverse." How best to develop a process for "Congregational conflict resolution."

2. Examining our Church's organizational structure. Is it working for us? And as it relates specifically to the Board of Trustees, are we doing what we need to be doing to provide support and/or oversight of the multiple volunteer committees such as the Strategic Planning Committee, Annual Stewardship Team, Planned Giving Committee, etc.

3. Is the Board fulfilling the congregation's expectations and needs? And have we met last year's retreat goals?

4. Are we attending to the needs of all constituencies?

D. June 9 Board meeting. Larry Wheeler will be in town and would like the Annual Stewardship Team and the Board to meet together to start the evening, for up to one hour. The main topics when we are all together will be to review the canvass campaign in a general sense, let Larry offer some comments and suggestions as we go forward, and to have Larry answer questions that the Board might have. After this, Larry will meet further with the Annual Stewardship Team.

The Board agreed to begin at 6:00 with a finger-food potluck. People are encouraged to arrive at 5:45, if possible. It is expected that the Board meeting itself will begin by 7:15.

IV. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES

A. Report of the Executive Committee (EC). See attachment #4.

B. Report of the Leadership Council. The next council meeting will take place on May 14.

C. Report of the Facilities Council (Ann Fuller). See attachment #5.

D. Report of the Strategic Planning Committee (Patrick Phillips). Patrick reminded the Board that there will be a Town Meeting on May 22 at which this committee will provide an interim report, including a report on the recent inspection of the building. Patrick indicated that the church is being well-served by this group of people; almost everyone has agreed to serve for another year. The committee discussed its structure and concluded that it wanted the Board to do this.

V. OTHER REPORTS

A. Report of the Minister (Carolyn Colbert). See attachment #6. The General Assembly in Fort Worth, June 23-27, was discussed. Olga indicated that she will probably attend this conference.

B. Report of the DRE (Candee Cole). See attachment #7.

C. Report of the Treasurer (Marta Powers). See attachment #8. Expenses vastly exceeded income in April, but this isn’t a big surprise. Income for the year now exceeds expenses by less than $9000, so the budget does need close watching over the next few months.

D. Report of the President (Olga Turner). Olga gave no report.

VI. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPRECIATIONS

A. Future meetings:
Board, June 9 (EC, June 2)
Board Retreat, July 8-9
Board, July 14 (EC, July 7)
Board, August 11 (EC, August 4)
Board, September 8 (EC, September 1)

B. Appreciations (Sally DeCou)

C. Assignments: Let's be sure that we each know what we are responsible for before the next meeting.

VII. PROCESS CHECK AND ADJOURNMENT

Ken Ross
Board Secretary

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CONGREGATIONAL MEETING ON APRIL 24

A bare quorum of 64 voting members elected members of the Board as recommended by the 2004-2005 Nominating Committee: Anita Cowling for Vice President, Judy Sawyer for Secretary, Marta Powers for Treasurer and at-large Board members Pam Dillehay, Sarah Hendrickson, and Patrick Phillips. The group also elected the 2005-2006 Nominating Committee: Robbie McCosh, Kay Crider, Kurt Engelmann, Eve McConnaughey and Ruth Nelson. For terms and further information, see page 9 of the April 2005 newsletter.
Some minor bylaw changes, proposed and explained on page 10 of the April 2005 newsletter, were also approved unanimously, with a couple of editorial changes: one “which” to “that” and four hyphenations. After this, John Wagner, chair of the Budget Committee, led a very informative discussion regarding the first draft (ninth version!) of the proposed budget for the fiscal year, July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006. In June, the congregation will have an opportunity to approve the final budget.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees
MINUTES
April 14, 2005

Present:  Olga Turner, President;  Judy Sawyer, Vice President;  Ken Ross, Secretary;  Carolyn Colbert, Minister; Candee Cole, Director of Religious Education

Members-at-large:  Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Sally DeCou, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips

Visitors:  Sally Diehm, Martin Lewis

I. OPENING BUSINESS

A. The chalice was lit at 7:10.

B. Good words were shared by Judy Sawyer.

C. Check in.

D. The minutes for the March 10 Board Meeting were approved unanimously.

E.  Business by email. 

(a)  Regarding the cost of the stewardship consultant Larry Wheeler, a stewardship drive fund was set up.  At the January Board meeting, It was agreed that the costs should be covered by the Annual Stewardship Drive Fund, but it was understood that if this fund cannot cover all of the costs, then the Board will be asked to authorize use of the Future Expansion Fund to cover the remaining costs.  The fund is no longer able to cover the consultant's expenses.  The following motion was voted on by email, and passed on March 14.  MOTION:  The Board authorizes use of the Future Expansion Fund to cover Larry Wheeler's consultation costs that are not covered by the Annual Stewardship Drive Fund.

(b)  Ruth Duemler, chair of the Social Concerns Committee, recommended that our church be a signatory to a letter concerning U.S. involvement in acts of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.  The following motion was approved by email April 4-11.  MOTION:  That the Board agrees that the church should sign on and forward to the President, and to Oregon's members of Congress, the letter created by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee in March 2005.

