Board Minutes & Reports

Bellingham First Christian Church

September 16, 2018
In attendance: Gregg Heyne, James Becker, Gary Shoemaker, Tamalyn Kralman, Jane
Kletka, Cheryl Perry, Darleen Page, Renee Hoemann, Linda Heyne, Max Perry (Brenda
Riseland, elder, led devotions and left)

Gregg Heyne, moderator, opened the meeting at 5:03 p.m.

Brenda Riseland, elder, led us in devotions
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved (as had been emailed to all
board members).
Reports:
Pastor’s report — Rev. Gary Shoemaker
Pastoral reflections - Coming out of the summer and into the fall, we are
beginning some of the regular routines that feel like home. Choir has had one
rehearsal. (I was so excited that I brought out 16 anthems for us - a bit
excessive!) Bell choir starts this coming Sunday. Sunday School has begun as of
this morning. We’re continuing our study of Bishop Spong’s “A New Reformation,”
a study that John Riseland started last fall. However, it was decided this morning
that a separate time will be found to continue that study (since it has become a
rather slow slog). Brenda volunteered her home to be the place for the study.
Now we just need to find a time for all interested!
The Sunday Morning Adult Class will begin a new study starting next Sunday.
We’re going to be using Text Mix. Listening to the stories of Text Sample and
responding to questions. This was the curriculum from this summer’s Spiritual
Retreat. There were so many interested people who couldn’t come to Montana,
so we’re revisiting the study for those folks and anyone else interested.
Our Bible study continues to discuss the lectionary scriptures each week. We
have a lively, wide ranging discussion and also gain insight into the Bible.
Tam and I attended (and she helped lead) the Bi-Regional Common table
Gathering in Idaho on the last weekend of our vacation (September 7- 8). This
was a great step in creating a new Region which will join the Northwest Region
for he Christian Church with the Montana Region. it was good to sit down fact to
face and realize how much we have in common. It was particularly exciting for
Tam and me since we have deep roots in Montana and have fallen in love with
this Region.
I’m active with our district clergy group, which met this past Thursday (we meet 3
times a year). We debriefed the group on the Common table meeting. Sandy
Messick was present and led the discussion. We also have an “active clergy”
group (clergy serving in congregations and other ministries - not retired) within
the larger group that has been meeting more frequently for study and support

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 (we’ll be meeting this coming Thursday). Those meetings usually revolve around
current issues and challenges facing our churches. Sandy attends those
meetings when her schedules allows.
At the Regional level, I’ve been serving as a mentor and a member of Luke
Sumner’s In-Care Committee as he moves through the process leading to
ordination. We are concluding our time together as he moves closer to
ordination. This group, chaired by Jimmie Talley, met at our church on the
Sunday afternoon after I left for Montana to be with Mom and family. Margaret
Brown is also a member. I am also on the Regional Board representing the
Northwest District.
Most of my personal stay has been spent in preparation for sermons, but my
other reading has been centered on exploring the role of the church in midst of
the very strong challenges facing our society and world. I’m also working through
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book, We Were Eight Years in Power, a reflection not he
Obama Administration from a black perspective. I had read his book Between the
World and Me, a few years ago and was deeply moved.
Please remember our folks who are struggling with health concerns: Gregg,
Darleen, Francess, Marian C. Marian O., Bruce Wheeler, Virginia (Tam’s mother).
And those going through rough times like Bob’s daughter Katie.
Outreach/Education — Rev. Tamalyn Kralman
• Membership - no board action required
• demissions: Ralph Gilfilen, July 8, 2018
• General/Administration - no board action required; activities included:
• Weekly & monthly responsibilities (e.g. bulletins, Couriers, weekly emails,
printouts for narthex, updated website, Facebook)
• 6/29/18 — Met with appraiser to discuss value of church property
• Outreach - No board action required; activities included:
• CAST — served on: 7/24/18
• Pub Theology — organized, sent out reminders for, & participated 8/16/18
• Jesus Has Left the Building has morphed into Justice Sunday; we are
currently evaluating our ability to send out an “Away Team,” although we are
currently slated to head to Whatcom Humane Society on Sun., Sept. 30, if we
can come up with enough volunteers.
• Community to Community update:
• they have had a strong summer program with their children; a full report
with pictures will be featured in the October Courier
• Family Promise update:

