FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Present: Tom, Bohdan, Melanie & Ed. Tom opened in prayer.

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting Received.

Treasurer’s report Received by email. Balance on May 31 is $1255.83. Ed’s stipend is now being taken from the correct account. We have not received any donations from the membership other than our two regular givers. Perhaps we need to send out a newsletter soon.

Coordinator’s report He thanked the board members for the presentation at the TLC council meeting. It was helpful. The TLC pastoral leadership proposal passed, authorizing Ed to spend 25% of his time on conference as long as we contribute to the church. He is working with clergy coach regarding the challenges of working on the conference.

He is in the process of reworking the sponsorship portion of the conference, including prices and promotional pieces. We will be emphasizing how this will benefit the sponsors, reaching a different audience who need to know about your resource. He is finalizing a six page “media kit” for the media and sponsors and will make personal contact with potential sponsors. Once the media kit is done, it will be sent to the local radio and tv stations and newspapers. He is in contact with an NPR reporter regarding a story on the conference. segment.

Information has been shared at many Synod Assemblies, including all the Minnesota synods, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Montana. Board members can help by sharing information at their own Assembly. We now have a communication link to all the Synods, Bishops and staff. We are sending out e-blasts on early registration and posting on Facebook. He also created a flyer targeted to the Episcopalians, adding the Episcopal logo and information about their pre-conference.

We are finalizing the workshops. We have 20 potential workshops and 10 rooms. Some will only be offered once.

We have several new strategies for generating financial support this year. One of the volunteers is contacting local businesses regarding small dollar grants. An email went out to last year’s attendees requesting financial support. We already received a check for $2,000 from that effort. Ed is also working with a stewardship person regarding wills & estate giving strategizing on how to get major gifts to support this ministry. There is a proposal to produce Ed’s book as an audio book and donate the proceeds to the conference. Ed is also meeting with a website developer regarding an Addiction and Faith membership site where we could offer access to resources for congregations, clergy, synods etc for $10/month. This might include a podcast with workshop leaders. This could generate a continuous income.

Old Business:

FRLC Board members meeting with Transfiguration: discussed.

Budget We need a memorandum of agreement with TLC outlining the responsibilities of the Fellowship and the congregation. Bohdan will work on it and send a draft to Ed for review.

Board development and building the team tabled

New Business:

FRLC Retreat at Addiction & Faith Conference will be at the same time as last year. Members are welcome to come on Thursday and help with Conference, with the retreat beginning with dinner. Ed will include this in information to the FRLC mailing list and we will put it on the website. We discussed having a $10 registration fee for the retreat. Melanie will ask Roger and Joel if they would like to help plan the FRLC retreat. Ed will send a detailed schedule for this group to work with. It can be adjusted if necessary. The board of the REMC group (10-12 people) during this time. We should include them in what we do.

            Next meeting date: Thursday, July 18, 2019

            Melanie closed with prayer