Board Commitment Form

Church in the Cliff
BOARD COMMITMENT FORM – CONFIDENTIAL
Board year 2009-2010: 7/1/09 through 6/30/10

Church in the Cliff recognizes the many and diverse contributions and skills that its board members give to the organization, including time, knowledge, connections, staff support, ideas and perspectives. CitC encourages creative forms of contributions and sees them as essential to its growth and health. In addition, CitC recognizes the importance and necessity of board participation in fund development.

My commitment to Church in the Cliff consists of the following:

ATTENDANCE: I realize that my presence at Board meetings and CitC events is an important part of my commitment as a trustee. If I miss two consecutive board meetings without presenting a sufficient reason for my absence, I understand that this is a delivered resignation from the board.

_____ I will make attendance a high priority and I will let _______________, the Board President, know when I cannot attend board meetings or other events.

FINANCIAL COMMITMENT: I understand that, in agreeing to serve on the CitC Board of Trustees, I commit to contribute to the financial well-being of the church.

I will personally donate a total of $____________ in the following installments by 6.30.10:

_____ monthly
_____ lump sum

COMMITTEES – I understand that each Board member is expected to serve on a committee. I would like to serve on the following committee(s):

_____ Worship
_____ Finance
_____ Community
_____ Strategic Planning
_____ Other _________________________

AMBASSADOR COMMITMENT – I agree to be a goodwill ambassador to the community.



BOARD MEMBER NAME: ______________________________________________________

SIGNATURE _________________________________________DATE ___________________

These commitments will be reviewed during the board year with the Board President.

Conflict of Interest Policy

No board member or board committee member, or any member of her/his family, should accept any gift, entertainment, service, loan, or promise of future benefits from any person who either personally or whose employees might benefit or appear to benefit from such board or committee member’s connection with Church in the Cliff, unless the facts of such benefit, gift, service, or loan are disclosed in good faith and are authorized by the board. Board and committee members are expected to work out for themselves the most gracious method of declining gifts, entertainment, and benefits that do not meet this standard.

No board or committee member should perform, for any personal gain, services to any Church in the Cliff supplier of goods or services, as employee, consultant, or in any other capacity which promises compensation of any kind, unless the fact of such transaction or contracts are disclosed in good faith, and the board or committee authorizes such a transaction. Similar association by a family member of the board or committee member or by any other close relative may be inappropriate.

No board or committee member or any member of his/her family should have any beneficial interest in, or substantial obligation to any Church in the Cliff supplier of goods or services or any other organization that is engaged in doing business with or serving Church in the Cliff unless it has been determined by the board, on the basis of full disclosure of facts, that such interest does not give rise to a conflict of interest.

This policy statement is not intended to apply to gifts and/or similar entertainment of nominal value that clearly are in keeping with good business ethics and do not obligate the recipient.

Any matter of question or interpretation that arises relating to this policy should be referred to the president for decision and/or for referral to the board of directors for decision, where appropriate.


I have received and read the forgoing policy statement (Conflict of Interest Statement) and understand fully the facts requiring any possible question of violation.


___________________________ _________________________
Date Signature

By-laws 2nd draft

Board

The Board represents the interests of the Church. It is the purpose of the Board to engage in broad stroke planning, ensuring a shared vision among the members. It is expected that the Board will consult with the Pastor and Members in planning the activity of the Church. The Board will make resources available to the Pastor for the purpose of acting on this shared vision.

In accordance with this purpose, the Board:

• May call meetings of Members.
• May appoint Teams to work on Church business.
• Must develop an annual strategic plan to be voted on by Members.
• Must develop an annual budget to be voted on by Members.
• Must develop staffing recommendations to be voted on by Members.
• Must report to Members on a regular basis.
• Must consult with the Pastor and Members in their work.
• Must meet monthly.
• Must host quarterly meetings with Members.
• Must provide an agenda and notice at least two weeks in advance of all meetings with Members.
• Must consist of an odd number of members.
• May act as legal representatives of the Church.
• May change, create or disband Committees.
• May appoint Committee Chairs.

Board Positions

The Board will consist of a Moderator, a Treasurer, a Clerk and two Trustees.

Moderator

• May call meetings of the Board or Members.
• Must facilitate meetings. The Moderator may delegate this responsibility as needed.

Treasurer

• Must provide financial reports to the Board and Members
• May execute payments on behalf of the Church.
• Must develop an annual budget.
• Must manage the assets of the Church.

