Board Meeting 4/11/2017

Board Meeting 4/11/2017

Present:

Board Members: Bruce, Barbara, Jane, D’On, Paul

Minister: Rev Craig Moro

●Meeting called to order at 7:03 pm.

●Meeting Minutes

○The corrected minutes of the board meetings on 2/14/2017 and 3/14/2017 were posted in Googledocs prior to the meeting.

○Bruce moved and D’On seconded that we approve the corrected 2/14 minutes as posted in Googledocs. Approved unanimously.

○Jane moved and Bruce seconded that we approve the corrected 3/14 minutes as posted in Googledocs: 3 aye, 2 abstain.

●Treasurer’s Report

○The March treasurer’s report was posted in Googledocs prior to the meeting.

●We’ll postpone the budget discussion until we know more about the canvass. A special board meeting is scheduled for 4/23, after the service. Jane will be unable to join us.

●However, a propos of the budget, RE has been consistently running under budget this year.

○Part of that is due to Ellie and Fiona claiming fewer hours than expected.

○And because setup gets lumped in with RE: What do we expect of the setup person? Tom has been there reliably, but we don’t seemed to be organized. We don’t know who, if anyone, is coordinating?

●Minister’s Report

• The minister’s report was distributed via email prior to the meeting.
• It was a light month.
• Craig observes that there has been an increase in attendance and creativity.
• He plans an elevator speech workshop in October.
• He is planning a sermon on elevator speeches and outreach on Nov. 5.
• Craig is looking forward to living here in Portland

●Canvass Status

○On April 4, we had received pledges from 23 pledging units, for $41.393.50.

○We got 3 or 4 more this past Sunday.

○Harold and Matt are going to start calling people.

○Barbara observes that substantial pledges usually come in early and there is cause for concern.

●The Social Justice Committee recommends that we drop our current $50 budgeted support for EMO and replace it with a $200 line item for an  membership.

○That’s unlikely, given the state of the canvass

○Instead we propose to fund an IMirJ membership this year with a special collection, and put a $0 line item in the budget as a reminder to fund it out of the budget for the following fiscal year. (Late breaking news: Bruce’s special appeal resulted in a significant increase in pledges, allowing us to fund our IMirJ membership in the budget.)

●SJC Proposal for Summer Collections

○Typically we run special collections through the summer, but repeat the July special collection recipient in August to make up for sparse summer attendance.

○We propose to follow that procedure this year, with one of the special collections being used, at least partially, to fund an IMirJ membership.

●D’On suggests a check in with committee chairs to see if they want to continue in their current roles.

●Facilities

○We are getting to capacity on chairs.

○We rented extra chairs for the 20th anniversary. It was OK. The limit doesn’t appear to be the size of the room, but the number of chairs available.

○If we purchase folding chairs we’ll need to store them during the week, requires negotiation with Amber.

○The cheap chairs we rented weren’t very comfortable.

○(A quick online check finds folding chairs priced from $20 to $95.)

○(We also need more hymnals.)

●Worship Committee update from Paul:

○Guest speakers: we have a solid roster of presenters from now until mid-June. Thanks especially to Rev. Moro here.

○Worship Associates:

• The 20th Anniversary was a smashing success. Thanks to all for making this happen.
• Music: based on the feedback after the 20th celebration, there is a background movement to integrate more music with congregational participation into future services.  (Stay tuned for more info...) 

●Next meetings:

○April 23, 2017 at noon at HSC to discuss the budget. Bruce will check with Harold and Matt to see if they can join us. Jane will not be able to join us.

○May 9, 2017 at 7 pm at RCPP.

○June 13, 2017 at 7 pm at RCPP. (Barbara will have to Skype in.). Bruce will invite the incoming board members

○Barbara will get the information about the 5/9 and 6/13 meetings to Sharai for the newsletter. (Done.)

●Meeting adjourned at 8:28 pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Barbara Smith-Thomas, secretary