By-laws passed; Nominating Committee accepted

On Sunday, the By-laws passed as written. It was unanimous with 12 votes.

Also, the Board Nominating Committee was accepted. There were 11 in favor and 1 abstention. There was some discussion about the abstention, which was related to Thad's comments here on the blog. The concern was over having the pastor on the Committee. Thad and Jerry both expressed concern that a pastor's voice has too much power and can overwhelm the other members of the Committee. As I mentioned in the blog comments, the Transition Team considered this, but decided that it was one voice among seven. It was a good conversation to have, though. By naming the issue, the Committee can be particularly aware of it going forward.

There was also some discussion about not letting this become a precedent going forward. One issue left open is how Board members will be nominated and voted on in the future. This should be added to the by-laws and the Board should take this issue into consideration in crafting those provisions.

The Transition Team is on hiatus while the Board Nominating Committee does its work. Any work that needs to be done from here will be done online or with ad hoc meetings if necessary. No regularly scheduled Transition Team meetings.

We also won't have a community meeting this Sunday. We will have one on June 14 to present the slate of Board nominees. We will vote on that slate on June 28.

Proposed Board Nominating Committee

This Sunday at 10am, we will vote on whether to accept the proposed Board Nominating Committee. The proposed members are:

Rebel Calhoun
Abby Lowe
Carl Stoneham
Tiana Lightfoot
Mikel Whipple
Jen Mauldin
Courtney Pinkerton

Sarah Jane's dad will also consult with the team as an outside voice.

The job of the Board Nominating Committee is to select a slate of board members to guide the church in cooperation with Courtney and the congregation. They will present the slate June14 and then the church will vote on that slate on June 28.

Final By-laws

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. Board members will serve a 2-year terms and may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The initial term of two Board members, to be determined by the Board Nominating Committee, will be 1-year terms to avoid replacing the entire Board every two years, which will provide some continuity. After this inaugural term, all Board members will serve standard 2-year terms.

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.
• Must not miss more than TWO consecutive board meetings without presenting a sufficient reason for the absences

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.
• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

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.
• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Clerk

• Must communicate with Members about Church business.
• Must coordinate reports from Pastor on Committee activity.
• Must take notes during meetings and distribute them to the Pastor and Board.
• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Trustee

• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Trustee

• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Pastor

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

• 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.

Also see:

Board Commitment Form
Conflict of Interest Policy

Notes from Transition Team Meeting 5/18/09

Attending: Abby, Tiana, Courtney, Rob, Teri, Wes, Ed, Scott, Jerry, Jen

Sunday recap and prep for votes

Based on feedback from Sunday, we’re adding the length and limits of Board terms to the by-laws.

We also had a discussion about the Board Nominating Committee. Teri expressed a concern that three of the proposed members had not submitted commitment cards. We agreed to discuss this with them to either secure a commitment or get a reason why a card has not been submitted. There was a general acceptance that there may be valid reasons why people might not submit a card even though they are concerned for the future of the church.

Scott will send an e-mail pointing people to the blog for information to be voted on.

Financial team report

April was an expensive month: more than $11,000 went out. There were a few reasons for this; we still had PL and Neeki on payroll for a couple of weeks; we are still paying their benefits; we sent Courtney and PL to the Alliance of Baptists conference. Additionally, we had not received checks from the Methodists for their portion of Courtney’s salary. (We have it now and it will be deposited this week.) The result is that we are in the hole to CoH to the tune of about $8000. The $3500 from UMC will cover part of that, but we will have to also dip into the remaining CityChurch account, which currently has about $8800. It was decided that we will leave this account as a safety net until the Board is in a position to make a further determination.

Perhaps of greater concern is the spending since the beginning of this fiscal year. It seems that there were a lot of expenditures that were not budgeted. The finance team is going to audit all the transactions. There is a possibility that things were simply miscoded in the CoH system. For example, we were significantly over on child care costs, which should be a fixed cost. It is certain that there were not adequate controls in place, which will be one of the first tasks for the Board.

We also discussed a sunset on the commitment cards. We need to have them by March 31. Rob will write a paragraph for the weekly e-mail explaining what they are. Wes will talk about them on Sunday.

