Round Hill Community Church Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 

 Prepare for Meeting and Prayer: At 5:30 Nancy welcomed everyone to the meeting by introducing the new members Heather and Karine. Nancy also drew the trustees’ attention to the number of people who worked to make the Spring Fling so successful.  She noted that it was well attended, an example of part of the church’s outreach effort and thought it really highlighted the interest in church activities. Nancy next asked Ed to lead a prayer. Ed offered a prayer for “guidance and vision” as the trustees continued their work.

Minutes:  At 5:35 the minutes from the January 23, 2023 meeting were unanimously approved with one revision: The dates listed for Shannon White’s Pastoral role in the Pastor’s Report be changed to May, June and July. The secretary agreed to the change.

Resolution: At 5:39 The Resolution, “Round Hill Community Church Board is Resolved to authorize the Chair of the Board of Trustees to sign, on behalf of the Round Hill Community Church, Inc., all contracts and associated documents, on behalf of Round Hill Community Church, Inc.” was read and discussed. Nancy noted that formally approving this resolution would improve the operation of the church with businesses requiring signed contracts to begin or continue work. Helen was worried that someone in the future might misuse the power to sign contracts. Jake noted that such a role by the chairperson was inherent in the bylaws and this resolution was in keeping with its spirit. An amendment to the resolution was added. The document’s final reading: “Round Hill Community Church Board is Resolved to authorize the Chair of the Board of Trustees or in their absence the Vice-Chairperson, to sign, on behalf of the Round Hill Community Church, Inc., all contracts and associated documents, on behalf of Round Hill Community Church, Inc.” The resolution was unanimously passed.

At 5:50 Ed introduced the Pastor’s Report by thanking the Board of Trustees for their support for part one of his sabbatical. His travels and retreat were interesting and useful for him professionally and for the church. The retreat time helped him appreciate what enriching programs we have at Round Hill Church. The opportunity to meet with other clergy helped him to see and understand the value of our activities in light of a post pandemic recovery. 

 Next, Ed updated the trustees regarding the role of Lizzie Cid whose doctors have assigned her bed rest during her maternity leave. 

On the subject of targeting particular Sundays for family and children's ministry, Ed noted this approach could prove useful for engaging local families in the church’s work. Special events, led by Shannon White, were in the planning stage. These events hopefully would improve our outreach throughout the community. Ed noted that ‘spot funding’ for projects continued to work well. Ed hopes the church will, over the next month, more fully fund the Heifer International Project to fight hunger and poverty. Bruce, Heather, Pat and Leslie took the opportunity to applaud the church’s plans. However, they encouraged Ed and those creating these projects to consider more advertising and marketing in support of the events and programs. It was felt by most members that good marketing was important for disseminating information regarding the program’s aims and objectives. PR efforts are necessary for targeted ministry and spot funding to work well  as these strategies go forward. Finally Ed announced that Shannon was planning an event on ‘Elder Life’ for the end of April. More is to come concerning this event.

Financials: At 6:00 Bruce noted that our accountant, Tanya, had been ill over the past two weeks and had not produced a dashboard for this month's accounts. The trustees hoped that Tanya would be better soon and we would delay the financial review until the next meeting.

At 6:05 Ed began the Round Table Discussions concerning Church Growth, Fiscal Health and Digital Ministries. Specifically, he asked board members to focus attention on the question of Church Growth following the pandemic. Ed felt that what the church needed was a set of defined goals for studying and encouraging membership. He also noted that he was attempting to contact Dr. Scott Thumma, Professor of Sociology of Religion and director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University for insight into church growth and developing strategies for nurturing growth.

Ed asked the board to take up this discussion. Heather had put much thought into this topic and began the discussion (The secretary wishes to thank Heather for contributing her notes.)

Priority Next Steps:

 -Need to hire a full time youth director who wants to help RH grow and develop their youth programs. Recruit from seminary school? 
- Work with Leslie Kons to tailor the music for a broader audience.

Areas of focus

-Music is a big draw, how do we use it for recruitment? 
- Bring in professional talent (eg. cello player) and advertise it
- Create a youth choir or include them in special productions
- Leverage Backcountry Jazz
- Narrow songs down and repeat so they become familiar and/or incorporate more well known songs

Church Grounds/Nature/Gardening is another big draw. Ideas could include.
-Strongly promote the Green Church.
- Develop a children's garden. Ed noted that the church has a $3,200 grant and partnership with Audubon and Greenwich Land Trust we can use to support a children's program
- Volunteer Activities
- Gifts and giving dedicated to battery-operated yard equipment 

OTHER:

- Use the first Sunday of every month to implement changes and recruit others. 
- Various organized group activities following Sunday service may help to encourage members to come and be more actively involved.
- Develop and implement volunteer activities aimed at young children/teens 
- Leverage RH Nursery School and think about camps on campus
- We should define who our target audiences are and what they are looking for in a church
- Flesh out a digital strategy that includes SEO, Social and Advertisements

Jake noted that these were good ideas but we needed to focus on specifics to address each of the areas. Pat, Karine and Leslie noted that there were local resources which they had experience working with that could, perhaps, help put these projects in action. The Audubon Society, Greenwich Green and Clean, the nursery school, the Greenwich Land Trust were discussed as resources which could support possible programs for children young and older.

All trustees seemed to agree that this discussion was positive.

At 6:55 Nancy drew the board’s attention to the RHCC Values Calendar submitted by Ron. Ed noted it was a good place to begin thinking about infusing the spirit of our work into the church’s vision and mission.

At 7:00 Ed outlined for the trustees the reasons and process behind his initiative, Meeting Greenwich Again… for the First Time. In particular, he hoped to understand how people view their hometown. He expects the process to be an exercise in listening to people. He is especially interested in people's passion and curious about what they view as working and not working in the town where they live. Asked by Jake if these might also be a point of contact for the church, Ed noted that it was possible.