F. There were no adjustments to the Board agenda.

II. NEW BUSINESS

A.  Summer Board meetings and Retreat.  It was agreed that the summer schedule will follow our tradition of Board meetings on the second Thursday of each month, with the EC meetings the preceding Thursday.  So the summer schedule is:
Board, May 5  (EC, April 28) - already scheduled earlier
Board, June 9  (EC, June 2)
Board, July 14  (EC, July 7)
Board, August 11  (EC, August 4)
Board, September 8  (EC, September 1)

Plans for the Board Retreat are being made by Rachel, Sally and Olga.  Olga indicated that Janine Larsen expects to be available as facilitator any weekend in July (and has a good substitute available if necessary).  After considerable discussion, it appears that the dates July 8-9 work best for the group.  Olga indicated that the Trude Kaufman Senior Center is again available for the Saturday part of the Board Retreat, and all were in favor of this.  Also, it was agreed to plan a Friday evening social at some congregant's home.  Some of the possible ideas for issues to be discussed were NEED NOTES FROM RACHEL.

B.  Facilities Council charge/guidelines.  The Board approved of the charge/guidelines of this council.  See attachment #1.  Note that Ann Fuller is the coordinator for this council.

C.  Planned Giving Committee.  See attachment #2.  The Board approved the charge of the newly revitalized Planned Giving Committee, subject to minor editing by Judy Sawyer.  The Board also approved Monica Frank as committee chair. 

D.  For information, the Executive Committee approved a request from the Facilities Council authorizing two assessments of the structural integrity of the church building, one for mold and wood rot in the immediate future and an inclusive assessment budgeted for fiscal year 2006-2007.  See item II.C of the EC minutes.

E.  Transition to new Board.  The new members of the Board, elected on April 24, will be invited to attend the May Board meeting.  It was agreed to have a potluck at 6:00, prior to the May Board meeting to welcome the new Board members and thank members retiring from the Board.  Food will be provided by the current members of the Board.

F.  Delegates to the General Assembly in Fort Worth, June 23-27.  Olga indicated that she might attend this conference.  Candee indicated that a youth might go too.

III. OLD BUSINESS

A.  Budget Committee.  Version 9 of the Budget Committee's draft budget will be presented to the congregation on April 24 for feedback.  A bulk of the increase is for supporting the staff, as agreed at the January 13 Board meeting.  Thus we are moving again toward Fair Compensation.  Michael noted that lines 15 and 53 are the same, but one represents income and one represents an expense, so they cancel each other.  Michael and others lauded the comment that the goal is to avoid relying on Fundraisers to balance the budget.

B.  Stewardship update (Martin Lewis).  Martin indicated that the stewardship work is up and running.  We had wonderful training sessions with Larry Wheeler on April 2.  Martin's key suggestion for the future is that, sometime midway between canvasses, we need to further congregational understanding of how to deal with money issues, though no specific plan was outlined.  Olga and Judy described how much they enjoyed canvassing.

IV. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES

A. Report of the Executive Committee (EC).  See attachment #3.

B. Report of the Leadership Council.   See the minutes of the March 12 meeting in attachment #4. 

C. Report of the Facilities Council (Ann Fuller).  See attachment #5.

D.  Report from RE Committee.  See attachment #6.

E.  Report of the Strategic Planning Committee (Patrick Phillips).  Patrick mentioned that Ron Burley has resigned from the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC).  SPC has decided not to make any replacements until summer.  An interim report will be made to the congregation at a Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, May 22.  SPC feels that it is critical for it to get information about the status of the church building, including structural integrity, status of plumbing and electrical soundness, etc.  They have in mind more of a building inspection than an engineering report.  Linda Anson has made some preliminary investigations about a possible building inspector.  The Board emphasized how important it will be to include the Facilities Council in this process.

V. OTHER REPORTS

A. Report of the Minister (Carolyn Colbert).  Carolyn reported on a letter that she is working on to respond to the Oregon Supreme Court's ruling regarding gay marriage; see attachment #7 for the final version.  Carolyn asked for and received some suggestions for the letter.  Also, the Board agreed to be a signatory to the final version of the letter.  Carolyn mentioned that Kim is researching what is involved to upgrade the office, especially the phone system.  Carolyn plans to use the Minister's Professional Expenses budget line to pay for the upgrade.  Carolyn also circulated a copy of the "2005 Evaluation of Our Ministry," which will be included in the May newsletter, along with an article from the Committee on Ministry explaining the process. 


B. Report of the DRE (Candee Cole).  See attachment #8.  Candee indicated that it is wonderful to back, especially since the RE Committee managed the RE affairs so well in her absence.  They plan to continue with some of the features that they instigated in Candee's absence, especially the one that will allow Candee to interact more with the rest of the congregation.  Candee mentioned that the Stream Team outreach project is going well.  She also mentioned the pre-dedication of the Peace Pole which will take place on May 22.

C. Report of the Treasurer (Marta Powers).  Marta was unable to attend the Board meeting, but the current budget report shows that things are going well.  See attachment #9. 

