CITC Transition Team Meeting Minutes 3/29/09

Process

1. The Transition Team will begin having regularly scheduled meetings twice a week. We will meet every Monday and Thursday from 8:00 – 9:30pm. Monday will be at Cafe Brazil in Oak Cliff and Thursday will be at Cafe Brazil at Mockingbird and 75.


2. Notes will be taken at each meeting and we’ll try to have them posted on the blog about a day later.



3. At the end of each meeting we will set the agenda for the next meeting.


4. Anyone is welcome to show up to discuss the items on the agenda.


5. We will continue having 10am community meetings on Sundays through April. There will be some exceptions, such as Easter Sunday where we would like to take that time to honor Laura and Neeki. We will announce those exceptions in advance.


6. The Team made a commitment to start and end meetings on time.


7. Voting
   
   
   
   1. The Team did not reach resolution on how decisions will be made.
      
      
      
      
      1. Some members prefer a consensus. For those members, winning a vote is not really a shared vision.
      
      
      2. Some members prefer a vote with some threshold for carrying the motion. For those members, consensus is a little fuzzy and have not been helpful in the past.
      
      
      3. Because the church does not have official membership, we are not sure how to determine who even has the right to vote.
      
      
      4. We will try to reach a resolution during Monday’s meeting.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   2. We did agree on some principles.
      
      
      
      1. We must announce votes in advance.
      
      
      2. We cannot rely strictly on those who attend meetings. There must be other ways for congregants to express their will.
      
      
   
   

Timeline

1. During the next 10am community meeting on April 5, we would like to get a consensus from the community to pay Courtney for an additional 12 hours of work per week through the remainder of her Methodist appointment at the end of June. She is currently paid 20,000 annually by the Methodist Church for 20 hours of work. This would be $192 per week and would be our only staff expense through June. Scott will generate this proposal.


2. Easter is the last Sunday for Laura and Neeki.


3. The Sunday after Easter, Courtney will be at an Alliance of Baptists conference out of town. The Transition Team will take responsibility for the service that week.


4. The team did not reach resolution on specific dates, but agreed on some milestones and talked about factors that might influence timing.
   
   
   
   
   1. The Team believes the church has some identity issues that can not be quickly resolved. We have some people who have been around a while and are aware of the church’s heritage. We have many people who have just joined our community since we came to Oak Cliff. There are others who left the church since we moved to Oak Cliff, but may be interested in returning. All of these groups view the church differently and individuals within those groups have varying levels of ownership and commitment. The Team feels that there needs to be a shared vision going forward and that may take time to develop. This doesn’t seem like a time for quick decisions.
   
   
   2. If Courtney did not plan to continue here after her appointment runs out, she would be reappointed at the beginning of June. Therefore, she needs some level of commitment from us prior to that so that she will know whether she needs to seek reappointment.
   
   
   3. Milestones. These are all critical and intertwined to some extent. The Team is trying to determine if we can get consensus on all of these in one sitting, perhaps the Sunday after Easter when we will be on our own. It may be too much and/or make it impossible to have the worship experience that we believe is very important to our community right now.
      
      
      
      1. Commitment. We need a commitment from people to God and to one another that we will work toward that shared vision. Teri will provide some preliminary language for this.
      
      
      2. Budget. We need to affirm a budget and probably make pledges to support that budget. Wes will provide some preliminary numbers.
      
      
      
      3. Call pastor. We will most likely recommend that we call Courtney through the end of the year. We think this allows the church time to work through some things and allows Courtney some stability and security for her family and career. Courtney would be one voice in determining what kind of church we will be and would help shepherd us to that next step. If things work well for the church and for Courtney, we would make a decision at some point to make her our pastor for the foreseeable future.
      
      
   
   

Other Issues

1. The Team agreed to engage a consultant to discuss specific issues related to personnel, professional ethics, boundaries and organizational structure. This is a preliminary meeting with the Transition Team to help identify and frame issues for discussion. This will preempt the standard meeting at Cafe Brazil this Thursday.


2. The Team needs to discuss how we will have music after Neeki leaves.

Agenda for Next Meeting

1. Commitment/Voting


2. Budget


3. Goodbye to Laura and Neeki

Big items from Sunday Team meeting

We probably won't get the notes from today's meeting up until tomorrow, but there are a couple of things we wanted people to be aware of ASAP.

First, the team has agreed to hold regularly scheduled meetings twice a week through the end of April. We will meet from 8:00 - 9:30 pm on Mondays and Thursdays. On Monday, we will meet at the Cafe Brazil in Oak Cliff and on Thursday we will meet at the Cafe Brazil at Mockingbird and 75. Sadly, we are not sponsored by Cafe Brazil, but we need a place where we can take up some tables and have a lively conversation without having to spend a lot of money or deal with excess noise.

