Tag Archives: Lutheran Clergy in Recovery

FRLC Board Minutes March 2, 2016

Check In & Prayer Mary, Bohdan & Melanie. Mary prayed. Ed arrived mid-stream.

Minutes from February Meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s report: We received the report by email. We noted the Schwann’s income and discussed how the program works. They are likely to encourage us to do a new program with them with this one concludes. We give thanks for a significant gift from a Synod.

            Coordinator’s report: We are starting to move on the Lutheran Recovery Network for laity. It looks like we will go with that name. He is working on setting up a meeting of local pastors in recovery to form a steering committee, including some from some of the larger churches. On Monday, April 4 they will kick off an ongoing Monday Noon “Conscious Contact” meeting at his church. They need to report on the grant money received from their Synod. A retired professional videographer is working with them on developing a promotional video for their Synod Assembly—it will be both a report and a PR piece for all who attend the Assembly. They are also working on a rudimentary website to put out to the Twin Cities churches.

In addition to the gifts noted earlier, our coordinator was given a $100 gift for the FRLC in honor of his 30th anniversary of sobriety.

                       

Old Business:

            Retreat: One person backed out after signing up. Only three people have registered for the retreat. Two others have expressed interest but have not committed. Bohdan contacted the Rocky Mountain Synod and found out that their Assembly is at the end of the week of our retreat. Most of the phone numbers and addresses for Colorado members from our database were wrong. Bohdan looked up some of the phone numbers but did not have a lot of success when he contacted people. The contract with the retreat center can be cancelled up to the end of March. Those who have registered have made travel arrangements that may or may not be refundable. We will send an email to the people who have committed or indicated interest and let them know what the situation is. We need to make a decision on whether to hold it or not within a couple weeks.

New Business:

Contacting Synods: Given the on-going challenges of maintaining the database, a suggestion was made to sending our e-news to all the synods and ask them to send it out to their membership. Bohdan thinks we’d have to call the people who are responsible for the e-news in each Synod and let them know we’d like something included in their news, rather than sending an email which might not be read. Some Synods have rules about what they will and will not forward.  In the past we’ve asked board members to take on a project. If each person took on calling ten synods it would be doable. Mary offered to test it in her synod. Bohdan will send her the email he prepared for Rocky Mountain and see how it goes. We will discuss this next month.

 

Day and time for the board meeting: Would there be a time and day of the week that would work better for more people? We will put on the agenda for next month.

 

Next meeting: April 6, 2016 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

February 2016 Board meeting

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

2:00 pm MDT/3 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/4:00 pm EDT

Present: Ed, Bohdan, Melanie. All checked in. Melanie opened with prayer. Congratulations to Karen and Arthur on their ordinations!

 

Discussion:

            Lay Fellowship: Melanie asked if people thought she should update Nadia on our plans. We have a little less than $5,000 for this purpose at present. It is still in process. The consensus was to wait until there was more information.

FRLC Retreat: Bohdan will be making phone calls to the Colorado membership; we would like contact information for members in neighboring states. Ed will send that information to the planners.

–Four people have indicated they will be coming, for a total of six including the planners. Our contract requires us to pay for a minimum of ten people. Four more are needed.

–Bohdan will follow up with the facility to clarify that the banquet on Wednesday is in addition to the other two suppers (Monday & Tuesday). He volunteered to cover the difference in cost.

–Discussion of inviting seminary students. Melanie will ask Bea to produce a flyer and Ed will get the flyer and brochures to Luther Seminary. In the e-blast he will invite those who can not attend to make a donation for scholarships for students. Bohdan also offered to assist students who need financial support to attend. Melanie asked Bea to add that information to the flyer.

Coordinator’s Report: He received notice of a payment due for our domain name for the website, which he will forward to the treasurer. He will be figuring out how to cover this work during his sabbatical, and asked how we would like to handle his stipend during that time. Those who were on the call thought that in light of his many years of faithful service, we could continue to pay it. We received a couple of nice donations recently, including one from the Bishop of the St. Paul Synod and one from the Lower Susquehanna Synod. There was a request for membership from a long time church worker who was attending seminary when confronted with his addiction. We approved his membership and discussed encouraging him to explain that if he called in to the Thursday meetings.

