1. The meeting was called to order in the Parish Hall at 7:05 p.m. In attendance: Rev. Amy Freedman, John Burnham, Sally Hanchett, Jake Smith, Eleanor Elmer, Barbara Nowicki, Barbara Russell-Willett, David Banister, Christine Ariel, David Pedrick, Holly Grosvenor, Mary Alice Smith, Linda Beall.

2. Mary Alice agreed to be the meeting's process observer, and David Pedrick agreed to take notes for the minutes in Lissa's absence.

3. The Minutes of the 6/14/05 meeting were approved unanimously with a correction to the Minister's Report on a motion by Sally, seconded by Christine.

4. Minister's Report: Amy raised issues discussed in her report in June related to payment of insurance, pension, and lateness of paychecks (detailed in attached report). A discussion of improvements to financial administration followed.

Chris moved and Jake seconded that Amy's professional expenses and health insurance be reimbursed within 30 days of receipt of invoice. The motion passed unanimously.

5. Reports were circulated in advance of the meeting by several committees. Eleanor Elmer reported for Membership, Sally Hanchett for Religious Education, Jake Smith for Fellowship, and Barbara Nowicki for Programs.

The Property Committee report, also circulated in advance, was discussed by Barbara Russell-Willett, especially with regard to removing the large tree next to the Parish Hall for safety reasons and developing a plan and funding for the stain glass windows in the church. In the latter case, Barbara requested funding up to $5,000 from our operating reserve to hire a consultant to begin evaluating the windows in the worst condition. John asked to defer further discussion until later in the meeting.

The Management Committee report, circulated in advance, was commented on by John Burnham in the absence of chairman Peter Schoenbucher. John indicated that a couple more members would be helpful as the committee began to work on improving the church's financial administration.

Due to the recent transition in officers, the following motion was made by Chris Ariel and seconded by Sally Hanchett and passed unanimously:

Resolved: The governing board hereby authorizes John Burnham as president and David Banister as treasurer to sign checks on behalf of the corporation.

John Burnham asked the board to approve having two senior members, Tad Elmer and Janet Cook, do a cash reconciliation during the transition between treasurers to confirm the amounts of money in various accounts equaled the balance sheet numbers. The bylaws call for the Management Committee to conduct an audit of accounts annually, but John said it would be a conflict for Peter to audit the accounts this year. Next year, his committee could recommend an appropriate procedure.

The following motion was made by Chris Ariel and seconded by Eleanor Elmer, and approved unanimously:

Resolved: That an independent reconciliation of church accounts be conducted before the next board meeting by two senior church members, Tad Elmer and Janet Cook, and that the management committee will thereafter review and report back to the board appropriate procedures to be conducted annually in the future.

6. The late-August Board retreat was discussed. To help board members prepare to look at what our goals should be in the year ahead, John handed out copies of the 2003 Strategic Plan adopted by the church as well as a summary of major issues that several leaders he'd interviewed thought were important to address.

7. Financial Report: Dave Banister circulated Peter Schoenbucher's fiscal year-end (6/30/05) report, a spreadsheet document including a balance sheet and descriptive notes. The year-end report showed a surplus and appeared generally in line with previous reports. The report was discussed.

8. John announced a request by Nickie Kates to have a second collection at the In-Gathering service in September for the benefit of Channing Caregiving. Support was expressed and no objections were raised.

9. In his President's report, John discussed his concern with Fire Code deficiencies the church buildings have been cited for limiting non-religious public functions, the need to upgrade alarms, and the strategy for tackling the list. In particular the board discussed the expense involved in meeting the requirements for upgrading the alarms for a building such as the Parish Hall where the Sea Rangers, a nursery school, is located. Mary Alice, the past president, said that Turner Scott had been hired to help us interpret the requirements and help us respond to the fire marshall. John said he would provide the board with further information on the deficiencies at the September meeting.

John also asked the board to consider whether we should give notice to the Channing House downstairs tenant, whose lease is up in October, so that the apartment can be used by the church as per the congregation's plan when passing the budget last May.

Chris Ariel moved and Barbara Nowicki seconded to vacate the Channing House downstairs apartment for other church use. This passed unanimously.

Other tenant issues were discussed.

Barbara Russell-Willett, seconded by Chris Ariel, moved that the board approve $5,000 to start the "Belcher" windows survey. The authorization is to determine the scope of work needed to conserve the window. The motion passed unanimously.

10. The church auction was discussed

11. Mary Alice, as process observer, suggested we limit our discussions in the future and focus on a smaller number of topics in each meeting. Amy recommended that we follow a more orderly procedure of recognizing people to speak and join into discussions.

12. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:40 p.m.