The one exception to these meetings is this Thursday. We will not have one. The Team will be meeting with a consultant on Thursday evening to identify and frame some issues for discussion.

Second, we intend to take a vote at the 10am meeting on Sunday, April 5, on compensation for Courtney through the end of June. She is currently paid 20,000 annually by the Methodist Church for 20 hours of work per week. After Easter, she will be our only staff and the team feels that 20 hours is not enough to sustain this community. We would like to pay her for an additional 12 hours of work per week, which would cost around $200 per week. (I'll get Wes to provide specific numbers before Sunday.) This vote will happen at 10am, so if you want to weigh in, get there early. If you can't be at the meeting and want to have a say, please e-mail me.

As always, feedback is strongly encouraged.

Metho-mergent/Bapti-mergent

Good Morning everyone,

I want to post some info related to a topic that came up on Wednesday night. How does it make sense for me, a UMC local church pastor, to serve Church in the Cliff with its baptist roots and affiliations? The short answer is that my identity and the congregation's identity can remain separate. For example, many Alliance of Baptist congregations have ministers of other traditions who serve as their pastor. We need to ask some questions regarding the American Baptist Affiliation-- I know that UMC and UCC ministers serve in each other's churches and that the denominations have an agreement. I think that that is true for American Baptists as well. But perhaps others more in the know on that front could answer the question for us.

From my side, the North Texas Conference has appointed me already to serve as an extension minister to an ecumenical/emergent local church (i.e. church in the cliff). What this means is that the UMC hierarchy understands that CITC is not a UMC congregation but rather an ecumenical congregation with baptist origens and emergent tendencies. The UMC is excited about me serving and learning here-- and if I were to shift from being a community/associate pastor to the lead pastor they would continue to feel the same way about this appointment. Also, because I am a licenced local church pastor, but not yet commissioned on the elder track (so much 'church-ese' I know), this means that the bishop does not have the power to appoint me somewhere else. So I could continue to serve CITC as pastor for as long as mutually beneficial, even though I am part of the Methodist system.

Hope this clears up a few of the polity questions. My direct supervisor in the UMC is Milton Gutierrez who lives and works in Oak Cliff. He is the District Superintendent of the Dallas South District and would be happy to answer any questions.

221 W. Colorado Blvd. #444
Dallas TX 75208
Office Phone
(214) 941-7712
Fax
(214) 941-7702
Email
ntcumc03@airmail.net

http://www.ntcumc.org/district_detail.asp?PKVALUE=17

Lastly, I think that this conversation about denominational affiliation is a healthy one for us to have. How can we honor the unique roots and contributions of several members who come from the Baptist tradition while also acknowledging that some members do not identify as Baptist? I have seen some other emergent congregations which sit at intersections with denominational bodies talk about their affiliations in terms of "tribes" which may help us too. As in we come from many different tribes and identify with them to varying degrees but also see ourselves as creating a new thing.

Look forward to your feedback and talking more tomm.

peace to you all,

Courtney

CITC Transition Team Meeting Minutes 3/21/09

1. Scope of Transition Team (i.e., Mission)
   
   
   
   1. We will bring three major items to the community for decision:
      
      
      
      1. Staffing
      
      
      2. Budget
      
      
      
      3. Formation of decision-making body
      
      
      
      
   
   
   2. We will have 3 documentary end products:
      
      
      
      1. Foundational document
      
      
      2. Budget
      
      
      3. Leadership body format and member selection
      
      
      
      
      
   
   
   3. Each of these major decisions will be effective through the current fiscal year.
   
   
   4. We will also handle small administrative matters until a decision-making body is in place.
   
   
   
   


2. Transition Timelines
   
   
   
   
   1. Urgent – What are the next steps till Easter?
      
      
      
      1. PL’s report:
         
         
         
         1. Latte machines: We have 2 latte machines, one of which belongs to the Fregins and one of which belongs to Neeki. The Fregins are willing to donate theirs to CITC. We need to ask Neeki about his.
         
         
         2. Items stored at PL’s house: PL is currently storing hospitality items, furniture, art pieces, and other CITC belongings that need to be moved asap so she can get her house ready to put on the market.
         
         
         
         3. Church cell phone: PL currently pays for the church cell phone as an extra phone line on her own phone bill. We need to separate that billing and decide who will carry the CITC cell phone (most likely the next pastor).
         
         
         4. Website: Not up and we need to take care of that.
         
         
         5. CITC computer equipment: We currently have 4 Macs and 1 PC (not in good shape). PL, Neeki and Courtney each have a Mac and there is an extra one that used to be Lara Arp’s. We also have 4 printers, one of which is a printer/copier being used by Courtney. Most of this equipment is in offices at COH.
         
