MCC Governing Board
August 2 – 6, 2010
Dayspring Retreat Center, Parrish FL USA
Draft of Minutes
Governing Board Attendees:
Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson
Raquel Benitez Rojas
Liz Bisordi
Onetta Brooks
Tony Freeman
Robert Griffin
John Hassell
Bryan Parker
Candace Shultis
Other Attendees at various times:
Irma Bauer-Levesque, Director of Fund Development
Kathy Beasley, Executive Operations Liaison
Barbara Crabtree, MCC Director of Operations
Dan Hotchkiss, Senior Consultant, Alban Institute
Rev. Elder Darlene Garner
Connie Meadows, Assistant to the Moderator
Rev. Dr. Mona West, Director, Office of Formation and Leadership Development
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We were led each morning and late afternoon in a devotional and prayer time with each member of the Governing Board taking the opportunity to share.
Dan Hotchkiss, author of Governance and Ministry, led us in implementing the new Governing Board structure for the first two and a half days. During that time we each shared a little of our personal stories and why we had chosen to serve.
Dan encouraged us to set up a Policy Book. (Candace will be culling through minutes of the Board of Administration and the Board of Elders to find existing policies, procedures and protocols. We will then be able to make a decision about how each of them may impact our future work as a Governing Board, whether we will affirm, rework or decide to annul each one.) Other than policies, a Board Covenant of Ministry which outlines how we intend to work together (attached), a Conflict of Interest Statement (attached) and a Statement of Confidentiality (attached) are to be included. (I believe we thought that the MCC lawyer should look over the Conflict of Interest and the Statement of Confidentiality. Have these been forwarded to our lawyer?)
There was agreement that the general job descriptions for the elected officers would include:
Vice Chair:
-Step in when the Moderator is not available
-Work with the Moderator on the agenda for meetings
-Help the Moderator keep track of the work flow of the Board
-Moderate meetings in the absence of the Moderator
-Elected annually
Treasurer:
-Chair the Board Finance Team
-Helps the Board deal with financial oversight and policies
-Primary interface is with the Governing Board working with the CFO and the accounting staff
-Elected annually – two term limit
Secretary/Clerk:
-Knowledgeable about official documents
-Work with the Assistant to the Moderator to provide minutes of meetings
-Fulfill legal requirements for secretary/clerk under California law
-Elected annually
MOTION 100801-01
Move to elect the following officers of the Governing Board:
Vice Chair: Tony Freeman
Treasurer: Liz Bisordi
Secretary/Clerk: Candace Shultis
(Raquel Benitez Rojas – 1st; Robert Griffin – 2nd)
Passed unanimously
We had a discussion of what we believed the Vision for Ministry in 2011 should be. This would then be taken by the Moderator to the Senior Leadership Team for implementation. We agreed that the following should be the focus for 2011:
−Build leadership development into all we do, especially with young adults.
−Build and maintain systems of communication to strengthen our relationships, strengthen our congregations and let people know who we are.
We also developed the following “Open Questions” which will be the focus of our discussions during the next year:
−How can we grow our financial resources to fund our vision for ministry and mission with the goal of reaching $5 million in annual income by 2013?
−How can we be open to insights and input from young adults?
−What is needed to enhance our global ministry and structure?
As the Senior Leadership Staff joined us from Wednesday afternoon through Friday we received presentations from each one and asked many questions.
Barbara Crabtree led us through a power point presentation so that we might better understand the present staff structure. She also led us through a very thorough presentation of MCC’s present financial picture including our cash flow and projections for year-end 2010, the budget and the budget process. She gave us an update on the Senior Housing Project.
Irma Bauer-Levesque spoke to us about the present state of fund development, the plan for the final quarter of 2010 and for 2011. She also gave us information about funding for seminaries with which we have connections and led us through what grants we currently have and where each one is in the process of being used.
Mona West gave us an overview of her work: How many people we have in the credentialing process and her work with the former Lay Ministry Council to develop a curriculum for Lay Ministry Certification.
Nancy Wilson gave us an update on the International Task Force to be formed in 2011 and about current international issues.
Kathy Beasley spoke with us about how we would communicate the work we have done and will be doing. We also discussed our web presence and how best to receive and send information to our constituents.
MOTION 100801-02
Move to approve the Moderator’s appointment of Rev. Elder Lillie Brock, Rev. Elder Diane Fisher, Rev. Elder Darlene Garner and Rev. Elder Ken Martin as members of the Council of Elders for MCC.
(Onetta Brooks – 1st; Tony Freeman – 2nd)
Passed unanimously
We also decided on the following Governing Board Committees:
Governance: (Onetta Brooks, Bryan Parker, Raquel Benitez Rojas)
Nominating Committee: Moderator; Governing Board
International Task Force: (Raquel Benitez Rojas; TBD)
General Conference:
Bylaws: (Onetta Brooks, Bryan Parker)
Finance: Liz Bisordi, Chair; CandaceShultis, Marsha Warren (has agreed to
serve)
Strategic Planning: (Robert Griffin, Tony Freeman, JohnHassell)
We had an evaluation of our time together:
These were great:
Development of collegiality
Role definition
Big bowls/’buckets’ list
Vision of ministry
Starting on Time/Flexibility of agenda
Good choice of book and facilitator
The face-to-face
Retreat setting
Having senior staff present
Openness
These could be improved:
Food (maybe plan to go out for dinner)
Bigger pillows
Technology passable (would have been great to have it more
widely available throughout the site)
How to overlap with Senior Staff for a day
Longer break in the afternoon
We ended with Nancy leading us in a time of communion.
Respectfully submitted,
Candace R. Shultis
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