Role of CoH

Courtney met with Jo at CoH. There has been some discussion of their role and the nature of our relationship with them. They consider us a partner and will support us in any way they can. However, they will not be a financial supporter, except in smoothing out our cash flow. CoH handles our accounting for us, so we are set up as a department of CoH in their system. They pay our bills with money from our account. If that account is short, they still pay the bills, but we are ultimately responsible for that amount. This is why we owe them the money mentioned earlier.

Music

A couple of weeks ago, Courtney asked if we could pay someone on the music team to coordinate the music each week. While it was a nominal amount, the transition team felt that it was not possible within our current budget and income. This week, Courtney reported Paul has agreed to assume this role on a volunteer basis. (Thanks, Paul!) We all agree that we would like to grow into having paid music staff.

Next two weeks

There will not be a community meeting before church this week. The Transition Team will also not meet on Monday. The following Sunday, March 31, there will be votes on whether to accept the by-laws and the Board Nominating Committee.

Action items:

Rob and Scott will speak to Board Nominating Committee about commitment cards.
Scott will send e-mails about by-laws and Board Nominating Committee.
Scott will update by-laws with information about Board terms and post to blog.
Rob will write a paragraph on commitment cards for weekly e-mail.

Final revision of by-laws

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.
• Must not miss more than TWO consecutive board meetings without presenting a sufficient reason for the absences

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.
• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

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.
• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Clerk

• Must communicate with Members about Church business.
• Must coordinate reports from Pastor on Committee activity.
• Must take notes during meetings and distribute them to the Pastor and Board.
• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Trustee

• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Trustee

• Must serve on at least one committee.
• Must contribute to the financial well-being of the church.
• Must be a goodwill ambassador to the community.

Pastor

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

• 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.

Meeting notes 5/4/2009

Church in the Cliff Transition Team Meeting
Attendees:
• Jerry
• Scott Shirley
• Jen Mauldin
• Teri Walker
• Ron Durham
• Tiana Lightfoot
• Lisa Shirley
• Kristin Schutz
• Courtney Pinkerton
• Janalee Shadburn
• Abby Lowe
• John Means

Notes:

Implications & Reactions from Sunday:
• Board of Advisors: Community expressed desire to include an outsider on the nomination committee to help provide an unbiased point of view on the committee, but only as an advisor and not a voting member of the committee. Also suggested inclusion of a board of advisors of non-profit and church leaders to help guide the organization. Emergent polity discussion may influence this conversation or potentially transition into a board of advisors.
• Outside member of nominating committee: Danielle Shroyer may be unavailable. Other individuals will be considered. JenM will talk with her mother and also with Sarah Jane about engaging her father. Teri considering Ed Middleton at 1st Community Church. John contacting Danielle.
• Emergent polity discussion: Need to accelerate conversation with Conder, Shroyer, and Pagitt to collect impression on emergent church leadership
• Transition will only meet on Monday nights going forward to finish development of by-laws, but other business is mostly completed.

Process for drafting by-laws:
• Document production: need to generate drafts, edits, etc. Using writeboard for each person to actively edit documents. SC provided sample bylaws from a non-profit and also orginal CityChurch bylaws. Post original City Church structure and begin editing.
o Bylaws will change after board is created in order to ensure structure is in place and board is enabled to begin developing vision, values, and beliefs. Bylaws will be structurally correct, but not legally filed when the transition team completes its work
o Deadlines: Need to have updated version of by-laws on blog by Friday in order to have feedback during Sunday community meeting.
o Board may serve two, 2-year terms.
o Scott will chair community committee
Process for selecting nominating committee:
• Identify leader/facilitator: Jen Mauldin will lead the nominating committee.
• Nominating committee members may not join the board.
• Nominating committee will be presented to community on 17th, voted on 31st.
• TT members volunteering to participate in nominating committee include: Lisa, Tiana, Abby, and Kristin. Other members may be considered and team may be modified to more appropriately represent community. Need to ensure that nominating committee members don’t rule out a particular demographic (all young women, etc..)
• Courtney will be on nominating committee. Still need to resolve whether pastor will be voting or non-voting member of the board. Need to ensure that leadership relationship is cooperative and not purely about accountability.
• Outside

Finance Team update:
• Team met and produced desired reporting structure and is working to find time to meet with Paula at COH to confirm.
• Setting up structures for future finance committee
• Established and confirmed Courtney’s pay structure as a contractor and employee until July. After that, will be in place as an employee.
• Need to contact Methodist church regarding finances. Courtney’s payments have been delayed. Salary is being paid on good faith.
• Reports are being sent to finance@churchinthecliff.org which is then distributed to Teri, Wes, and John.
• Courtney will be an employee of Cathedral of Hope and must be approved by their board of directors as well. Next board meeting is May 18th. Courtney is finishing paperwork for approval.

