Minutes of Meeting of Mission Council

September 26 – 27, 2016

Present: Bill Pyatt, chair; Jodi Cataldo, vice-chair; Bishop Julius Trimble; Rick VanGiesen, Treasurer; Paul White, NCJ Secretary; Jim Searls, NCJ Coordinator of Communications; Lonnie Chafin, incoming Treasurer (1/1/17); Kristin Krogman, Rose Booker-Jones, Gifty Smith, Ryan Russell, Nitze Dovenspike, John Lawson, Gail Burgess, Alex Plum, Tyler Sit, Matthew Sipe, Steve Court, Young-Mee Park, Chris Winkler, Allison Curts, Jim Bushfield, Brad Bartelmay, Benton Heisler, Laura Witkowski, John Boley, Mission Council Secretary.

 Absent: Doug Damron; Dominic Mejia; Lisa Shubert-Knowling

Bill called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm.

Devotions: John B did a devotion on Luke 17: 5-10 and the Disciples desire to “increase our faith.”

Introductions around the Table.

Purpose: Bill led a discussion on the purpose of the Mission Council. Bishop Trimble recited the materials from the NCJ Journal.

Financial Policies: Rick briefly discussed existing Financial Policies. We briefly looked at the budget. More discussion to follow. General discussion of the budgeting process.

Break for Pizza Dinner. (Thanks to Nancy Patton and Rick VanGiesen for all their work and hospitality.

Action Items:

  • Checking Account: Jodi and Rick discussed the need for new financial accounts with the changeover to Lonnie as of January 1st. Funds are currently invested in the West Ohio Credit Union. Suggestion that the UM Foundations be examined. Motion by Benton, 2nd by Chris that we give Lonnie Chafin and the Executive Committee authority to investigate and decide on which financial institutions to use. Further Discussion. Approved.

 

  • Mileage Rate: Jodi and Rick discussed that the current mileage rate for Jurisdictional work is $.20 per mile. Motion by Gail Burgess, 2nd by Kristen Krogman that we keep the same rate, $.20 per mile for the next year. Friendly amendment by Benton that we adopt the travel policy of the Jurisdiction Conference with respect to reimbursement for car-pool riders. Approved.

Bishop Trimble closed the evening in prayer.

Re-convene at 8:30 am on September 27th.

Call to Order: Bishop Trimble called us to order and introduced Jan Griffiths, the Clergy Assistant to the Bishop for the IGRC, who brought us greetings.

Devotions: Bishop Trimble read scripture from Colossians 3 and John 21. We sang Amazing Grace. Bishop Trimble remarked on the Presidential debate from the previous evening and he desires to be a harbinger of hope and a trafficker of love. We shared “Glory Sightings.”

Relationship with College of Bishops: Bishop Trimble discussed the relationship between the Mission Council and the College of Bishops. The state of the relationship is strong. The College is committed to the vision and dreaming for Jurisdictional ministries and for the new grant process. The College will not review grant applications, but is very supportive of the creative work of the Mission Council. The College meets in January, and in September/October, and also briefly at Council of Bishops meetings.

Relationship with Association of Directors of Connectional Ministry: Jim informed us that the DCM’s also are committed to the vision and dreaming of Jurisdictional ministries and the new grant process. Benton also shared:

  1. Steve Court will be liaison with the College of Bishops;
  2. Jim Bushnell and Benton will serve on Mission Council with Jim on the Executive Committee;
  3. The DCM’s met with the College of Bishops last week and discussed:

1) What are the points of vitality in local churches in the AC’s,

2) What kind of training can we do in cross-cultural and cross-racial settings,

3) How can we enhance leadership development,

4) The importance of new church starts;

  1. Further discussions will occur after the Extended Cabinet Summit;
  2. The DCM’s are seeking ministry consistencies between the AC’s and the Jurisdiction, and the sharing of knowledge of funding realities;
  3. DCM’s will promote the NCJ website;

Further discussion of how the DCM’s will coordinated with the Mission Council to review grant applications.

New Tasks of Mission Council: Paul discussed changes in the Mission Council enacted by Jurisdictional Conference:

  1. Did away with some committees which were not functioning or had a limited role, such as the Rules of Order Committee and the Presiding Officers Committee. These roles will be assumed by the Mission Council
  2. We kept the committees required by the Discipline: Mission Council, Court of Appeals, Committee on Investigation, Committee on Episcopacy.

The question was raised about whether we need to form sub-committees. General affirmation of this.

