Tres Dias Secretariat Meeting
Gorham, Maine Saturday-October 25, 2008
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A Presidential welcome and greeting was given by Paul Weis.

9:45a.m. The 100^th meeting of the Secretariat opened with prayer by Judith Herren.

9:46a.m. Meeting Called To Order by Paul Weis.

Don Bohl served as the Parliamentarian.

Present: Paul Weis, Julie Bohl, Richard Thornhill, Judith Herren, Don VanLandingham, Sue Loveland, Dave Routzon, Chuck Allen, Eric Borman, Beau Bruce, Wilson Burton, John Green, Jane Henderson, Pat Maynard, Valerie Mehl, Robert Myers, Jeanne Norwood, Adele Smith, J. Harold Thurmond, Linda VanLandingham John McKinney –Secretariat Executive.

Absent: Jim Bailey, Paul Markowitz, Carolyn Davis, Harry Davis, Steven DeCillis, Ned Heffington, and Mike Holmes.

Paul Weis addressed the need to revise the agenda for the sake of efficiency. He goes on to review information from the informal meeting that took place Friday afternoon. The topic of discussion was the need for the TDI members to make personal contact with the individual communities for the purpose of prayer support. The objective is to create a better line of communication between the International Tres Dias and the Local communities.

President called for a motion to approve the agenda with revision.

Motion made to approve the agenda. Second to motion is made. Motion Carries.

President waives the reading of the minutes because the members were provided with a hard copy the day before.

Motion is made to accept the Minutes with a correction made on the roll call. Second is made. Motion Carried.

10:00a.m. Treasurer Report

Don VanLandingham presented the financial report. He stated that the assets look good and that $51,000.00 0f the $62,000.00 in assets is cash. The net worth has grown considerably since last year. The central reason for the increase is due to the fact that the communities have paid their respective dues. Financial Secretary, Sue Loveland, was applauded for her timely effort in sending the fee notices to the various communities. A significant reduction in expenditures also added to the increase of funds.

Don also informed the group that the TDI CD interest rates have been reduced by half. The 4% rate is currently 2% and lowers the rate of the return.

Discussion: A brief over view of the cost to transport banners ensued and a question about the inventory cost on certain supplies.

A request was made for information on the appropriation of the earned interest of the Endowment fund. That question was referred to the Executive committee for review.

Motion is made to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Second is made. Motion Carried.

Financial Secretary Sue Loveland presents a brief over view of her report. The report is in agreement with the Treasurer’s report.

Motion is made to accept the report. Second is made. Motion Carries.

10:15a.m. RECESS called for Committee meetings.

12:00p.m. LUNCH

1:00p.m. Committee Meetings resume

3:25p.m. Secretariat Meeting Reconvened

Services Committee – Eric Borman presenting:

For the sake of those absent the Services Committee had several members in attendance through cell phone conferencing.

The committee plans to send a data base on CD to Ben Seal for publication. The plan is to put together a sub-committee to work on the data base CD. The CD will contain contact information on all persons who have attended the Annual Assemblies. This would provide an ongoing historical record of attendance. Proof of attendance is needed when seeking to qualify a person for International membership.

Don Bohl addressed the meeting about gaining broader distribution of the TDI News Letter. The current distribution does not include Pescadores.

He and Ned Heffington discussed two concepts about broader distribution of the Newsletter that would include Pescadores.

Concept One:

Each community would be asked to create a generic website address for the sole purpose of receiving the news letter.

For example: TDI Newsletter distribution person @______.org.

That person would be responsible for emailing the newsletter to the Pescadores.

Concept Two:

Create an individual generic website address for the each local secretariat member to receive a newsletter. Every member of the local secretariat would get a copy for distribution.

Don proposed a pilot project to run one or both of the concepts. A discussion followed.

Eric called for a show of hands on how many communities have web sites that have individual Officers listed with addresses? A fair amount of hands were raised.

Paul suggests sending the Newsletter to all Chair persons, members, and delegates with a request for them to distribute it to the Pescadores and members of their communities.

Eric says that his wife Judy sends the news letter to all of the Palanca couples with the understanding that there will be overlap until they get the system worked out.

There is a definite need for better communication from TDI to the individual communities and also for the communication to be passed on to the respective Pescadores. (Group discussion ends.)

Pilgrims Guides: Eric said that Paul Weis had expressed concern about the Pilgrim’s Guide. The current Pilgrim’s Guide was updated a little over a year ago. It currently contains prayers that are actually Psalms but do not have Scriptural records. Bill Boyd revised the guide by making proper additions and procuring a copyright for the quoted verses. Of the changes presented at the time, Policy indicated concern that three items in the re-write might be viewed as denominational. Nothing further was done. Paul recommended that the balance of the work should not be abandoned before the next printing is done. It was also suggested that the questioned items be removed. Services and Policy will work together to revise the guide.

