Board Meeting Minutes: September 3, 2022

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

Start time: 9:40am

Opening - Melanie Odom-Groh

  • Melanie read Isaiah 43.1-3, 19 aloud and there was a group reflection on the text.

Report on New Board Members

  • Raphael will join the board, with a particular focus on worship and spiritual life. Depending on when the board meetings take place, he may have to frequently join remotely.

  • Anna will join the board as Ministry Team Liaison.

  • Tenia will join the board as a second Operations Coordinator, with a focus on processes and human resources topics.

  • Kendra will not be joining the board, but is open to helping the board with individual projects.

September 11 Congregational Meeting

  • The meeting will be in person, in the sanctuary, after the church service.

  • We will allow remote viewing via Zoom. Remote participants will be able to write in the chat, but not speak or show their video to the in-person participants, due to technical limitations.

  • The members of the new board (new and returning) will be introduced and their roles described.

  • The board members who are stepping down will be honored for their years of contributions.

  • The only item being voted on at the meeting is the election of the new board.

  • The current board chairs (Rosalie and Melanie) will run the congregational meeting. There will be some form of vote to elect the new board. Alex will close the meeting with a blessing.


A Servant's Heart representation

  • The church has been asked by the denomination to have a representative on the board of A Servant's Heart going forward.

  • Melanie suggested that the board commit every year to name a person to serve on the board of A Servant's Heart. The board supported this suggestion. It will be the board Historian's job to track this and bring it up as an agenda item each year.

  • Greg moved for the board to acknowledge Jo Ella Coles as Journey of Faith's representative on the board of A Servant's Heart for the next year. This motion was adopted by consensus with no opposition voiced.

Review of Current Projects

The board made a list of current projects that are currently being worked on or need to be addressed soon. The intention was for there to be a list of involved people, the current status, as well as the risk or urgency included for each project. Due to time, status updates for many of the projects could not be detailed.

Action Item: Adam Goforth will transfer the below information to a shared Google Sheet and all board members will be asked to fill in the projects they have knowledge of.

  • Bylaws:

    • People: Melanie, Greg, Rosalie

    • Status: Draft exists with some open questions

    • Risk/Urgency: legal risk. We will attempt to have a November congregational meeting to approve new bylaws.

  • A Servant's Heart

    • People: Jo Ella, Greg, Anna, Tenia, Diane, broader community

    • Status: A steering committee exists. Non-profit paperwork will be submitted in the next weeks or months.

    • Risk/Urgency: risk of losing grant funding if non-profit status isn't approved soon.

  • Art Gallery

    • People: Jo Ella, Rose

    • Status: Work is being done to establish it as a separate non-profit.

    • Risk/Urgency: The church has financial liability for sales.

  • Moving bank accounts

    • People: Matt, Melanie, Adam

    • Status: New "Journey of Faith" account has been created with PNC. Melanie and Adam will be added to this account as signers this week. 

    • Risk/Urgency: We would like to move to a new bank, but we have limited control over the "Memorial Christian Church" account.

  • Church financial processes

    • People: Matt, Melanie, Jo Ella, Jitasa

    • Status: Work is ongoing to improve our accounting processes.
      Next steps: Finalize financial processes. Improve staff onboarding and training.

    • Risk/Urgency: Our accounting processes are still not fully mature, so an audit could create financial risk.

  • Peace House finances

    • People: Jo Ella

    • Status: 

    • Risk/Urgency: 

  • Russia with Love

    • People: Alex

    • Status: Alex talked to John, the person who mostly facilitated the project. He said he'll talk to the priest at St. Vladimir's church about potentially moving it under their umbrella.

    • Risk/Urgency: If we move our accounts away from PNC, the Russia with Love money kept there could be a blocker or create complications.

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    • People: the entire board

    • Status: stalled at the moment.

    • Risk/Urgency: Two grant funders require the church to do some amount of DEI work by the end of this year.

  • Condo construction project

    • People: Greg

    • Status: Greg is looking for a construction lawyer to consult with

    • Risk/Urgency: 

  • Homelessness ministry reboot

    • People: Greg, Rose

  • Renegotiation of staff responsibilities and roles

    • People: Alex, Susana, Michael

  • Funding (grant writing, fundraising)

  • Rebuilding financial trust with congregation

  • Website and social media

  • Transfer of digital account ownership

    • People: Jo Ella, Adam, Matt

  • Volunteer support

  • Reviewing/updating insurance policies

  • Elevator service contracts

  • Clarifying/developing our relationship with Peace House

  • Onboarding process for interns

  • Improving relationship with police and neighbors

  • Church budget creation

Debrief - Alex McCauslin

  • Board members answered these questions: How are you feeling? Where did you experience tension today? Where did God show up for you today?

Closing prayer

End time: 12:10pm