BOARD OF ELDERS MEETING
Present: Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator; Rev Elder
Don Eastman, Vice-Moderator; Rev. Elder Debbie Martin, Region 1; Rev. Elder
Arlene Ackerman, Region 3; Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, Region 4; Rev. Elder
Diane Fisher, Region 5; Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, Region 6; Rev. Elder Lillie
Brock, Region 8.
Others in attendance: Rev. Dr. Cindi Love, Executive Director; Judy Dale, Chair, Board of Administration;
Connie Meadows, Assistant to the Moderator.
The meeting began with prayer
offered by Judy Dale.
Resignation from the Board of Elders
05.11.01.BOE.01 Rev.
Elder Arlene Ackerman moved to approve the resignation of Rev. Elder Gillian
Storey, effective 1 November 2005; motion seconded by Rev. Elder Lillie Brock.
M/S - Approved
05.11.01.BOE.02 Motion by
Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, seconded by Rev.
Elder
Diane Fisher that Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman shall serve the churches North and
M/S Approved
Moderator’s Report
The Moderator’s Report was
submitted by Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson.
05.11.01.BOE.03 Rev.
Elder Diane Fisher moved to approve the Moderator’s Report; motion seconded by
Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston.
M/S – Approved
Vice-Moderator’s Report
The Vice-Moderator’s Report
was submitted by Rev. Elder Don Eastman.
05.11.01.BOE.04 Rev.
Elder Diane Fisher moved to accept the report; the motion was seconded by Rev
Elder Darlene Garner.
M/S - Approved
Executive Director’s Report
The Executive Director’s
Report was submitted by Rev. Dr. Cindi Love.
05.11.01.BOE.05 Rev.
Elder Diane Fisher moved to accept the report; the motion was seconded by Rev. Elder Darlene Garner.
M/S -Approved
BOA Report
The report of the Board of
Administration was submitted by Judy Dale.
05.11.01.BOE.06 Rev.
Elder Arlene Ackerman moved to accept the report; the motion was seconded by
Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston.
M/S - Approved
Geographic Review Board
Jonelle Neighbor presented
the Report and Recommendations on behalf of the Geographic Review Board.
05.11.01.BOE.07 Motion
by Rev. Elder Diane Fisher, seconded by Rev. Elder Darlene Garner to approve
the final draft from the Geographic Review Board to the Board of Elders and the
Board of Administration that would reduce the number of Regions to seven
(7). The recommendations will be circulated to the
Fellowship for feedback by December 1.
The Board of Elders and Board of Administration will make a final
decision by December 10; the decision will become effective
M/S - Approved
05.11.01.BOE.08 Motion
by Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman, seconded by Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston that
the six current Elders elected by Regions shall be presented for reaffirmation
by the newly redefined Regions at the 2006 Regional Conferences. Upon reaffirmation, the current Elders
elected by Regions shall serve until the next regular Regional Conferences to
be held in or before 2009. Extending the
term of office in this manner will allow conformity with the recently approved
Bylaw amendment that instituted Regional Conferences to be held at least once
every three (3) years, in accordance with the schedule determined by the Board
of Elders. In the event that an Elder is
not reaffirmed in 2006, the existing term will expire 60 days after the 2006
Regional Conference. The Board of Elders
shall then appoint a qualified candidate to fill the vacancy until a special
Regional Conference can be held virtually or in conjunction with the General
Conference in 2007. The term of office
of an Elder elected by such a special Regional Conference shall be six (6) years.
M/S Approved
05.11.01.BOE.09 Motion
by Rev. Elder Diane Fisher; seconded by Rev. Elder Lillie Brock that the work
plans for the Elders elected by regions shall be based upon three key areas of
responsibility: (1) Regional Oversight
of Churches; (2) Strategic Operation Center/Portfolio Responsibilities and (3)
Ceremonial/Ecclesial Responsibilities.
M/S Approved
05.11.01.BOE.10 Motion
by Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman; seconded by Rev. Elder Diane Fisher to ask Rev.
Elder Darlene Garner to prepare draft Bylaw amendments for the Elders
Nominating Process.
