Policy and Finance

Dawn Hammond
Associate Conference Minister for Policy and Finance
2005 Report

As Associate Conference Minister for Policy and Finance, I try to ensure that organizational and structural supports are in place to allow my colleagues to most effectively carry out their ministries. My varied tasks include financial oversight, staffing the Board of Directors, implementing Conference policies, oversight of the three Conference Centers and Pilgrim Day Camp, and serving as the personnel officer for non-exempt staff. In addition, I supervise several staff members who have responsibility for administrative or program portfolios. 2005 was a year of steady progress and a number of new initiatives in the operational areas of the Conference; this report will share highlights of what has been accomplished.

Finance and Accounting
A major focus of my work is developing and managing budgets, making sure the Conference’s 55 funds and 104 trust funds are properly accounted for and utilized, and providing members of the Board of Directors with the financial information they need in order to make good decisions on behalf of all our members. This would be impossible without the adept work of Debby Dionne, our Accounting Manager, and Joan Noddin, part-time Accounting Clerk, who capably carry out all accounting functions for the Conference. In 2005 they migrated the accounting system to a new software product which, among other things, enabled them to institute long-awaited direct deposit services for staff. Debby also oriented our new auditors, Parent, McLaughlin & Nangle, and was instrumental in developing our new capability to accept on-line credit card payments for Conference events.

Communications
I’m delighted to report on several new communications efforts initiated in 2005. First, in response to the national setting’s decision to scale back publication of the United Church News to six issues per year, the Conference now offers a bimonthly email news story called the Spotlight. Researched and written by Editor Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, each one-page issue highlights a particular ministry carried out by a local church in the Conference. If you don’t already subscribe, sign up on the website (www.macucc.org/spotlight) - you may be inspired! This is an experiment in strengthening the covenant among us – we hope these easily-accessible stories will increase awareness of the myriad ways various members of our UCC family are living out the Gospel in our Commonwealth.

Second, the Conference has taken to heart our new learnings about “branding” – the importance of having a consistent and recognizable “look” to all our publications and communications. You may have noticed that the Conference stationery, directory and website have all been redesigned utilizing the red and black UCC palette and StillSpeaking comma logo. They also display the Conference mission statement, “nurturing local church vitality and the covenant among our churches.” Among other things, we hope to serve as a model for local churches trying to become more recognizable in their own communities.

Third, each of the five Areas of the Conference now has its own section of the Conference website, and Area staff have been trained to maintain those pages. In addition, the website can now accept online payments for many Conference events.

All of these efforts were spearheaded by Tiffany Vail, Associate for Communication, who also staffs the Commission on Communication, supervises the Editor, and handles press releases for the Conference. Tiffany provides her expertise directly to local churches as well. In 2005 she continued to work with Paul Nickerson to host StillSpeaking training sessions designed to teach teams of local church members tools for attracting, welcoming and integrating new members, and provided innumerable phone and email consultations.

Annual Meeting
In the spring of 2005, the Board of Directors authorized a task team to “consider the goals and format of the Annual Meeting in light of the mission of the Conference”. This group met through the summer and fall, eliciting broad input from clergy and laity throughout the Conference. The team proposed that we build on the strengths of recent years by streamlining the business of the meeting, expanding the program and worship components, piloting an alternative process for handling resolutions, and encouraging more non-delegates to attend and participate in the educational and worship offerings. Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for participants to develop skills and insights conducive to church vitality, as well as to develop relationships that strengthen our covenant. The prospective changes are intended to make the most of these opportunities – and to make Annual Meeting an event you won’t want to miss!

The task team was capably staffed by Joanna Bickford, Associate for Administration, who also provides staff support to the Annual Meeting Planning and Business Committees and the Annual Meeting and Board Nominating Committees, as well as the Board of Directors and the search committee for the Minister and President. Joanna also skillfully manages our office computer and communications systems – a complex and ever-changing area of responsibility.

