COORDINATING COUNCIL

MAINE CONFERENCE, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

January 9, 2009, Waterville

 

Minutes

 

Present:

            Anita White, Moderator                                 Earle Simpson, Commission for Community Life        

Herb Oliver, Vice-Moderator                        Ann Roundy, Commission for Spiritual Life

            Walter (Ted) Ruark, Clerk                             Linda Kimball, Commission for Spiritual Life

            Gerard Moore, Treasurer                               Jeanne Davis, Commission for Witness Life

Ron Beinema, Board of Trustees                   Connie Insley, Commission for Witness Life

            Jane Lowell, Kennebec Valley                       David Gaewski, Conference Minister

Phillip McKean, Lincoln                                Susan Craig, Associate Conference Minister

            Dan Johnson, Oxford Union                           Darren Morgan, Acting Associate Minister

Don Green, Washington                                                         for Small Church Development

Franklin Anderson, York                               Mark Schussler, Business Manager

                                                                        Susan Stevens, Conference Executive Assistant

                                     

Absent:          

Aroostook representative                               Victor Stanley, Hancock-Waldo                               

State Youth Council representative               John Glover, Penobscot-Piscataquis

Nita Dehais, Cumberland                               Linda Smith, Commission for Community Life

Susan Kaplan-Burgess, Franklin

           

Call to Order: Anita White called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and opened the meeting with a scripture reading about the gifts given by the Holy Spirit.

 

Review of November Coordinating Council Meeting Minutes: The review was postponed until the next meeting since no minutes had been sent out to council members.

 

Treasurer’s Report: Gerard Moore highlighted the following from his written report:

  1. The shortfall in Our Church’s Wider Mission and Fellowship Dues revenue for 2008.
  2. Pilgrim Lodge may be under budget by about $25,000.
  3. Rockcraft will likely run a deficit of about $25,000.

On a motion by Ron Beinema, seconded by Linda Kimball, the council voted to accept the Treasurer’s report as printed.

 

Business Manager’s Report: Mark Schussler deferred to David Gaewski for the major content of his report. He did indicate that the changes in Section 5 – Time Away From Work of the Employee Handbook adopted at the November 21, 2008 Coordinating Council had been reviewed by the Conference attorney and found to be consistent with Maine laws and statutes.

 

Conference Ministers’ Reports

Susan Craig: Susan highlighted the following from her written report:

  1. She and David had conducted a very successful New Pastors Retreat.
  2. The last Interim Network meeting was very well attended and included very good sharing among the interim ministers.
  3. A meeting of Middle School Ministry Advisors is scheduled for February 12th with planning for a special event on April 3rd.
  4. She and other Conference staff were interviewed by Austin Smith and Chris Berry of Scott Simon Architects as part of the facilities planning study.
  5. Two individuals from the Connecticut Conference will conduct a boundary training session focusing on the use of the Internet on April 30th.

Darren Morgan: Darren highlighted the following from his written report:

  1. His attendance at the Search and Call Gathering in Orlando was very productive.
  2. The next issue of MainStay will be devoted to the Ministry Issues documents.

David Gaeweski:

  1. At the Search and Call Gathering in Orlando, Conference staff identified 22 items in the search and call process here in Maine that need attention. Two are being implemented now:
  2. In some associations, a Conference minister and a representative of the association have asked to sign a copy of the local church’s call/covenant/contract. The national office has advised Conference staff to not do that, citing potential liability as the reason. David emphasized that, within United Church of Christ polity, the call/covenant/contract is a legal agreement between the individual being called and the local church. On a motion by Linda Kimball, seconded by Dan Johnson, the council voted to direct Conference staff NOT to sign calls/ covenants/contracts between local churches and called ministers. On a motion by Phil McKean, seconded by Anne Roundy, the council voted to recommend to associations that they also not sign calls/covenants/contracts between local churches and called ministers. Anita will send a letter explaining the council’s recommendation to church and ministry committee chairs and association moderators.
  3. David distributed and reviewed a chart displaying the Our Church’s Wider Mission giving by each church in the Conference for the years 2005 through 2008, along with a projection of 2009 giving. He expects that the 2008 OCWM revenue will be almost $50,000 below the budgeted figure and projects that the 2009 revenue will show an even greater deficit. In polling churches in the last 2 months, he indicated the following:

a.      Revenue from the large churches will likely remain consistent with past years.

b.     Churches involved with the God is Still Speaking program and those that have chosen to be Open and Affirming had been asked to raise their 2008 giving by 3% to 5%.

c.      Other churches that had contributed to OCWM in the past had been asked to raise their OCWM giving by 1% to 3%.

d.     Churches that had not contributed to OCWM in the past had been asked to make at least a $25 contribution.

