Central Board Meeting Minutes

February 18, 2020

Second Congregational Church
Conference Room 103
6:30 PM- 8:30 PM

Proof Notice: Meeting was announced in church for preceding two Sundays and in the
February Spire, agenda on the board website

Those in attendance: Dale Miller Bouton, David Brandt, Nancy Rexford, Kathy Taylor

Action Items

• Approved minutes from February 4 Board Meeting

• Approved minutes from February 16 Congregational Meeting** [see pages 3, ff]

** Bylaws, Article V, Section 3d: Minutes from business meetings of the congregation and
of the Central Board must be approved by the Central Board within seven days of the
meeting (approval by email is permitted) and made available to the members of the
congregation in both print and electronic format as soon as possible thereafter. Minutes
must be prepared in a uniform format as set forth by board policy.

Discussion Items

• Update plans on welcoming Peter Preble and integrating him into our church life
• Dinner at Kathy Taylor’s on February 29 @ 4:00 PM
• Menu for dinner- lasagna, meatballs and sauce, salad, hors d’ouvre, dessert
• How best to orient Peter to the church: make sure to share our procedures for
Baptism, Communion, Pastoral Prayers
• Baptism procedures: Suzanne will write up our tradition of giving a blanket
and Bible to the family
• Announcement placement- gets very long,
• bulletin insert could be a distinctive color,
• use of PPT on screen for announcements in the Narthex
• moving Wendy’s announcement of visitations to Celebrations and
Concerns
• Electronic Sign for the corner- try to get that up and running sooner rather than later
• Email blast and Spire announcement about March 15 and luncheon to welcome
Peter
• Status of Chaplain Wendy Linares after arrival of Interim
• Funds from Seminarian Fund can be used for this
• Scott Vandewalle- help us with Building Management Issues- need a consultant

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 • He offered to help us for free.
• Nancy will set up a meeting with Mac, Barney, David Boynton with Scott
• Karen McArthur meet with us to consult on financial issues later in March
• She will come on March 10 or 24 to visit and examine our books and
visit ( Could be Sunday March 1 or March 22)
• She would present a PPT explaining the financial issues
• Charge $200 which would be folded into her fees if we hire her
• Peg Round wants to give a presentation about financial reports on March 3

• Discuss section 1 of revised Personnel Policy- postponed to a later time

• Other business (working team news, etc.)
• Two Experiments in Social Action- in the early planning stages
• Beverly Common Cathedral
• Take the Weekend Off from Cooking

TO DO:
• Doodle Poll about meeting with Scott Vandewalle- Nancy
• Doodle Poll about meeting with Karen McArthur- Nancy

Minutes: Central Board Feb 18, 2020 and Congregation Meeting ``Feb 16, 2020 Page 2 of 7
 Congregational Meeting – February 16, 2020
Second Congregational Church

Time/Place: Sunday, February 16, 2020 in the sanctuary after Worship/

Called to order at 10:50 AM
Adjourned at 11:15 AM

Moderator: Joyce Mosher, assisted by Dale Miller Bouton, Central Board Secretary

Proof of Notice
This meeting was originally planned for February 9 to deal with the following business:
1. Amend Article VII, Section 3b of the bylaws
2. Amend Article VII, Section 5b of the bylaws
3. Approve the five goals the Central Board recommends for 2019-20
The meeting and those agenda items were announced during Worship on January 26.

During the next week, the Central Board, acting as the Interim Pastoral Search Team, was able
to conclude arrangements with Peter Preble to come to us as Interim Pastor. The Board decided
to delay the February 9 meeting by one week so that the Call to Rev. Preble could be added to
the agenda while still giving proper notice.

The date, time and full agenda of the meeting, including all four items of business, were
announced at worship on February 2, February 9 and February 16. Clerk Dale Earl posted the
Call to Meeting on the bulletin boards in the narthex, the handicap entrance and near the
church office, and the Call was also printed in the February Spire along with several pages of
explanatory material. All items on the agenda were discussed at Forward Chats in the weeks
preceding the vote.

Quorum
Our last official membership count, done before the bylaws were passed in September,
confirmed a list of 140 members. Since then, John Brenan and Jean Holiday have died, making
the current total 138 members. 15% of 138 members is 20.7, so 21 members is a quorum. 32
members were present at this meeting, so a quorum was met.

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ACTIONS TAKEN:

Motion 1: The Central Board moves that the congregation call Rev. Peter Preble to be our
Interim Pastor. [see discussion section for Rev. Preble’s bio]
Action: The congregation voted unanimously, without abstentions, in favor of the
motion as presented.

