Massachusetts Conference United Church of Christ

Nurturing local church vitality and the covenant among our churches

Highlights of Board of Directors Meeting

November 30 - December 1, 2007

  Framingham, MA

Your Board of Directors met in Framingham on the evening of November 30th through December 1st.  While there was much regular business to be handled, the Board intentionally spent substantial time and effort living into A Still More Excellent Way.

Living into A Still More Excellent Way

The Board spent most of its time in continued conversation about the strategic directions for the Conference outlined in A Still More Excellent Way, and how the Board might best organize itself to support these directions.  The Board formed four small task groups to work on the following topics related the plan:  a) composition of the Board of Directors, b) committee structure of the Board of Directors, c) Conference volunteer structure, d) outcome-based evaluation for the Conference.  Work on the Conference volunteer structure was assigned to the Goal Development and Resource Allocation committee of the Board, who will seek broad input from Conference Commission and committee members as they consider what structure to recommend for the future. Since many aspects of the current structure are formalized in the Conference bylaws, it is likely that bylaw revisions will be proposed to the 2008 Annual Meeting.

Best Use of Underutilized Real Estate Properties

As promised in A Still More Excellent Way, the Resource Development & Management committee of the Board is continuing research into underutililzed Conference properties in Cummington (Warner Farm) and Ashland, to see if these might be sold or otherwise used to generate resources to support the mission of nurturing local church vitality and covenant.  Annual Meeting would need to vote on any significant sale of land. 

Nominating Committee Concern

Minister & President Jim Antal shared a concern that the Conference Nominating Committee has fewer than half of the eighteen members called for in the bylaws.  It is the responsibility of the Board to recruit the Nominating Committee, but this job has been quite difficult in recent years. Board members were urged to continue their efforts, and the Goal Development committee was urged to keep this difficulty in mind as they consider the question of a Conference volunteer structure for the future.  The Board would appreciate your help as well in filling these important positions, so please forward to any Board member the names of people who you feel would make good Nominating Committee members.

Personnel Policy Changes and Approval of 2008 Personnel Costs

The Board approved revisions to the Personnel Policies to allow for Self-Employment Tax Offsets for ordained staff.  Additionally, the Board approved personnel costs for 2008 that bring the Conference closer to clergy compensation guidelines voted by the Annual Meeting, recognizing the need to advocate for fair pay to keep and attract the best people for the positions we have.

Submitted by

Bonnie Fleming, Conference Secretary

A list of members of the Board of Directors and their local churches, with hyperlinks to their email addresses, may be found at http://www.macucc.org/contact/directors.htm .