PARISH BOARD MINUTES December 13, 2015
Present: David Bryce, Catherine Claypoole, Downing Cless, Deveaux Duckworth, Betsy George, Peter Guthrie, Ana Hammock, Carolyn Howard, Jackie James, Sara Oaklander, Penny Schafer, Todd Schatzki, and congregants on specific items (names in parentheses)
Executive Session (about twenty minutes)
President's Report (Todd):
(1) Consent Agenda: November minutes and the Minister's Report were accepted without a vote. Adding Doug Burden as a co-signer at Cambridge Savings Bank was unanimously approved.
(2) Assistant Office Manager: As documented in the attached report from Janice, Alexandra Nichipor, current Pre-K/K Teacher, was recommended for hire in the additional part-time position (12 hours/week). In reply to several questions, Penny said that Charlotte was fine about the second position, that both interviewees were overqualified but Janice favored Nichipor, and that the assistant would not deal with finances. Nichipor's hire was unanimously approved.
(3) Congregational Visioning: Downing summarized his letter to the board recommending that the visioning process be postponed for a year or two. There was general agreement.
(4) Insurance for Organ and Tiffany Window: Penny reported that James Hencke is looking at the insurance policies with the aim of making sure they are adequate and up to date. There may be a need for a new committee.
(5) Wreathes from Boy Scouts: Todd reported that in the past the church bought wreathes from the Boy Scouts, but a decision got made not to buy anymore because of the Scouts' national positions on gay rights. Now there is a need to revisit this decision in light of positive changes in the national policy, as well as the proactivity of the church's troop. Penny added that this year the Flower Committee decided to buy wreathes from the Boy Scouts in a move of reconciliation. After Sara's query whether maybe the committee first should have checked in with the group that dealt with FCB's policy a few years ago, Penny suggested that future decisions about where to buy wreathes should be made by the Flower Committee. David commented that the decision on wreath-purchases needs to be looked at in relation to the FCB policy that is in place.
(6) Plaque or Remembrance for Alfa: Sara suggested that the Music Committee make a proposal to the Board, and all agreed.
(7) Child Photography Policy: David raised this because of concern about photos taken for the musical and used in promotion. Jackie said it had been done for many years, and Todd noted this was the first time it has been a concern. Carolyn suggested that the problem could be solved with an opt-out on the audition form, but Catherine thought this might make the problem worse. There was general agreement to continue with no policy and with publicity photos of children.
(8) Political petitions: After recent instances, Todd talked with former Board presidents about problems of discomfort and divisiveness. After saying that even non-partisan petitions could be divisive when the community is divided, Catherine suggested that guidance be sought from the UUA and other congregations. Todd proposed future agenda time to create a policy.
Switch of FCB Operating Accounts to Belmont Savings Bank (Penny): After dissatisfaction with Bank of America's service and reputation, Finance Committee went to Belmont Center's other banks and asked a set of questions. They decided on Belmont Savings, which Sara praised as local and invested in the town. Penny moved that the primary account be shifted to Belmont Savings; it was approved unanimously.
Vice President's Report (Ana): Program Council will be looking toward 2016 assessment at it's 3-hour special meeting on January 9.
Treasurer's Report (Penny): The safe deposit box in Harvard Square was opened and had old endowment-related papers and bank books back to 1937. The papers are now in PDFs and most will be shredded. As for the monthly report, Penny reported no big surprises (though possible worry in January about pledge payments). She has sent budget templates to all committees.
Julie Franzini Resignation and Youth Director Search (Catherine):
Julie decided to resign because of having a second child, but it should be highly confidential for the time being. After Catherine reported on the current status of the CRE Director search and on Charlotte's assessments sent to the Board, she asked if this is the time to look at one life-span or at least K-12 position, now common in the field. After Todd asked if a life-span director would need two assistants and Penny questioned whether it would be stronger for the youth, Catherine said there would be more community-building and integration because the single person could get to know kids and families over a longer span of time; Charlotte has started some of this, but Adult RE is more distinct.
There then were several comments about the Youth Director role being special and the need to have at least an assistant to supervise Youth Group. On the other hand, it could be a compelling model if there were the right two people, as Sara mentioned, and it would not be good if we lose good candidates because of not having the overarching role, as Todd asserted. Catherine said she will get more information from the UUA and will confer with the Youth Committee, but the one-position model already has been brought up by Stefan Frank from that committee and Ann Dexter from the HR committee. David expressed hesitancy because the single person would need to be the face of CRE on all Sunday mornings and probably could not also be at Youth Group every Sunday night; currently, our group is the envy of other congregations because of its 45 members. Catherine then added that we must be thoughtful about how to deal with resources. Todd asked how much could be done with volunteers, and Carolyn cited the current strength of Youth Group mentors and the Youth Committee members.
Catherine again emphasized the confidentiality of Julie's resignation. She wants to be able first to tell Youth Group before the resignation becomes public. The Board agreed but wanted her to tell the group at the next opportunity. David will tell Julie to announce it at the next meeting.
Job Descriptions (Todd):
Todd went through all of the revised job descriptions and will make a few decision points in a document to be circulated to staff members in order to achieve uniformity. He gave an example. The whole process is simply to align each job description with what the staff member is currently doing. Todd sought another Board member to join him in looking at the final job descriptions, and Peter volunteered.
Stewardship--Messages and Budget (Roger Read and Mark Thurber)
Todd introduced the topic by saying we need to talk about (a) themes and (b) a target. One of the biggest themes will be asking for engagement. Is there a particular need for funding that deserves discussion? Should the target be 10 percent up from last year? Roger added two more questions: do we need to look at target in relation to theme? And do we have a steady-state or aspirational target? Answers are urgent since the pledge letter must be ready next month. Penny was concerned that messages get garbled because every year we lose a few large donors. Mark responded that stories must be bundled because there's a list of possible aspirations.
Todd commented that we have not had aspirational discussions about what we would want to do if we had more funds, to which Sara replied there are aspirations but not exact figures, such as for David's sabbatical and also for community engagement. Penny asserted that we have to go back and look at what is needed for the sabbatical, yet we do not know how to look at aspirations without a strong consensus. Jackie argued in favor of confronting people with the reality of more money being needed just to keep things going the way they are; in order to stay the same, we have to give more. That led to several suggestions about telling success stories or exemplary testimonials of what we do in order to encourage increased support and some new major donors.
Roger said the committee will turn to Penny for current costs and aspirations. Penny replied that the Board has not had a discussion on unified aspirations, to which Roger responded that maybe aspirational budget was the wrong term. He said the committee was just trying to capture what the Board is talking about. Todd stated that most talk focuses on worries about getting smaller and how we can maintain the church if it is shrinking. Catherine added the focus must be on sustaining what we have, especially the big parts of the pie (i.e., staff and utilities). David said that's accurate, yet most people respond to aspirations in terms of dreams. Roger added a query: what's the collective sense of where we want to go?
Ana called for the creation of inspiring stories of what we do in sustaining a wonderful program. That led to several specific suggestions: stories of FCB's great staff in order to be able to give good raises and benefits (Deveaux), stories of the transitions of two great new staff members (Downing), and stories from our teenagers on "what does FCB means to you?" (Catherine). Sara encouraged ways to think visually to engage in that question, and Ana suggested a visual collage of answers to the question.
Roger concluded there were good ideas expressed that will be helpful to the committee, and that he will follow up with Todd, Ana, and Penny. David asked about a hard number, but Penny said it would need to be rough numbers and estimates. Roger said that anything major must be asked for in the fall. Penny added that anything major takes a year, so should be sought in the spring.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:58 p.m.