Motion 2: The Central Board moves that the congregation approve the five goals
recommended by the Board for the remainder of 2019-20. [see discussion
section for details]
Action: The congregation voted unanimously, without abstentions, in favor of the
motion as presented.

Motion 3: The Central Board moves that the congregation approve the following
amendment to Article VII, Section 3b of the bylaws. The amended language is:
“A vote of confidence for up to fifteen members they would be willing to
acknowledge as qualified to serve on the Central Board.” [see discussion
section for full details]
Action: The congregation voted unanimously, without abstentions, in favor of the
motion as presented.

Motion 4: The Central Board moves that the congregation approve the following
amendment to Article VII, Section 5b of the bylaws. The amended language is:
“Regular meeting dates and times for Central Board meetings shall be
publicized to the congregation by the Central Board secretary through at least
two means likely to reach interested persons in the congregation at least seven
days in advance. The agenda shall be posted two days before the meeting on
the board web pages.” [see discussion section for full details]
Action: The congregation voted unanimously, without abstentions, in favor of the
motion as presented.

DISCUSSION

Motion 1: The Central Board moves that the congregation call Rev. Peter Preble to be our
Interim Pastor.

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Several people offered positive comments based on interactions with Rev. Preble, who came to
the Beam supper last night. Jeanie Murray asked about the term of the contract. It is written as
one year, but the terms are flexible.

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Motion 2: The Central Board moves that the congregation approve the five goals
recommended by the Board for the remainder of 2019-20.
The new bylaws require the Central Board to recommend annual goals to the congregation, to
create an annual review process to assess progress, and to give an annual “State of the Church”
message to the Congregation. Therefore, at the January 19 worship service, the Board offered a
PowerPoint presentation to explain the goals being recommended for the remainder of the
2019-20 working year.

The first two goals are logical and obvious. They are necessary before we can do anything else:
1. Find a new pastor
a. An interim as soon as we can find one (done)
b. First steps toward a settled pastor, beginning with Feb 8 workshop
2. Solidify the new governance structure
a. Get Central Board working smoothly
b. Get 14 Working Teams in gear
c. Complete 15 policies required by the new bylaws
d. Standardize financial recordkeeping and reporting to make succession planning
easier.
The last three goals are experimental and exploratory, designed to test the road ahead:
3. Five experiments in Worship
a. Led by the Worship Design Team
b. Aim is to design worship services that further our church purpose by fostering a
loving community and creating attractive events that lend themselves to inviting
new participants
4. Three experiments in community building
a. Led by the Visitation and Community Building Teams
b. Aim is to strengthen social ties within the church
5. Two experiments in community service
a. Led by Mission and Social Action
b. Aim is to strength ties between church and community – involves activities
outside the church walls

Motion 3: The Central Board moves that the congregation approve the following
amendment to Article VII, Section 3b of the bylaws. The amended language is:
“A vote of confidence for up to fifteen members they would be willing to acknowledge as
qualified to serve on the Central Board.”

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Current:
. . . . All active members shall be invited to use this nomination form to indicate both:
1. A vote of confidence for all members they would be willing to acknowledge as qualified to
serve on the Central Board. There is no limit to the number of names that may be checked.
Amended:
. . . . All active members shall be invited to use this nomination form to indicate both:
1. A vote of confidence for up to fifteen members they would be willing to acknowledge as
qualified to serve on the Central Board.
Reason:
Unlimited number of votes of confidence made the ballots very difficult and time-consuming to
count accurately. Fifteen seems reasonable.

Motion 4: The Central Board moves that the congregation approve the following
amendment to Article VII, Section 5b of the bylaws. The amended language is:
“Regular meeting dates and times for Central Board meetings shall be publicized to the
congregation by the Central Board secretary through at least two means likely to reach
interested persons in the congregation at least seven days in advance. The agenda shall be
posted two days before the meeting on the board web pages.”
Current:
Regular meeting dates and times for Central Board meetings shall be publicized to the
congregation by the Central Board secretary through at least two means likely to reach
interested persons in the congregation at least seven days in advance. The notices shall include
the agenda for the meeting. Topics not on the public agenda may be brought up for discussion
but not voted upon.
Amended:
Regular meeting dates and times for Central Board meetings shall be publicized to the
congregation by the Central Board secretary through at least two means likely to reach
interested persons in the congregation at least seven days in advance. The agenda shall be
posted two days before the meeting on the board web pages.
Reason:
The Board has been meeting every 14 days. That means only 7 days elapse before the notice of
the next meeting is required. It has proven very difficult to carry out work planned at one
meeting AND prepare all the new information required for the next meeting within 7 days.
Announcing the meeting time & place is not a problem. It is having the final agenda in place
that early. We need more flexibility. We can, however, use the Spire to announce the general
topics we are working on.

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