First Universalist Unitarian Church of Wausau
Church Council Minutes
April 6, 2011

Members Present:  Linda Haney, Board of Trustees Vice-President;  Ari Schmidt, Social Action; Suzan Miller, Caring Ministry; Sheryl Hemp, Committee on Ministry;  Randy Jefferson, Religious Services; Tim Peterson, Property; Nancy Cedar, Religious Education;  Joyce Kurth, Membership

Staff Present: Rev. Paul Beckel, Minister; Deborah Hartman, Office Manager; Marguerite Donnelly, Music and Events

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm

Approval of the minutes of the February 22, 2011 Meeting 
R. Jefferson moved to approve the minutes; A. Schmidt seconded; motion passed.

Discussion of Council Member Outreach Efforts/ Assignments
"Committee Corner" assignments for the Circuit Writer newsletter are as follows:
May 2011 - Personnel Committee (Marsha Fitzgerald)
June 2011 - Property Committee (Tim Peterson)

Governance Task Force Update
Sue Miller and Linda Haney presented a draft of the document "Policy and Procedure Guidelines,"  produced by the Task Force.  The Task Force works on methods for creating policies and procedures, while the Board of Trustees decides which new policies should be created and which existing policies should be updated.

Choir Update
Randy Jefferson gave a brief update, stating that regular choir performances are occurring on the 2nd Sunday of the month, along with practices before each performance.

Review of Annual Report Form
The group again reviewed the draft form to be used by all church committees and groups for the Annual Report.   Minor revisions were suggested. Linda will incorporate the suggestions into a final draft, which she will email to Council members.  The dates covered by the report should be June 1, 2010 -  May 31, 2011.  Different dates may be used if necessary.  Deb will contact committees who do not attend Council and request that they also submit reports.   Reports are due to Deb on Hartman May 5 and will be distributed to the congregation May 22.

Book Discussion: "Raising the Roof"
Randy Jefferson led the discussion of "Releasing Gifts" and how to identify the gifts and passions of people in the congregation.  Among items discussed were the current lack of a system to identify gifts, the need for a better orientation program for new members and the need to focus not on work but passion.  The next meeting of the Council will be devoted largely to the consideration of ways to identify and release gifts.

Future Educational Discussion Topics 
The group discussed the possibility of discussing new  topics of interest on a regular basis.  S. Hemp suggested that whatever the topic, there should be an associated action or "pilot project."  Releasing of gifts was selected as the first topic.

Action Steps
1.  Linda will do a final revision of the Annual Report Form and send it to Council members for use for their annual committee reports.
2.  Committees must submit Annual Report forms to Deb Hartman by May 5, 2011.

Next Meeting   
The next meeting of the Church Council will be Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm. in Yawkey Hall.

The meeting adjourned at  7:55 pm

Respectfully submitted, 
Deborah S Hartman, Office Manager