News Letter articles: Eric went on to request guest articles be submitted for the Newsletter. He asked for people to submit how Tres Dias has affected their individual community or churches. He is also interested in foreign community input.

Foreign communications: Services will make up a matrix for better international off shore opportunities and needs. Interest has been created and there are people who would like more information in serving a foreign community weekend.

Concerns: The International communities are growing but there is a lack of interest and participation in Tres Dias on an International level. This needs to be remedied.

The cell phone conferencing was successful for the Services committee. It has inspired that committee to consider using web cam in the future for some committee work.

Policy Committee - Dave Routzen presenting:

Dave opened with a request that Jeff Mehl and Jeff Mentz be received as voting members of the Policy Committee.

Dave went on to say that the Policy committee gave a considerable amount of discussion and review on the topic of Clergy holding lay positions in Community. Policy is in the process of drafting a letter to send to all of the community Presidents in order to clarify the issue on the local level.

The main rule that needs to be presented is that once a person has served as a Spiritual director, they cannot serve in a Lay Leader position such as rector, Head Cha, Chief Aux, Community leader, etc. Tres Dias needs clergy participation, but again, not in a Lay Leadership position.

Policy Committee is also in the process of addressing chronic sin issues. Chronic sin has a negative impact that leads to destruction. The Bylaws address the chronic sin issues and give the Secretariat a provision to address it. [ Reference Bylaws 23.1 ]

There is a document that communities are asked to read and to sign. The signed document is a declaration of agreement to abstain from chronic sin in order to serve in communities on an international or local level. This provision in the bylaws serves as protection against organizations that push unholy agendas.

New communities will be asked to put the document into their policies and procedures if they cannot lawfully put it into their bylaws. It is important that communities adopt this document and put it into position now.

Dave also mentioned that Policy discussed the need to change the Pilgrim’s guide. It was mentioned that Pilgrim’s guides are not an essential. Paul says that we sold 900 and people are using them so it is important to update them.

Membership Committee - Richard Thornhill presenting:

Richard announced that Adele Smith offered an Essentials training to a small group on Friday evening. Richard taught on train the Trainer.

Paul Weis addressed their committee on community charters and some communities de-charter themselves simply but loss of communication. Paul encouraged close contact with the communities. He expressed a need for stronger lines of communication to the communities. Membership does not want to pull charters. It is the goal of this committee that only a community that actually votes not to continue losses a charter and to build stronger community ties by maintaining closer contact. The hope is that this action will strengthen and build better communities. Membership also wants to make contact with those communities that have not re-chartered in hopes of re activating their charter and strengthening them.

The need for a continuing continuity document was expressed. The document would act as a road map for Membership to review so they could understand how each community is doing. Richard requested that anyone contacting a community please inform the Membership Committee so they can update their records on the activity of each community. He went on to say that his committee will contact every community before the Nashville meeting in March.

It is especially important to create interest in the annual Assemblies. Every community should be encouraged to send a Liaison to Assemblies and meetings.

Paul stated that Membership needs to have all of the information on Essentials schools, weekends, and general update for the purpose of chartering. It is irresponsible for the International Tres Dias Community to lose contact with its chartered members. It is not good to lose contact with the communities that carry the Tres Dias name and Logo. There is a dire need for frequent communication in order to build relationship. It is a good idea to make local community contact and even offer prayer. TDI wants to build relationship. TDI needs to build relationship.

Richard reviews the purpose of the five year plan that was sent to every committee member. The plan is intended to move TDI forward. Membership hopes to see every new Pescadores in every local community be given a copy of the plan in order to promote participation.

Administration Committee - Valerie Mehl Presenting:

Their meeting opened in prayer.

The Administration Committee request that Nevelle Oldham from Trinity Valley be received as a voting member.

President calls first for a floor vote to receive Jeff Mehl and Jeff Mentz as voting members on the Policy committee. The majority ruled in favor and the recommendation passed.

President calls for a floor vote to receive Nevella Oldham as a voting member on the Administration Committee. The majority ruled in favor and the recommendation passed.

Administration reports on the upcoming July Assemblies in Cleveland. The Cleveland Community has secured the same church and hotel that was used in 2003. Plans for the July Assembly are on track and moving forward.

The Committee worked on an agenda for the July Assemblies prior to lunch. They are formulating plans to change the agenda so that it proves effective time wise. They are also working on examples that will reflect the proposed changes.

MOTION: Administration moves that the election committee send out a committee description sheet and committee assignment request form with the nomination packet.

The Motion was withdrawn as unnecessary since that falls within the committee’s call.