On a motion by Herb Oliver, seconded by Anne Roundy, the council voted to go into executive session to discuss David’s proposal for dealing with the anticipated deficit. The executive session followed. On a motion by Herb Oliver, seconded by Connie Insley, the council voted to return from the executive session. The following action was then taken:

  1. On a motion by Jane Lowell, seconded by Ron Bienema, the council voted that David be authorized to make up to $50,000 in budget adjustments as discussed in the executive session.
  2. On a motion by Herb Oliver, seconded by Anne Roundy, the council voted to modify the 2009 budget with the changes in line items as discussed in the executive session.

 

Continuing Business:

Facilities Planning Study Committee Report: Herb Oliver reported that the committee had met on December 19, 2008 with Austin Smith and Chris Berry of Scott Simon Architects. At that meeting, Austin and Chris reviewed the results of their interviews and their preliminary observations. The committee will meet again on January 29th to review information which will be presented at February 13, 2009 Coordinating Council meeting.

 

Annual Meeting Planning Committee Report: Herb Oliver reported that the planning committee had met and, based on the council’s decision to locate the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Annual Meetings at the University of Maine at Farmington, had identified the following dates for those meetings:

2010 – June 10-13

2011 – June 9-12

2012 – June 7-10

Sue Stevens has already been in contact with the University to secure those dates. Herb also announced that the theme for the 2009 Annual Meeting will be “Hold fast to love and justice,” based on Hosea 12:6.

 

Permanent Small Church Minister Committee Report: Anita White reported that the committee was short of members. On a motion by Walter (Ted) Ruark, seconded by Connie Isley, the council voted to add Herb Oliver and Marie Pettingill to the committee’s membership.

 

Conference Minister Oversight Committee Report: The committee will issue its final report following one additional meeting.

 

Reports from Associations, any others

  1. Lincoln Association: A lively discussion of possible association restructuring was held at its recent meeting.
  2. York Association: The association’s spring meeting is scheduled for April 26th.
  3. Oxford Union Association: The association’s spring meeting is scheduled for April 26th.
  4. Penobscot-Piscataquis: The association’s Winter Meeting will be held on February 22nd.

 

General Synod Delegates: Because of a change at the national level, Maine is entitled to a 13th delegate to the General Synod. The recommendation from the Executive Committee was Vice-Moderator Herb Oliver. Rev. Peggy Dunn, Director of the Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership, was also suggested (a pre-synod workshop will be held for those involved in lay training). After a brief discussion, on a motion by Anne, seconded by Linda Kimball, the council voted to select Herb Oliver as Maine’s 13th delegate to the General Synod and to ask the Commission for Spiritual Life to apply for financial assistance for Rev. Peggy Dunn to attend the pre-synod workshop.

 

Biennial Annual Meeting Proposal: Discussion of the proposal was postponed to a later date.

 

Gladys York Fund: David explained that Gladys York had left a monetary gift in her will to be used to fund scholarships for students enrolled in the Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership. Only a portion of that money has been used and the family would be pleased to allow others to contribute additional money to the remaining funds. In order to do that, the conference will need to establish a Gladys York Fund to accept the additional money. On a motion by Linda Kimball, seconded by Connie Insley, the council voted to establish the Gladys York Scholarship Fund for the Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership. Contributions to this fund will be kept as a designated fund by the Maine Conference United Church of Christ. There shall not be an annual appeal to solicit funds. The fund will be utilized exclusively for student scholarships to the Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership. Scholarships will be administered by the Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership Oversight Committee.

 

Witness Life Resolution on the Urgency of Action on Climate Change: Jeanne Davis, chair of the Commission for Witness Life had distributed copies of The Resolution on the Urgency of Action on Climate Change. The Resolution had been drafted by three Connecticut Conference churches. Jeanne asked the Coordinating Council to endorse the Resolution and notify the Connecticut Conference of that endorsement. She explained that the Commission for Witness Life would be reviewing the Resolution in detail and would probably submit a similar resolution to the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Maine conference in September. On a motion by Anne Roundy, seconded by Don Green, the council voted to enthusiastically endorse The Resolution on the Urgency of Action on Climate Change. David agreed to communicate the council’s endorsement to the Connecticut conference.

 

Other Business:

  1. Anita thanked the council for working so cooperatively during the discussion of very serious issues.
  2. Don Green indicated that he has been working on an addition to the Conference Mission Statement and would submit it for review at the next meeting.
  3. Sue Stevens reminded council members of the upcoming long-term care insurance informational sessions to be conducted by representatives of the Pension Board, and encouraged all council members to attend.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 2:17 p.m.

 

 

Emailed to Anita White and David Gaewski on Saturday, January 10, 2009