UUFM Board Meeting
January 28, 2009

Present: Bergen, Bloom, Dell, Halverson, Gabrielsen, McGinnis and Ken Moore (Pledge Drive Coordinator)

• Kris Gabrielsen opened the meeting at 6:30 P.M.
• Ken Moore, our Pledge Coordinator, had the following suggestions for getting our pledge drive underway: Select a small group of canvassers and divide the membership so that each member can be interviewed by one of the canvassers. There will be no talk of money at that time. The point of the interviews is to listen and understand how the individual members and friends feel about our Fellowship and its goals. This will be done in February and once Ken has gathered together their responses he will report back to the Board. His first priority now is to gather together a group of canvassers and decide on what their talking points will be at each interview. A list of possible canvassers was given to him. Our pledge drive will take place in March. It is necessary for us to have pledge information by May.
• Bev Halverson reported that we are $2000 ahead of our budget for this year as some members have paid their pledges in full. Her list of projected expenses through June 30th shows us with an end of our fiscal year balance of $815. Madeline Bishop has requested that Brynn’s pay for playing the piano be increased to $40.00 per service. A motion was made by Leah Bloom that Brynn’s fee be increased to $40.00 per service; seconded by Beth Dell. Leah Bloom questioned whether we should increase her pay at this time for budgetary reasons. Kris explained that Madeline and Brynn spend considerable time preparing the music for our services and Brynn’s practice time should be taken into account. The motion was carried unanimously. Bev reported that the Senior Center is charging us $7.00 per service for use of the piano.
• Leah Bloom suggested that a garage sale could be a good fund raiser, as well as could raise our profile in the community. The purpose would be to increase our building fund.  Leah will see if there is someone interested in coordinating this project.
• Support Coordinators Team: Tricia Crawford, Nancy Nelson, Leah Bloom, Susan Marrant and Kris Gabrielsen are the members of this committee. The question of confidentiality has been raised and will be addressed by the team. It was agreed by team members and the Board that the scope of this team’s work should be limited, especially at the start. When a Fellowship member is in a crisis situation the committee will coordinate help.
• The Conflict of Interest Policy that Bev Halverson and Bernie McGinnis put together was signed by the Board members.
• Kris Gabrielsen will ask Patriciafaye Marshall to create the Order of Service for February 15th as Madeline Bishop will be away. At that service the drama group from the Salem UU Congregation will present their play of the Scopes Trial. Members have been asked to volunteer for the jury and the crowd in the court room. Ken Moore is helping with this presentation.
• Beth Dell suggested that we try to get the same speaker for consecutive services in the near future. Elaine Taylor had reported at the Chalice Circle meeting that she had belonged to a UU Congregation that did not have a formal Service every Sunday but would have group discussions on pertinent topics. When is it time for us to expand to a service every week? These are questions to be discussed at our Board Retreat. Kris announced that our Annual Meeting will be held after a Sunday Service. Bernie McGinnis wants to create a Welcoming Service for our new members. The welcoming ceremony will be held at the March 1st service. This will be announced ahead of time to encourage others to join.  The Membership Committee will organize this program.
• The Reverend Keith Kron will be our speaker on April 5th. He is willing to hold a workshop afterwards. Beth Dell will contact him to see what his areas of expertise are as well as what areas of passion he has.
  
• Kris Gabrielsen is concerned that the Board not micromanage committees. She suggested that the Board should be focusing on larger issues and leaving the committees to plan and organize their activities. Bev Halverson suggested that getting the Board’s reaction to a proposal need not be micromanaging but a way to indicate our interest and backing.\\\Leah Bloom has bought table cloths for the Membership table and podium to be used at our services.
• The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela H.  Bergen
Secretary