Board Agenda December 20, 2016 - 7 p.m.

Agenda Item Discussion Leader

Time Allocation

Comment/Action

Call to order,Spiritual Centering & Check-in

Cheryl 10 min.

BUSINESS

Secretary’s Report Helen 5 min. Additions or corrections/previously sent

Treasurer’s Report Chris D. 10-15 min. Need expenses for RE Bld. project

Resignation of Board Member, Jeff Livingston

Cheryl Fred. B

15-20 min Discussion

Bldg. & Grounds RE Facilities Expansion Revisit smoking/fires

George S. 10 min Bldg. Funds collected Expenses to date Accomplishments to date

Wish List Cheryl 10 Discuss, review, add to,

Strategic Plan Cheryl 5 min. Draft was sent to all BOD and chair heads, no reply. Discussion, and post to website

Goal 5: Fiscal 3 & 5 year plan

Group 10min. Fred Beauchemin may take the lead.

Faith Dev. /Cong. Life Cheryl Chris M Janet

10 min. Feb. 10th - Bunko, 6:30-9 March 11th - Hike, Charissa Thacker New Program Team????

REC report E-ReportGienah

5 min. Sending under separate email

Social Justice Jo S. 10 min. Email report if possible ahead of time please!

Other Business Group

Other Ideas to be voiced.

Group

Next meeting January, 17, 7:00pm

BOD goals for the year:

1. Create a strategic fiscal 3 and 5 year plan to include the current personnel positions,a part-time minister, part-time administrator, capital expenditures, congregationalgrowth, and increasing operating expenses.

2. Volunteers are encouraged to be a vital and valued part of the fellowship.3. Provide a quality, spiritual and inspirational Sunday Service.

______________________ Cathy’s Thoughts on invitation to Al to speak to Youth, proposed by Gienah

First remark to you-we, the Fellowship, can not determine how the duo treats us-individually or collectively-but we can model our principles and do our best to abide by them.

I say invite Al to speak to the children. It is time that we insist by our actions that we do not hold a grudge. Let us be clear that if there is a need to continue the stand off-that is their wish, not ours!

We play into this victim/aggressor dynamic by keeping a wall up...do I think that, as genuine as an invitation will be, it will be accepted-doubtful-but this is the season of hope! Ƴ ___________________

Re Progress Report:

Kid’s RE: The Elementary class is doing well with their work. I have invited several of the Elementary class to help create a story basket for our Principles.

The Youth class has shrunk over the last two months we have had 3 Sundays with no Youth at all. I hope that as things settle down after the holidays, and our Youth start to move into their new space (formerly the Shed) that their attendance will increase. I am recruiting for the Spring RE classes, as part of this recruitment I am sending a letter to the parents letting them know that I need at least one parent/guardian involved in RE to keep their kids registered. It is my hope that this will solve some of the volunteer problems that RE has been experiencing.

Adult RE: December will have a two part inter-generational RE discussion/event. The first part occurring on Dec. 18 with a brief discussion of Yule followed by Yule Log making. The second part is a lock-in on Dec. 21, this will be child friendly, however parents are responsible for their own children. We will be doing a 3 part Yule celebration with games and crafts to fill the space. January will resume the Faith Like a River series on the third Wednesday. We will also see the introduction of the class Escalating Inequity on the first Monday of the month lead by Chris May. _____________________ In support of accomplishing the second BOD goal, 2, please review material at:http://www.uucdc.org/growth-through-service-gts for the January board meeting and any other suggestions on how to encourage volunteers to participate in UUFBC.

Volunteer ideas ● Bulletin board display featuring those that serve UUFBC

● Get folks to pick a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th Sunday for a 2-4month period to volunteer

for Greeter or Hospitality, (find your own replacement if you can’t make it). Have training available and description of activity.

● What ideas can YOU come up with?

December 20, 2016 minutes Page 1 of 2

Present members: Cheryl Kellogg, President Chris May, Vice President Helen Johnson, Secretary Janet Cross, At Large Member Absent member(s): Chris Dixon, Treasurer Unfilled, At Large Member

December 12, 2016

Agenda Item Presented By Comment/Action Invocation Cheryl Kellogg Lighting Chalice Call to order & Spiritual Centering

Cheryl Kellogg Check in by members.

