Friday, May 7, 2021

Present: Jim Searls, Paul White, Ryan Russell, Laura Witkowski, Lonnie Chaffin, Curtis Brown, Gail Burgess

Bishop Trimble was unable to be present, but he had spoken with Ryan and explained that Bishop Bard was asking for guidance as to what we thought about a special NCJ Session. Ryan will send this information to Bishop Bard following the meeting.

Jim shared a copy of the Grant Application; it will be updated for 2022 and placed on the website. A line will be added asking for the total budget of the applicant (not just the project or event budget). The applications are due September 15 and those applying will be notified by December 21. Progress reports are due soon for those multi-year applicants receiving grants in 2021.

Following the Council of Bishops decision not to hold episcopal elections until November 2-4, 2022, it is now up to the College of Bishops to determine if we will have an NCJ Special Session this fall. Currently, we have the contract with Fort Wayne for November 10-12, 2021 and are looking into changing that to 2022. Some reasons to meet in November include re-staffing Mission Council, discussing the number of Bishops to be elected in 2022, affirming that the 2020 delegates will be the 2022 delegates, creating a strategic direction—what NCJ looks like in the future and looking at the possibility of regional conference. Perhaps we could decrease the NCJ asking from each conference and look at the budget.    We may also want to look at any changes needed regarding virtual meetings.

Perhaps we could meet for just one day to cut down on expenses.  Mission Council might be able to host or could offer suggestions on doing brainstorming.  We could meet in a large NCJ church rather than in the convention center.  We could ask to limit expenses by having group meals, not paying per diems. If we don’t lose money by not using Fort Wayne in 2021, we should definitely consider less expensive possibilities. It would also be a good idea for small group sessions to be held prior to any gathering of all delegates.

The full Mission Council will need to meet to review Grant Applications.  We will wait to set this date until we know if there will be a special session or Mission Council will be hosting a gathering of delegates.

Lonnie reported that money is coming in as expected.  Spending is down.

Our next meeting will probably be sometime later this month.

Gail Burgess

Secretary