Board minutes
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Temenos Retreat Center
Approved December 18, 2014 – Conference Call
Board Members Present
Lillian Christman (President), Dennis Wellnitz (Vice President), Paul Pinson (Treasurer), Carla Johnson (Secretary), Rev Dr Richard Speck (DE), Nancy Janssen (At Large), Alan Coffey (At Large), Rev Keith Coheen (At Large), Shirley Blakely (At Large), Rev David Pyle, Justis Tuia (At Large)
Absent: Christian Hartranft (At Large)
Agenda
Consent Agenda
● Minutes of April & June meetings
● Monitoring Reports
Reports
● Treasurer (Update FY end)
● Finance & Audit (APF & Chalice Lighters also)
● President
● District Executive
● Strategic Plan
Open Positions
FY 2013-14 Board of Directors Work Plan
New/Existing Working Group Charges and Assignments
Meeting Schedule for the Year
Motions
From committee of whole: nominate Rev Keith Goheen as co-chair of Finance and Audit Committee.
Approved by show of hands
From committee of whole: approve charge of the Linkage Working group as defined.
Approved by show of hands
From committee of whole: approve charge of the DE Transition Working group as defined.
Approved by show of hands
From committee of whole: approve charge of the Regionalization Working group as defined.
Approved by show of hands
Motion to adjourn – moved by Dennis Wellnitz. Seconded by Shirley Blakely.
Approved by consensus
Meeting Notes
Meeting started 11:02 am
Nothing removed from consent agenda – monitoring reports and minutes
Treasurer’s report
● Ended year with a positive balance. Year will officially close tomorrow
● Fair share dues of 97% of budgeted amount
● Expenses just under 97%
● Office continues to run slightly under budget
● Emergency reserves at 9.4% of budgeted goal of 10%
o About $3,300 short of the 10%
o Amazing accomplishment. Didn’t start second half of year
● Cash flow is always an issue. Cristina Sanchis is going to talk to Chris Chepel so that the cash is reflected in the monthly reports – get back in balance. Contributions peak at a different time of year than expenses.
Finance & Audit (APF & Chalice Lighters also)
● Rev Keith Goheen will report back to the board on APF and Chalice Lighters for future board meetings
● Discussion on issues with APF reporting, and numbers not being correct
● We should continue to ask for the APF numbers. Reflect back the trust issue for the numbers.
● F&A meetings are not in sync with the in person board meetings. Will need to report back on the conference calls.
● Discussion on new online chalice lighter asks and payment options
● JPD website and inability to see what’s happening with chalice lighter congregations
o Rev David Pyle is going to be evaluating the website
o Evaluate the website work going on in the DelMarVa cluster
President
● Conversations with Jim Keyes (UUA Moderator) to see how the JPD board can be connected to the UUA board, and not the Congregational Life staff.
● When district trustees went away, linkage to the UUA board went away.
● Issue is how does UUA board wish to do lnkage
District Executive - Rev Dr Richard Speck
● Winding things down and cleaning house for preparation for Rev David Pyle’s start
● Would like to see a report out from last year’s strategic plan to see what was accomplished.
Strategic Plan
● Rev Dr Richard Speck sent strategic plan from last year. Rev David Pyle will be working through the strategic plan at the staff retreat later this week.
● In general we accomplished most of what was on the plan from last year
o Have not evaluated what was done and not done from last year
o Ongoing, report back on an annual basis. Summary level report. For consent agenda.
o Expectation is that it is monitored throughout the year, and adjusted as needed. Report will be based on the monitoring throughout the year.
● Work yet to be done will be in the next several weeks with the staff
Priorities for Rev David Pyle out of board retreat
● Report and plan on JPD website
● Congregations and beyond study
● Conversation and plan for joint district assembly with Metro New York
● Study options on District Assembly in general, and what it might look like going forward. Little bit of visioning will be included as a starting point.
● Adding to JPD website of how issues with DE can be reported back to the board
Open Positions
● Approve Rev Keith Goheen as co-chair of Finance and Audit committee.