Secretary’s Report Helen Johnson Chris May motion to accept the October Minutes, Janet Cross seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report Cheryl Kellogg A full breakdown of accounts was provided: Checking, Minister Fund, Certificate of Deposit, Endowment Savings, Raymond James, Endowment Fund and Capital Fund. We also have a Building Fund for the Children’s Remodel within the checking account. That fund is tracked by Chris Dixon. Is the PayPal account set up for donations? If so we’d like to get this into our social media and website for fundraising and pledge payments. Also we need to advertise how the UU benefits from the Amazon account. Helen Johnson needs details for this and to provide to Nancy Schlagheck. Helen motioned to accept the December’s Treasurer’s Report, Janet Cross seconded the motion, motion passed unanimously.

Resignation of At Large Jeff Livingston

Cheryl Kellogg On behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bay County, the Board accepted the resignation of At Large Board member, Jeff Livingston. We are grateful for Jeff’s service to the Board and the Congregation. After discussion, Bob Nixon has agreed to step in for the remainder of the At Large term that ends June 2017. Chris May motioned to accept Bob’s term effective on the February 18th Board meeting. Janet Cross seconded, the motion unanimously passed.

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bay CountyBoard Minutes

December 20, 2016 minutes Page 2 of 2

Building & Grounds Cheryl Kellogg The remodel of the new classroom is coming along with an expected finish date of mid January. After a smudging ritual recently held at the UU, it was decided to add in our Rental information that all fires must be attended by an adult at all times and be contained within a fireproof vessel. Helen will update the website (http://www.uuofbaycounty.com/facilities-rental-information/, under General Rules). We also discussed a Wish List button on the front page of the website. Helen will look into a link for this on our front page. Is the Bed & Breakfast still a useful option on our front page? Cheryl will check with Susie and Ken Sizemore who offer this option.

Strategic Plan Cheryl Kellogg

The revised Strategic Plan was finalized and will be placed on the website. The board will ask Fred Beauchemin if he will take the lead for the financial component of Goal 5: Fiscal 3 & 5.

Religious Education Cheryl Kellogg See attached RE report. Faith Development Chris May See attached RE report Social Justice Jo Schaffer See attached New Business Cheryl Kellogg Helen will put up a slider on the website in December to remind Renters of the new policy rates.

Chris Dixon asked when our next New Member Ceremony will be held. Chris May said she will organize something to take place shortly.

Assignment Helen Johnson Helen has class on Tuesday evenings. It was proposed that we move the Business Meeting to the third Thursday of the month beginning in January. The start time was also changed to 6:30 p.m.

Attachments Agenda, RE Report, Faith Development, Social Justice Next Meeting THURSDAY, January 19th, 6:30 PM Meeting Adjourned Cheryl Kellogg 8:27 p.m.

REC report 11/7/16

Spirit Play Basket Making was attended by myself and Chris May. Orthodoxy and Heresy was attended by 8 people. Coffee and Questions, Orthodoxy and Heresy was attended by 4 people.

We did not have anyone show up to Summer Camp 2017 planning. I have sent out a request for interested people to get in touch with me, only 4 parents have responded, Angela Johnson, Sandra Dillenschneider, Kat Austin and Pam Austin. I still feel that if we are going to have a Summer Camp that the plans need to be final and all supplies gathered by April 1 so we can promote the camp and get everybody registered in a timely fashion. The April deadline is also important to promote a cohesive, thoughtful program to new and interested families.

We have a new Adult RE Facebook discussion page. Steve Dixon has volunteered to be the main moderator and to post weekly discussion questions. I will post questions from Faith Like a River as well as the handouts for this program to the I am asking that this page be kept to Adult RE topics.

I have also put out a call for a RE committee that will (hopefully) take the place of the quarterly Parent’s meetings.

We have a lot of events for November/December. November 9 Spirit Play baskets November 12 is the Yard Sale put together by Cathy Rifenburg November 16 Faith Like a River “Rising Tides: Reason as a Religious Source” November 20 Coffee and Questions December 14 Spirit Play baskets December 18 Intergenerational Yule Log making. (I need people to RSVP for this) December 21 at 5:30 pm we will have a Winter Solstice (Yule) ceremony and burn the Yule Logs.

Social Justice Team Report, 12/2016

Thank You: The Social Justice Team would like to thank Board members for your support and all your work again this year to make the annual celebration of BYILD and the SJT’s other activities so successful.

