February 2021 Minutes

TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Governing Board Meeting
February 23, 2021
 
In Attendance: Chair Savannah Jewell, Frank Cederquist, Allegra Smith, Claudia Alenduff, Steven Flowers, Lisa Nielsen, Susie Riley, Mary Jo Risk, Pastor Suzanne Clementz, Kathy Young, and Pastor Tracey Leslie.
 
Opening prayer from Savannah 
 
Previous minutes from January: Savannah motions → Claudia seconded → Board Approved

In-person worship updates (Tracey):

• March 7th in-person worship will resume 
• Bulletins were not used previously in July - November, but we could use them to help with the Call to Worship. 
• The information in the bulletin helps share information for events and resources going on outside of service. 
• The board discussed the question of since COVID does not spread as much by contact (airborne), is it acceptable to hand out bulletins- overall, yes. 
• We agreed to wait a few weeks after starting in-person worship before starting bulletins for the service since we are not sure if many people will attend.
• There will be no in-person Sunday school or nursery care on Sundays. 
• For long-term planning we will consider how the nursery may be staffed during service since there are concerns about our current nursery workers.  Allegra will initiate a discussion with Melissa who serves as their supervisor. 
• IU Health has said that “normal” singing does not spread the virus anymore than talking does, but that professional singers who are trained to sing in large spaces pose a risk. 
• Based on that knowledge, we may want to consider bringing back singing. However, the people in one part of the balcony will not be wearing masks. Therefore, we could ask people to not sing if they choose not to wear a mask. The board agreed on that policy. 
• There is a need for one greeter to keep an eye out for anyone not wearing a mask. There is no normal “greeting” due to the need for social distancing, but one greeter to welcome newcomers while maintaining social distance. 
• The bus service has not resumed yet because of care facilities not permitting people to attend church, but Susie and the other bus driver volunteers will meet to discuss the possibility of resuming bus service. 
• The board will serve to help enforce mask wearing during in-person service. We will let any un-masked people know that masks are required and to offer them a mask. 

 
Dog Park Project (Savannah): 

• List of factors/questions to take into account if we have a dog park is given in the google drive. This list was compiled by Savannah and fellow veterinarians for us to use to consider. 
• One of the concerns was how to enforce dog vaccinations (for liability) and how to handle people potentially jumping over the fence to use the space. 
• Another main aspect is how the rain run-off from the park would flow into the fruit trees or garden, which could spread parasites and bacteria or potentially harm the trees. Some of this is already happening but with an official dog park these would be happening on a much larger scale. 
• Options to consider may be seating, lighting, and water access for dogs. 
• The Dog Park committee will meet with the city March 11 and keep these aspects in mind. 

 
Facilities Management (Frank): 

• Building Endowment bills: 
  • Monthly Property Management bill: $672.00, Link Management
  • Unclogging of the kitchen sink at the Parsonage: $155.00 Snuffy’s Plumbing Service
• Frank motioned to approve the bills above for payment from the Building endowment, Allegra seconded → Board Approved 
• Snow plowing bills have not yet arrived. Many are not happy with the shoveling and lack of quality in clearing the sidewalks and parking lot. Frank will be acquiring bids for a different company for next year.
• The women’s bathroom in the basement will become a unisex bathroom on Sunday morning and a lock will be installed that can indicate when it is occupied. Signage will be added about the restroom being unisex and the need to lock the door and reminding people that the children’s area is locked. 
• The women’s bathroom could become a unisex bathroom during all Sunday, which could help when Sunday schools resume in many months. The current unisex bathroom is inaccessable with the children’s area securred. We will wait and see what occurs with Lamplighters class once Sunday School resumes. 

 
Finances (Eric): 

• Income is above January (up 17%) due to our donor who gives $50,000 at the beginning of each year, 6% above on administrative expenses due to insurance, maintenance is 3% above and may level out later in the year, 6% under in all other expenses. However, these stats are not reliable to predict the rest of the year since it is just one month. 
• In March more numbers are expected to level-out with maintenance expenses and the budget billing system set up with annual adjustments. 
• (Savannah) We may want to consider having our budget billing adjusted quarterly if we are seeing big fluctuations month to month. 

 
Missions (Mary Jo): 

• March 14 is UMCOR Sunday, which means that it is our annual special offering (regular offering will still be collected). The “One Great Hour of Sharing” is UMCOR’s main donation Sunday to help keep the organization running. 
• UMCOR underwrites the administrative costs for disaster relief such that our disaster response donations go 100% to the people who need help on the ground. 
• Between now and March 14 we will collect UMCOR donations for the Texas disaster and then on March 14 the UMCOR donation for One Great Hour of Sharing.
• Mary Jo motioned to have “One Great Hour of Sharing” approved for March 14, Steven seconded → Board Approved.
• Family Promise has asked if Trinity can contribute baskets of supplies for families who are moving out of the program into more stable housing for families who have successfully completed the program. The cost of each basket is $125 for the supplies.  Families are selected by Family Promise. 
• Mary Jo motioned to give $125 from the restricted mission funds for the creation of a basket for Family Promise made by Kay who will be reimbursed: Steven seconded → Board Approved. 

 
Staffing (Alegra): 

• We have a new staff member, Monica McDougal, beginning March 1 as our new Young Adult Outreach Pastor. 
• Monica will be moving to Lafayette in spring but until then is working part time remotely until her graduation. 

 
 
Thank yous (Tracey): 

• Sean Lutes sent a thank you note for Trinity for our joining of the Centennial Historic District - a very nice note! 
• We received a thank-you from Lafayette Pride for our donation - another very nice note! 

 
Other news (Tracey): 

• Emily Kuehl has volunteered to be our garden coordinator this summer. She will be moving to Lafayette this summer, and in spring Ryan will temporarily serve the role. 

The next Governing Board Meeting will be on March 23 at 6:30 pm. 
 
Lisa closed in prayer. 
 
ADDENDUM: An email vote was taken and approved by the board to provide the nursery workers with half-pay until April 4.