Clerk

• Must communicate with Members about Church business.
• Must coordinate reports from Pastor on Committee activity.

Trustee

Trustee

Pastor

The Pastor is responsible for enacting the vision developed by the Board and approved by the Members. S/he is primarily responsible for planning and leading worship and coordinating the work of Committees and Teams. It is expected that the Pastor will work closely with the Board in creating a shared vision for the Church.

• Must plan and ensure worship.
• May appoint Teams.
• Must oversee Committees and Teams.
• Must report to the Board.
• Must consult on all board work except where conflict of interest dictates.

Committee Chairs

Committees are groups of Teams that are coordinated by a Chair. There are three standing Committees: Worship, Community and Finance. These may be changed, disbanded or added to by the Board. Committee Chairs are appointed by the Board.

Committee Chairs:

• May appoint Teams.
• Must report to Pastor.
• Must manage Team activity.

Teams

Teams do the work of the Church. They may be standing teams or convened temporarily for a specific purpose. They may be created by the Board, the Pastor, Committee Chairs or formed spontaneously by Members. Each Team will fall under the purview of a Committee. Note that the Pastor, Committee Chairs and Board members are also Members and may work on Teams without assuming a leadership role.

• May act to further the Church vision.
• Must not contravene Church plans.
• Must report to a Committee Chair.

Members

• May vote on all board work, except regarding Committees and Teams.
• May join or form teams.

Church in the Cliff Transition Timeline – May/June 2009

Sunday, May 3, 10:00am

• Present timeline
• Present rough draft/general outline of by-laws and solicit feedback
• Begin seeking 4-6 volunteers for board nominating committee

Monday, May 4, 8:00pm

• Transition Team meeting at Café Brazil, Oak Cliff
• Agenda: Report from finance team; Janalee to speak about children’s programming

Sunday, May 10, 10:00am*

• Present second draft of by-laws and solicit feedback
• Vote on calling Courtney

Sunday, May 17, 10:00am

• Present final draft of by-laws to community
• Present nominating committee to community

Sunday, May 25 – NO COMMUNITY MEETING

Sunday, May 31, 10:00am*

• Vote on by-laws
• Vote on nominating committee

Sunday, June 7 – NO COMMUNITY MEETING

Sunday, June 14, 10:00am

• Slate of board nominees presented to community

Sunday, June 21 – NO COMMUNITY MEETING

Sunday, June 28, 10:00am*

• Vote on new board

Monday, June 29, 8:00pm

• Final Transition Team meeting

*Beginning on the Monday immediately preceding this Sunday, you may email your vote to Scott Shirley at sshirley999[at]yahoo.com and it will be counted during the Sunday vote.

Transition Team Meetings: The Transition Team will continue to meet every Monday at Café Brazil in Oak Cliff from 8:00-9:30pm through June.

Transition Team Meeting Notes 4-30-2009

Attendees: Scott Shirley, Ron Durham, Tiana Lightfoot, Jen Mauldin, Rob Shearer, Lisa White Shirley

Timeline for establishing leadership body

SS suggests pushing timeline back for two reasons: 1) meeting fatigue; and, 2) community buy-in. The proposal is to stretch the timeline for installing the leadership body out to the end of June and have the TT only meet once a week. We would like to give the community at least 2 weeks notice prior to votes. We would like to have by-laws in place before a leadership body is voted on. So there are several votes that have to take place. If we back them all out from June 30th, we should have time.

TL pointed out that we had discussed with Courtney having leadership in place by the end of May. We were hoping that we could get leadership established and move forward. We also are concerned that the community will feel like we are floundering. In the end, everyone agreed that it’s more important to get the right solution in terms of the community owning it than to get done quickly.

The team agreed to push the timeline back and have Monday meetings only. We will present our proposed timeline to the community this Sunday morning.

Nominating committee

Whatever leadership body we have, we need a way to establish membership. We will propose a nominating committee that the community will vote on. We would like to have a committee of 5 or 7 people. The only TT members that will be eligible for the nominating committee will be those who are certain they do not want to be on the board. No one on the nominating committee will be eligible for the leadership body. We would like to have a person outside the community on the committee. Suggested outsiders are: Danielle Shroyer of Journey, Sarah Jane Semrad’s father and a pastor from Grace UMC. The team agreed to approach Danielle first. We will ask John Means to contact her. We would also like volunteers/recruits from the community.