Racial justice: In October and November, in conjunction with the NAACP, the SJT sponsored the participation of UU volunteers in the Candidates Forum in Glenwood, Souls to the Polls, and Get Out The Vote activities. The SJT also organized and sponsored the community’s Love Trumps Hate demonstration following the national election.

In October and November, the UU volunteers collaborated with AmeriCorps’ Community PRIDE project, to repair and paint two houses in Glenwood.

In January, the SJT will invite all UU members to participate in the MLK, Jr. holiday weekend qctivities, including the Prayer Breakfast and the Saturday March.

Children’s Justice: The UU Fellowship has generously continued to donate food and hygiene products needed by the SOAR (Street Outreach and Recovery) program for homeless youth who are living on the street. The SJT made SOAR a priority in November for Thanksgiving. The Fellowship responded and UUFBC made its largest donation to date.

The BYILD program has gone through a difficult time due to CHS staff problems and changes in the foster care system. However, several Children’s Home Society staff members came forward to volunteer to coordinate the BYILD holiday activities for CHS in addition to their regular duties. This allowed BYILD to celebrate the holidays with a fourth year of special activities. The Cookie Party was held December 1st with excellent participation by UU members and friends. The Bake Sale was held December 4th and the Caroling party was held December 8th with Ken Sizemore as MC, Ron Fennell at the piano and a special appearance by Santa, Bill Pritchard. The foster youth really responded, and the residents of Bay Center were delighted.

Also during this past month, the SJT distributed produce harvested from the BYILD Youth Garden.

Interfaith Harmony Council: The Interfaith Harmony Council has not met for several months, but is scheduled to meet in January with the participation of Unity’s new minister Reverend Joanne Burns.

The Social Justice Team’s next meeting is on Wednesday, January 4th. Submitted by Jo Shaffer, Social Justice Team, December 20, 2016

Our Second Hour on Sunday, October 30th was a discussion of ideas around three areas relating to our church: 1 - What we love or are good at. 2 - What we must do. 3 - What we find draining/unsustainable. If we figure out what we LOVE and what we are GOOD at then it will lead to an understanding of what our church is for, which leads to our purpose and mission. I have compiled the notes that were done on Sunday. We had many ideas that were very closely related and I did not list all individually but grouped them together. It was interesting to see that most of the comments supported the mission that we developed over a year ago. Please take a look at the three areas below. It appears that we are doing an excellent job of being driven by our mission statement. However, it is also apparent from the comments to question number 3 that we need to spread the joy of serving to all members & friends of our fellowship. This is one of three goals that the Board has chosen to commit to for this year. We will be open to all suggestions on how to accomplish this goal. We don’t want our present volunteers that serve to experience burnout. We want everyone to think of how they might be able to contribute, no matter how small that might be. In the coming months we will try to list some suggestions of big, medium and small ways that everyone in the fellowship can be of service. The Board, along with Faith Development & Congregational Life will take a look at what we MUST do to discern how we might incorporate some of them in the near future. We will need to keep in mind that we have limited resources and volunteers to accomplish everything on the list. I truly appreciate all of those who stayed to participate in the discussion and felt a very positive outcome from our discussion. If anyone was unable to attend and would like to comment on the three questions, please send in an email to info@uuofbaycounty.com . In service, Cheryl Kellogg UUFBC President _______________________ What is GOOD/Life Sustaining or we LOVE about our church - most comments fit under our existing mission statement WELCOMING EVERYONE

● Being with like minded people who put their beliefs into action ● Fellowship of like minded, we are a fellowship

● Welcoming all people, making me feel welcome, making people feel comfortable ● Companionship, fellowship, friendship, time together ● Sense of community ● We talk to each other, laughing and playing together ● Safe haven no matter what you believe ● Care and support of members ● Eating together

GROWING IN MIND & SPIRIT

● Lack of doctrine encourages learning & exploration ● 7 principles align our values despite our differences ● Diverse and interesting services, good planning ● We are nurturing and teaching the children ● Talks from different perspectives ● Thought provoking, interesting, motivational programs about ethical/moral beliefs ● Music, music, music

EMPOWERING PEOPLE - many of the above comments(Growing in Mind & Spirit) also would fit here