Conference Centers
2005 saw the completion of renovations at Edwards House, the main meeting facility on the Conference property in Framingham. Edwards House hosts meetings of Conference boards and committees, local church groups and other nonprofit organizations. The construction made the building wheelchair-accessible, brought it into conformance with safety codes, and added restrooms on the first floor. This $1.2 million project was funded by all the congregations who participated in The Gift & The Promise capital campaign, as well as the members of the former Central Congregational Church of Newtonville who gave a substantial gift in the process of closing their church. A number of former members of this congregation were present at a service of dedication at Edwards House in October, helping to bless the ministries which will be possible through the renewed facility. Diane Montgomery, Site Manager for the entire Framingham property, worked energetically and persistently to bring this project to fruition.

Pilgrim Day Camp, a summer day camp operated on our Framingham property, continues to provide valuable community outreach as well as income which makes possible the overall operation of our Framingham site. In the experienced hands of Director Jon Kirby, the camp served nearly 1500 children in 2005. Conference accounting is not yet completed as I write this report, but preliminary analysis shows the day camp contributing over $120,000 in net revenue to the operating budget for 2005. Costs to operate our Framingham Conference Center (Edwards House) routinely exceed income by $50-60,000 annually, so the day camp is critical to the viability of the site as a whole.

Warner Farm, in Cummington, Mass., is a beautiful and tranquil site which has long been used by small groups looking for a low-cost, self-contained facility. Site Manager Dennis Forgea keeps the property in shape. As a three-season, rustic facility, the Farm gets limited use – by twelve of our churches during 2005. Operating expenses exceeded income by about $9000 in 2005, which is consistent with our experience in recent years.

2005 was a year of significant transition at Craigville Conference Center on Cape Cod, where Director Judy Perella retired after 28 years on the staff. Judy’s highly capable, yet unassuming management style was a tremendous asset to the Conference, and Craigville’s utilization, food service, guest accommodations and financial stability were all enhanced under her leadership. Fortunately, we are blessed with a gifted successor in Mary Woodbury. Mary has worked at the Conference Center for 14 years, and outshone a pool of two dozen other applicants for the position. The Conference Center is in excellent hands going forward!

Craigville Conference Center is operated by the Massachusetts Conference and largely owned by the Christian Camp Meeting Association. It is a popular retreat site for churches and nonprofit organizations throughout Massachusetts. The Center hosted 65 retreats for United Church of Christ groups during 2005, and served more than 26,000 guests in total.

Board of Directors
It is a particular joy to work closely with the volunteers who serve on the Conference Board of Directors. We are blessed with extraordinarily faithful, creative Board members who love the United Church of Christ and spend long hours wrestling with challenging issues on behalf of all our churches and members.

Disaster Response Ministries
I would like to take this opportunity to affirm the work of the Revs. Gary Blume and James Tilbe, recently-appointed Disaster Response Coordinators for the Conference. They spent several years developing a plan, patiently educating the Board of Directors about the need for and promise of such a ministry, and attended training sessions offered by the National setting of the UCC. As of this writing, they are beginning recruitment of a team of appropriately-trained individuals from all parts of the Conference. For more information about their work, see the Web site at www.macucc.org/news/disasterresponsecoordinators.htm.

Staff
The past year saw staff transitions in the Framingham office as well. Ellie Kell, Registrar, a well-known and much-appreciated face at Annual Meeting, retired after 30 years on the Conference staff. The amount of information contained in her memory is irreplaceable; yet we are optimistically searching for her successor! Lynda McGarrahan-Blunt also departed after long service in the Stewardship office, and we welcome Patricia Niness of the United Parish of Upton to that position.

Of course it is the support staff who make all of our work possible: Aretha Wright, our Receptionist; Dale Dietz, Building and Groundskeeper; Diane Feldman, Administrative Assistant for Pilgrim Day Camp, as well as all the summer staff who are too numerous to list; Judy Anderson, who helps with both pastoral settlement and the Framingham Conference Center; Jim Mahoney, our part-time cook at Framingham, and all the staff at Craigville. These are the people you meet over the phone, at the other end of an email, in a dining room or at a registration table, whose skill and energy enable the Conference to serve our local churches with efficiency and good cheer.

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