Mar 13 2013
Committee Meeting Minutes 13 March 2013
Minutes of the Sea of Faith Committee held on March 13th at 7 p.m.
Present: Marjorie, Gretchen, Ian, Peter, David, Ruth, Frances, Pen
Apologies: Alan, Margaret, Sheila
Business:
1. Composition and term of committee members.
Marjorie suggested that, as it is becoming difficult to attract new members onto the committee, members who have served their 3 years should be eligible to stand again to make up a full committee if there are insufficient new members standing.
The committee will consist of the chairperson, treasurer, webmaster, newsletter editor, librarian and immediate past chairperson and other members not exceeding a total of 12. Moved: Marjorie Seconded: Pen
Carried.
2. A letter had been received from Alan, the newsletter editor, regarding the costs of printing and posting out the newsletter. He asked for the annual amount of $200 paid to cover costs be raised to $220 for 2013 as there had been a rise in the cost of stamps and printing. Indicators are that the amount will need to be increased again in 2014. It was moved by Pen and seconded by Frances that the amount for 2013 be raised to $230 Carried
3. Alan had suggested we raise the charge for our meal and hall hire at meetings to $6: $3 for the food and $3 for the hall hire. After some discussion it was considered we still have sufficient funds to meet our obligations for this year including a possible visit by Jim Veitch. It was moved Marjorie and seconded Ruth that we keep the charges at $3 and $2.
4. David informed us that Jim Veitch will be giving an address at Mornington church in April. Sea of Faith members will be welcome to attend and David will give us the details at the next meeting. We are concerned about the unprocessed cheque of $350 given to Jim Veitch for his transport costs. Ruth will contact him to ensure it was not mislaid. It was noted that we had received $200 from the steering committee towards his travel costs.
5. It was agreed that we would pay petrol money to the people who picked up and delivered the food each month: $30 to Sheila and $20 to Frances.
6. Marjorie checked that all reports were ready for the AGM. Ruth and Ian will see that copies of the financial statement and webmaster report are made for the AGM on 28th March.
7. $50 payment will be made to Ian for expenses incurred to run the website.
8. There was discussion about the running of the kitchen at meetings. It was agreed that we should move the meal forward to 5 p.m. members will be notified of this in the April newsletter. The mealtime will be 5 p.m. till 6 40 p.m. This will make it much easier to complete the clean up in the kitchen before the meeting at 6 p.m. Marjorie will bring the tea, coffee and milk each session and arrange a replacement if she is absent. There will be an informal group of people who are willing to help with the clean up and who will be asked to help at the time.
9. Peter gave notice that he wished to be relieved of the position of librarian. This was accepted and the committee expressed its gratitude to Peter for all the work he has done in maintaining the library over the years. Peter indicated that the library had doubled in size and it was perhaps time to take out some of the older books and replace them with more recent ones. Gretchen suggested that Peter sort through and keep in one place the books he feels are of real value to the group. Others could be returned to their owners. We will seek a new librarian at the AGM.
10. There had been a request from several people that we follow up Richard Egan’s session on euthanasia with another where we had more time to discuss the issues involved. A suggestion was that we could use Robbie Highton’s paper as a basis for discussion. We hope to do this at the April meeting. As this coincides with Anzac day Marjorie will ask at the next meeting how many are likely to attend.
11. Conference 2014 Although most of the committee were somewhat apprehensive at taking on the conference for 2014 it was decided to go ahead with it. This decision was reached after Marjorie had given an outline of the situation as it stands at the moment. She had received a strong request from the steering committee that we see if it was possible to host a conference. The steering committee has promised to help as much as possible and will take on responsibility for the registrations. This is a major lightening of the work load. An advantage for Dunedin is that it will enable many of our members to attend a conference which they would otherwise not be able to do. All is subject to finding a suitable venue. Marjorie has visited Columba, St Hildas and John McGlashan. Columba is not suitable as there is only dormitory accommodation upstairs. John McGlashan and St Hildas are both possibilities though Marjorie favours St Hildas which has excellent accommodation in a very attractive setting. The boarding complex has a number of spaces that would meet the requirements for core groups and a book shop, all under the one roof. A problem is that there is no large lecture room. However the dining room is spacious and attractive and it is possible this could be used as a lecture room. The kitchen staff is very accommodating and would see that there is no noise during lectures. The work area is closed off from the main dining area.
Several of the committee indicated that they were happy to support the conference in any way they could. Marjorie stressed that the idea would be to have certain people responsible for just one item and as many as were able to help immediately preceding the conference with organising folders, nametags etc. No one is to feel coerced into doing more than they are comfortable with. With this support, and subject to the steering committee agreeing with the accommodation we can offer, Marjorie agreed to convene a conference committee. She will write to Beverley Smith to tell her of our decision. In the near future she will, along with 2 others, re visit both McGlashan and St Hildas before a final decision on a venue is made.
The meeting closed at 8.30 p.m.