Treasurer’s Report was sent by email following the meeting.

All previous Minutes were approved.

Next meeting: March 2, 2016 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

 

 

 

 

November Board minutes

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

2:00 pm MDT/3 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/4:00 pm EDT

 

            Check In & Prayer Tom, Mary, Melanie, Bohdan, and John were present. Congratulations to John on his retirement and new calling. Gratitude for Tom’s wife’s improved health. Gary emailed that he could not make the call. Tom opened in prayer. Ed called in later in the meeting.

Minutes from September Meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s report The treasurer was not on the call. He did email his report prior to the meeting. The balance in the account is $1632.38.  There were no out of ordinary income or expenses.

            Coordinator’s report Ed updated the database following the e-news and sent out a newsletter with an appeal letter and retreat brochure. He applied for a Synod grant for the lay fellowship and was awarded $4000. Al D. is interested in the retreat. Ed’s church is still in the process to call an associate pastor. His health continues to be a challenge—he can only work a limited time each day.

                       

Old Business:

 

2016 retreat: Ed sent out an e-blast and the newsletter went out yesterday with the brochure (in black and white) as a part of it. It will be April 25-28, 2016 at Highland Presbyterian Camp & Retreat Center in Allenspark, CO, near Denver. Bohdan is the registrar. You can email him regarding your interest in attending but will need to mail him a check.

 

            Discussion on article on “The Pending Exit of the Clergy. Ed sent out a link to the article. Too often it is the healthy people who leave the church and the unhealthy who stay. How do we who are in recovery deal with boundary issues? Members of our group have experienced “financial levers”, have felt like no one is “watching our backs”, and one heard a colleague suggest clergy form a union to have someone advocate for us. One person requested assistance from the synod in obtaining legal advice and the Synod was unable to provide assistance. Clergy appear to be dispensable, lightning rods, scape-goating. What do we have to offer as a Fellowship in the struggle to stay healthy?

 

Annual meeting: will be held at the retreat.

 

New Business:

Question about “Conscious Contact” at Ed’s church. It was held regularly during the lecture series and people indicated they would come if it continued following the series.  The Synod grant will allow them to buy drums for the meeting. Ed will be working on scheduling regular meetings for the group.

 

Next meeting: December 2, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

 

October Board Minutes

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

 Check In & Prayer Bohdan, Brian, Ed & Melanie were present. Brian opened with prayer.

Minutes from the September Meeting: were approved.

Treasurer’s report: The current balance is $ 1777.38. A number of donations came in following the last newsletter.

 Coordinator’s report: The coordinator is continuing to work on getting an Associate Pastor to help develop the lay fellowship. His former intern is there half time now focusing on other ministry. They continue to work with the Synod regarding calling him. Their church concluded their recovery lecture series. It was well attended. He updated database after the newsletter mailing and continues to respond to inquiries. He will use some e-blasts to promote the retreat. The Minneapolis Synod Portico funds are available for grants to congregations to do neighborhood initiatives. His Associate is writing a grant to help provide instruments for the drum circle for Conscious Contact and get a website for it up and running. The grant would be for $5000, and they would run it through the FRLC account. This would be a start on the new fellowship.                  

Old Business:

–2016 FRLC retreat brochure –The contract was signed for the retreat center and a deposit will be made in the next few days. Bohdan will write a cover letter and send it to Ed to go out with the brochure. Ed suggested personal calls to members who are in Colorado and sending information to the Rocky Mountain Synod to include in their newsletter. He will send the information about members in the Colorado area to Bohdan.

 

–Newsletter: They are easy to produce; getting the content for them is the challenge. Last time Ed came across a couple relevant articles, obtained permission to use them and included them in it. He encourages everyone keep an eye out for good articles for the newsletter. The newsletters cover their cost and bring in additional donations to keep us going each time. The next issue will use Bohdan’s letter for content for the newsletter and include the brochure.

 

New Business:

–Annual Meeting: The question was raised whether we need to have a meeting at the retreat and if so, how do we handle it if few board members attend. The constitution calls for us to hold such a meeting at the retreat and in the past that has been how we identified new board members and helped others to understand how the Fellowship works. Next month we will look into a way to include additional board members who aren’t present. Perhaps we could do it via the internet—Skype or other service. There is no cell signal at the retreat center.

