Joseph Priestley District

Board of Directors

October 5-6, 2001

District Office, Wilmington

 

Minutes

 

Present: Evelyn Spurgin (president), Mike Harris (vice president), Ellen Cotts (treasurer), Dave Hunter (secretary), Dawn Star Borchelt, the Rev. Howard Dana, Marilyn Dyson (Saturday only), Janet Eisenhauer, the Rev. Anne Herndon, the Rev. Paula Maiorano, Julia Sayles, Bill Stroup, the Rev. Linda Olson Peebles (UUA trustee), and Courtenay Harms (DYSC liaison)(Friday only).

 

Absent:  David Chandler, Mel Harkrader-Pine (resigned), and Paul Roche (resigned).

 

Also Present: the Rev. Dr. Richard Speck (district executive), Virginia Jerocha-Ernst (Acting Lifespan Religious Education Consultant), Bob Johnsen (district growth consultant) (Saturday only), Kim Mason (campUUs organizer), Kay Montgomery (UUA executive vice president), and Pete Fontneau (APF consultant, GWA president) (Saturday only)

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:41 p.m.  Business was conducted on Friday evening from 6:41 until 8:20 and on Saturday afternoon from 2:44 until 3:35.  Kay Montgomery led start-up activities on Friday evening from 8:27 until 9:42 and on Saturday from 9:27 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.  Worship was led by Howard, Dawn, Anne, and Linda

 

1. Approval of New Board Member.   Julia Sayles of Arlington was approved as replacement for Mel Harkrader-Pines.

 

2. Approval of Minutes.  Minutes of the May and July meetings were approved.

 

3. Covenant.  The board covenant statement was approved:

 

As members of the Joseph Priestley District board, in order to support the vision and mission of the district, we covenant with one another to–

 

Remember the holy nature of our work,

 

                                Be present and prepared for board meetings,

 

Assume responsibility and follow through on our commitments,

 

Listen carefully,

 

Communicate directly,

 

Respond with candor,

Treat one another respectfully,

 

Move forward together,

 

Act faithfully, and, as the board,

 

Speak with one voice.

 

4. Long Range Planning Committee.  The committee, which met earlier on October 5, consists of board members Mike, Paula, and Anne and the Rev. John Morgan (Berks County) and the Rev. Jay Abernathy (Rockville).  The RE committee has agreed to suggest a member.  Richard is the staff liaison.  The committee will present a draft in January. 

 

5. Treasurer’s Report.  Ellen presented the treasurer’s report (attached).

 

6. Finance Committee Report.  Mike presented the finance committee’s report.  Committees should submitted their proposals for 2002-03 by mid-December.  A draft budget will be presented in January, with final board action in March.  The committee consists of Mike and Ellen and former board members Gene Mulligan and Paul Roche.

 

7. Religious Education Committee.  Jude Henzy (Wilmington) was approved as president of the RE committee.  Other members of the committee are Robin Pugh (secretary, Buxmont), Cyndi Estill (treasurer, Sterling), Françoise Ateto (Annapolis), Lisa Chenoweth (Harford County), and Natalie Fenimore (Paint Branch).

 

8. Spring Conference & Annual Meeting.  Larry Peers will be the keynote speaker.  The two ministers’ chapters will be holding a joint retreat at the same location immediately prior to the annual meeting.  Paula is seeking additional workshop proposals.

 

9. Search Committee.  Dawn and Janet will be co-chairs of the committee to find a permanent life-span religious education consultant; Jude Henzy (Wilmington) will serve on the committee.  Evelyn will appoint additional members.

 

10. Extension Committee Report.  Ellen presented the Report on the Extension Committee Research Project (September 2001) (attached).  The board enthusiastically commended the committee, and especially Ellen, without whom the project and report would not have happened, for their good work.

 

11. Fair Compensation Acknowledgment.  The request of Peter Liveright (compensation consultant, Towson) to recognize at the annual meeting congregations fairly compensating their staff was approved.

 

12. Staff Reports.  Written reports (attached) were received.

13. Young Adult/ Campus Ministry Sunday.  Kim described plans for YA/CM Sunday.

 

14. Electronic Communication.  Mike announced that he has replaced Mel as keeper of our email list.  He needs a board member to serve as assistant.

 

15. Search Committee Budget.  On the recommendation of the finance committee, an $800 budget for the search committee was approved.

 

16. Committee on Ministry for the Acting Life-Span Religious Education Consultant.  Virginia and Evelyn were authorized to select members of this committee and asked to report at the next meeting.

 

17. DYSC Bylaws.  After brief discussion, action on the revised bylaws presented by the District Youth Steering Committee (attached) was deferred until the next meeting, due to the lateness of the hour.  Our liaison to DYSC, Dave, was asked to read the bylaws with care and give helpful suggestions to DYSC, if appropriate.  It was noted that requiring a JPD staff liaison (or designate) to attend all DYSC meetings and cons (art. V, sec. I.B.3) might not be realistic, and that “Priestley” contains two E’s.

 

18. Adult Advisors at Cons.  We discussed the sharing of information with respect to the status of adult con participants with organizers of non-DYSC cons.  There was consensus that the DYSC Con Adult-Reference Form should indicate that we will share information with non-DYSC con organizers.

 

19. Journey Toward Wholeness.  Natalie Fenimore (Paint Branch) and Sayre Dixon (Delaware County) were approved for the JTW team.

 

20. Leadership Days.  No one has signed up for the October 13 workshops at Harrisburg.

 

21. Personnel Committee.  Ellen and Peter Liveright (Towson, compensation consultant) were approved as members of the personnel committee.  Suggestions for changes to the personnel policy procedure manual should be given to the committee, which will request approval for changes at our January meeting. 

 

22. Awards Committee.  On the recommendation of the awards committee (Mike, Dave, Dave) we agreed to add an Unsung Youth Award, for presentation at the annual meeting.

 

23. Annual Program Fund.  Pete Fontneau (Accotink, APF consultant) reported on the progress of district congregations in paying their APF fair shares and on the need for further progress.

 

24. GWA Representation.  Pete Fontneau (Accotink, GWA president) reported that GWA has not yet appointed a replacement for Paul Roche.  As president, Pete is serving as GWA’s representative pro tem.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

 

Dave Hunter, secretary