At the December 19, 2024, meeting, the Board made a number of important decisions:
Adopted the Special Offerings calendar. The Board adopted the special offerings calendar for 2025
Committee members/Board-Appointed positions. The Board appointed committee members and chairs and filled Board-appointed positions.
Pastor’s housing allowance. The Board passed a resolution setting the pastor’s housing allowance. This is a formality that does not change the compensation package for Pastor Jane but is a tax-related consideration only.
Accepted the building committee’s recommendation regarding First Church’s Property/Liability/Worker’s Comp. Insurance. The Building Committee recommended that we contract with the Insurance Board for property, liability, and worker’s comp insurance for a total premium of $29,582, about $11,000 less than the original quote from our previous insurance company. The new coverage will involve a $5 million umbrella and $50,000 deductible. The thinking of the Committee was that we would not be submitting small claims, so the difference between $10,000 and $50,000 deductible in terms of the premium was worth it. The Board accepted this recommendation from the Building Committee on insurance.
Approved the use of Undesignated Funds for the Building Use Group and Flourish: In its November meeting, the Board discussed the use of funds that are not restricted in their use (memorial gifts, undesignated bequests, unspent COVID relief funds, and past budget surpluses). It was decided that a portion of this money will be invested in our First Church Fund. It was also decided that these funds could support one-time expenses necessary to support our Flourish initiatives related to increased building use (security systems and kitchen upgrade), and ministry team projects (creation of a logo, upgrades to internal signage and displays, upgrades to external signage, and other requests from ministry teams). At the December meeting, the Board authorized $25,000 of the undesignated funds be made available to the Flourish Task Force. Some of these funds will be used immediately for upgrading our building’s security system, and to support painting and other upgrades to the former music rehearsal space on the second floor of the Gathering Hall that will be rented to Byron Almén.
Approved the transfer of Covid relief funds to the Deacons Fund and the Reparations Fund. The Deacons Fund is a long-time discretionary fund under the purview of the pastor. During Covid, donations were raised by the congregation to help members of the congregation and outside community members who were being impacted by the pandemic. These funds have current balances of $6,522 for church members and $1,920 for community members. After discussion, the Board approved transferring the $6,522 amount to the Deacons Fund, to be distributed by the Pastor on an occasional basis to members and friends of the congregation. The Board also approved transferring the $1,920 amount to the Reparations Fund.
Report on Capital Campaign planning. Pastor Jane and Linda Valerian reported that there are several organizations that can help with capital campaigns. Besides the James Company (which we dealt with last time), there is The United Church of Christ Church Building and Loan Fund, which has not been contacted yet. Linda will reach out to them after the beginning of the new year. Linda had previously contacted another capital campaign planning organization, but they did not respond to her inquiry, so that organization is no longer being considered to assist us. Linda, Jane, and Joy Gullikson, also a member of this task force, will work to identify a third organization, to help ensure that we will have sufficient data to select the most effective organization to assist us with our upcoming capital campaign.