Board Meeting Minutes: May 15, 2022

Attendees: Jo Ella Coles, Greg Fisher, Adam Goforth, Matt Hoostal, Rosalie Karunas, Alex McCauslin, Melanie Odom-Groh

Start time: 1:03pm


Opening prayer - Melanie Odom-Groh

Discussion of Dr. Meadows' DEI Proposal

  1. The board discussed both the DEI Proposal received from Dr. Meadows after the first discussion with him, as well as a related document written by Jo Ella Coles.

  2. Different board members talked about things they thought were important to address as part of the church's DEI efforts and there was discussion of these suggestions.

  3. Out of the discussion came a list of 4 items that the board is interested in prioritizing:

    1. Story-telling: personal stories, church history, community history -> leading to change and tools around bias and power, both personally and interpersonally.

    2. Organizational structure that is accountable to diverse voices, especially the people the church serves.

    3. Evaluating and improving our services, outreach ministries, and worshiping community so that each is better at reaching and serving marginalized communities.

    4. Addressing and creating system change through the church's strengths, building on the church's ability to welcome people and build relationships.

  4. As a next step, the following people and groups will work on creating a set of concrete goals for each item, as well steps to achieve those goals:

    1. Story-telling: Jo Ella Coles

    2. Organizational structure: the church bylaws team

    3. Improving ministries and worship: the ministry teams

    4. Creating systemic change: Matt Hoostal

  5. It was suggested that we might want a dedicated board meeting to discuss these items, but no concrete plans were made.

Future Church Leadership

  1. Jo Ella Coles and Rosalie Karunas are leaving the board. Melanie Odom-Groh, Greg Fisher, and Adam Goforth will serve for another year.

  2. The board hasn't heard from Matt Hoostal yet about his plans and there is one vacancy: the ministry team liaison.

  3. Alex McCauslin suggested the board search for two additional members for the upcoming term.

  4. There was an extensive process last year to find the existing board members. The previous board was very deliberate about finding people with the values and qualities that would be good for the board. Some of the people that were identified had expressed some interest, but said the time wasn't right for them.

  5. The board will have a longer board meeting next month which will include going through the previous list of candidates. That meeting will start at 9:30am and go until 1:30pm and include lunch.

Debrief: Alex McCauslin

End time: 2:36pm