FY 2013-14 Board of Directors Work Plan resulting in working groups
New/Existing Working Group Charges and Assignments
Linkage working group charge
The Linkage Working Group shall:
provide a methodology for guiding board members in their linkage work with their clusters, identify and coordinate District Assembly and other linkage opportunities, act as a clearinghouse for information gathered, and provide regular reports back to the full board.
● Request to have some people cover the clusters that don’t have a board representative
o Paul Pinson – Central PA. Carla Johnson as alternate/joint
o Justis Tuia – Baltimore
o Dennis Wellnitz– Western Maryland
● Rev David Pyle will coordinate with Sandra Greenfield for adjunct staff meetings
DE Transition working group charge
The DE Transition working group shall:
● Act as a resource for David’s formal and informal introductions to JPD constituents to identify cultural and relational dynamics
● Identify gaps in building relationships with key owners and stakeholders
● Plan a covenanting celebration for and with David and Richard
Regionalization working group charge
The CERG Transition Working Group shall:
1. Bring JPD Board feedback to Transition Team – work on appropriate incorporation of ideas.
2. Help complete an initial draft for 4 Boards (Joseph Priestley, St. Lawrence, Ohio-Meadville, Metro New York) review.
3. Work on incorporating ideas from Board reviews into a draft for congregational review in time for a District Assembly vote in a coming year.
4. Assist in communicating the plan within our Region and District.
5. Identify preparation that Boards and Districts must do to prepare for regionalization.
6. Prepare for General Assembly if District Assemblies approve moving forward.
7. Hand-off efforts to a Transition Implementation Team.
● Discussion of how speaks for the JPD board. Dennis Wellnitz and Paul Pinson are in the working regionalization group, but the board speaks for itself in evaluating and approving the proposal and sending back feedback to the transition group.
Determine Meeting Schedule for the Year (see calendar below)
Partial recess for calendaring of Exec Committee meetings for year at 1 pm.
Follow up TasksTask / Owner / Date restrictions
Send to board rough summary of review of 2013-2014 strategic plan / David/Richard / At staff retreat
Meeting Schedule for Year
Meeting Purpose / Date / Location
Transition team meetings (Paul and Dennis) / Second Thursday of month
Exec committee / Aug 7, 7:30 / Conf call
Exec committee / Sept 4, 7:30
Full board – conf call / Sept 18, 2014. 7:30 pm
Exec committee
Dennis/Pau to leave for transition team at 7:30 / Oct 9, 7 pm-7:30 pm
In Person board meeting
To include board, DE, DCL, regional lead covenant and DE start-up / Fri Oct 24-Sat Oct 25, 2014 / Northern part of district.
Possibly Bux-Mont.
Exec committee / Nov 6, 2014. 7:30 pm
Full board – conf call / Nov 20, 7:30 pm
Exec committee / Dec 4, 2014. 7:30 pm
Full board – conf call
(optional) / Dec 18, 7:30 pm
Exec committee
Dennis/Pau to leave for transition team at 7:30 / Jan 8, 2014. 7 pm
Full board – conf call / Jan 15, 7:30 pm
Exec committee / Feb 5, 2014. 7:30 pm
In person board meeting
Review final AFP numbers. Prep for district assembly / Fri Feb 13-Sat Feb 14, 2015 / Southern part of district
River Road
Exec committee / Mar 5, 2014. 7:30 pm
Full board – conf call / Mar 19, 7:30 pm
Exec committee
Dennis/Pau to leave for transition team at 7:30 / Apr 9, 2014. 7 pm
District Assembly / Apr 10-12, 2015 / Harrisburg, PA – tentative
Exec committee / May 7, 2014. 7:30 pm
Full board – conf call / May 21, 7:30 pm
Exec committee / June 4, 2014. 7:30 pm
Full board – conf call / June 18, 7:30 pm
General Assembly / June 24-28, 2015 / Portland, OR
Exec committee
Dennis/Pau to leave for transition team at 7:30 / July 9, 2014. 7 pm
Board retreat / July 24-26, 2015 / Temenos
Meeting adjourned 1:07 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Carla Johnson, JPD Board Secretary
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