M/S Approved
The Moderator appointed an Implementation
Team to coordinate the implementation of the recommendations arising from the
review of geographic boundaries. The
members of the Implementation Team are Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Rev. Elder
Darlene Garner, Rev. Elder Don Eastman, and Connie Meadows. Cindi Love, John Vespa, and Rev. Jeff Miner
will serve as consultants to the Implementation Team.
05.11.01.BOE.11 Motion by
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher seconded by Rev. Elder
Debbie
Martin to appoint Rev. Jim Mitulski as Elder for Region 2 upon his acceptance of this position
until 2007, when a special Regional Conference shall be held in con-junction
with the General Conference for the purpose of electing a Regional Elder. In accordance with MCC Bylaws Article
V.D.2.c(3)(c),Rev. Mitulski would be eligible to apply to become the candidate.
M/S Approved
05.11.01.BOE.12 Motion by
Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, seconded by Rev. Elder
Diane
Fisher that an individual appointed to serve as Regional Elder, if not already
a resident within that Region, will not be required to establish residence
within the Region during the period of appointment.
M/S Approved
Conference Reports
05.11.01.BOE.13 Motion by
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher, seconded by Rev. Elder
Darlene Garner to
receive the report from Conference Team.
M/S Approved
Elder Absence Report
05.11.01.BOE.14 Motion by
Rev. Elder Diane Fisher, seconded by Rev. Elder
Arlene Ackerman to approve the policy on
Elder Absence
as follows:
Elder Planned Absence
In the event an Elder is
unable to perform their duties, due to illness, leave of absence or vacation,
another Elder will be notified and asked to take on the responsibilities of the
Elder on leave for a limited time. The
Elder covering for the absent Elder will keep in touch with the Elder on leave.
The Elder who will be absent
is responsible for notifying and selecting an Elder to take on their
responsibilities and notifying their constituents prior to the absence. The Elder is also responsible for
communicating with the Elder covering the region. If the original plans for time off change,
they are also responsible for ensuring the Elder covering the region is made
aware of the new situation. Should the
Elder not be able to make the arrangements for another Elder to cover the
region, the Moderator or Vice-Moderator will appoint an Elder to cover the
region.
The Elder covering for the
missing Elder is responsible for keeping in touch with the Elder to check-in
and see how they are doing. They are
also responsible for keeping the region informed. The Elder who is covering the
responsibilities of the missing Elder will ensure that the Elders, Executive
Director and Staff are made aware of any changes to the original planned time
away.
Elders will insure that their
schedules are posted on the Fellowship calendar. The postings will include office, travel and
vacation, leaves of absence, sick time and days off.
Elder Unplanned Absence
In the event an Elder is
unable to perform their duties for any reason and has not arranged an Elder to
fill in, the Moderator or Vice-Moderator will appoint another Elder to fulfill
their duties. This appointment will be
shared with the other Elders, Executive Director, Staff and the email list of
the region by the Elder who was appointed.
Elders Not Fulfilling
Responsibilities
Should it become apparent to
another Elder or the Executive Director that an Elder is not fulfilling their
responsibilities as an Elder, their first responsibility is to speak directly
with that Elder. The conversation with
the Elder who appears to be not fulfilling their job responsibilities will be
clear and direct, outlining the concerns and making suggestions about how to
improve job performance. If the
situation does not seem to be changing, it becomes the responsibility of the
individual who has the concerns to speak with the Moderator.
The Moderator will review the
concerns with the Elder who appears to be not fulfilling their job
responsibilities. A plan of action, with
measurable goals will be outlined and a time frame set for the Elder concerned
to realistically meet these goals. The
Elder will be offered support and training to help them to meet these
goals. If the goals are met, and
improvements made, the Elder will continue in their position with no
consequences.
If the Elder is unable to meet
the goals in a realistic time frame, the Moderator will make a recommendation
of how to proceed to the Board of Elders.
In the event an Elder is
asked to leave their position, they will be given the opportunity to resign,
any severance will be in accordance with the Human Resources Policy
Handbook. There is not an opportunity to
appeal this decision, however, they are free to apply for an Elder position in
the future.
Every effort will be made to
assist the exiting Elder in finding alternate employment.
M/S Approved with the additional provision that the
Moderator and
Executive Director be advised of all Planned Absences
immediately.
Closing with meditation and
prayer by Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson
Connie Meadows
Assistant
to the Moderator