Metropolitan Community
Churches
Board of Administration
Conference Call
Present
Judy Dale (Chair)
Marsha Warren (Treasurer)
from item 2
Stephen Harte (Secretary)
John Vespa
Rev Jeff Miner
Apologies
Marsha Warren (for unavoidable
lateness)
In
Attendance
Rev Dr Cindi Love (Executive
Director) (except for executive session)
Margaret Mahlman (Chief
Financial Officer) (except for executive session)
Rev Elder Nancy Wilson,
Moderator
Connie Meadows, Assistant
to the Moderator (except for executive session)
1.1
Prayers
John Vespa
opened in prayer.
1.2 Approval of Minutes
The Board
approved the minutes of the Conference Call of 19 November 2005 and instructed
they be circulated.
2 Financial Matters
2.1 Financial Report
The Executive Director
and Chief Financial Officer reported on the current financial situation and the
proposed loan from Circle of Light MCC in
2.2 Finance Manual
The Executive
Director and Chief Financial Officer will work with the Finance Team to review
this manual.
2.3
Fundraising
issues
The Board
discussed issues surrounding fund raising for specific projects.
3. Other Matters
3.1 Sabbatical Policy
This matter is
under review with a review to refocusing the policy away from an automatic
entitlement towards agreed discretionary time taken by an employee with a
particular project in mind. John Vespa
in conjunction with the HR team will look at this further.
3.2
Leadership Team
Report
The Chair
reported on the recent Leadership Team meeting.
BOA applications are being processed.
Stephen Harte will be the BOA representative on the interview team
(together with Rev Elders Wilson and Eggleston) with Marsha Warren as
alternate. The resumés of the applicants
will be circulated to the BOA prior to the interviews so BOA members can
provide input. By 1 January we will have
up to 3 vacancies to fill.
3.3 Moderator’s Office
Problems
surrounding the fit out of the proposed new office has lead the Moderator to
advise that we terminate our existing lease arrangements and investigate
alternative possibilities. Marsha Warren
and Rev Jeff Miner will work with the Executive Director to investigate our
options.
3.4 GRB Process
Joint call with
BOA and BOE will be on Monday where the two boards will be invited to take a
decision on the GRB Proposal.
3.5 Executive Director Report
Further
reference is made to the attached report.
The Executive
Director explained further information on the Advantec Plan.
The move of the
HQ operation into the MCC LA building is progressing well. The help of the staff and congregation of MCC
LA has been very much appreciated. The
new tenants may be willing to acquire some of our surplus office equipment.
The Executive
Director has proposed arranging some training for the BOA at the next meeting
in March. The Board accepted the
Executive Director’s proposal.
3.6
Moderator’s
Report
The Moderator
reported to the Board on her recent activities.
She is recently back from successful meetings at United Church of Christ
headquarters in
Next week the
Moderator will be going to
The Moderator is
working with the Elders on portfolio development. It is hoped that BOA\members will develop
portfolios too.
The Moderator
and Rev Elder Eggleston met with European clergy who had concerns regarding
clergy fees and credentialing issues.
The Moderator
will be visiting the
3.7 Housing
Allowance
Whereas, Section 107
of the Internal Revenue Code permits a minister of the gospel to exclude from
gross income (in computing federal income taxes) a church-designated allowance
paid to him or her as part of his or her compensation to the extend used for
actual expenses in owning or renting a home; and
Whereas, the following
list of personnel are compensated by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches exclusively for services as ministers of the gospel and the
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches; and
Whereas, the Universal
Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches does not provide parsonages to
the following ministers; therefore it is hereby
Resolved, that the
total compensation paid in 2006 to the following ministers shall include
housing allowances as indicated pursuant to section 107 of the Internal Revenue
Code; and it is further
Resolved that the
designation of the following housing allowance shall apply to the calendar year
2006 and all future years unless otherwise provided.
Rev
Elder Darlene Garner $18,000
3.8 BOA
officers for 2006
Given the arrival of new BOA members
early this year the Board resolved to appoint its officers until
Chair Rev Jim Miner
Treasurer/Vice Chair Marsha Warren
Secretary Stephen Harte
The Board express its appreciation
for the work of Judy Dale as part of this Board over the past three years.