Children (Janalee):
• Need to identify administrative contact for Janalee to approve changes in children’s activities, days off, and find volunteer support for Sunday activities. Courtney will be primary contact for now.
• Would like to establish kids rotation of 8-10 people so each person participates once per month or two. Must have 2-3 people to monitor kids.
• Need to confirm budget for kids supplies. Jen and Teri will donate some supplies as well.
• Teri to provide storage space at her house for kids materials.
• Current contact amount is $100 per week. Could divide $25 for planning time, $75 for Sunday morning. Finance team to confirm budget.
• JS: Encourages team to remember Courtney is a mom and may need extra support. Many of our babies are getting older and this past week we had 13 kids in 4 age groups. Need to remember to focus on the kids.
• JenM: Suggested engaging community center staff to help support Janalee, but need to ensure that CitC community is engaged. Need to consider whether parents should participate in children’s volunteer rotation. RD: Suggests requiring parents to participate in rotation. JohnM: suggests that parents should not be required to participate as a ministry of the community to the parents.
• Need to consider children’s interaction (kids will be kids vs kids distracting worship) during the first portions of worship before going into Sunday programs. Should kids be allowed to participate freely during worship rather than be controlled? JenM: encouraging community to remember how important creating open and free space for the kids.
• TT will consider creating board committee before board is formalized in order to ensure administrative needs are being met. Janallee will recruit children’s committee.
• Background checks are required for all volunteers and members should be in community for 6 months before participating.
• Given the number of considerations around children that need to be addressed, TT suggests setting up children sub-committee soon.
• Courtney expressed desire for community to consider how we accommodate members with children and in the child-bearing demographic.

Good Shepherd Food Pantry:
• We collect food the third Sunday of every month, but collecting money is more effective because they can purchase food from North Texas Food Bank for must lower costs.
• LS: Suggests having a second collection during Sunday the third Sunday of the month.
• SS: Suggest also having two-baskets during Wednesday nights to fund the meal and Good Shepherd.
• CP, SS, LS: will discuss with worship committee and likely pass an additional basket during 3rd Sunday.

Sunday Schedule:
• Vote on Courtney: Courtney won’t attend community meeting so members can vote on Courtney’s role. John M to manage discussion & vote. A six month check-in/review will be performed.
• Jen will discuss nominating committee during community meeting

Actions:
John: Contact emergent church leaders
Scott: Create writeboard section for each component of the bylaws by Tuesday AM.
Kristin: Introduce by-laws and get feedback during Sunday meeting.
Jen: Introduce nominating committee at 10AM Sunday meeting.
Jen: Will contact Sarah Jane about having her dad participate in the nominating committee
Courtney: Will send community email re: nominating committee & bylaws this week.
Courtney: Complete paperwork for COH board approval.
Finance Com: Follow-up with Methodist church on Courtney’s salary
Finance Com: Review budget to determine appropriate children’s supplies budget
Janalee: Will introduce children’s committee (sub-committee of worship committee) and volunteer rotation one week from Sunday during news of the community.
Lisa: To discuss supporting Good Shepherd during Sunday community meeting.
SS: Will send email tonight to request votes in advance.
JM: to manage discussion and vote on Courtney
JM: check with Danielle on nominating committee participation
Kristin: Will facilitate next weeks meeting

Please take a look at the posts below

Sarah Jane shared generously helped us craft 2 documents for our long-term board going forward. These documents, a Conflict of Interest form, and Board Commitment form, are pasted below. Please post your thoughts/comments/concerns in the comment section below. We are also planning to discuss these documents this coming Sunday, May 17.