D. Report of the President (Olga Turner).  Olga made no report.

VI. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPRECIATIONS

A. Future meetings:  See item II.A of these minutes.

B. Appreciations (Sally DeCou)

VII. PROCESS CHECK AND ADJOURNMENT  The raucous meeting adjourned at 9:55.


Ken Ross, Board Secretary

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UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH IN EUGENE
Board of Trustees
MINUTES
March 10, 2005

Present:  Olga Turner, President;  Judy Sawyer, Vice President;  Ken Ross, Secretary;  Marta Powers, Treasurer;  Carolyn Colbert, Minister

Members-at-large:  Anita Cowling, Rachel Cummings, Sally DeCou, Karen Gaffney, Michael Mattick, Patrick Phillips

Visitors:  Sally Diehm, Kurt Engelmann, Nancy Hart, Martin Lewis, Eve McConnaughey

I. OPENING BUSINESS

A. The chalice was lit at 7:09.

B. Good words were shared by Michael Mattick.

C. Check in.

D. The minutes for the February 10 Board Meeting were approved.

E.  Business by email.  (a)  Bylaw 070.1 states that, "The Annual Congregational Meeting shall be held in April, at a date and time to be determined by the Board of Trustees."  Around February 13, the Board voted to schedule this meeting on Sunday, April 24, at 12:15 p.m.

F. Adjustments to the Board agenda.

II. NEW BUSINESS

A.  Bylaw changes (Ken Ross).  Ken has been collecting recommended changes to the bylaws since 2002.  The process is for the Board to recommend such changes to the congregation.  Recently Ken asked an "informal task force," consisting of people who have expressed interest in our bylaws, to help perfect recommendations for the Board to consider passing on to the congregation.  See attachment #1.  Members of this informal task force were David Bockoven, Patricia Christgau, Barbara Greenley, d. maria, Jack Stevens and Truman Grandy.  The recommended bylaw changes that the Board feels should be considered by the congregation will be offered at the Annual Congregational Meeting on April 24. 

Ken took one other item to the informal task force, suggesting that the statement "the Treasurer shall be bonded at the expense of the church" be removed, because this has not been true.  This led to a substantial discussion that made it clear that this is a serious issue, which has been passed on to the Finance Committee for its consideration.

At the meeting, Ken described the elaborate process of analyzing the bylaws that occurred in 2002.  He contrasted that process with the current more ad hoc process, which was outlined for the Board at its December 2004 meeting.

The Board approved forwarding the proposed bylaw changes to sections 050.4, 060.4, 080.1 and 080.6, as presented in attachment #1, except for 040.2 and 065.1, as explained below.  In 040.2, the Board decided not to forward the following addition that had been proposed:  "unable to do so.  (For those unable to do so, pledge cards can be filled out by someone in the Membership Committee over the phone or by email.)"  This was essentially because the Board was not able to edit it to say something correct that should be in the bylaws.  The parenthetical sentence isn't accurate; the indicated follow-ups have been done by the canvass/stewardship committee or office staff, when it's done at all.  It isn't sufficient to change "Membership Committee" to "Stewardship" because "Stewardship" isn't mentioned in the bylaws.  When the parenthetical sentence is removed, then the phrase "unless unable to do so" doesn't make sense as a stand-alone.  Except for the clarification, "submits a pledge card," the sentence will remain as it is now in the bylaws.

After considerable discussion regarding process, the Board decided (by a vote of 9-1) to not forward to the congregation the proposed bylaw 065.1, which would be a reinstatement of the bylaw authorizing an ombudsperson.   This bylaw was removed in 1996 because it was felt that the ombudsperson wasn't much used and really didn't work.  When there were concerns with the minister (around 1994), the ombudsperson was flooded with inappropriate expectations.  The very idea of an ombudsperson has problems, because it encourages secret communication using a third party rather than open and direct communication.  The task is also an unreasonable burden to place on one individual.  In addition, it was felt that this bylaw would not be a good fit with our current structure, because there are structures and bodies already in place to hear concerns and problem solve.  The Board decided to only forward to the congregation bylaw changes that it supports.  The bylaw changes that will go the congregation are in attachment #2.

B.  Endowment Trustees (Ken Ross).  According to bylaw 095.7, There shall be three Endowment Fund Trustees appointed by the Board of Trustees for terms of three years.  Since the terms aren't specified, Ken presumes that they coincide with Board members' terms, i.e., June 1 to May 31.  And it is agreed that the terms should be staggered.  In February 2002, Barbara Greenley was appointed Trustee for a three-year term.  Her term ends on May 31, 2005.  Ruth Nelson has agreed to replace Barbara and to serve again as an Endowment Trustee, with term June 1, 2005 to May 31, 2008.  In February 2002, Monica Frank was appointed Trustee for a two-year term but her appointment was never renewed.  Monica has agreed to continue serving as Trustee, i.e., to serve a second three-year term, June 1, 2004 to May 31, 2007.  Martin Sage was appointed Trustee when Ken Colwell moved away and resigned as Trustee.  Neither Martin nor Ken Ross knows specifics about his appointment, so Martin has agreed to view his appointment as ending on May 31, 2006.  The Board confirmed these three appointments.

C.  Board Retreat.  The Board initiated a plan for a Board retreat in early summer by appointing a small task force to work on this.  R