Community Life Council - 2011 - April 26
Minutes
Community Life Council
April 26, 2011 7:15 pm – Summit 2
I. The meeting was called to order with the lighting of the chalice and the reading of the Council Covenant at 7:15pm. In attendance were Sally Taylor, Covenant Group Coordinating, Membership and History; Jean Newland, Asst Chair, Membership; Lynn Heath, Communications Committee; Elizabeth Breeden, Coffee Service; Cathy Lawder, Carenet; Shirley Paul, Pastoral Visitors; Natalie Somer, Co-Chair, Uuppities; Carol Saliba, incoming Uuppities Co-Chair; Jen Lucas, Board Liaison; and Betty Warner, Chair.
II. Old Business:
a. Change in Membership Procedures: The procedural changes recommended for the policy manual were reviewed, discussed, amended, and approved as attached (with the changes highlighted). During the discussion, it was noted that the PowerChurch database and the procedures of the Membership Tracking are often problematic, and that this will need further review and work. Also, Jen Lucas, as Board Liaison to the Council, was asked to monitor the relationship between Stewardship and Membership to ensure integration in their ongoing communications with members.
b. Request for Policy Change (attached): The Policy Change was approved as recommended, noting that the existing policy needs some significant review.
c. Update on Care-Net changes: Cathy Lawder shared the outcome of the Care-Net meeting held earlier in April and presented the revised Position Description (attached) which was approved as written.
d. Update on Covenant Group Changes: Sally informed the Council that the name of the Covenant Groups would NOT be changing, and would remain “Covenant Groups.”
e. Update on Social Activities Committee: Betty reported on the addition of Gayle Floyd as co-Chair joining Wendy Repass, and the addition of May Guenin as a member of the Committee. It was noted that the Committee may meet mostly via email, and conduct its various social activities via ad hoc subcommittees. The June 12th potluck/RE ice cream social/farewell to Janet Newman will occur under the auspices of this committee, as will the July Circle potlucks. Christine Gresser has been in touch with the Committee co-Chairs, and is hoping to schedule the Fall Fellowship Weekends, possibly in 2011, but certainly in 2012; this event needs no formal approval from the Council or the Board, but the Council was pleased to hear of the possibility of the Fall Fellowship Weekend re-occurring.
IV. New Business:
f. History: Discussion : Delayed until the next meeting due to time constraints.
g. Family Fellowship Campout: Discussed under the Social Activities Update
h. Activity Fair for Fall, 2011: Social Hall Tabling Sign-Ups- It was agreed that the Community Life Council Activity Fair would occur on the first Sunday in October, October 2, 2011
III. Closing: the chalice was extinguished and the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty A Warner,
Chair
Meeting Dates in 2011 -2012: Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Proposed Amendment to the TJMC-UU Policy Manual from Membership Committee
Policy II.B. 1.Procedures: Procedures for Membership Count and Reporting ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Rationale:
Membership Count and Reporting are of significant fiscal importance, as they ensure that UUA dues are paid only for active members. While the recent cottage conversations addressed the status of membership, the procedures related to Membership Count do NOT cancel or threaten any member’s status as a member. Rather, they utilize the terms “active” and “inactive” to distinguish between those “active” members who are currently involved with the church, either financially or with participation, and those “inactive” members who have fallen away. The current procedures in the policy manual do not reflect the actual procedures in use: these updates are intended to correct that situation.
Changes: (new in italics)
The Secretary shall report monthly to the Board the names of new members and of each member who has withdrawn or been reinstated.
The Membership Tracker shall report monthly to the Board the names of new members and those who have withdrawn from membership or changed their membership status: from active to inactive or from inactive to active and those who have changed from youth member to member.
The membership roll will be updated prior to January 1 in order to report accurately to the UUA. The annual review of membership roles shall begin each November.
The membership roll will be updated annually in order to report membership accurately to the UUA.
The Membership Tracking Committee, in consultation with the Minister(s), the Director of Religious Education, and the Membership Committee, shall compile a list of current members who have been deemed inactive and all members who joined before the age of 16 and who are currently under the age of 25. These members shall receive a letter from the Membership Tracking Committee by December 1 inquiring as to membership intention. Their failure to respond by January 1 shall result in either a withdrawal of membership or placement on an inactive member list. The revised membership list shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board and shall be the official list reported to the UUA.