Nominations and Election: Bill proposed that the Executive Committee consist of the Bishop (Assigned by the College of Bishops), the Chair, the Vice Chair, Treasurer (elected by the Jurisdiction), Secretary of the Mission Council, NCJ Secretary (elected by the Jurisdiction) one DCM’s (named by the Association of DCM’s), and the Coordinator of Communications (named by the Executive Committee).

Bill recommended that Ryan Russell be nominated as Vice Chair and that Gail Burgess become Council Secretary.

The entire Executive Committee slate was presented to the Mission Council

Bishop Trimble

Chair: Jodi Cataldo

Vice Chair: Ryan Russell

Treasurer: Rick Van Giesen until 1/1/17 and Lonnie Chafin after 1/1/17

Secretary: Gail Burgess

NCJ Secretary: Paul White

DCM: Jim Bushfield

Director of Communications: Jim Searls

Unanimous Approval

 

John Boley relinquished the role of Secretary and Gail Burgess assumed it.

Respectfully Submitted,

John W. Boley, Secretary

Chairperson Jodi Cataldo reconvened the meeting following the 10:15 break. She noted that there James Bushfield is the only Director of Connectional Ministries (DCM) on the Mission Council Executive Committee; that would make nine persons.

Minutes from the July 16 Executive Committee were received in a Bill Pyatt/ Rose Booker-Jones motion, 26/0. Mission Council minutes will be sent to all members for corrections before they are posted on the Jurisdiction site.

Rick Van Giesen reviewed the Treasurer’s Report. The conferences are outstanding in making their apportionment payments; all will have paid 100% by the end of the year. Questions regarding specific recipients of money through the Jurisdiction were answered.   Having a line item to cover potential costs for future General Conferences held in the Jurisdiction was discussed; it will be quite a while before we have another General Conference here. The treasurer’s report was approved in a Jim Searls/ Gifty Smith motion, 26/0. Thanks were given to Rick for his service on the council.

Episcopal Report: Bishop Trimble reported that the College of Bishops has met with the DCM’s. The Council of Bishops will be meeting in October with Vital Congregations as their focus. They will be naming members of the group that will be discussing human sexuality and then convening that group soon. The Bishop’s role is challenging: they need to promote unity while treating all as children of God. Bishop Trimble also noted that the Mission Council work is critical and he is pleased with the work of the Nominating Committee in putting the current council together. John Boley noted that it is great to have so many members here. During his tenure there have been as few as half or 2/3 of the members present.

Jurisdictional Conference: Rick Van Giesen noted that the electronic voting cut down on time spent electing Bishops this year. Perhaps we could cut the conference by a day and save on expenses. However, it was good to have the time for a discussion on race – which was expedited by less time spent on voting. It would be good to have time to discuss what our mission is as a jurisdiction. It is important for the Mission Council to remember that we support the NCJ vision, we don’t create it.

New Grant Process: A motion to make the application process an annual one, noting that those with 2-3 year plans can update and evaluate their applications was made by Matt Sipe and seconded by Tyler Sit. The motion passed, 24/0. Four years is too long; one year is optimum. Projects that will take longer than a year to complete will need to have benchmarks and annual evaluation. There will not be liaisons between the Council and the recipients.

(Break for Lunch) Thanks were given to past Chairman Bill Pyatt and past secretary John Boley who then left the meeting.

Introduction of New Grant Process: A brief letter of summary of the NCJ Missional Grant process was presented. Some questioned whether we should require an endorsement by a DCM or Board. We will add a paragraph to the Summary encouraging applicants to communicate with District Superintendents and DCM’s.

It was suggested that we develop a Concept form that would precede the application and would ask for information regarding the Challenge, the Dream, the Geographic Area and Specific Goals. All groups applying for funding would need to first submit this Grant Concept Application. A sub-committee could review the Concept Applications and offer suggestions for improvement, collaborations, etc. Once the Concept Applications were approved, a link to the Grant Application would be made available. Ideally we would be serving as a facilitative/consultative ministry, not just those who dole out funds.

It was noted that applications in another language may take longer than the time we can provide this year. Ryan Russell moved that the Korean Mission Council be allowed one application in 2017 with each individual church or group named with their goals for the year. Kristen Krogman seconded and the motion carried, 24/0.

