First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX 78756 in Room 13
In Attendance:
Trustees: Nell Newton, President; Eric Stimmel, Vice-President; Kae McLaughlin, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past President (Ex-Officio); Margaret Borden; Jeff Hutchens, Derek Howard; Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee; Brendan Sterne; Michael West, Laura Wood.
Executive Team: Janet Newman, Interim Minister (Ex-Officio); Sean Hale, Executive Director (Ex-Officio)
Visitors Present: Stephanie Canada, Eric Hepburn Klondike Steadman, Susan Thomson
Call to Order
The President called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.
Adoption of Agenda
The Trustees present adopted the agenda after the President noted that she would skip Item VI.E. as related materials were not yet ready (Appendix A, page 2).
Motion: Eric Stimmel – Adopt the agenda.
Second: Aaron Osmer
Discussion: None
Vote: All affirmative
Reading and Lighting of the Chalice
The President lit the chalice, reminding those present that they were engaging in holy work for the church. The Interim Minister led the trustees as they read the board covenant (Appendix A, Cover Page) in unison.
Visitor’s Forum
Stephanie Canada reviewed potential policies for the library collection and noted the current collection list (both in Appendix B), adding that the list is also available online. She informed the trustees of a candle blessing to be held in support of the Amarillo Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, which has been under attack by conservative religious groups (see Appendix C).
The President thanked her for her wonderful work on the library. Ms. Canada noted that Paul Fishers and Andi Wyndham had done much of the work on the library.
The President welcomed future board members Eric Hepburn, Klondike Steadman and Susan Thomson.
Consent Agenda Items
The trustees had read the consent agenda items prior to the meeting.
Motion: Chris Jimmerson – adopt the consent agenda items.
Second: Brendan Sterne
Discussion: None.
Vote: All Affirmative
Discussion and Action Items
Retreat and Values/Mission/Ends Session: The Vice-President noted that details regarding the May 22 retreat would be discussed immediately after the meeting. The Secretary reminded the group that the values/mission/ends session was scheduled for June 12 from 9 am to 4 pm in Austin. The President announced that the service on July 18 would be dedicated to presenting the new values/mission/ends to the congregation.
Fellowship Committee Chair: The nominating committee had recommended Sally Scott to serve as Chair of the Fellowship Committee.
Motion: Michael West – Appoint Sally Scott as Chair of the Fellowship Committee
Second: Chris Jimmerson
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Interim Minister Search Report: Michael West reported that the Interim Minister Search Task Force was still hard at work and that they had interviewed a wonderful group of candidates. The task force was checking a variety of reference resources for each candidate.
Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Express the board’s great appreciation to Michael West and the Interim Minister Task Force for their dedication and terrific work.
Second: Aaron Osmer
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Check Signing Policy Revision: The Treasurer reviewed the suggested revisions to the check signing policy for the operating account, which would make the Executive Director the primary signatory (Appendix A, Page 34).
Motion: Chris Jimmerson – approve the revision as presented.
Second: Michael West
Discussion: None
Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)
Governance Discussion – Covenant Between Board and Executive Team: The Secretary and Interim Minister presented the draft of the covenant that they had created based upon discussions at the prior meeting (Appendix A, page 36), with the Secretary noting that the Interim Minister had done the writing. The Minister noted that she had received input from the Executive Director. The Trustees discussed several ways to clarify the covenant and agreed to revise it so that it would read as follows:
Covenant of Healthy Relations for the Board and the Executive Team
With the mission and vision of the First UU Church of Austin uppermost in mind, we, the Board and the Executive Team, covenant with one another to:
- Presume good faith in all our interactions
- Publicly support one another’s decisions and leadership
- Address concerns directly with each other in a timely manner and encourage others in the church to do the same
- Speak with one voice
- Communicate crucial issues with one another in a timely manner
- Demonstrate patience and trust as we all learn new modes of governance.
- Support each other in the face of congregational misunderstandings and disagreements
- Conduct ourselves openly and respectfully in times of agreement and disagreement
- Agree to be called back into covenant.
Motion: Brendan Sterne – Adopt the covenant as amended.
Second: Margaret Borden
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
The Trustees discussed several ways to ensure the covenant would be treated as a living document, including a suggestion for reading it together at the end of each meeting.
Governance Discussion – Philosophy of Governance: Brendan Sterne gave copies of the information from the Bridge to Our Future sessions that had been held in the church to the Trustees and that he had assembled. He noted that the task for Trustees leading up to the values/mission/ends session on June 12 was to deepen their understanding of the values, possibility statements and peak experience stories that the congregation members had expressed. He suggested that recalling the nuances of discussions Trustees had observed and thinking about whether the possibility statements might be classified as “within” (differences made in the internal personal and spiritual growth of individual congregants), “among” (differences made in the church community and between congregants) and/or “beyond” (differences benefiting the greater Austin community or even further afar).
He noted that the Governance Task Force had held a discussion with Joe Sullivan, consultant for the governance transition. In speaking with Joe, the team had agreed that while we are on track toward moving to Policy-Based Governance (PGB), we are still growing into the potential for it, deepening our understanding of it and strengthening our commitment and ability to explain it to all those who might be affected. The Alternative to PGB is really the status quo with trying to apply additional best practices. PGB is the only coherent theoretical medical combined with best practices.
He noted that we are still forming our philosophy of governance, which could be thought of as our governance principals. He gave some examples of such principals:
- Governance that has integrity and it truthful
- Governance that is strategic versus day to day focused
- Governance that is proactive rather than reactive
The Trustees discussed how important monitoring would be under PGB so that the board does not lose track of its own accountability. Even with monitoring under PGB, things may get missed; however, this is less likely with PGB than the status quo because it calls for proactive monitoring such the Internal Audit Committee.
Eric Hepburn related a video involving research that indicates that our over use of incentives and punishment may eliminate some possibilities of undesired behavior but also has stopped truly creative behavior. The Trustees discussed that one principal of our governance is that we would like to free our people to reach their true potential. We want a system of accountability and authority that empowers people.
In relation to this discussion, The Vice-President noted that based upon board input, the Executive Committee had met with the Executive Director the past week to go over his performance review. This procedure will need to be codified as we move forward.
The Interim Minister noted that the final appraisal of the Interim Ministry was due in June and could be in form of a letter from the President. The President agreed to complete such a letter.
Celebration of Board Year and Review of Goals Set at the Beginning of the Year:
Andi Wyndham and Scott Butki had joined the group. Andi presented to Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee, a card and gift to express appreciation for his work in the church and to wish him well as he prepares to enter college.
The Trustees expressed great appreciation to Derek Howard and Jeff Hutchens, whose terms were expiring at the end of the month. Derek and Jeff expressed their confidence in the new board and the great work that is going on. The Trustees also expressed their great appreciation to Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past-President, for her steadfast leadership in the church. Sheila noted how well the Trustees had supported one another and her during difficult times. She also expressed confidence in the work that the board had begun in the past year and in the new board members.
The Trustees thanked Nell Newton and praised her leadership during the past year as Board President. Nell noted her appreciation for the support of Eric Stimmel who had served as Vice-President during the year and expressed her confidence in him as he assumes the role of President in the coming year.
Gifts were given and well wishes were bestowed.
The President reviewed the goals the board had set at its retreat prior to the board year (Appendix A, Page 37). The church had accomplished many of the goals or was in the process of working toward them. While a few had not been met, even for these, progress had been made and ways of more fully meeting them in the future were being planned.
With no further business, the President adjourned the meeting at 8:35
Respectfully Submitted,
Chris Jimmerson
Secretary
