UUCSV Board Meeting Abbreviated Minutes
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Treasurer’s Report
Our volunteer treasurer, Larry Pearlman, reported on two months into the fiscal year. Plate offerings are a little below projections, but pledges are ahead because some pledges are paid in full, early in the fiscal year. A motion was passed to add $650 from the Fryberger Endowment to the music program.
Liaison Reports
Building and Grounds Committee: (BAG)
Jackie summarized the attached report. The Board agreed that Building and Grounds Committee can remove the damaged fence section.
The Garden Committee:
Larry indicated that Phil Fryberger and Julia Jordan names will be engraved on the monument in the Garden.
Congregational Care: See the attached report.
Membership Committee:
The Board will review the policy for removing persons who have left the church from our Member and Friends registry during their retreat.
Communications Committee: This committee needs a chairperson. They are working on developing an organizational flow chart.
Religious Education (RE):
Susan reported that she is starting to transition to longer periods of teaching on Sundays. The children’s age group is too wide to break into smaller groups. She is seeing a modicum of interest in Adult RE.
Safety Committee
Marti reported that the door locking procedure during the Sunday Service is working well. The Committee’s next action is to organize a congregational training & safety team to direct people during an unwanted intruder in the building. Andy Reed has volunteered, and four others are needed. A training for the congregation is being planned. It was decided to talk about this at the retreat with Michael.
Larry raised the issue of a homeless person who wandered into the church during the service but just stayed around the public spaces without entering the sanctuary. It was suggested that offering a pamphlet of resources to homeless visitors might be useful. Sally offered to check with the library for an existing list before Rochelle works on pulling together a list from Buncombe County.
Social Action Committee (SAC) No report
3. Review and ratify the Organizational Chart for publishing.
Rochelle shared the latest version of the Organizational Chart from the Communication Committee. There was a long discussion of how the chart should be organized and what information should be presented. It was generally agreed that the Safety Committee should not be under Building and Grounds. The Board agreed that they would look at the chart during the retreat and use the presented chart as a beginning point.
The annual UUCSV Board Retreat will be held on Saturday, October 1st
Respectfully submitted by Milton Warden, Board Secretary
Next Regular Board meeting: October 27th @ 6:00 p.m.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Congregational Care Committee (CCC) Report
Carolyn Shorkey, Chair
The word ‘members’ includes members of the Caring Committee as well as members of the congregation.)
Five members have made and delivered a meal to a post-operative patient who is a member of our congregation.
Five members made extended home visits to a hospital discharged member and one person provided a meal.
Four members provided rides and phone consultations to a member who was temporarily without a car.
Four members have provided rides to church for two homebound members.
Five members have visited a nursing home resident who is a member of our congregation.
One member has made extended weekly visits to provide respite for a caregiver who is a congregant.
Three members made extended phone calls to a homebound person.
One member picked up groceries, made visits, and had extended phone calls to a homebound person.
Birthday, get well wishes, a sympathy card, and a thinking of you cards have been mailed to congregants.
The Caring Committee chairperson in consultation with Rev. Michael and two members of the CC committee decided to withdraw our support of a homebound resident of Swannanoa who is not a member nor a friend of UUCSV. Individual members of the congregation are certainly free to continue supporting this man as freestanding volunteers.
Three cases of COVID positive congregants have been brought to the attention of the committee. None of them have needed assistance at this writing.
Respectively submitted,
Carolyn Shorkey, Caring Committee Chairperson
Building & Grounds Committee - Action Summary August 2022 by Deb Evenchik
B&G completed the staining project on the playground sets
The library/pantry project was canceled with the Eagle Scout.
Two rhododendrons and some ferns were planted in front of the building on the north side.
The fees for non-member rental of the building were updated. We will continue to work to update policy documents for presentation to the Board.
The key code was changed and appropriate people notified.
Deb performed due diligence to determine if the neighbors want a say in whether we try to shore up the collapsing chain link fence section or remove that section. The recommendation by the B&G Committee is to remove the damaged sections of the fence, with the approval of the Board.
Membership Committee report by Heidi Blozan
At our last meeting, the board asked that I get clarification from the Membership Committee about the process used for determining which members have left the congregation. (They had reported that 10 members left in the last year.)
I spoke to Carol Sheeler, who has taken on this task for several years. She said that while there is no formalized process, she uses a combination of methods to make that determination. First, in that count she gave us last month, two members died and three members had announced that they were leaving. In other cases, Carol checks with the Treasurer after the pledge drive to see whether there was anyone who either did not pledge or who did not get back in touch with Lee. She sends either an email or a letter to that person to inquire. She also asks other members to see if they have any information. If all discovery methods fail, that person is dropped. Carol reports membership info to UUA.
She also mentioned that when the office computer was stolen they lost everything — all membership records. They now have a new program for membership installed.
I raised the point that Michael mentioned, which is that there is a formal process for a UU member to leave or resign, which is to give written notice of their intent. She pointed me to our Bylaws, Article III, dealing with membership. Section 2 — Termination — states that termination may be accomplished by either written request to the Congregation delivered to the Minister or to the Board, or by action of the Board if it determines that a member no longer meets the criteria of Section 1. Section 1 states that a member is one who (among other requirements) declares an intention to support the Congregation according to ability with “time, energy and finances” and to continue that support. There is no other formal process in our bylaws. (By the way, Carol definitely does not make that determination.) Section 3 covers the process for reinstatement of membership.
The board may wish to formalize a process for determining membership. I think Carol and the Membership Committee would welcome that.
Note that Section 1 also states that the Member’s time, energy and finances should be in a “value exceeding the amount of the congregation’s fair share contribution to the UAA and the Southeast District and subsequently continues such support.”) How is that determined? Is that still valid?
Auction
No report for September.
Endowment Fund
No report for September.
Safety Committee by Marti Saltzman
The door-locking procedures seem to be working out well. The Safety Committe is working on the following:
1. Selection of 5 people to act as part of a Safety Team. This person / people would calm and direct people during any threatening event at UU. The Safety Team and the members of the Safety Committee would receive additional training from Officer Fineberg of the Black Mountain Police.
2. Training congregants on Safety Protocols. Our idea is to have a short meeting following a Sunday service in October. (We think this would be a good way to have the most people present.) We would show an FBI produced video that is about 4-1/2 minutes long. The video is called
Run, Hide, Fight. We plan a short time afterwards to answer any questions.
3. The plan is to keep this short and informative.
Submitted by Milt Warden, Secretary