Afternoon Break

The following Application Schedule was adopted in a Benton Heisler/Alex Plum motion:

October 21, 2016 – Concept Application due

October 26 or 27, 2016 – Subcommittee meets via phone conference

October 31, 2016 9 am CDT – Executive Committee meets via phone conference;

November 4, 2016 – Application link made available

November 18, 2016 – Grant Applications due and 2016 Progress Reports due; All members review and score by November 30

December 1, 2016 – Executive Committee Conference Call, 10 am CST

December 13, 2016 – Applications approved.                 Motion carried 24/0.

The subgroup(s) that review the Concept Applications will be able to access the applications via Google. Others on the council will also be able to access them there. The subgroup can meet via phone conference on October 26 or 27 before sending their recommendations to the executive committee. The committee will be made up of Nitza Dovenspike, Alex Plum, Gifty Smith and Steve Court.

The Concept Application was reviewed and was approved for placement online.

A rubric needs to be set up using a 1-4 scale. It can be set up on Survey Monkey. The introductory letter will be tweaked. We will also need a letter for those applicants whose requests are being denied.

Schedule for 2018:   January 15, 2017 – Begin submitting Concepts for 2018

2016 Progress Reports due

January-February – Connector makes contact with 2017 recipients to

determine how the second half of the year went

April 15, 2017 – Concept Application due

June 15, 2017 – Subgroup Review Complete

June 26, 2017 – Executive Committee, 10 am CDT

July 1, 2017 – Application Link available

September 1, 2017 – Applications and 2017 Mid-Year Reports due

(Team reviews applications)

September 25-27, 2017 – Mission Council meets in Indianapolis

A revised Grant Application will be reviewed on Wednesday. The Progress Report should go out in November and be back in January.

We need to determine how we evaluate our process. How do we get feedback?

College of Bishops will meet in Chicago in January. Mission Council Executive Committee can meet with them on January 26 in the morning.

   September 28, 2016

Outgoing Treasurer Rick Van Giesen opened the morning session with a devotion based on Revelation 2:17. A white stone was given to each of us to remind us that we have been declared “Not Guilty” by the judge.

A revision of the Mission Grant Application Process Instructions was presented. It provides an overview and dates for 2017 grants. A Rubric for Evaluation of the Concept application and the 2017 Grant Application was received and edited online at Google forms. The rating scale ranges from 1 (Weakest) to 4 (Strongest). Applicants will be given a copy of the rubric to use as they prepare their application. Alex shared information on what is important in a proposal: Long-term Goals, Intermediate (Actions and Behaviors to change), Short-Term (knowledge, belief, attitude) and Activities (workshops and outreach). He will look for a webinar or prepare one to help applicants understand what we need. The executive committee will assign persons, “connectors”, to guide applicants through the process and check in with them at the time the concept is approved and the grant application is sent.

A motion to accept The Mission Grant Application Process Instructions and the Rubric for Evaluation was made by Jim Bushfield and seconded by Brad Bartelmay. The motion carried, 22/0

Following a break at 9:45, we reviewed and edited the Progress Report. This document, along with others approved will be held in Google Forms under 2017-2020 Mission Council. Rose Booker-Jones moved that we accept the Progress Report. Sun Young-Mee seconded and the motion carried, 21/0. It was agreed that those who have received a 2016 grant will be required to send in a Progress Report, due January 15, 2017. Information from the reports can be shared with the College of Bishops in Chicago. The connector will be in touch with applicants, to.

These changes, including the schedule and the forms will be on the NCJ website, and an article that Jim Searls is preparing will act as an introduction. This article will be shared with all of our Bishops, DCM’s and Conference Communications Coordinators. A letter to currently funded agencies will go out immediately.

We will need to evaluate this new process. We can ask for input from the applicants and may need to develop a Survey Monkey for both applicants and ourselves. The executive committee will look into this at their meeting in January.

This meeting – what went well? This was an active, engaged group. We generated new ideas, creativity and expertise. – It was uplifting and well done. – The willingness of everyone to participate, to jump in and share their creativity was appreciated. – There was more excitement generated than in previous years. – The atmosphere encouraged creativity out of chaos. This is a healthy team. – What can we do differently? Healthier food. – More short breaks. – More work online (with directions for those who need assistance). – A projector and a screen.

All present joined in singing “Alleluia” and Bishop Trimble gave a Benediction. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50.   A picture of the remaining group was taken, and the executive committee met briefly to discuss arrangements for the January 26 meeting with the College of Bishops in Chicago.

The next full Council Meeting will be September 25-27 in Indianapolis.

Gail Burgess

Secretary

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