BHECM Minutes Jan. 27, 2017 (cont.)
Members –
Present: Tim Smiley (Chair), Melissa Stump, Jon Tschanz, Starr Clay, Jim Manuel, Drew Dancey, Nathan Adams, Allison Manning, Yvonne McShay, Cynthia Sucher, Will Finnin, Phyllis Klock, Steve Painter, Sharyn Ladner, John Tschanz, Joy Bridwell,Tom Tift, Jason Knott
Absent: Willie A. Miller, Jr., Andy Foote, Glenn Bosley-Mitchell, Amanda Blount, Peter Elliott
Ex-Officio –
Present: Cynthia Weems (Cabinet Liaison), Sharon Austin (Florida Conference), Mike Crawford (Florida Southern), David Allen (Bethune Cookman)
Campus Minister Representative –
Present: Erwin Lopez
Guest –
Craig Smelser, Controller
Motions and decisions in BOLD.
Board chair Tim Smileybrought the meeting to order at 11:14 a.m. with a welcome and reminder that this was the first year of the new quadrennium. Following introductions, Tim began the meeting with some centering thoughts.
Referring to the popular “Storage Wars” cable show, Tim spoke of how we tend to store or hoard. He described one approach to simplification by asking yourself whether an item brings joy. If the answer is “no,” then the advice is to thank the item for its service and discard it. He moved to the parable in the sermon on Mount about the farmer who harvested huge crops and built bigger barns to hold the increase. Jesus askes the question, when you die, what will happen to what you’ve stored away? Tim stated that the most important storage container is the heart. Good things come from the treasury of a good heart. The mouth speaks what the heart has stored. We are living in contentious times. Who is listening to what we say? Tim spoke of being questioned by his oldest son about what we can do in these times. Tim’s advice?Match your activism with prayer.Be careful not to mirror what you are opposing.Center your heart in God. Parse out what you have stored in your heart. Keep some things. Get rid of others. He then led members through the Serenity Prayer and encouraged us to stay centered.
After reminding members to fill out forms, if needed, for lodging or travel, Tim stated that the goalfor the meeting wasfor members to leave with a clear understanding of how the board is constructed along with the challenges and opportunities ahead. He added that the nature of the board and its work is changing.
Campus Ministry Assessments with Wendy McCoy and David Dodge
Cynthia Weems then discussedministry oroperational assessments. In the past, Wendy and David have assessed every district superintendent’s office. They made individual and cross-conference recommendations for best practices. This has been beneficial for the cabinet and for the conference.
Wendy and David are conducting these now for BHECM. They are gathering information about such items as whether housing is available; what size staff there is; what are the salaries; how many students are involved.
The team conducted two during 2016 for Miami and Gator Wesley since both ministries were in transition. The assessments identified areas for improvement and made recommendations in areas of personnel policy, which could be beneficial for other campus ministries.
The remaining ministry assessments are beginning this year and will continue over time. The next two will be USF and Stetson.Tim and Cynthia will be reminding campus ministers of assessments. BHECM members should remind local boards.
Will Finnin asked how the information and recommendations from assessments would be disseminated. How, for example, will specific recommendations for items such as personnel policy and tax procedures be distributed?
Tim and Cynthia will be taking responsibility for communicating with campus ministers.There was additional discussion of assessments: what to expect, their value andremembering the hopeful natureof the information being gathered as we look forward.
Cynthia will send reminders about assessments. Campus ministers might ask their superintendents as well.
BHECM members then watched a video of the first service FSU Wesley held in its new facility. Starr Clay shared her personal experiences of the services and invited BHECM members to try to attend the September 9-10 dedication.
Sharon Austin shared information about what is going on in and across the Florida conference. She thanked board members for their time and involvement explaining that as part of a connectional church, what affects one part, affects the other.
David Allen led members in prayer before lunch.
Bishop Carter stepped in during lunch and thanked the board for their hard work.
Finances
As lunch continued, Craig Smelser, FLUMC controller, led board members through a review and discussion of the final 2016 budget numbers and examination of the 2017 budget. He discussed the new property acquisition and construction underway, the four loans for parsonages and construction,and drew attention to the budgetary impact that projected a budget deficit.
Melissa Stump asked Craig to look into campus ministry contributions to deferred maintenance funds. David Allen inquired about the process for increasing the amount of funds received from the conference. After a discussion of the purpose of unit grants, which range from $30K to $100K and are intended to cover fixed costs, Tim asked for volunteers to serve on a committee to look into grants to Methodist colleges. Yvonne McShay and JonTschanz volunteered.
Cynthia Weems then led members through an in-depth budget discussion and asked for recommendations to balance the budget.
BHECM structure and committee assignments for each member
Tim distributed a list of current board members and contact information. Phyllis Klock asked for an electronic copy.
Tim then spoke of the need for BHECM to become a more participatory board and indicated four specific committee areas:
Finances.
Property (fixed and nomadic).
Personnel (clergy assessments).
Local board training.
Tim asked members to choose among the four areas where they felt they might contribute. Their choices follow:
Nathan Adams (Finance)
Jon Tschanz (Personnel/Local Board Training)
David Allen (Local Board Training)
Yvonne McShay (Local Board Training/Personnel)
Jason Knott ( )
Tom Tift (Property)
Phyllis Klock (Property)
Cynthia Sucher(Local Board Training/Personnel)
Drew Dancey (Finance)
Jim Manuel (Property)
Joy Bridwell (Finance)
Melissa Stump (Personnel)
Steve Painter (not finance)
Starr Clay (Local Board Training/Property)
Sharyn Ladner (Local Board Training/Personnel))
Will Finnin ( )
Miscellaneous
Campus ministry parsonage/property reports are due online at Gotowesley.org by Mar. 31, 2017.
Campus Director Assessments are due May 31, 2017.
Melissa Stump and Starr Clay brought up that BHECM members should be ex officio members of the with closest local campus ministry boards.
Tim adjourned the meeting at 3:30 p.m.
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