         
         
         6. CoH storage: There is some office furniture in PL’s and Neeki’s offices (desk, credenza, file cabinet, etc.) and a bunch of CITC furniture in COH storage: 75-80 chairs, 6 pews (2 belong to PL), metal table and chairs (2 sets; Dullye’s want one back), pulpit, Lord’s Supper table. We need to see if anyone in the community has the ability to store these things and have a community moving day. If not, we need to sell through eBay, craiglist, or a yard sale.
         
         
         7. Office supplies: PL as been buying some office supplies, including the ink for the color printer that is used to print the programs.
         
         
         8. CoH: We can continue to have office space there and they will do our accounting.
         
         
         9. PL requests that we pay her health insurance through June 1 and we decided to do that. We need to see if Neeki also wants this benefit.
         
         
         
         10. Courtney’s salary: The Methodist Church will pay her a part-time salary of $1,750/month until June 1. We need to consider supplementing that, particularly if she starts working full-time. For purposes of comparison, in the Methodist Church she would have a starting full-time salary of $42,000/year, plus housing allowance, health insurance, and retirement benefits.
         
         
         
         
      
      
      2. Piano
         
         
         
         1. There is a baby grand piano in storage at the Meiers house that needs to be moved and sold asap. We are going to ask Neeki to go and get the serial number on Tuesday.
         
         
         2. We need to determine value. Ron may know appraiser and will contact him to see if he can do the appraisal on Tuesday.
         
         
         3. There are 2 possible buyers already.
         
         
         
         
         
      
      
      3. Grants
         
         
         
         1. There are 2 grants we have applied for:
            
            
            
            1. Fund for Theological Education
               
               
               
               1. We submitted letter of interest and they invited us to submit full application which is due March 31. Putting the application together will be very labor-intensive.
               
               
               2. The grant seeks funding of $16,000 for 3 ministry apprentices, each of whom would serve 4-month terms.
               
               
               
               3. The problem is we need a mentor for the apprentices.
               
               
               4. This grant is linked to the other grant application sought from Calvin.
               
               
               
               
            
            
            2. Calvin
               
               
               
               1. This grant is to establish a Collaboratory run by CITC that would offer workshops to other churches in 4 topic areas.
               
               
               
               2. It would generate revenue because we would charge the participants.
               
               
               
               
            
            
            
            
         
         
         2. The team decided that it is not a good time to pursue these grants.
            
            
            
            1. We are losing key staff, PL and Neeki, that were instrumental to making these grants.
            
            
            
            2. There was a discussion of whether we need to be looking inward or outward at this time of transition.
            
            
            3. There is a concern we cannot execute the grant work to our full potential at this time and we want to maintain good relationship with the grant organizations.
            
            
            4. It was decided that PL and Courtney will communicate with the grant organizations, withdraw our applications for this year, and explain that we intend to pursue funding for similar projects in a future grant cycle.
            
            
            
            
         
         
         
         
      
      
      
      4. Wednesday night locations
         
         
         
         1. Possible solutions are rotating host houses or finding another site like Turner House.
         
         
         2. The Shirleys have offered to be part of a house rotation and will host this coming Wednesday, March 25.
         
         
         
         
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   2. Short term
      
      
      
      1. Courtney’s responsibilities and our responsibilities to Courtney
         
         
         
         1. We decided that our most important priority is to determine whether Courtney will be called as our next pastor.
         
         
         2. We will encourage the congregation to continue to get to know her over the next week.
         
         
         3. A community meeting will be held next Sunday, March 29 at 10am. This will be a Q&A with Courtney.
         
         
         
         
         
      
      
      2. We did not have a chance to discuss short-term sustainability, financial responsibilities, or our relationship with COH.
      
      
      3. It was decided that church location and whether to stay at Kidd Springs will be a decision for the future decision-making body.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   3. Long term (short discussion for this meeting): In terms of our future decision-making body, process, and structure, we briefly discussed that it would be best to ask members of the congregation to bring us their ideas. We will filter them and present the best options to the community.
   
   
   
   
   


3. Communication
   
   
   
   1. To community: Going forward, we will communicate with the community in the following ways:
      
      
      
      1. Blog postings. Scott will set that up.
      
      
      2. News of the Community announcement. Rob will take care of that.
      
      
      3. We would like to distribute a print-out of future meeting schedules and topics when that is figured out.
      
      
      
      
      
   
   
   2. The transition team will have weekly meetings and will communicate online during the week through email and through a website called Base Camp.
   
   
   
   


4. Next meeting
   
   
   
   1. We will meet again next Sunday, March 29, at 2pm. We will be processing the results of the community meeting held that morning and discussing the budget. Further agenda items are to be determined.
   
