MINUTES OF THE

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

AND

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

OF THE

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CONGREGATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

Conference Call

February 2-3, 2007

AGENDA	DISCUSSION/ACTION
1. Welcome/Roll Call	Chairman Rev. Richard Hotchkin convened the conference call of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches on Friday, February 02, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. Executive Committee voting members present were: Rev. Richard Hotchkin (Chair) Rev. Joseph Clarke Anne Butman Bonn Clayton Claudia Kniefel Rev. Wendy Van Tassell Joelle Sommers Edith Bartley Rev. Casey vanderBent Rev. Neil Hunt Don Sturgis Board of Directors voting members: Rev. Richard Hotchkin (Chair) Rev. Joseph Clarke Anne Butman Bonn Clayton Claudia Kniefel Rev. Wendy Van Tassell Joelle Sommers Don Sturgis Edith Bartley Rev. Casey vanderBent Rev. Neil Hunt Dr. Helen Gierke, Moderator Rev. William Fillebrown, Moderator-Elect (joined the meeting on Saturday) Absent: Rev. Dr. Lloyd Hall Rev. Dick Adair Also present: Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Richard, Executive Secretary Dan Drea, Financial Manager Jeff Dillon, Treasurer Susan Carter, Secretary
2. Opening Prayer	Opening prayer given by Joelle Sommers
3. Meeting Protocol	Dick Hotchkin announced the resignation from the EC of Rev. Dr. Giovan King. He reassigned her responsibilities to: Joe Clark - Membership and Procedures Committee. Joelle Sommers - Division of Ministry. Chairman Hotchkin reviewed the conference call meeting protocols.
4. Agenda	There was one item added to the agenda. Each year at the Annual Meeting a citation is presented to someone in the NA who has given extraordinary service. If EC members have suggestions for this citation, the names should be submitted to Lloyd Hall.
5. Minutes	EC Minutes of November 3-4, 2006 were previously reviewed and approved via email.
6. Staff Reports	6a. Karen Frazzell, Director of Youth Ministries and Director of Church Services. Accepted written report. Karen will be leaving the NA staff in March 2007. Members were encouraged to send cards. Sue Carter will send a letter to Karen, on behalf of the EC, commending her for her years of service to the National Association. 6b. Carrie Dahm – accepted written report 6c. John Carson – accepted written report 6d. Don Olsen – no report. Tom reported that Don has been out of the office serving many churches in conflict. EC asked that we receive statistics on how many churches he has visited. 6e. Diana David – accepted written report. EC members were not aware they were to submit names for the RSI Campaign. Concern was expressed for the quality of the campaign. Members with concerns were asked to share them with Tom Richard. 6f. Tom Richard – accepted written report. There was concern over number of staff cuts. Concerned was also expressed about receiving disgruntled churches into the NA. Tom responded saying we are very careful when looking at churches wanting to join the NA. We have several independent churches that are currently looking at the NA. Some churches are reclaiming their congregational roots. It is not necessarily a disgruntled situation. He also reported that until the Capital Campaign is complete we would have little money to grow new churches.
Annual Meetings	7a. Helen Gierke, Moderator – 2007 Annual Meeting. Accepted written report. 7b. Bill Fillebrown, Moderator-Elect – 2008 Annual Meeting. No report. Anne Butman gave an update. Chuck Kantner is chair of Planning Committee. Sub-committee members have been going out to local churches to generate support. Theme: Thy Will be Done, the Pilgrimage Continues Bill Fillebrown joined the conference call on Saturday morning and gave an oral report. Plymouth Plantation is very excited about working with us. Next committee meeting Feb. 12^th. David Fisher was contacted, and has accepted, invitation to serve as Bible Lecturer. Promotion materials are being designed to present at 2007 Annual Meeting in Florida. Bill Fillebrown’s written report will be emailed to Carrie for posting on Executive Committee’s Worksite.
8. Financial Report	8a/b. Dan Drea, Financial Manager and Jeff Dillon, Treasurer – accepted written report. Expected short fall in income of $30,000. Cannot ignore the poor financial trend the organization is experiencing. There is concern about the disparity in numbers the youth think they have. They have a worksheet as to how they came to that figure. Dan has not seen the worksheet. Tom thinks Karen has identified where that money has gone. 8c. Don Sturgis, Budget Committee – Committee has not completed the proposed budget. Because of personnel changes Tom and Dan requested more time to address some of the changes. Budget Committee feels fairly good about the income side of the budget. Have asked all commissions and divisions not to increase their request but they have not necessarily complied with the request. Don reported the budget should be ready the first of March. A conference call will be scheduled to address the budget. When the budget is presented they will highlight what percentage of administration applies to general support and divisions. This should show the general membership the need to support. 8d. Per diem allowance for leadership attending the Annual Meeting. Division liaisons should remind division members that NA pays for their being at the meeting. If they do not take advantage of the meal plan they are on their own with no reimbursement. 