Attending: Jim Searls, Ryan Russell, Lonnie Chaffin, Curtis Brown, Paul White, Laura Witkowski, Gail Burgess, Bishop Trimble
Jim and Ryan had received an email requesting clarification on the timeline for requesting funding for the next quadrennium. Although we had discussed implementing a simplified plan and timeline, we had not confirmed all the details. Since at this time it appears that General Conference will be delayed until August-September 2021 and jurisdictional conferences will not occur until after that, we apparently will need to make some decisions before a new Mission Council is elected.
First, we WILL request that all Progress Reports for 2020 be sent in this July. Many may not have been able to hold events and we would not be fully funding them if that is the case. Any changes in the 2020 plans would need to be communicated. We will also invite groups to apply this in September and then plan to hold a Mission Council ZOOM meeting in November to award grants.
We will eliminate the Concept application; this just seems to create more work for the Mission Council and doesn’t really aid the decision process. We will emphasize the previous year’s recipients MUST turn in a Progress Report before applying for the next year’s funding. Some groups could receive tentative approval for 4 years, but would still need to turn in a progress report each year before getting the next year’s funding. Ryan and Laura will send out a letter regarding this timeline.
A similar timeline could be followed in 2021, with the new Mission Council holding its first meeting in January of 2022. The outgoing Council could make recommendations regarding the 4 year grants; the new Council would review new applications. Some of the Council members in 2020-2024 will remain the same.
We already have a May 26 Mission Council meeting scheduled to look at the budget for 2020-2024. The Executive Team will meet at 11 a.m. CDT and the full Mission Council will meet at noon.
Gail Burgess, Secretary
