UUFRC Program Council Minutes – November 23, 2020, 7 pm, via Zoom
Attendees: Alex, Lori, Ellen, Tovis, Martha, Rev. Brian, Beth Harrison (guest). Absent: Marina.
Minutes of October meeting – approved.
PC Cluster Groups
Operations (Alex): Building, Committee on Ministries, Communications, CUUE
Congregational Life (Lori): Caring, Connections
Justice & Outreach (Ellen): Roosevelt Tutoring, Social Action, Interfaith
Sunday Services (Martha): MOCA, Music, Worship
Faith Formation (Marina): Chalice Circles, The Learning Journey, Youth & Family
Governance (Tovis): Board of Trustees, Program Council, Finance, Personnel, Stewardship
Request by Beth for permission to teach the Spiritual Autobiography course in January 2021:
- A 4-week course offered via Zoom on Monday nights.
- Builds community because Writing Groups form as a result of the course.
- Advantage of online course is that people who are not local can join in.
Program Council gave approval for the course
The new UUFRC Zine, called Redwood Circle, has been published. Beth and the Zine team welcome input for monthly themes. Program Council offered appreciation for the team and the Redwood Circle.
Reviewed Action Items:
SAQ have been published. Safety/security subgroup has started.
Board & PC met to discuss the role of each body.
Rev. Brian will be talking with the Board on 11/24/2020 about developing a Strategic Plan. If we have a strategic plan then the roles will be clarified. A strategic plan will be useful to guide decisions and what the PC should take up. Rev. Brian explained the strategic plan as identifying who we are, where we are, where we want to go, what we want to do (Board), and how do we want to do it (PC). PC would develop a set of objectives and help prioritize resources.
Pastoral Care Team: Suggested that supporting the Pastoral Care Team getting started be the focus of the PC this year. (See discussion below).
Chapel service: Tovis talked with YAF. Decided not to have separate chapel service for families. Instead, devote 15-20 minutes, once/month, to intergenerational focus.
C groups: Rev. Brian & facilitators decided to meet quarterly; not have a training. All groups are willing to accept new people. Some groups are meeting more frequently for less time. A Covenant Group Coordinator is still needed.
Communications: Mail chimp will include all who have signed up; Groups.io will be a sub-set of mail chimp. Administrator is working on sorting it out so that there will not be duplication.
PC will have a page in the members section of the website, which is under revision, and will be revealed early next year. Website will be geared more toward newcomers, with a Member section for inner workings of the church.
Cluster Updates:
Governance: Finance committee sent out a Financial Dash Board. All PPE funds have been used. UUA Pacific Western Region training for Board leadership on December 5th.
Personnel: adding a new member to the committee on hold. Setting up a process for background checks on all who work with children in RE.
Congregational Life: Connections Committee is setting up a Keeping in Touch Team to make friendly check in calls to members and friends. Meals for families with young children were delivered. Working on having Committee Spotlight during worship service.
Rev. Brian suggested that we use the Wayside Pulpit sign to communicate messages to people in the wider community. Each committee could take a month to post messages.
Faith Formation: YAF and others planning to add lights to the outside of the building during December, and add seasonal art work to the windows and Wayside Pulpit.
Sunday Services: Worship needs more volunteers for projection of slides, and a few more for sound.
Justice and Outreach: More than 23 UUFRC members and friends participated in UU the Vote, Reclaim OUR Vote and several other get out the vote efforts. An amazing number of postcards & letters were sent, and calls made. PC brainstormed how we could thank the people who worked on the voting.
Operations: Building committee and many volunteers painted and freshened the Minister’s Office.
Discussion: Pastoral Care Team
The goal is to establish a new group who would take a significant role in pastoral care.
Rev. Brian needs help triaging pastoral care needs in the community, so that he has time for all of his roles as leader of the Fellowship. He is willing to do the training for both staff and the team. This would be a “listening ministry”.
Rev. Brian invited the PC to suggest names of people who might serve on the Pastoral Care Team. Several ideas of how to promote this were suggested, for example, an orientation meeting to present the concept, one-on one “asks”, a sermon/worship service on listening.
During Joys & Sorrows it may be noticed that someone could use a call from the pastoral care team. Connections Committee is forming a “Keep in Touch” to make calls. A need for pastoral care may be identified during those calls. There is overlap between the Caring Committee, Connections Committee and Pastoral Care Team.
Beth Harrison and Rev. Brian will take next steps in forming the team.
Action Items:
Martha – put a request for volunteers for Worship committee projection and sound in the e-Bulletin and announcements.
Rev. Brian – Explore the ideas suggested by PC for thanking the people who worked on the voting effort as well as those who work to produce the online Worship service.
Next meeting: Monday, January 25th, 7 – 9 pm