3.9 Personnel
Matters
The Board entered executive session
to discuss personnel matters, the Moderator remaining with the Board at the
Board’s request. On leaving executive
session, the Board resolved unanimously to approve the hiring of Mr Joshua Love
to work with Rev Elders Brock and Mitulski in matters relating to the
achievement of the Strategic Plan. The
Board noted the clear objectives set for the position by the two Elders and the
report from those Elders on Mr Love’s suitability for employment in this role.
The Board instructed that the Executive Director recuse herself from any
decisions (including, by way of example, those relating to pay and conditions
or disciplinary matters) that would effect Mr Love’s employment.
4 Closing Prayers
Marsha Warren closed
in prayer.
Executive Director Financial report to Meeting
To help expedite
today's BOA agenda, please note the following:
2.0 Financial
Reports
2.1 Current
Financial Situation and 2.2 Formal Agreement with
These are my
notes and observations:
Total end of
month cash projected for November was $121,893 and was, in fact, $76,287.
Tithe collections were $169,514 and were projected at
$216,000. Fund development was projected at $17,100 and was
$42,231.
Monthly expenses
were projected at $234,775 and were $244,770. There was a slight increase
in payroll taxes, higher legal, higher equipment contract,higher program
ministry/conference (installation), church revitalization, but substantially
less expense than projected in other areas. Most of this is based on
timing for Installation on AMEX.
Total monthly
expense for December is running slightly under projection as of
We need to raise
at least $75,000 through new funds, payment of back-tithes or other methods to
offset this cash deficit. We will pull down the last $30,000 on the
line before
The year end
appeal is out with the constituent groups including a reminder that
Clergy fees are
coming in ahead of schedule as planned.
The Circle of
Light MCC Board met regarding a $200,000 credit line extension to us.
I've responded to the last questions they had, vetted this with our
attorney. If this is approved, we should plan to pay off our own credit
line with the bank to the level that we can and still resolve our cash deficit
in January 2006.
We are well into
the process of employee enrolment for Advantec and should be on line for HQ by
February 1. Churches could be on-line January 1 if they complete all of
the enrolment process by the end of next week, more probable that they will go
on line February 1 as well. We have 146 respondents to the census at this
date. We are also working with the churches on general liability and
worker's compensation as part of this process and starting an inquiry about the
403(B) potential with Advantec so that pastors could roll pension (partial) and
403(B) UBS plans into this "one-stop shop."
We have not
received
Employee enrolment
as Advantec co-employees is underway. Health insurance enrolment will
take place the first week of January and we will be "live" on the new
health insurance plan February 1.
2.3 This is
underway. No progress to report.
2.4 I am
not aware of any "unsupervised" asks by Elders. The
International Gathering Fund is known to the BOA. There is interest in
raising funds for IPL in
2.5 Other
I am working on
a draft of revisions to the UFMCC Accounting Procedures Manual for Finance Team
Review. This is outdated.
Board Source has
offered to train our new and existing BOA members in March. I want to
book this for us. I want our BOA to have 1/2 day on roles and
responsibilities and relationship to Executive Director and 1/2 day on
communication/relationship/conflict resolution including the twelve principles
of governance that empower Exceptional Boards.
Exceptional
boards add significant value to their organizations, making a discernable
difference in their advance on mission. Good governance requires the
board to balance its role as an oversight body with its role as a force
supporting the organization. The difference between responsible and
exceptional boards lies in thoughtfulness and intentionality, action and
engagement, knowledge and communication. The following principles offer
chief executives a description of an empowered board that is a strategic asset
to be leveraged. They provide board members with a vision of what is
possible and a way to add lasting value to the organization they lead.
These are the
first two of the twelve principles as an example:
3.4 + 4.0
We are at
mid-point on our move. The construction will conclude next Wednesday and
we will move between now and Friday. Enrolment changes including housing
allowances are under way.
Thank you.
Rev Dr Cindi
Love
Executive
Director