Their committee is also considering the 5 yr plan. They have decided to make a wish list of where they would like Tres Dias to be in 5 years. The first order will be to pray their wish list. For example; Valerie would like to see 80% of the communities have a representative attend the Assemblies. Their first action is to pray about it and then implement personal outreach.

Their committee had discussion about defining what qualifies a person to serve as a local secretariat member. This issue will require more discussion as individual communities have different rules in operation. All rules will not apply to all communities. Much wisdom will be needed to resolve this issue.

Future Meeting Dates

Year Date Community City

2009 March 13-15 Music City T.D. Nashville, TN

2009 July 10-12 T.D. Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio

2009 Oct 16-18 T.D. New Hampshire Deering, NH

2010 March 12-14 Abundant Life Rockford, IL.

2010 July Assemblies (needs a host)

2010 Oct. 22-24 Long Island Long Island, NY

2011 March 11-13 (needs a host)

2011 July 8-10 Mid Carolinas

2011 Oct. 21-23 Rhineman

________________________________________________________________________

Dave Routzen requested that Kathie Skaggs be received as a voting member of the Policy Committee.

President called for a floor vote to receive Kathie Skaggs as a voting member on the Policy Committee. The majority ruled in favor and the recommendation passed.

Membership Committee requested that Tom Morrison be received as a voting member of the Membership Committee.

President called for a floor vote to receive Tom Morrison as a voting member on the Membership Committee. The majority ruled in favor and the recommendation passed.

President called for a report on the 2008 July Assemblies in Georgia.

Beau Bruce Presenting: The meeting was a success and over all things went smooth. The workshops were well attended and very informative. The music was worshipful and enjoyable. I believe it was a very accomplished assembly. I did note that the attendance was down. I believe a wedding that was scheduled on the same day as the Assembly lowered the attendance.

I want to recommend that an interpreter be found for any foreign visitors if possible. This will help to prevent language barriers.

The budget was set at $10,000.00, however, we did suffer a shortage. The shortage was covered by a couple from the local community. I recommend a contingency in the Assembly budget.

Paul Weis announced that the Executive Committee will present on Sunday morning when the meeting is resumed.

Jane Henderson makes an announcement about the upcoming Nashville meeting in the Spring and offers a printed invitation to those assembled.

4:57pm Recess called by President Paul Weis.

5:00 pm 4^th day Celebration and dinner.

Gorham Maine Sunday-October 26, 2008

8:40a.m. Meeting called to Order by Paul Weis and opened with prayer by Judith Herren.

President called for the remaining committee report to be given.

Executive Committee - Julie Bohl presenting:

Julie reported on the current change in the New York sales tax law. Sales tax must be collected on all Tres Dias supplies sold in New York State. Therefore a need to co-ordinate the sales in New York state with Ben Seals is necessary. It is also mandatory that TDI file quarterly even if there is no revenue generated from sales in any quarter.

Endowment Fund Review

The motion that was passed in the TDI fall 2007 meeting reads as follows:

Motion: The Executive committee moves that an endowment fund be created by designating $25,000.00 of the current certificates of deposit. Earnings from said fund will be transferred to the general fund. The use of the earnings shall be designated by the secretariat.

The Secretariat has been developing methods to help it support communities in need. Several years ago we established the Tres Dias Fund which continues to receive contributions and disburse funds to communities in need. The TD Endowment fund will supplement this activity. Earnings from the Endowment fund will first be transferred to the General Fund to provide the means for the Secretariat to respond to any emergency needs. If no such needs exit the earnings will go to the TD Fund.

Request:

Pamela Belknap sent a request for permission to use the Tres Dias logo on golf shirts for

the upcoming Tres Dias Assembly in Cleveland.

Adele Smith asked for permission to use the Tres Dias statement of belief for the Central Tennessee Vida Nueva.

Consent is given for both requests.

Continuity Book: Executive Committee had a good start on their continuity book. The continuity book provides useful information that will help new Secretariat members have a better understanding of their job requirement and operation. Once again I encourage every Committee to develop their continuity book and I remind everyone that the book will need to be periodically updated.

Robert & Marcy Myers archived data from the previous secretariat and committee minutes that covers many historical years. They have developed a search engine feature in their programming to quickly access the archived minutes. This is especially helpful if one needs to know the past action that was taken on a particular topic. In order for data to qualify for the archive data base it must have had an action that passed. Open discussion that did not receive action will not be archived.

Motion:

Executive committee wants to appoint 2 data base managers to support the International secretariat, by researching, on an as needed basis, archived secretariat and committee minutes.

Darla Myers and Beau Bruce have volunteered for the positions.

No discussion. A Floor vote was taken to accept the data base manager position and Marcy and Beau as the initial managers.. Motion carried.

