February 2016 Ritual for Business Minutes

February 2016

Minutes from the Ritual For Business for 2/27/2016

Present: Erin, David, Rosemary, Barbara, Jan, Susi, Jamie, Katie

  1. Roles: Jan as Vibes Watcher, Barbara as Parliamentarian, Katie as Non Sequitur, and Scot as Devil’s Advocate.
  2. Chalice: lit by Jamie
  3. Agenda approved as written.
  4. Minutes approved as read, adding Katie and Jamie to the roster and fixing a few typos.
  5. Treasurer’s report: John sent a report by email: Main Fund has $5,960.41, Kidspace has $468.71, Home Fund has $558.56. We have had an annual insurance bill of $300.00, which has been paid. We have had a request for dues from the UUA Program Fund for $1,920.00. We have had a request for dues from the Midwest Region for $768.00. We can as a congregation afford to pay those requests. I recommend that we do so, given the fact that National Assembly is coming to Kansas City in 2018.
    We have guests coming in once a week for a while–a group of Romani Dancers from KCRF are using the first floor space to practice dancing. We are receiving $25.00 per week for this. I am the person opening the door for this group, and I am on site during their meeting. My question is, What does the board want done with the $25.00 rent?—put in our fund, give to Ubuntu as extra rental income, what? (see New Business below)
  6. Committee Reports:
    1. Communications – the Earth Healer went out on time; next one is due by March 13th. Storytellers Covenant Group has been added to the calendar. Craft Circle has been moved to the fourth Thursday of the month.
    2. Kidspace – one kid present recently. Devin has volunteered to be a teacher once a month to help out. There was some question of exactly how to take care of his background report given the security checks he’s already undergone – the committee will look into that.
    3. Ritual Teams – took up the charge to give Announcements intentional space during rituals. March will be a titling month!
    4. Membership – Katie has been added to the roster for Greeter’s Table. Barbara and Jamie and John successfully recertified our membership numbers with the UUA; we are now recorded at 23 pledging units, 33 members. That may be the difference between families and individuals, or they may have misunderstood our ‘average attendance’ due to changes in the form.
    5. Pretty Committee – no update. They will speak to Danny about the mold and wetness around the back door, which has been getting worse.
    6. Social Justice – a series of short videos were shown on February 4th; samples of insect-based food were made available. On March 10th we will be watching King Corn. The Social Justice meeting has also been delayed a week (to March 16th) to put it after the video.
      Sheep and Goats fundraiser for Heifer International is ongoing; we have accumulated enough for a goat, and a partial sheep. Partial shares can be bought in $10 increments.
      Blue River Rescue will be on April 2nd. For those going, they register between 7:30 and 8:30 or so, and then we leave for the sites a little before 9am. Afterward, Kimberly will feed the volunteers lunch.
    7. Stewardship – Pledge Sunday will be in May, as a mid-pledge-drive event. More news will be coming soon.
    8. Welcoming – no problems, no update.
    9. Site/LLC Liaison – Barbara sent Vicky the consened proposal from last month; there have been no meetings lately. Danny continues to work diligently upstairs, and says that he will be ready to start working downstairs in early March. Jan also obtained his phone number, to make contact easier.
      Manheim will probably also be holding a community cleanup on April 2nd. They have found membership rosters from 2013 and 2014, but not 2015. Seft was back; Doug was ill. Splash of Life wants to hold outdoor movie nights as a way to bring the neighborhood together. Various committees gave an update on their progress so far: Vacant Lots, Health, Social, Audit, etc. HuschBlackwell has started doing free legal advice on one Saturday a month at the Center, as a partnership with Legal Aid.
    10. NomCom – Elections will still be in April. Jan expressed interest in seeing the spreadsheet of former board members; Barbara suggested she might get it by joining NomCom in the future. There is a new candidate for Treasurer in the coming year. Jamie will be term-limited, and is willing to serve on the next NomCom as well.
  7. Old Business
  8. New Business
    1. UUA APF – they are still sending the reminders monthly; we agreed in last year’s budget to contribute $500 to the APF and $528 to the MidAmerica Region. John has gotten notices for APF’s total request, and MidAmerica Region, which are higher totals overall. Barbara proposed that we send in to the budgeted amount, lacking of a detailed financial statement, and if we get more information from John we can choose to authorize higher amounts paid in the future. Consensed.
    2. Dancers – John has made arrangements for some Romany dancers from KCRF to practice at 4327 Troost on Friday evenings. He has made sure they are aware of Games Night and they have promised to work around that. Their rent will go directly to Kitty (as UV Treasurer).