 

Melanie closed the meeting in prayer.

 

Next meeting: November 4, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

September Board Minutes

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

 

            Check In & Prayer Bohdan, Brian, Gary, Mary, Ed & Melanie were present. All checked in. Tom led us in prayer.

 

Minutes from July Meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s report The current balance is $1175.65. The full report will be emailed to Board members following the meeting. The Schwan’s campaign brought in about $32. While the major part of the campaign is over, smaller amounts will continue to come in. There was a question about Amazon Smile. We received a small amount: most recently $13. $5 was received earlier.

 

            Coordinator’s report: The last lecture of the recovery series at Transfiguration is happening this month. The one break out session that was consistently attended was the Conscious Contact meeting with drumming. They are thinking of continuing it on a weekly basis.

He is waiting to resolve the staffing situation at TLC. It looks like they might be able to call their former intern to develop the lay fellowship.

He is working on a grant from the Synodical funds returned from the Portico Health Initiative. The funds are designated for Health and Wellness grants, so Ed is applying for $5000 for FRLC to be used for initial retreat for the lay fellowship.

Contributions have been coming in as a response to the newsletter.

He was contacted by the Michigan Synod regarding resources for a pastor who relapsed. Ed sent them a copy of the Impaired Professionals Policy. They found it helpful and have indicated they will be in touch for further assistance.

He received a report from mailing service after sending the newsletter. There are 25 people who have moved and have new addresses. He updated the database accordingly.

He met with the Synod Deployed Evangelism and Mission staff person (DEM) and pitched idea of the new Fellowship. She responded positively and was just heading to a meeting with other DEMS and Reuben Duran from ELCA Churchwide. She said she would share the idea at the meeting and explore funding ideas.

                       

Old Business:

-2016 FRLC retreat ideas – (Bohdan and Melanie) Melanie reviewed the information she emailed to the Board. Discussion included a suggestion to ask participants to chip in and make up the difference if we fall short of the minimum ten participants, weather in Colorado and how rugged the facility is. Bohdan was thanked for his offer to assist with the financing of the event given the state of the treasury. The Board agreed the last week of April would be the preferred date. It was moved, seconded and passed to enter into a contract with Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center in Allenspark, Colorado for the last week of April, Monday-Thursday and to proceed with developing publicity, offering various options for privacy and cost. It would be helpful to have good attendance by the Board and to have the Board encourage others to attend. Please let Bohdan or Melanie know if you will be coming.

 

New Business: Please let Bohdan know if you have items for the agenda in the future.

 

Mary closed us with the Lord’s Prayer.

 

Next meeting: October 7, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

August 2015 Board Meeting

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

2:00 pm MDT/3 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/4:00 pm EDT

 

            Check In & Prayer Ed, Gary, Melanie and Tom were present. Gary opened in prayer.

 

The Minutes from July Meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s report was approved. Our balance is  $965.65. The observation was made that we need to get the newsletter out as that usually generates contributions.

 

            Coordinator’s report It was a typical month, with several inquiries about the Fellowship. There continue to be 2-6 people at Thursdays meeting, with an average of 4. Ed is continuing to work with the Synod on calling his former intern as an Associate Pastor for Mission Development. He is exploring whether there are some ELCA resources to help make it happen. There is a regular group attending the lecture series and Conscious Contact meeting at his church. He hopes to get a newsletter out in the next week or so. RACA, the group for Episcopalian clergy in recovery has a new director who has reached out to Ed. They are having email conversations about doing some things jointly.

Ed and Tom both spoke at longest running men’s recovery retreat—this was the 67th annual retreat. It was held at Olivet College in Michigan.—Congregationalist background. Ed has been invited several times and has sent other pastors from our fellowship, but was able to go himself this time. The speakers mostly were clergy. It was a great experience! The group was very supportive of clergy. In retrospect, it would have been good to bring some copies of our book to sell. Maybe next time.

 

           

Old Business:

Speaker for lay retreat: Melanie sent an inquiry to Nadia’s agent, who reported back that Nadia “is good with giving a recovery talk. She cannot commit for the entire retreat, but can do one talk. An additional conversation ensued about her work. We think she would be a good option.