LEADING IN SOCIAL JUSTICE

● Social justice team - amazing! 8+ responses like this! ● SOAR, helping with at risk youth ● Standing for justice ● Revitalizing houses for the less fortunate ● Addressing social concerns with like minded people

What our church MUST DO, aside from Sunday Worship

● Be actively involved in fellowship and community, more community outreach ● Serve, get more volunteers ● Fun activities - more of them, energy has gone to RE & Social Justice ● Healthy budget, fund raising ● An environment which promotes more participation of members ● Get new folks involved ● More involved with community neighborhood ● Commitment to recycling ● More guest speakers with promotion of them ● Get the word out that we are here ● Continued to develop commitment to Pastoral Care ● Children’s RE - more participation of children in the Sunday Service on regular basis ● Keep chipping away at traditional southern conservative values

What is DRAINING, UNSUSTAINABLE, need to stop doing

● Leadership pool is shallow

● Same people doing all the work ● Not enough volunteers to do cleanup ● People not participating enough ● Not enough resources to address all the important issues ● Too few volunteers to do too much work ● Need more volunteerism, same people do all the work that benefits everyone ● Many situations that require someone to take action, but lack of volunteers, complaints about

how the person does the job leads to dissatisfaction ● More volunteers to volunteer for jobs ● Wearing people out by trying to do too much ● A handful of people doing all the work

LOOKS LIKE WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO FIX - GET MORE PEOPLE TO SERVE WITHIN THE UUFBC AND ALSO WITHIN THE COMMUNITY!

Faith Development/Congregational Life Team

11/13/2016 meeting Minutes

Review of 2nd Hour Notes

Cheryl’s notes on the conversation are attached. Discussion led to next topic, volunteer recruitment.

Volunteer recruiting - brainstorm

We discussed this for quite a while. We decided to pre-empt Jan 8 to be a "Welcoming Sunday". We will have several people present ways to be welcoming (hospitality, welcoming new folks, greeting, RE - welcoming new families, etc. We will blend in some gentle training with a skit and some perspectives on how to be more open to others. The hope is that we will also use it as a gentle recruiting time - "how can you help UUFBC". I plan to include the idea of asking a friend to help greet or do hospitality. Might have a "substantial snack" event - possibly paid for by UUFBC afterward to continue the conversation.

Re-configuring Sunday Program Coordinating

The group talked about using a Theme based programs. Two possiblilties are included in links below. They both carry a cost, however they also has good resources, and a built-in community to share information. No decision was made on whether to use one.

http://www.soulmatterssharingcircle.com

http://www.uua.org/pacific-western/touchstones-journal

Chris Dixon and I are working on a theme of sorts for the in-house talks. He is recruiting members to speak about their personal spiritual journey to Unitarian Universalism. We still have three principles to complete, and probably at least one conversation about the sources. Though the latter is partially covered by the planned in-house talks.

Chris Dixon will quit as point person for recruiting speakers at the end of February.

RE update

See Gienah’s report

Steve Dixon has taken on the role of facilitator for the Adult RE Facebook Page.

As of January 1st the children will be included in first part of service. We will change the Order of Service to add a “Story for All Ages”, which will most often be the story for

Spirit Play curriculum for the Elementary school children. Announcements will be done at the end of the service.

The Faith Like A River Class continues on the Third Wednesday of the month, led by Gienah Harris. The following Sunday’s coffee and conversation allows for people who did not get to attend, or who want to continue the discussion.

Class on Escalating Inequality led by Chris May, begins January 4th. It will continue on the 1st Wednesday for at least 4 months. This is built around the current Congregational Study Action Item from the UUA and will include workshop/discussion on

Part 1: Class and Classism

Part 2: Economic Inequality: Roots and Realities

Part 3: Inequality, Class, and Our Congregation

Part 4: Interrupting Cycles of Inequality

Pastoral Care

Serena Dee Latiolais continues to respond to requests sent by members of the congregation. There has not been a lot of activity recently. We need to be more pro-active in sending her information about people in need.

Congregational Activities

We planned a Movie night “This Changes Everything” is a documentary "This Changes Everything" a documentary based on Naomi Klein's book. It has as much to do with grass roots organizing as environmental work. It will be January 20th, building open at 6:30pm, movie to start at 7:00pm.

Also planned Bunco night on Feb 10th from 7-9. Again to begin at 7:00pm with building open at 6:30pm for gathering.