Minutes for the 180th Meeting of the Community Miracles Center
Board of Directors (**Public Copy)
03.22.20 12:45 p.m. Held via Zoom Video Conferencing
Directors Present 7: Rev. Tony Ponticello, Rev. Dusa Althea Rammessirsingh, Rev. Vincent Fuqua, Rev. Peter Graham, Rev. Tedosio Samora, Rev. Rudy Colombini, Rev. Kelly Hallock
Directors Absent 0:
REGULAR BUSINESS
Minutes for 179th Meeting Read and Accepted as Amended.
Financial Reports:
We are still in the 1st quarter so there is no new financial report at this time.
As of Sat. 03.21.20
Bank of America: $105,326.00
J P Morgan: $ 82,208.69
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TOTAL ..... $187,534.69
$30,000 has already been paid to Omni L.A.
We are carrying a $72,985.28 liability for the Los Angeles Conference.
Supporting Member Report:
Currently 94 Supporting Members — $5,156.66 / month pledged, average $54.86 / member (net loss of 3, loss of $90 / month)
Gained 1: Elaine Turner
Lost 4: Benjamin Onelove, Scott Krajca, Rev. Brenda Culbertson, Sally Gray
We may lose a few more. There are questionable ones and this financial environment is not the best for getting new members. Each person has a different reason for dropping their membership.
Healing Team Report:
Currently 55 Members - 59% of Supporting Members
Associate Minister Report:
Currently 16 Associate Ministers
Gain of 0
Loss of 0
Class Report:
24 students in paid classes - loss 3
7 ACIM Circle of Atonement Students - Rev. Tony
1 ACIM-1 Students - Rev. Paul
5 ACIM-1 Students - Rev. Kelly
5 ACIM-2 Students - Rev. Paul, Rev. Tony
6 ACOL Students - Rev. Kim
Marvelous Monday Miracles Meeting (M4) started using Zoom on 3.16.20 - Rev. Dusa Althea
Thursday LGBTQ & Beyond started using Zoom on 3.19.20 - Rev. Peter
Saturday ACIM Class started using Zoom on 3.21.20 - Rev. Rudy
All in-person classes will continue using Zoom Video Conferencing while we have "Shelter-in-Place" in effect. It was great to be able to implement this so quickly.
ACIM-2 Ministerial Projects:
Margarita Marinkovich – Done with the ordination program and ready to be ordained.
Deb Canja - New "Teacher Certification" program. Deb has some important personal demands. She would like to put project on hold until these are over. She has moved back to Michigan permanently to handle them.
David Brunn – On San Francisco Sunday Service Committee / AV Team
Garrick Wilhelm – On San Francisco Sunday Service Committee / AV Team and doing YouTube videos
Anthony Bopp - Posts regularly (almost daily) in Healing Team Facebook Group
Paula Carpe – Is planning on starting her ACOL class on Wednesday's from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. She has one committed prospect who is purchasing the book. The publishers of ACOL are working with her to promote both of our ACOL classes. She has talked to them.
Brian Patacca - There are issues with him and his project. He hasn't done anything yet. Rev. Tony will report.
Benjamin Onelove – quit pursuing ordination as has decided the Bible is the final authority on Jesus and ACIM disagrees with the Bible. He is no longer a Supporting Member.
Sally Gray - Is quitting ACIM-2 and being a Supporting Member of the CMC. There were issues that arose because of her project which she became unwilling to do. She was considering starting an affiliated CMC organization in Australia but disagreed with our process and decided that our way was not for her.
Rev. Kelly would like to discuss opening up another class session for ACIM-2 because several students in her morning class want to take ACIM-2 classes but they cannot attend at the times our ACIM-2 classes are scheduled. They would like another class at a comparable time to their current ACIM-1 8:00 am to 10:00 am Wednesday morning class. We are going to investigate this as a possibility and would need someone to teach the class.
Sunday Gathering Report:
Average attendance since the last Board meeting (01.26.20 to 03.15.20 - 8 Gatherings) was 10.4, a decrease from last report. The Coronavirus situation was a factor in the recent weeks. David Brunn has stepped forward and is doing a wonderful job with early set-up and AV. Rev. Dusa Althea is also very helpful. Rev. Steve is also helpful though he is not there as consistently and frequently doesn't come early.
Our AV problems have been solved for the past month or more which is wonderful. There were several issues and they all got worked out.
We will be using Zoom Video Conferencing while the "Shelter-in-Place" ordinance is in effect. Sunday Gathering's go on with whatever means we have available.
OLD BUSINESS
CMC Publishing Inclusive Language Version of ACIM (The Original Edition):
CMC received a Text version from Tom Whitmore of A Course in Miracles Society.
Staff Situation:
David Brunn continues to work but didn't come in this past week because of the "Shelter-in-Place" ordinance. He has learned more and has become more valuable. Rev. Tony and David work well together.
Rev. Kelly has a proposal about working towards hiring one of her ACIM-1 students James Sims. She has sent us information.
Quick summation of Rev. Kelly's proposal: Rev. Tony works long hours and is possibly "overworked." David Brunn is good, but doesn't have the computer skills Rev. Kelly has. Rev. Kelly wants to work less hours starting January 1, 2021. James Simms was at 2019 Boston Conference is in Rev. Kelly's ACIM-1 class and has expressed interest in moving to San Francisco and working for the CMC. Rev. Kelly believes he is intelligent and has the ability.