 

New Business:

2016 FRLC retreat ideas: Bohdan and Melanie had phone conversation about the possibility of doing a regular FRLC retreat next year as it looks like the lay retreat is still a ways off. They discussed possible locations, and Melanie emailed a couple of members about potential retreat centers in their areas and their willingness to give some “on the ground” assistance. She received a positive response from a member in Denver, who suggested the YMCA of the Rockies, Snow mass Monastery or Allens Park Presbyterian Camp. Ed affirmed that he was supportive of doing this retreat as long as Bohdan and Melanie handle all the arrangements, including registration. Ed would be willing to include any information in the e-blasts and newsletter. Bohdan and Melanie will be talking later this week.

 

Other new business: Ed asked which title we preferred for the lay fellowship: Lutherans Alive Again (LAA), Recovery Network, or Lutheran Recovery Network (LRN). The three members who were on the call each preferred a different name. Go figure!

Newsletter topics we welcome suggestions. Ed would like to include general information that we are working on a 2016 retreat. Melanie will send him something after talking with Bohdan.

Tom closed the meeting with prayer.

 

Next meeting: September 2, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

July 2015 Board minutes

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

2:00 pm MDT/3 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/4:00 pm EDT

 

            Members present: Brian, Ed, Gary, Melanie, Tom, Bohdan

 

Check In & Prayer   Tom led us in prayer.

 

The minutes from June Meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s report The balance as of July 1 is $ 1211.37. Nothing out of the ordinary expenses. We have not received much from the Schwann’s campaign, which is now over.

 

            Coordinator’s report   He responded to a number of emails and phone calls which continue to come in. He will be meeting soon with the synod to discuss the staffing configuration. Donations were sent to the treasurer. Ed and Tom are speaking at laymen’s retreat. A newsletter will be coming out soon.

                       

Old Business:

            –Planning for next retreat–in Minnesota, held in conjunction with Lutheran’s Alive Again/Lutheran Recovery Network. It might be a couple years before it happens. The question is raised whether we want to do a FRLC retreat in between. It was suggested that we keep it simple if we do, and that people other than Ed do the work. Holden Village was suggested, although attendance was small the last time we went there. Hazelden renewal center was suggested, but it is difficult to get to from the airport. Bohdan and Melanie will talk about it before the August board meeting. We welcome input on this question.

-Speaker for next retreat: Melanie contacted a potential speaker through her booking agent and she might be a possibility. Melanie will draft a follow up email regarding our commitment to the 12 Steps of AA and her willingness to use the language and values of the program. Does she work the 12 steps and can she speak to them? She will send it to Ed for his input before sending it to her via this agent.

 

New Business:

 

Review of Board membership list: we checked with everyone on the call to make sure it is accurate. The secretary will send it as a Word Document attachment to facilitating printing.

 

The meeting closed in prayer.

 

Next meeting: August 5, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

 

 

 

 

June Board meeting minutes

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

2:00 pm MDT/3 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/4:00 pm EDT

 

            Present: Bohdan, Melanie, Ed, Tom

 

Check In & Prayer

 

The Minutes from the May meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s report: The checking account balance is $ 1355.51 and there were no out of the ordinary expenses. Thank you to Brian for writing our new 7th tradition announcement. It has been posted on the website and incorporated into the meeting format and is being read at our Thursday recovery meetings.

 

            Coordinator’s report He sent out emails with an article and information about the Schwans’ campaign, then found the phone number listed on the email was incorrect. He sent out a corrected version after learning that. He has the material for the next newsletter ready to go.

There has not  been a lot of response to the Schwan’s campaign so far.  He continues to receive phone and email inquiries regarding the FRLC.  The Thursday phone meeting is going well. We received a check from our book publisher for 86 cents!  We have also received about $500 more in donations, which have been forwarded to the treasurer but do not appear on this month’s report.