The task of the nominating committee will be to find members of the leadership body that both meet the needs of the church and represent the diverse makeup of the community. The proposed process will be to name a slate of candidates that will be presented to the community on 6/14 and voted on by the community on 6/28. The slate will include appointing people for specific responsibilities within the leadership body, such as President, Treasurer, etc. The nominating committee will determine its own process for screening candidates. Candidates will be volunteers, nominations from the community and recruited by the nominating committee for specific needs.

By-laws

SS had lots of exciting and colorful charts! The team was not impressed. :(

The by-laws we are writing will not be extensive. The primary goal is to establish relationships between three entities (leadership body, pastor and community) and determine what kind of authority and responsibility is allotted to each. We will present drafts to the community, solicit feedback and revise. The intention is to present a final draft on 5/17 with the community voting whether to adopt this draft on 5/30.

What follows represents the current thinking of the team based on discussion and agreements from Thursday night.

Leadership body

(We’re calling it a board for now because it’s easier.)

The board is is a 5-person body focused on big decisions about the church. They develop strategic plans (mission, vision, values, action plans), budget, create staff positions, hire and fire. All of their work goes back to the community for a vote to adopt.

There will be a President, Treasurer, Secretary and two At-Large positions. The goal is to meet specific needs and represent the diversity of the community. The President calls meetings, enforces the by-laws and chairs meetings. The board will meet once a month and hold community meetings once a quarter. There will be expectations for the board outlined in the by-laws to ensure transparency and accountability as well as consequences for failing to meet those expectations. Terms will last for 2 years and individuals will be limited to 2 consecutive terms.

Role of the pastor

The pastor is responsible for executing the vision and planning developed by the board and adopted by the community. The feeling of the transition team is that the pastor should focus on being a pastor: planning and leading worship and ensuring pastoral care. Additionally, the pastor will oversee all committee activity.

Relationship of pastor to leadership body

The pastor will report to the board. The pastor will not have a seat on the board. However, the board will work closely with the pastor in developing plans for the church. The pastor will be reviewed annually by the board based on feedback from the community.

Sunday

1. Rob will present finances based on commitment cards received.
2. Scott will present the timeline for the next 60 days with milestones. This will serve as a framework for discussion of individual items.
3. Scott will present idea of calling Courtney for a year. The community will vote on 5/10.
4. Rob will present the idea of the nominating committee.

Action items

• Create timeline—> SS/LWS
• Blog post about Sunday meeting—> RS
• Email about Sunday meeting—> SS

Agenda for Monday

• Report from finance team
• Janalee re: kids

Transition Team Meeting 4-27-2009

Attendees:
Ed Meier
Tiana Lightfoot
Lisa Shirley
Scott Shirley
Ron Durham
Courtney Pinkerton
Jen Mauldin
Rob Shearer
Teri Walker
Jerry
Wes Holloway
Abby Lowe
Kristin Schutz
John Means

Update from Sunday Pledges 16 giving units 12 came from TT – $2,508 2 very small giving units Not everyone who was there turned in pledge cards – cards are still out there
The Land contributions Waiting for total number – next Sunday

Value of tithing discussion:
CP: Goal to do 10 percent or more tithing personally
SS: Predicts giving will increase over time, people will take on attitude of tithing as they are continually reminded and conscious about it.
CP: Talk more about tithing, get people comfortable with idea.
JM: Community: opening up and revealing of resources.

Plan for next Sunday Pledge cards again Nothing conclusive at planning meeting beforehand JM: Inspired by results of pledge cards. Hopes that announcing money already pledged at next meeting will inspired others to pledge more. Testimonial from Ron Be more intentional will offering and pledging during the worship service

Next set of community meetings: Waiting to see what happens with pledge cards Then discuss Courtney’s position with church and budget.
CP: Need to do by May 10 Plan for next week before voting on Courtney

Year long action plan
SS: Benchmarks
EM: Call CP as pastor now and then have year review in May. Commit to Courtney now rather than limited pastorship
TW: Cautions long-term commitment to pastor. Church community has tendency to make knee-jerk reactions.
SS: Ask community about duration of pastorship
JM: TT agrees to vote on Courtney in two weeks, May 10, but duration of pastorship is up for discussion.

Update on Saturday’s meeting with LRTX Church Leadership Group consensus that structure is important to keep Sunday worship possible, and also to carry out more projects and “do things” as a community, or to enable others to “do things.”
WH and TW: Five member board might be too small, too great of time commitment.
SS: Upfront and early on, there will be more work for the board.
WH: Church is already accustomed to voting, would community be OK with transitioning away from community voting? CP: CitC’s gift to Emergent church is hybrid structure, not a full non-profit and not a traditional structure.

