Tag Archives: Lutheran clergy 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

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

March 2015 Board minutes

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

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

Present: Gary, Tom, Melanie, Bohdan, Ed

Check In & Prayer  All who were on the call checked in and Melanie opened with a prayer.

 Approval of Minutes from Annual Meeting and the January meeting were received.

Treasurer’s report was received. Ed just sent Brian $800 from the December appeal. At the current rate, we will exhaust our funds before the end of the year.

Coordinator’s report Ed sent an e-news and newsletter with a tear off donation form at the bottom last week. We usually receive some donations when we sent one out. Bohdan will combine an article he has written with one Marda wrote about the retreat and send it to Ed for the next issue. We have two new members. Thursday meetings are going well. The schedule for the chairpersons and reminders which Melanie sends out have made a difference.

The new Lutherans Alive Again/Lutheran Recovery Network is going well. Ed met with his mentor/benefactor a week ago. This man brought the associate pastor from his church who is also a pastor in recovery. He is also excited and interested in this ministry. Ed’s frustration is that he is not able to give as much time to it as he’d like. He is grateful for his intern, who has been working on the speaker series though Ed’s church. There were a hundred people at their last event. The next one is scheduled for next week. People have been positive about the 11th step worship/meeting, but it needs to become weekly to really get established.

Ed touched on his concern about the finances again. He requests all of the board members to set up automatic monthly gifts to the Fellowship, using resources like Simply Giving or through your bank.  Ed and Melanie do this. Even a small amount makes a difference.

Ed filed the 2014 taxes. There was a discussion of Gary’s role with the state of Illinois regarding non-profit paperwork. The state will send him the paperwork when it is needed.

Gary shared an email which he received from a LCMS lay woman in recovery who found our website. She was excited about what she saw and wants information about the Fellowship for Lutheran Laity in recovery. Gary will forward the email to Ed.

                       

Old Business:

Ideas for web page: Melanie brought up the idea of making our site more dynamic and interesting so that people would have reasons to return rather than just looking at it once. She thought about linking to a daily recovery devotional, but has not been able to implement that. Another idea was to post a video with some of the material from the preamble to our recovery meetings. Our web developer agreed to work on it but hasn’t gotten to it yet. She and her husband have been dealing with health issues recently.

One of Ed’s thoughts is to find money to put together a dynamic website for the new group with someone who can stay on top of it and keep it up to date. Our site is static and is updated when we get around to it. Melanie will add a new page with material that Ed sent about the 11Th step meeting he has started. She was waiting for him to have experience with the group and format, and since it is going well she will do it sometime soon.

 

New Business

 E-newsletter and quarterly newsletter article from the cruise were discussed above.

Independent Lutheran Organization: Melanie sent an email to Ed and Bohdan with an article from her Synod’s newsletter. This article from the newly renamed Lutheran Association of Christian Educators explained who they are, who they serve, thanked the Synod for a small donation to their organization and asked readers to consider donating to them also. Perhaps we could send such a letter describing the FRLC to the Synods also. If each of the 65 Synods donated $100 it would be significant. Board members thought this was a good idea.  Melanie will think about it and write a draft letter for the board when she is able to do so, which may not be by the next board meeting.

Following up on a comment at the Annual Meeting, Melanie attempted to look up websites for organizations for clergy in recovery from other denominations. It has been a long time since we have been in touch with them. A Presbyterian clergy group came up on Google but the link didn’t work. The Episcopal clergy fellowship, the  Recovered Alcoholic Clergy Association (RACA) also had a non-working link. She did discover an Episcopal Recovery Ministry site for laity, which she sent to Ed and Bohdan as an idea to work for with our lay fellowship. You may view that website at: http://www.episcopalrecovery.org/

Next retreat: it has been proposed that we hold it in conjunction with the new lay fellowship, possibly in Minnesota. Please think about it. We will discuss it next month.

 

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

 

 

 

 

Minutes of 2015 Annual Meeting

FRLC Annual Meeting

February 13, 2015

 Present: Tom M., Ed T., Melanie M.-D., Marda M., Mary S. Dave C. was not present as he was not feeling well.

Melanie led the meeting in the absence of Bohdan. Marda took the minutes.

Opening Prayer: led by Mary.

Review of Minutes from our last meeting, February 7, 2013. They were approved unanimously

Treasurer’s Report:

            -Church Mutual insurance was dropped subsequent to the revision of the ELCA website. The insurance was a requirement to become an officially recognized “Independent Lutheran Organization” by the ELCA, which we did in order to be listed on their website as a way to be a resource to the church. They no longer list any “outside” organizations on their website, including us. After many unsuccessful efforts at resolving this, we have dropped this effort. At that point, the Board determined that the insurance was an unnecessary expense.

-The balance is down. We did not send out as many issues of the newsletter in 2014, and donations usually follow a request in the newsletter. We intend to get them out more regularly this year.

-The report was approved.

Review of Board Report for 2013/2014. Melanie presented a written summary of Board actions since the last meeting. Minutes of the Board meetings are posted on the website.

Coordinator’s Report: Ed reviewed his responsibilities on our behalf. The mailing list is at 565, which includes “friends” and judicatory offices. Our membership is stable.

He is involved in a new project to form a fellowship of Lutheran laity in recovery. The FRLC applied to Wheatridge and Thrivent for funding for this project, but were turned down by both organizations. The intern serving with Ed has taken it on. Ed has identified a potential donor to back this project. Ed described some of the work they are doing and their plans to expand to a larger area.

 

New Business:

 Next Retreat: Discussion was held of possible sites and timing for future retreats, including Spirit in the Desert in Arizona, Holden Village (after the environmental mediation is complete) and another cruise, possibly out of New Orleans. Additional conversation was held about meeting on a cruise in conjunction with the lay Lutheran fellowship, with breakout sessions on our own and our members possibly being available to lead worship for the lay group.

Board Elections: Bohdan V. was elected chair, Melanie as secretary, and Mary S. and Tom M. were elected to the board.

The meeting was adjourned.