Lay fellowship: our coordinator has a lot of passion for this project. He plans to develop a business plan and seek funding to support his giving the necessary time to develop it. He has spoken with a pastor who started a recovery ministry in Minneapolis area, although he is not in recovery himself. It was probably the most successful Lutheran recovery ministry in the area; however, the pastor has moved on to another call. Ed and his intern attended this gathering recently. Ed had an opportunity to discuss this project with the Wheatridge representative at a conference for pastors of large churches. Ed pitched the new Fellowship, and initially got the same response as in the grant rejection letter. Ed challenged him and explained it more fully, and felt like they may be more open to considering a new request. He has had conversations with two pastors at “leading” churches in the Minneapolis area who he would like to invite to be on the board for the new group. This could be helpful for grant applications.

Ed’s congregation has begun the call process with his intern. He has also begun the process to bring on another pastor half time, allowing him to cut back to half time also in order to develop the lay fellowship. He shared experiences with the recovery series and Conscious Contact meeting at his church. This summer they may try a drive in movie night showing a recovery movie with Conscious Contact meeting beforehand. They are trying to find ways to keep participants connected with the group and the church.

The board discussed possible nationally known speakers for an initial retreat who would draw people to the event. Suggestions include  Anne Lamott, Nadia Bolz-Weber and Melanie Beatty. John MacDougall was mentioned along with the concern that he might not be a draw to the people who have attended the series at their church. Melanie reported on her conversation with Nadia at a recent event. Her schedule is booked until 2016, although she sometimes does pro-bono events for recover. Melanie will complete the webform to explore whether Nadia would be available at a 2016 date. Ed would appreciate suggestions of anyone who would be a draw for you.

                       

Old Business:

Melanie received a response from Cheryl P. to an inquiry about her progress in disseminating copies of our books to the Lutheran seminaries. She has been taking the time to identify individuals at each seminary to give the books to who will actually get them placed in the library. Her email was forwarded to Board members. Melanie thanked her for her efforts.

 

 

Next meeting: July 8, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

May Board minutes

FRLC Board Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

2:00 pm MDT/3 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/4:00 pm EDT

 

            Present: Bohdan, Ed, Brian, Mary, Melanie

 

Check In & Prayer Mary led us in prayer.

 

Approval of Minutes from April Meeting The minutes were received with note of a spelling correction.

 

Treasurer’s report received. The current balance is $  1677.51. Brian was initially unsuccessful in contacting Schwans about the fundraising program. Mary gave him the correct website. He will pursue it.

Brian read the third draft of 7th tradition reading for Thursday meetings and the website. Ed suggested he add a statement about our tax-exempt status, rework the Thrivent Choice item and add a sentence about sustaining gifts. He will make these changes tonight and send them out for approval. We will begin using it when the new schedule for chairpersons goes out if the board concurs.

 

            Coordinator’s report Ed has been able to continue this work as he recovers from surgery. The number of phone calls and emails remained steady. There is increasing interest in recovery ministries and building energy for development of the lay fellowship. He was able to speak with ELCA church-wide bishop Elizabeth Eaton, who responded positively to his sharing about the FRLC and the proposed lay fellowship. It may be possible to staff this fellowship through realignment of pastoral calls at the congregation he serves. He anticipates developing a business plan and garnering support from organizations such as Thrivent and Portico to undergird this ministry. His ideas include development of a dynamic, professional website which could include content such as daily or weekly devotionals written by members, blogs on theology and 12 step faith, birthday celebrations, resources such links to recovery ministries, recovery-friendly churches, pastors willing to hear 5th steps and possibly people who are willing to serve as sponsors. He anticipates development of a database, e-newsletters, literature, and decisions about whether or not to have a mailed newsletter, a hotline or an online meeting. He is thinking the first gathering might work best at a hotel near the airport with a well-known speaker such as Nadia Bolz-Weber to draw participants.

                       

Old Business:

–Web page (not discussed at the meeting but reported to the board via email: the links to the LRN material, preamble and Thursday phone meeting material are now functional)

 

New Business:

-PayPal button for Website: The WordPress free website will not accept the code for a PayPal button. We would have to switch hosts if we want to have a button on our webpage. Ed suggested we hold off on this until the development of the new website and integrate the two sites, including this feature. We can remove the phrase about donating through PayPal until that is available.