Review of conflict of interest and commitment form Adapted from LRTX

Emergent polity discussion
JM: Dough Paget holds church together. Other emergent churches have pastoral body steps away from leadership team. Most emergent churches don’t actually use the bylaws. Pastors agreed to participate in a podcast CitC is a catalyst for discussion about emergent church

Review of purposed timeline and schedule
Changes: Thursday, April 30 – scratch mission, vision and purpose, – add nominating process May 31 – Present board slate to community for voting May 17 – Board nomination closed May 10 – open nominations May 3 – introduce process of board structure

JM: Suggests to push opening nominations back two weeks to give community time to react to the suggestion of a boar leadership structure.
EM: May 3 - ask people to throw out structure styles – post them on blog

Ongoing relationship with CoH, UCC and Baptist denominations (Questions from RD) What was actual relationship with CoH and when did it begin?
EM: Started out as trial run, test relationship. CoH would help with accounting, payroll, office space, and contributions, with the assumption that after a year we would discuss formal dual alliance and become UCC/AB church. Seen as kick-starting CoH outreachchurch in Oak Cliff.
WH: HoC wanted representative congregation in Oak Cliff, and CitC filled that role.
TL: Hoc needed more youth.
RB: CitC out of money. Did CoH support CitC financially?
EM: Never ended up financially supporting us, we made budget each month.
TW: PL negotiated at some point to pay 1/3 of Neeki’s salary to do Vespers. Why didn’t Cathedral of Hope step in and help us earlier this year?
EM: CoH had it’s own financial problems.
WH: CoH down 40 percent in giving and laying off people What is our relationship with CoH now?
SS: Do CitC bookkeeping. CP could have office space if needed.
CP: Would like to start using it so we can keep it.
EM: We have been very independent of CoH
TW: DBA of CitC is held by CoH.
EM: Still money in City Church bank account. Advantage: payroll done by HoC. What is legal status in the state of TX currently?
TW: She and Jen are researching legal status and recommendations for CitC legal options. Currently, CitC is an incorporation and hold DBA for City Gallery. Some filing for City Gallery needs to be done. No legal issue because we are DBA of CoH legally.
EM: Chance that CoH would keep CitC name, but relationship has been trustworthy. Piazza and UCC – goal of setting up UCC churches around country, one in Oak Cliff. CitC could possibly be UCC or be dual. Now, what are our affiliations with UCC?
SS: No relationship with UCC at this point. We are reaching the point when we could apply to be a UCC church, but should be a board decision.
LS: We applied a year ago when CitC moved, and we are now at the point of moving forward with UCC process. CP: Was a covenant partner with UCC in Boston. Would be interested in exploring more a relationship with UCC. Alliance of Baptist and UCC have a standing partnership

Issues to address:
1) Pastor’s roles
2) Structure of board, sub committees and how people joining
3) Voting rights of community and relationship to leadership

Action Items:
May 3rd TT Q&A community meeting 10 a.m. Introduce board structure Ask people to react on blog with own suggestions Vote on Courtney and budget on May 10
Rob: Put notice on blog for discussion on May 3 to vote on May 10th
Rob and Scott: Agenda for Sunday discussion, present on Thursday.
John: Post three issues and responses on the blog, allow community to start reacting to those questions. So three weeks out, TT can make suggestion to community Urge people again to look and comment on the blog
Rob check with Michael E-mail subscriptions to the blog TT members should respond to blog posts with points of view.
John: Print out emergent discussion notes and bring to meeting on Thursday
Scott Shirley: Moderate on Thursday
Scott: send churchwide e-mail
Jen and Teri: Research legal issues and suggestions

Meeting for Sunday, 10am

Greetings from the Transition Team:

This Sunday morning we will be having an important community meeting at 10am at Kidd Springs Rec Center. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss in detail our proposed timeline for the next few months. In the next few months we'd like to take the following steps:

1. Vote as a congregation to call Courtney Pinkerton as our pastor for the coming 12 months. (More details on length of the call on Sunday morning.)
2. Agree as a congregation on a nominating committee to select a board of directors.
3. Agree as a congregation on the organization structure of the church (which will inform a revision/ approval of new bylaws).

All of these big decisions will be discussed this Sunday and we will distribute a document that outlines the steps and the proposed timeline.

We'd love your involvement as we move forward and hope that you'll attend the 10am meeting this Sunday.