   
   
   2. Wes will begin working on a budget and will circulate that this week.
   
   

Courtney's Bio

I grew up in North Dallas and always felt out of step with the culture. Thankfully, I had a couple of experiences that kept me sane: one was an artsy private school I attended as a small child and the other was my home congregation-- White Rock United Methodist Church— a healthy, mid-sized congregation over by the lake. After high school I hoped to leave town but got a scholarship at SMU I couldn’t pass up and so I stayed—but studied abroad my junior year at the London School of Economics (a year which killed my Texan accent). After college I moved to Indiana and worked for two years at a grassroots feminist organization called the Rise—a transitional housing program for single moms leaving abusive relationships. As an AmeriCorps volunteer I lived in poverty for the first time in my life (8K for the year)—collected food stamps, learned to cook, and discovered free cycling. I also had the privilege of working with wise and seasoned activists who cared for extremely vulnerable children and women not by treating them as clients or program participants but by drawing them into the very heart of a shared community space.

I left the Rise to move to Nicaragua to work in sustainable agriculture. In the Peace Corps I learned Spanish, organized two community banks, and had the opportunity to reconnect to the rural roots of my own family (both my parents come from poor Texan farming families). I lived in a small adobe house on the side of a volcano and during this time of simple living I reconnected to my call to ordained ministry and decided to honor God’s invitation to serve and to pursue a Masters of Divinity when I returned.

Richard Amory, my husband, was a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. We were best friends and project co-conspirators for the first year or more in country before we realized we were in love with each other. Richie’s Nica family hosted our wedding at the end of our service and many of our friends and family from the U.S. were able to join us.

Upon our return I started a dual masters program at Harvard (Master of Divinity/Master of Public Policy). As a student I also worked-- consulting with two faith-based non-profits (www.hondurashope.org and www.crispaz.org) and completing a year and a half ministry internship with college students at Boston University. During this time Richie and I welcomed Coleman, our first child, and I also became trained as a doula. (www.creativebirth.org is the doula collaborative I created with two friends in Boston).

Two of the most live-giving communities I was a part of in Boston were Hope Church (www.hopeboston.org) a progressive UCC/DOC new church start and the Boston Faith and Justice Network (www.bostonfaithjustice.org). Both of these communities are part of the unfolding conversation about being church in new ways and helped mold and shape me—especially through my participation in the Lazarus at the Gate small group curriculum and conversations about economic discipleship. (See http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/02/01/a-spiritual-approach-to-money/ -the photo on this link show my peeps in Boston, members of the group I co-lead). I did my thesis at the Kennedy School on Lazarus and other grassroots social justice curricula.

So we moved to Oak Cliff this summer and two weeks later had sweet Perl, who is now seven months old. Oak Cliff is a lot like our neighborhood in Boston, Jamaica Plain, in that it is gay friendly and full of artists, Spanish-speakers, and young hipsters. My mentor in the UMC ordination process, Barbara Marcum, opened up this neighborhood for us suggesting that we might find a home south of the river. And she was right. We love our home, lost sheep lodge, and the community garden and Montessori co-op we host here.

I have been blessed with many powerful mentors in ministry: people whose stories and perspectives inform my own. Gary, the UMC pastor of my childhood and family friend, is a beer-drinking, pickup-driving, East Texas cowboy. Gary is a ‘screen porch theologian’ (like our own Dr. Fred) and has a radically inclusive understanding of the Gospel, and a feminist agenda. He has a track record of mentoring women in ministry and opening doors for them at a time when others would like to keep them shut. Kathleen Baskin-Ball, who died this fall of cancer, was another dear mentor for me. At the time I came to know her as a teenager she lived and worked in West Dallas with a congregation called Nueva Esperanza —where she taught herself Spanish, and ministered poor Latino and black families. She lead a youth mission trip with Walt Marcum, my youth pastor at White Rock, where Black and Hispanic kids from Nueva Esperanza and white kids from my church together went on a mission trip to the Navajo Indian Reservation. The experience changed my life and showed me what church is capable of doing and who we are capable of being.

And this fall through another mentor at my current home church, Highland Park UMC, I participated in a clergy women’s group where I met Laura Fregin, and she introduced me to Church in the Cliff. CITC has already been such a gift to me. I love our edgy, artsy vibe and our inter generational conversation between the younger crowd and those with more years on this earth and the wisdom we find together.And I am so thrilled that the UMC North Texas Conference has appointed me to serve here as a local church pastor in an extension ministry to this ecumenical/emergent church. I love sitting at intersections and I think this is an important one as emergent and existing churches figure out how to learn from one another.

So this is my story in broad strokes. I look forward to hearing more of your stories this week and beyond and continuing the conversation about our future together.

Peace to you all,

Courtney

Bio

This community pastor is too tired to generate a bio tonight for our 8pm launch time of the transition blog. Tomm. I will post a brief sketch of me and my story (where I come from, school, work/activism, ministry experience etc). I look forward to all of my one on one conversations with folks this week as well- to hear more of your stories. en paz, courtney