First Universalist Church of Yarmouth, Maine

Meeting of the Board of Trustees

February 26, 2008      6:30 – 8:30 PM 

Board Members Attending: Eric Uhl, Anne Turner, Will Truesdale, Barbara Trentacosta, Marge Titcomb, Jeff O’Brien , Sue Myers, Jane Makela, Roger Comstock, Jane Cleaves, Jenn McAdoo.     

Also attending: Phil Jackson.

Absent: Diana Levin and Rev. Jennifer Emrich

Action Item #1:

The meeting began with Phil Jackson’s presentation on church management systems. Phil described the management software we are currently using, identifying its strengths and weaknesses. He then identified two options to improve the system: stay with what we have and add some features, or purchase new software that will do everything we need and is apparently easier to learn. The Board unanimously supported a motion to authorize the Finance Committee to spend up to $1800 this fiscal year to convert to a new system. The Board especially wants to thank Phil Jackson for the hours of effort he’s put in to update and improve our membership & financial management systems.

Reports:

• DRE Report:  Jenn was present at the meeting, having arrived back from Guatemala just 24 hours previously. She reported that the trip went very well and the group of 15 who went worked well together. In the absence of Hanley Denning, the organization is experiencing change but our group fulfilled their responsibilities at Safe Passage and came back with full hearts and stories to tell.
• Treasurer’s Report: The monthly report shows we are doing well on revenues; we have a $19,000 surplus to date, although this will probably decrease toward the end of the fiscal year.
• Building & Grounds Committee: The two Saturday morning clean-up sessions were held as scheduled, resulting in cleaner walls, windows, bathrooms, rug in the Common Room. Newly formed B&G Committee held its first meeting Feb. 26.
• Faith In Action Committee: A flyer has been sent out to all members, headlining the Faith in Action efforts. The Committee members agreed to donate outreach funds to the upcoming Equality Maine dinner. Rev. Jennifer will present sermons and two Adult RE offerings on Monday evenings, March 10 and 17; the evening workshops will focus on social action, drawing from Gilbert’s Moral Imperative.
• Steeple Committee: To date, 93% of the total project cost has been raised; we have $25,016 yet to raise. Upcoming benefit events for the steeple: Rudy and the Bluezberry Jam will perform on March 29 and a Spring yard sale is scheduled in May. June 15 is planned as an Ice Cream Social on the lawn to celebrate the completion of the Steeple restoration.
• Welcoming Congregation: Jeff reported that the workshops on Jan. 20 and Feb. 11 addressed different forms of homophobia and racism; 15 people attended. There is some disappointment by welcoming congregation committee members with the small turnouts to the events scheduled.
• The upgraded sound system has been installed in the sanctuary.

Visioning and Planning:

Roger defined and described the various congregation sizes, drawing on the book we read, The In-Between Church, and supplementing that work with his expertise. To the grid of Family/Pastoral/ Program/Corporate congregations, he added that the first three have also been referred to, respectively, as “cat”, “collie”, and  “garden or house (with specialized rooms)”. It was pointed out that typically if a congregation has 100 adults (average attendance), there will be 25 children; we have 100 adults and 60 children. It was observed that our sanctuary holds only 128 comfortably (seating capacity is 220, but that’s squeezing folks in.) Roger pointed out that a congregation of 300 members may be unmanageable, but not because of its size—rather, its transient nature is the problem. “Hanging” in the “plateau” between church sizes can be discouraging; strong leadership can pull a congregation through this awkward phase.

The question was asked if we have data on the number of newcomers annually. Welcoming Committee members can provide us with those numbers.

Other Action Items:

• Canvass Update: 87 people (59 units) will attend the Celebration Supper on March 8; this number includes 8 new people. 264 brochures have been mailed out to members and supporting friends of the church. On Celebration Sunday, March 16, all Board members are urged to attend or send in their pledge beforehand. Following the service, the Board is invited to a luncheon with Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, our guest preacher from Dallas; other UUs from the Northeast District will be attending as well. Luncheon is from 1:00-3:00pm. Soup will be provided by volunteers from the Board.

Board members all noted that the Canvass brochure is wonderful this year. (Thank you, Sarah!)

• No progress to  report on the mission statement process.
• A reminder that April 11 and 12 is the weekend of the NH/VT/ME District Meeting in Durham, NH.

Board members are encouraged to attend this important gathering of our re-organized district.

• Eric Smith of the Maine Council of Churches, on April 3, will present a program at our church on environmental toxins related to children’s health. He will be publicizing this event to area churches.
• Reserve Saturday, June 7 in your datebooks for the 2008-09 Board Orientation; at that time, the scheduling of Board meetings will be determined, the date of the retreat, etc.. The specific agenda will be developed and led by Jennifer Emrich.

The next Board Meeting will be Tuesday March 25 at 6:30pm.

[Agenda Planning Meeting, 6:30pm, Tuesday March 18]

Looking ahead: The Board Meeting in April will be on Tuesday, April 29, 6:30pm (The Agenda Planning in April will be on Tuesday, April 15, at 6:30pm)

The Board Meeting in May will be on Tuesday, May 27, 6:30 pm. (Agenda Planning May 20)

The Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 1, 2008.

2008-09 Board Orientation is scheduled for  Saturday, June 7, 2008.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Trentacosta,

Clerk