 

Next meeting: June 3, 2015 2:00 pm MDT/2 pm CDT/1:00 pm PDT/3:00 pm EDT 12:00 pm

 

April 2015 Board Minutes

FRLC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

2:00 pm MST

 

Present: Brian, Gary, Melanie, Mary, Ed, Bohdan

 

Check In & Prayer Ed is scheduled for surgery tomorrow-please keep him in prayer. Also his wife as she awaits her first call.

 

Approval of Minutes: received.

 

Treasurer’s report: No out of the ordinary income or expenses. Closing balance $1612.51 Continued need to get the message out about our need for donations. Thrivent Choice is helpful: $395 new dollars came in overnight. Every dollar helps! Mary mentioned the possibility of a fundraising campaign through Schwan’s. For the first 45 days, Schwans donates 20% of any order through the program. Brian will look into it before the next meeting. A question was asked about financial response to the last newsletter. There was a recent deposit was $175, some of which may have been in response to the newsletter. Ed has additional money to send to Brian.

 

            Coordinator’s report (Ed): The monthly lecture series continues at Transfiguration as a part of the development of the Lutheran Recovery Network. They are getting about 100 people in attendance. The name of the group is not finalized.

Three people who found us on the website and contacted Ed, and there have been several phone calls recently. A pastor from Arizona is interested in developing a recovery ministry. Another was referred by the Synod office.  A LCMS pastor called who been in the FRLC 11 years. He thanked us for our ministry and wants to get more involved in the Fellowship. Two new members joined. Ed connected an inquirer to a member with sexual addiction.

There are typically 4-5 people per week at noon phone meeting. The last newsletter had 31 copies returned for an invalid address. Ed will work on updating the database while recovering from surgery. He also filed the IRS report for the year.

 

Old Business:

           

Next year’s retreat: Last month we discussed doing the next retreat in conjunction with lay fellowship in the Minneapolis area. Ed will explore some options and will bring them to the next meeting.  We discussed the timing of the retreat—not winter; maybe in spring after Easter. Easter is early next year. A concern was expressed about tying the lay fellowship too much to one congregation. The intention is not to affiliate the organization with the congregation. The lecture series was a cluster event and the retreat will have invitations go out nationally. They are trying to find a big name speaker who will attract people.  FRLC members would lead workshops. Members of the lay fellowship and the FRLC will share the leadership of the retreat. Several questions were asked, including “Are the folks in this group going to be willing and open to having recovering Lutheran clergy there?”, and “How many lay people might be involved?” Since the group is Lutheran, we anticipate no issues with Lutheran clergy being present.  We have no idea what the attendance will be–perhaps a hundred. There will be some joint meetings and separate meetings for clergy. We would hold the FRLC annual meeting there, and other sessions for whatever we choose to do together. Lay and clergy groups would be together for a banquet with the speaker and some of the breakout workshops. Ed will bring more ideas to our next meeting. A suggestion was made to consider Dr. John MacDougall, former Director of Spiritual Guidance at the Hazelden Foundation—he’s a pastor, he’s well known although not Lutheran and is from Minnesota. It was suggested that FRLC members invite recovering people from the churches we serve or have served. A board member asked “how many are on our mailing list?” There are 580 newsletters mailed out. 225 of those are pastors in recovery.

 

 

Web page: Melanie has posted the materials Ed prepared for LRN and Conscious Contact but the links aren’t working yet. They will be fixed soon. A suggested was made that we post the preamble for the Thursday meeting to the website.

Melanie suggested we add a 7th tradition statement for the Thursday meeting. We will ask Brian to craft the words. Melanie will send email to him with some ideas. She also suggested adding a PayPal button to the website. It was moved, seconded and passed to take the above actions.

 

            Newsletter & E-newsletter: Bodahn sent material to Ed for the next issue.

 

New Business:

            Other denominations: Melanie searched websites from other denominations and found a couple of good ideas. There is an Episcopal site that has a calendar of recovery events across the country. We could consider doing this through LRN when it is more developed. Another group had an item asking their members to make gifts to their organization through their wills.  Melanie will mention this idea in her in email to Brian. The idea of networking with these groups was raised at the retreat. Does anyone want to pursue contacting them?

Anything else? There was a “newcomer” to sobriety at last Thursday’s phone meeting.

 

Gary closed the meeting in prayer.