Rev. Kelly discussed her desire to work less hours and proposed that James Sims would be a good person to become CMC's Assistant Minister due to his knowledge of ACIM and intelligence. The Board discussed and thought that James should move here and become involved in the Church before considering him for the Assistant Minister position. Rev. Rudy said that he could offer him 3 months of free rent at one of his hotels.
Rev. Peter said he might be willing to fill the Assistant Minister position and would like more information about his role and responsibilities. Rev. Vincent said that he planned to increase his participation at the CMC over time as well.
Rev. Tony said that David is ready to be trained on how to put together Miracles Monthly and could assume other things that Rev. Kelly does. Rev. Kelly said she would like to work about 10 hours a week starting in January 2021. We will honor her request and work towards that goal. Discussion tabled for now.
NEW BUSINESS
2020 Conference In Los Angeles:
Currently 338 tickets bought or accounted for: (up 5 since last meeting)
285 assigned tickets (up 27 since last meeting)
53 still unassigned block tickets (down 22 since last meeting)
8 of assigned are scholarship
Ticket sales and assignment of block tickets was progressing well until the current Coronavirus situation escalated. There are more people who want to cancel now and that number is sure to increase. Rev. Kelly and Rev. Tony talked to the Hotel on March 13. The Hotel is not willing to evoke the "Force Majeure" clause yet. This clause would void the contract. The Hotel would acknowledge "Force Majeure" if they were legally prohibited from having groups of that size there on that weekend or if there was a major USA travel ban in place then. However the "Force Majeure" clause is vague and would possibly need to be interpreted by a court.
If we canceled now, without the "Force Majeure" acknowledged by the Hotel, the cancellation fee would be $187,400. The Hotel wants us to wait a while and see what happens. However even IF we could legally hold the Conference at the end of May how many of our people would cancel anyway? We could then easily fall below our minimums and not get the contract discounts and concessions, and have to pay for contract shortfalls which could be substantial. Perhaps the Hotel would waive contract minimums and shortfalls if we go through with the Conference if legally possible. This has been discussed. Again, they want us to wait.
We have already pre-paid the hotel $30,000. If canceled we would want to get that money back. There is a concern over those coming from other countries who would not be able to get here due to current travel bans. Rev. Kelly reported that 49 participants are from other countries including 16 from Japan. We would need to know by mid-April so we could give people enough notice about whether the Conference was on or cancelled.
If we do cancel we could offer registrants the ability to transfer their registration to next year 2021. Many might do this. We could offer them a 50/50 refund with possibly 50% of the refund amount becoming a donation to the CMC to help offset the money lost from a year of planning and expenses but no Conference. We could also give a full refund if they wanted that. We could let them choose their own donation percentages or amount. We have enough money to give every ticket holder a full refund if they request it.
Rev. Tony believes it might be best to keep the same theme, logo, and Presenters (if they agree) for 2021 if we cancel 2020. The Board agreed in a 5-2 poll that we should keep the same theme for wherever we hold the Conference next year. In essence we would just be postponing the 2020 Conference and moving it to Washington DC. Perhaps we could return to Los Angeles in 2022. These might be substantial cost saving measures. The possibility of postponing Washington DC Conference to 2022 and having postponed Los Angeles Conference in 2021 was also discussed.
2021 ACIM Conference:
The theme committee is progressing in choosing a theme. Conference dates are: May (27), 28, 29, 30, 2021 (Thu.- Sun. Memorial Day Weekend 2021)
Rev. Tony's and Rev. Kelly's visit to the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in mid-March 2020 was cancelled. They are now planning to visit Jul. 12 - Jul. 17 (Sun. Through Fri.). We are waiting for the final confirmation of the reservation.
Regular Board Meeting Schedule:
If we keep to the current Conference schedule we will always have a conflict with end of May Board meetings. If we change to even months we get a conflict with Christmas. We could change to quarterly meetings but that would take a Bylaws amendment. We could have the May meeting 2 weeks after a Memorial Weekend Conference but not expect any extensive financial and Agenda preparation. The Board discussed the possibility of moving the May meeting (our next) to two weeks after the Conference. It was determined to wait until the status of the Conference was decided upon before making a decision on the date of the next Board Meeting.
Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place Concerns:
Rev. Vincent voiced his opposition to 3 persons who were present at the CMC office on Friday to put out this months edition of Miracles Monthly because it violated San Francisco's order to Shelter-in-Place. Rev. Tony agreed to prevent this from happening again.
Meeting Adjourned: 2:40 p.m.
Next Meeting: Sunday May 24th, 2020
If we are in Los Angeles it will have to be rescheduled.
Respectfully Submitted: Rev. Peter Graham, Secretary
**Infrequently, the CMC may generalize certain items and/or names, or may eliminate an item altogether, that might be embarrassing and/or painful for a particular person and/or institution from the "Public Copy" of the Minutes. The "Legal Copy" of the minutes, held at the CMC office, may therefore be slightly different from the "Public Copy." The CMC guarantees that, to the best of its ability, the "Public Copy" of the minutes contains no inaccurate or misleading information.