The Membership Tracker, in consultation with the Pledge Tracker, the Information Technology (IT) Committee, Minister(s), the Director of Religious Education (DRE), and the Membership Committee, shall compile a list of current members who have not pledged or made a financial contribution of record or volunteered or participated in church groups or committees within the past two years. After consultation with the minister (s) and DRE, these members shall receive a letter from the Membership Tracker inquiring as to membership intention. Failure to respond to this inquiry shall result in a member status change to archived inactive member. Those responding can choose to remain active Members, or can become archived inactive Members or can withdraw their membership. During the annual review of membership the Youth Members who have been identified as no longer participating in the RE program or as having reached the age of 22 will receive a letter asking about their membership intention. Failure to respond to this letter will result in a youth member status change to inactive member. Those responding can choose to remain active Youth Members (if they are 21 or younger), active Members (if they are over 21), become inactive Members or withdraw their membership. The membership list reported to the Board in January minus the Youth Members shall be recorded in the January minutes of the Board and shall be the official list reported to the UUA.
Youth (under the age of 22), living within the household of supporters or members, who wish to sign the book may do so upon completion of the appropriate RE activity. Members under the age of 22 and included as a part of a household (i.e. not living separately from their parents/guardian) shall be considered youth members and will not be reported to the UUA as members.
Youth from the ages of 16 through 21 may become Youth Members by signing the Membership book. Youth under the age of 16 who wish to sign the book may do so upon completion of the appropriate RE activity such as the Coming of Age program. Youth members will not be reported to the UUA as members.
Members who wish to become inactive or who wish to be re-activated must make a written request to the Church Membership Committee.
Youth members may become members upon their request to the Membership Tracker or when they attain the age of 22. Members who wish to become inactive or who wish to be re-activated must make a request to the church through one of the following persons: Minister(s), Congregational Administrator, Director of Religious Education, Membership Tracker, Membership Chair, Membership Assistant Chair or a Canvasser. These individuals are responsible for notifying the Membership Tracker as soon as possible about the request for a Membership status change.
The number of members we report each January to the Unitarian Universalist Association shall be the number of members on our rolls at the time of the January Board meeting. This figure is used to calculate our district and UUA dues. The January count shall not differentiate between active/inactive or local/long distance members.
The number of members we report each January to the Unitarian Universalist Association shall be the number of active adult members on our rolls at the time of the January Board meeting. This figure is used to calculate our District and UUA dues.
Approval: These procedural changes were approved by the Membership Committee on Feb 16, 2011.
Signed___________________________Sally Taylor, Chair, Membership Committee
Signed___________________________Betty Warner, Chair, Community Life Council
Proposed Amendment to the TJMC-UU Policy Manual from Membership Committee
POLICY V.B.1.a Access to member pledge and contribution data is restricted to those persons who collect Canvass pledge cards; enter pledge and contribution data into the church management system; respond to members’ inquiries about their pledge or contribution status; provide financial data analysis and reporting for the Board of Trustees; and administer the church management system.
PROCEDURE:
The following persons may be granted access to pledge and contribution data:
o Active members of the Canvass Committee as identified by the Canvass Committee Chair(s)
o Active pledge and contribution data entry volunteers as identified by the Finance Committee Chair(s)
o Treasurer
o Minister(s)
o Congregational Administrator
o Financial analyst(s) as identified by the President of the Board of Trustees
o IT System Administrator(s) as identified by the IT Committee Chair
NEW: Policy V.B.1.b Upon request from the Membership Tracker and at least once a year, the Pledge Tracker shall compile a list of the names of current members who have not pledged or made a financial contribution of record. The Membership Tracker shall use this list of names for the sole purpose of determining active vs inactive membership for those individuals listed.
Rationale for Change: The Membership Tracker is required by the job description and Policy Manual (formerly the Bylaws) to send annually letters to Members who have not pledged or volunteered or participated in TJMC-UU groups or committees within the past two years asking if they wished to continue being active members of the church. Those who do not respond to the letter and those who respond that they no longer wish to be active in the church are made inactive members. Inactive members are either archived or upon request changed to supporter status. The Membership Tracker needs to have access to a list of those who do not pledge or have other contributions of record and access to the volunteer activity information contained in the database. The Membership Tracker does not need to have access to pledge information for those who do pledge. For at least the past ten years this information has been supplied to the Membership Tracker by the Pledge Tracker in the form of a list of those who have not had contributions of record for the past year and a second list for those who have no contributions of record for the past two years. Last year for the first time the volunteer activity information was present in the database and a list of Members who have not volunteered or participated in a church group or committee for the past year was provided by the IT Committee. This enabled the Membership Tracker to compile a list of Members who by our longstanding policy needed to be sent the letter inquiring about their Membership status. Each year this list is vetted by the Minister(s) and DRE before the letters are mailed. Without access to the information in the database about Members who have no participatory or financial support, the Membership Tracker is unable to do this job which is essential for keeping an accurate Membership List.
Approval: These procedural changes were approved by the Membership Committee on Feb 16, 2011.
Signed___________________________Sally Taylor, Chair, Membership Committee
Signed___________________________Betty Warner, Chair, Community Life Council