There are a lot of “Congregational” terms concerning meetings:
Congregational Forums
– There will be four a year; there is no set agenda. This is a meeting were church attendees can
ask questions about issues and the Board can update the congregation on
interesting (or mundane) matters.
Congregational Conversations – These are focused meetings – devoted to one topic.- such as installation of solar panels or the upcoming conversation on the Covenant of Right Relationships.
Congregational Meetings – These are scheduled meetings to be held twice a year; one in January and one in June. They generally include topics about the state of the church and members may vote on various proposals such as the budget or election of members of the Board or Nominating Committee.
Topics Discussed at the Congregational Forum on September 8, 2013
Congregational Conversations – These are focused meetings – devoted to one topic.- such as installation of solar panels or the upcoming conversation on the Covenant of Right Relationships.
Congregational Meetings – These are scheduled meetings to be held twice a year; one in January and one in June. They generally include topics about the state of the church and members may vote on various proposals such as the budget or election of members of the Board or Nominating Committee.
Topics Discussed at the Congregational Forum on September 8, 2013
Covenant of Right Relationship
The Committee of Ministry is reworking the
Covenant of Right Relationships and will be holding congregational
conversations in the Fall to gather feedback.
Peace Center
The Peace Center is a separate non-profit
organization devoted to promoting Peace, it is an important part of the
heritage of MDUUC, founded by Andy Balzo, and many of our members have been active
leaders in the peace center. Both Bob Olson, Board President and LeslieTM have
meet with Peace Center representatives to discuss MDUUC reclaiming the space
currently occupied by the Peace Center.
The Peace Center has been working since last Fall on relocation plans
and has agreed that moving to a new location is a win-win for both groups. Even though the Peace Center will not be
located at MDUUC, the new contract will still retain many of the components
that currently exist; such as using MDUUC as a meeting space and being able to
holding non-profit events here. The
MDUUC Peace Committee will continue to work and support the Peace Center. The space that the Peace Center currently
occupies will be reconfigured for office space.
Church Governance and supporting documents
Documents that outline the governance of the
church, calendar for the year, goals, Board norms and more have been posted on
the Board website. (https://sites.google.com/a/mduuc.org/members/governance)
Youth Membership
The LEAP Committee is working on a proposal to
support Youth Membership.
Internship Suspension 2014-2015
There was discussion on the proposal to suspend
our formal internship for the 2014-15 congregational year. Leslie as the supervising minister made this
request after the staff evaluations last year brought home the need for her to
devote more attention this year and next to supervision and structuring for the
staff and David. Suspending the
internship for next year will allow more time this fall when the internship
selection would need to occur and more time next year to continue to work on
increasing the capacity of the staff, especially in the area of administration.
The discussion on this issue has been heard and considered deeply and to
provide some of the benefits of internship, Leslie has proposed that the six
preaching slots which have traditionally been reserved for the intern be
offered to alumni of the MDUUC internship and that seminarians be offered the
opportunity to teach classes at MDUUC to provide new and fresh perspectives.