COORDINATING COUNCIL

MAINE CONFERENCE, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

June 20, 2008, University of Maine at Farmington

 

Minutes

 

Present:

            Denise Goodman, Moderator                         Ann Roundy, Commission for Spiritual Life    

Anita White, Vice-Moderator                                    Judy Hubley, Commission for Spiritual Life

            Walter (Ted) Ruark, Clerk                             Herb Oliver, Commission for Community Life

            Gerard Moore, Treasurer                               Linda Smith, Commission for Community Life

            Jane Lowell, Kennebec Valley                       Connie Insley, Commission for Witness Life

Phillip McKean, Lincoln                                David Gaewski, Conference Minister                                   

Don Isham, Oxford Union                              Susan Craig, Associate Conference Minister

            John Glover, Penobscot-Piscataquis              Mark Schussler, Business Manager

Darren Morgan, Acting Associate Minister  Susan Stevens, Conference Executive Assistant        

for Small Church Development

           

Guests:

Tom Clough, Interim Conference Minister   John Thomas, UCC President and General Minister Dick Bennett, Representative, Office of General Ministries

           

Absent:

            Katie Pinard, State Youth Council                 Don Green, Washington

            Ron Beinema, Board of Trustees                   Susan Kaplan-Burgess, Franklin

            Franklin Anderson, York                               Victor Stanley, Hancock-Waldo                   

            Cumberland representative                            Aroostook representative

Jeanne Davis, Commission for Witness Life

 

Call to Order: Denise Goodman called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon and David Gaewski opened the meeting with prayer.

 

Introduction of Guests: David introduced Rev. Tom Clough and Rev. John Thomas. Tom Clough will be the Interim Conference Minister while David is on sabbatical leave. John Thomas is the President and General Minister of the United Church of Christ.

 

John Thomas: John Thomas outlined the current United Church of Christ national office organization and the recent restructuring efforts.

ŕ       Currently there are 4 covenanted ministries, each with an autonomous 56-member Board of Directors plus a 90+-member Executive Council.

ŕ       An evaluation of the organizational structure revealed that it is often cumbersome, that decision making is a difficult process when any one of the covenanted ministries’ boards can block actions taken by the Executive Council, and that the role of the Council is not clear.

ŕ       The boards of directors did not support the first restructuring proposal, which called for a single governing board to oversee the organization and its endowment funds.

ŕ       A small group, asked to develop an alternative restructuring proposal, presented a second plan in February 2008. That plan, also rejected, would have created a single 90-member board, with 1 representative from each conference and representatives of the covenanted ministries and related groups.

ŕ       A third proposal, which would have increased representation from each conference to 3, and a total membership on almost 200, was also rejected.

ŕ       The small group plans to meet with a number of the historically underrepresented groups, develop a fourth proposal at a late July meeting, and present that plan in the fall.

John noted that conferences will be asked to comment on whether a single governing board is desirable and, if so, how large it should be and how much conference representation should be on it.

He also indicated that the restructuring proposals have raised questions concerning what governance means in practical terms, whether a single governing board concept violates the traditional polity of the United Church of Christ, and how the restructuring would impact access to United Church of Christ endowment funds.

 

Continuing Business: 2008 Annual Meeting

1. Denise reviewed the process the Coordinating Council has used for addressing the conference facilities issue and the small group meetings to be held during the Annual Meeting. Following the council meeting, Sue Stevens distributed information for the small group facilitators and identified the location of the sessions. Don Isham, Mark Schussler, and Jane Lowell volunteered to research the estimated costs of renovating the Pennell Center.

2. On a motion by Ann Roundy, seconded by Connie Insley, the council voted that Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM) be the recipient of Sunday’s offering.

3. Denise reported that Equal Exchange has donated the coffee, cups, sugar, and other required items for all the coffee offered at the Annual Meeting.

4. Sue Stevens indicated that a reporter from the Franklin Journal has been and will be covering the Annual Meeting, gathering material for the next edition of the paper. She reminded the council that all press representatives are required to check in at the registration desk and issued special press passes.

5. Sue noted that the Annual Meeting evaluation form and a “concepts” comment form are included in the registration material and will be collected at the end of Saturday’s and Sunday’s sessions.

 

Minutes of the June 6, 2008 Meeting: On a motion by Herb Oliver, seconded by Ann, the minutes of the June 6, 2008 Coordinating Council meeting were accepted as printed.

 

Business Manager’s Report: Mark noted that copies of the Conference and Consolidated Trust audit reports had been sent with the council agenda. He then deferred to Jane Lowell, chair of the Finance Committee, for a summary of those reports. Jane indicated that no exceptions had been sited in either report. On a motion by Jane, seconded by Ann, the council accepted the Conference audit report. On a motion by Jane, seconded by Phillip McKean, the council accepted the Consolidated Trust audit report.

 

Conference Ministers’ Reports

David Gaewski reported the following:

1. Three potential locations for new church starts are being considered in Georgetown (Lincoln Association), the Waterboro/Lyman area  (York Association) and Ogunquit (York Association). At present funding is probably available for only one new church start every three years.

2. A 3-year, $5,000 grant application, written by Lori Whittemore, is being submitted to develop a Disaster Ministry Network. The grant would provide training to individuals and churches as Disaster Response Teams. It was suggested that funding following the grant period could logically become a part of the Commission for Witness Life’s yearly program and budget. Phil encouraged cooperation and coordination with existing disaster response efforts by hospitals, fire and police departments and the Maine Emergency Management Agency. On a motion by Herb, seconded by Linda Smith, the council voted to endorse the grant application.

 

Susan Craig submitted a written report, highlighting the following activities, and offered comments wishing David well on his sabbatical leave.

  1. Search and call visits to several churches.
  2. Attendance at a number of church and ministry committee meetings.
  3. Continuing to offer support following the recent fitness review.

 

Darren Morgan reported that the cell tower in church steeple proposal is still under review and that he has been visiting a number of small churches.

 

Following brief remarks by Denise, and on a motion by Phil, seconded by Ann, the council expressed its gratitude to David and those who made all the arrangements for the Pre-Conference Retreat. 

 

The council recognized Judy Hubley for her years of service on the Commission for Spiritual Life.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:23 p.m.

 

 

Emailed to Anita White and Sue Stevens on Monday, June23, 2008