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 • We hosted families the weeks of July 1 - 7 (this was an
emergency week, as another host congregation dropped out),
July 8 - 14, and September 2 - 8.
• Many thanks to all who stepped up to help with cleaning, prep,
supplies, meals, and evening/night time hosts.
• While Tamalyn reported that we are scheduled to host our next
families the week of Nov. 4 - 10, the board asked her to email
Pam Pries, Carolyn Roy, and Laura Harker (cc Brenda
Riseland), to let them know this week will not work for us, due
to scheduling conflicts (week leading into Community Meal,
setting up for Bazaar, would begin day of Stewardship
Luncheon). Tamalyn will also check with Charles re: Scouts
participation with Family Promise.
• Faith Formation - no board action required; activities included:
• Led Children’s Moment: 7/1/18, 8/12/18
• Led Children’s Church: none!!! (Thanks to all who have taken care of our wee
ones.)
• Pastoral - no board action required; activities included:
• Maintained contacted with congregants
• Preached: 7/8/18, 7/29/18, 8/12/18
• Planned and set up Wild Goose Worship 5/10/18; planned it for 6/14/18 (Gary
did prep/set up); Wild Goose will be on hiatus for July and August
• Regional - no board action required; activities included:
• September 7 - 9 Regional Common Table in Idaho (I helped planning/
facilitating worship)
• For Your Information -
• Oct. 19 - 20 - Gary and I will be attending the Turner Lectures in Yakima

Nurture Report — Linda Heyne

You already witnessed Light a Candle for Children Sunday today. We celebrate
and pray for children all over the world for they are our future and are some of
the most vulnerable humans on earth.
Children’s Church continued through the summer, using the creative minds of the
many adults who care for our littles. Children’s Church will use our Spark Bible
for lessons this school year.
We will have our next Justice Sunday (formerly known as Jesus Has Left the
Building) on September 30. We will have a potluck meal, make Blessing Bags
and the away team will go to Human Society to do work there.

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 Our annual Blessing of the Animals will be on October 7 at 2:00. We hope that.
you will spread the word that we hold this service to show our gratitude for God’s
creatures who give us companionship and comfort.
We will hold our 2nd annual Halloween Party on Sunday, October 28 at 12:00.
We will have a potluck meal for all followed by the party at 1:00 with games,
snacks, and costumes. All ages are welcome to wear costumes and play
together!
Submitted by:
Linda Heyne
Members:
Kathy Wheeler
Tamalyn Kralman
Makena Schmidling
Megan Shoemaker
Melissa Henderson

Property — James Becker

• 23 chairs were donated by Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood and placed in our
library. Tamalyn will send them a thank you letter.
• We will get rid of 50 folding chairs (James will sort good from bad); Elise will list the
decent chairs for sale online and James will haul the rest to Z-Recyclers

Elders — Jane Kletka

No basic changes as the Elders continue serving First Christian Church in their
mission to meet the spiritual needs of the congregation and to assist the pastors
in their ministries.
To provide rest so as to prepare for the Fall-Winter schedule there was no Elders’
meeting in August.
The next Elders’ meeting is scheduled for September 16, 2018 at 8 a.m. We will
begin our study of Whole, written by Sharon Watkins. A Fall Retreat may be
planned as well.
As we begin this Fall - Winter schedule, the Elders will continue their mission to
serve First Christian Church.
Submitted by Jane Kletka, Chair

Trustees — Darleen Page

We have met twice and discussed rental fees for both special events, and for just
regular use of space. We plan to use the model that St. Paul has posted online,
with some significant modifications. It’s still a work in progress.
We spent a whole afternoon discussing the Opportunity Council’s appraisal and
their request for additional land from us. We all agreed that the outreach the

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 project would provide is definitely within our concept of outreach/mission. We
had no problem with the concepts expressed in O.C.’s project.
However, we came to no conclusions regarding the appraisal they presented.
We were very disappointed in the financial terms as well as the timeline
suggested.
We considered the following options:
1. Accept their offer as presented, which we do not recommend.
After checking each of the comparables provided by the appraiser, we feel the
comparables are not truly comparable, and that there is probably no site that is
as desirable as ours.
Our land is “shovel ready”, which none of the comparable are. There are
negative factors for each, from wetlands, clearing and grading, and access to
utilities to be done.
(By having the entire 6.5 acres included for consideration by the appraiser, the
dollar value per square foot is substantially decreased.)
2. Totally reject the entire proposal discussed to date, including the “gifting” of
1.66 acres. Not given much consideration by us. If we didn’t “gift”, then our offer
would be to ask their true market price on the 1.66 AND the 1.3 acres. Likely to
be rejected.
3. Getting our own appraisal, feeling that the “true market value” which is their
cost limit, would be higher that the $7.95 per sq. foot. Our appraisal would be
just on the 1.3 acres the need/want.
4. We DID agree that we need to do our own DUE DILIGENCE which would
take some time. None of us is ready to make a decision so quickly.
5. Perhaps we should try listing the site for sale with a realtor as a” trial balloon”
or even asking a hypothetical question about value, as Gregg has done, from
other realtors.
6. Ask O.C. if there is any way they can redesign the project to utilize the
proposed gifted property only…perhaps going 4 stories, as some other
developments have done, or eliminating some of the non-residential features in
the plan.
7. The 2-year Option runs till March 2019, so there is still time to negotiate.
Most developers pay for an Option while they are getting two years free, and we
are paying taxes on the property. Even if accepted, it would still be a long time
before we’d see any financial return.
8. There are other non-profits with mission similar to ours that we might ask,
(such as Thrivent) to determine if there is any interest in such a project.
We are all aware that this property is our future, our only real asset, and we
need to be prudent in making the best decision for our future.

