Meeting Minutes
Jedi Council
October 6, 2019
The meeting began at 9:30 am.  Present were Laurie Baker, Bill Thomas, Carolyn Monzingo, Liz Olday, Melissa Niemi, Megan Sebastian, Ruth Morton, and Emily Hilgers.  Also present was the Office Manager, Jessica Bobb.  
•	Member Services Coordinator Update—Melissa had several good ideas for improvement with regard to coffee time and the bulletin board.  It sometimes happens that people simply cannot afford to bring the amount of treats that coffee hour seems to demand.  The church currently has a cupboard with a few items in it, but would like to see the “stash” extended and used by those who wish to serve but cannot afford to.  Part of the budget could go to maintaining this “stash”.  The office manager will be including a question about needing the “stash” when she sends out the serving reminders.  Melissa has also been working on the bulletin board.  A connection board for the various committees was discussed, as well as putting up board and staff pictures.  Melissa will be starting a new member class soon, as she has 4 people interested.
•	Social Justice Council—Social Justice Council did not meet in September.  We have delivered a total of 38 bags of produce to the Dorothy Day House.  There will be a few more bags to deliver.  Thanks to Karl and his helpers.  Thanks to Les who is continuing to develop our relationship with Churches United.  Pending review by the Social Justice Council, the confusion about the donation for Plants for Patients has been resolved.
•	Worship Coordinator—The Worship Coordinator noted that there are not enough children upstairs at the beginning of the service for chalice lighters.  Recent programs have been well received, regardless of technological difficulty.   Laurie and Tim Peterson met with Terry Baer on September 24th to review the AV system.  Ideally this would be implemented in stages.  The overarching preference was for two smart TVs to be mounted on arms or poles on the east and west sides of the sanctuary and Sonos sound bars to prevent connectivity issues.  Microphones need to be changed to a digital system.  Cheap existing speakers are part of the issue, and sound bars will fill the space and are more impervious to things like squirrels.  Program criteria and financial guidelines were also discussed, as well as upcoming programming.

Program criteria: Must fit one of these categories
•	Unitarian Universalism/7 Principles
•	World Religions (includes paganism, humanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions also found in UUism)
•	Personal search for truth and meaning
•	Justice/Social Justice 
Financial Guidelines: Program Pay Scale
•	FMUU Member 			$0 (contribution of membership)
•	Community member (non-clergy)	$50
•	Community member (clergy)		$100
•	Ordained UU Minister			$150
•	Non-UU Musician			$50
•	Mileage				$.14/mile
Upcoming programs include: 
•	October:
o	Fatherhood
o	Structure Yielding Brilliance—lessons from chess, history, and FMUU
o	Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
o	In the Beginning
•	November:
o	Moms Demand Action (gun violence)
o	The Empathy Riddle
o	TBA (Claudette Peterson)
o	In Our Own Words/Thanksgiving
•	RE Coordinator—The RE Coordinator mentioned that the RE closets were cleaned out and will potentially be repurposed.  The office manager will be helping the RE Coordinator with a weekly newsletter, most likely on Mail Chimp.  Somewhere between 3-5 children are in the RE program on any given Sunday.  Children are getting distracted and perhaps should bring fewer toys from home.  Every Sunday has a writing or drawing prompt.
•	Program Committee—The Program Committee would like to enhance our public image using several different media, including the newspaper, campus newspapers, and social media like Facebook and Instagram.  Considering sending out notes to those who have not been to services in a while.  Several enrichment ideas were offered, including more intergenerational services, special music, adult RE/wisdom circles, movie nights, and other fun events.  
•	Office Manager—In deference to the weather, the Office Manager has been researching automated calling services to contact parishioners in the event that church or other activities need to be cancelled due to the weather.  There were three companies that seemed to stand out.  Contact information would be uploaded once, and the message is remotely controlled through an app.  There are several different pay plans, but the most feasible were to buy credits instead of a monthly option as hopefully the church will not need to use it this year.  Jarrad Prasifka is searching for a new Internet provider for the church and thinks that an automated calling service may be included with that change.
•	Place Committee—Many thanks to Les Hazlett and Jarrad Prasifka for temporarily fixing the steps until more permanent plans are in place.  The September cleaning day went very well, with many spaces getting the TLC they needed.  Several people also assisted with the library.  Opp Construction was once again mentioned, and their opinion was to build wooden steps.  Just a reminder that the book sale will be held on November 2nd and 3rd.  Sign-up sheet to follow.
•	People Committee—People Committee would like to see support for ongoing commitments (and potentially add more); everyone-not just the care team-paying more attention to those in need; and expanding internal volunteer base.  

Respectfully Submitted,
Jessica Bobb

Office Manager, Fargo Moorhead Unitarian Universalist Church