8e. Annual Meeting Host Committee – communion offering. Host Committee has not discussed yet. This item will be addressed, along with the budget, at our next conference call. 8f. MOTION #1: Moved by Edith Bartley, second Neil Hunt, that the NA is in compliance with procedures for withholding, collecting, remitting all Federal and State taxes. VOTE: Motion adopted 8g. MOTION #2: Moved by Neil Hunt, second by Casey vanderBent, that the NA engage Reilly, Penner, and Benton LLP for the annual audit. Discussion: Reilly, Penner, and Benton have been the NA’s auditor for 6 years. Question was asked whether we have considered other bids. We have not but will do so in future years. VOTE: Motion adopted 8h. MOTION #3: Moved by Bonn Clayton, second Neil Hunt, that we accept the proposed housing allowance for Tom Richard, Executive Secretary. VOTE: Motion adopted. Don Olsen and John Carson have not submitted their proposed housing allowances. Their housing allowances will be address on the next conference call. 8i. MOTION #4: Moved by Joe Clark, second by Edith Bartley, that we table the motion that no transfer be made from principle earnings of the three Morgan Scott Endowment Funds. No one is quite sure what this motion is. Tom and Dan will investigate and, if necessary, put on future meeting agenda. VOTE: Motion adopted. 8j. The suggested motion regarding overdrafts on any budget line from the 2007-2008 GOF are approved provided they do not exceed 10% of the line item is not timely and needs further discussion. Dan Drea, Jeff Dillon and Tom Richard will confer with auditor and, if necessary, put on a future meeting agenda.
9. Historian	Lloyd Hall - No report
10. Ad Hoc Committees	10a. Biennial Meeting Committee. Accepted written report. The Committee was commended for their good work. Motion #5: Moved by Don Sturgis, second by Claudia Kniefel, to accept report of the Biennial Meeting Committee and dissolve the committee. VOTE: Motion adopted. 10b. RSI Capital Campaign Implementation Team. Members feel very confident that we are going to arrive at the 2007 Annual Meeting with $3,000,000. During the month of March they will be visiting at least 10 major contributors.
Recessed at 8:30 p.m. Reconvened Saturday, February 3, 2007, 10:00 a.m.
11. Sub-Committees	11a. Anne Butman, Nominations and Appointments. Accepted written report. Nominees can be submitted throughout the year. 11b. Wendy vanTassell – Personnel and Administration. Accepted written report. Wendy reported there is much concern and anxiety about transition when Karen Frazzell leaves NA staff the end of March. 11c. Bonn Clayton – Membership and Procedures. Accepted written report. The following churches are being considered for membership in NA. Hemingford Congregational, Nebraska Ashby Congregational, Nebraska First Congregational of Little Valley New York First Congregational of Owosso, Michigan Hyannis Congregational Church, Nebraska First Congregational in Tonganoxie, Kansas Committee needs to take another look at churches considered for NA membership. Names of churches, with brief description, will be sent to each EC member. Place on March agenda. Membership and Procedures Committee withdrew motion regarding tenure for NA Executives. Wording on Amendment needs to be reviewed by Committee. Place on March agenda.
12. NA Commissions and Committees	12a. Becci Cox – Church Services Commission. Becci joined the call on Saturday morning to discuss the Church Services Commission Visioning Team Report. There was no action because members of the EC had not received the report and needed time to review it. It will be placed on the agenda of our March conference call. 12b. Lexy Van Deneede – Youth Ministries. Accepted written report. 12c. Alan Seltzer – Communication Services. Accepted written report. A proposal was presented for online credit card processing. The NA office already has provision for online ordering. Will take up next month after staff has time to review. 12d. Art Wallach – Financial services. Accepted written report. 12e. Joy Baumgartner – CCD. Accepted written report. 12f. William Lange – CFTS. Accepted written report. 12g. Barbara Mullen – DFM. Accepted written report. 12h. Leo Christian – Missionary Society. No report 12i. Gus Goldshine – Building and Loan. No report 12j. Jim Larson – Credentials. Accepted written report. 12k. Bob Brunner – Investment Advisory. Accepted written report. 12l. Rich Miller-Todd – Nominating. Accepted written report. Members expressed concern that all three people submitted for the Executive Committee are male and clergy. 12m. Bonn Clayton – World Christian Relations. Accepted report of Poverty Committee. Christian Churches Together is meeting next week in Pasadena. Don Sturgis will be there Wed. night. Bonn is attending but not as a representative of the churches of the National Association. Bonn is not able to vote. Make sure abstention is recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The question was asked: Do we need to leave the table if we are not able to vote on issues. This will be an agenda item at the June 2007 meeting of the EC.
13. Organizational	13a. Howard Lewis – Congregational Foundation. Accepted written report. 13b. Cindy Bacon – New Hymnal Committee. Accepted written report. Helen Gierke asked that the cost of the hymnal be tacked on to Annual Meeting registration fee. Tom reported they are looking for an outside source to fund the hymnal. Majority of EC members seemed to like the option of putting an extra dollar amount on the registration fee. The Hymnal Committee discussed purchasing a nice gift for Cindy Bacon for all her hard work. They are looking at an antique piece of sheet music to frame and present to Cindy at the Annual Meeting. Those who wish to contribute should send donations to Casey vanderBent. 13c. Jim Eaton – The Congregationalist. Accepted written report We are now down to quarterly issues. Many people have still not received the Christmas issue.
Next meeting	Carrie will look at a date for the EC March conference call. Preferably a Sunday afternoon in March.
Pre-meeting dates in June	Pre-meeting dates for EC: Thursday evening June 21 and all day on Friday, June 22.
Names for RSI Campaign	Tom reminded EC members to submit names for RSI Campaign.
Closing prayer	Neil Hunt led EC in closing prayer 11:55
Adjournment	Conference call adjourned at 11:55 a.m.

Recorder: Susan Carter, Secretary