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 We should NOT appear to be in such a financial situation that we must sell at
any price. Desperation leads to disadvantage!
We, the Trustees, choose not to make a recommendation for action by the
Board, but rather to do our own due diligence and set our own timeline,
before making any binding decision.

These are the notes taken at our meeting to the best of my knowledge and
recollection. See you at this most important Board meeting.
Respectfully, Darleen Page

Additional notes to Trustees’ report:

• The Opportunity Council’s appraisal of the church property revealed that the
land is worth $7.94/square foot, which is half of what church leaders
expected. OppCo will not pay more than this. (Their funders do not allow
them to pay more than the appraised value.)
• With appraisals, the larger the property, the smaller the price per square foot.
• The appraiser did report that he sees 45 - 50 years of life left in our building;
it’s well maintained; both the appraiser and church leaders agree we should
do our due diligence to determine true value of land
• The question was raised: could we negate the gift and charge $7.95/square
foot for all of the property? (There are concerns that this would compromise
the entire our integrity and the purpose of our giving. OppCo also has stated
they are unable to proceed, if this is the plan.)
• Church leaders will still get our own appraisal for the land. Gregg will contact
an appraiser.
• The timeline for closing with OppCo would be 2020, in which case no funds
would be available for our use until that time. However, Greg Winter has
informed us that could be adjusted, and funds could be made available when
documents are signed.
• Regarding the Building Use Rate Schedule
• Do not rent: Prayer Room or offices
• Storage will be rented at $2/square foot/month
• There will be an additional fee if cooking is being done in the kitchen
vs just using it to cater and serve foods.
• The baptistry will be rented at $100 per usage (to cover costs of prep,
filling, and clean-up).

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 • Iglesia de Dios will be apprised of these new fees, including an
increase of $100 per year. There will also be a clarification of their
approved room usage.
• James will get signs for the garage, prohibiting parking in front of the doors.
• The trustees will contact Spring Creek regarding parking in our lot.

Financial — Cheryl Perry

Regular checking account balance as of 9-11-2018 is $14,509.78 and Donor
Restricted account balance as of 9-11-18 is $18,980.54.
The Lawn Mower repair total was $2,222.95 and our angels donated $1,950.00
for it.
The Income and Expenses breakdowns are as follows:
June
$11,424.87 Income
$17,083.54 Expenses
July
$5,902.57 Income
$12,310.78 Expenses
Aug
$12,188.60 Income
$11,942.84 Expenses

Additional notes to Financial Report:

• The Donor Restricted funds will no longer be included in these totals.
• $1,620 in taxes will be coming out in October.
• Linda and Cheryl will be meeting to research implementing the usage of
Square for our church.
• Renee will look into a survey for the congregation regarding interest in
electronic giving.
• The Stewardship Campaign, “What Shall We Bring,” will take place October
21, 28, and November 4. The luncheon will take place on Nov. 4, with the
Scouts serving the meal. Renee will send e-files to the office for bulletin
covers and inserts.

Old Business
• Chairs - Donations have been given for chairs with arms. 10 chairs will be
ordered.

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 • Vision Task Force - We are waiting for the next step. We need
congregational meetings to determine preferences regarding the future of the
building. We need information prior to the end of 2018 so we have the
necessary info for OppCo.
• Building and Grounds Policy - see Trustees Report
• Family Promise update - Laura Harker had sent a request for a ten year
commitment from First Christian Church, allowing them to do further
renovations on the Day Center/Disciples House. We were unable to comply,
as we are in a time of discernment regarding our future.
• Promise Village Update - We will need to give a prompt response to
OppCo.
• Darleen moved that we decline the Opportunity Council offer of $7.94
per square foot on the additional acreage. Renee seconded. The
motion was passed.
• Gregg will contact Greg Winter, informing them that we cannot accept
$7.94 per square foot for the additional acreage requested, beyond
the additional 1.66 acres we had offered as a gift. We, as a
congregation, will honor the original agreement until March 2019,
unless Opportunity Council releases us from it.
• Gregg will contact someone to appraise the back three acres to
determine market vs appraisal value on the land.

New Business
• We will be re-envisioning the Bazaar
• Next meeting: Sunday, November 18, 5p.

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