DISCUSSION:

In regard to Proxy Ballots at Assemblies, one of four did not pass. The issue at hand was the system of calculating assessments and the number of delegates. It is difficult to calculate accurately using the current active members system. The new system proposed calculates by using the number of candidates attending weekends in a calendar year. The new system offers a more accurate means of calculation. The motion would have passed at last July’s Assembly except one community voting in favor were not current in their assessments, thus negating their vote.

Two of the larger communities in existence stated that they believed the communities that have been in existence for a much longer period should have that recognized in their number of votes.

Paul Weis gave a brief review on the new system. He stated that some of the voting communities stated that they were in favor of the concept of using number of candidates instead of active members, but found the wording of the whole process to be confusing. He went on to state that in the new proposal, communities with longevity of existence could be granted one additional vote for each 5 year increment of existence. In the original assessment these older communities usually received more votes due to the larger number of active Pescadores they had.

Treasurer Don VanLanding has worked on the research and reworked the numbers. He gave a verbal example to those assembled. The new method is user friendly and will improve the way delegate votes and assessment fees are calculated.

Don added that the key element in this new system is that all of the communities will be able to communicate a more accurate report by using a per candidate assessment.

Paul Weis reminded everyone that no motion was brought to the floor. Those speaking remained in the process of delivering a committee report. He invited all who had questions or good input to contact the Treasurer or Executive VP for a more detailed explanation.

Paul further reminded the group that in a previous meeting everyone was in unanimous agreement that something needed to be done about the current method of calculation. Most were in favor of the idea of using candidates as a new means of calculation which is a more definable method. There was a great deal of review of the possible numeric calculations in the last meeting. When the motion was put to proxy it was barely defeated.

The President waived parliamentarian procedure and called for open discussion in the meeting.

Question for clarification by Adele Smith: “Are you saying that the new system of fee and delegate assessment is based up the number of candidates that attended in the previous year plus every five years of existence of community.

Will that calculation change every year based upon the number of candidates going through?’

Paul Weis affirmed Adele Smith’s statement and question.

Question: Is it fair to have additional votes granted to the older communities?

Response by Paul Weis: A newer community that had a large candidate pool would not have the experience, understanding and knowledge that older communities have. He went on to encourage members to call the treasurer and look at the numbers and calculations.

Jeff Mehl states that we should beware of looking at numbers as true success is not always measured by numbers.

John Mckinney asked about foreign community participation.

Are the considerations actively in place for those who cannot afford to pay a large fee?

Paul assured John that those same options will be in the new proposal.

Julie points out that the foreign communities will also accrue the extra vote for every five years of existence and that the year for chartering began in 1980.

Richard Thornhill brought up a question about the 1611 King James Translation as the current point of reference at the end of the statement of faith. A brief explanation was given by John McKinney.

Paul respectfully asked that the discussion remain with the current topic on the floor which is “the method for determining fee assessments and delegates.” The plan is to bring a written motion and to present a numbers spreadsheet with visual calculations to the Nashville spring meeting. This will help to insure that everything be ready to vote on for the purpose of sending to proxy in 2009.

Don and Paul further assured the members that the measure to be voted on will be simplified before bringing it to proxy vote. All confusion should be eliminated by clarifying the present wording.

The President called the open discussion to close.

Julie Bohl resumed delivery of the Executive committee report. She encouraged everyone to contact her for any needed clarification. The invitation included input on the new assessment issue in order to ready it for presentation as a motion in March 2009.

The President called for any business that was left to be brought before the secretariat.

No additional presentations came forth.

Motion to adjourn by Wilson Burton. Adele Smith second. Motion passed.

10:00 a.m. Meeting Adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by,

Judith Herren______

Judith Herren – TDI Secretary

________________________________________________________________________

COMMITTEE REPORTS

October25, 2008 - Portland, Maine

Executive Committee Minutes

Don VanLandingham opened the meeting in prayer at 10:35.

Attendance: Julie Bohl, Judith Herren, Sue Loveland, Don VanLandingham, Beau Bruce, Darla Meyer, Merv LeMasurier, Paul Weis

Absent: Doug Aldrich

Tres Dias Trademark Service Mark Registration (renewal): Julie Bohl reported the process in complete. Our Trademark is secure!!!

· Pam Belknap requested Cleveland TD for permission to use TD logo on Golf Shirts for the 2009 Assembly team. Permission granted.

· Adele Smith requested permission for the Statement of Belief as appears on the TD website for use by the Central Tennessee VN community. Julie provided Adele with the procedure when copyright is involved:

1) Ask permission

2) Notice that must be printed

The Tres Dias International Secretariat grants permission for the use of the Tres Dias, Inc. Statement of Beliefs© for use by Central Tennessee Vida Nueva.

Please include the following copyright notice:

Tres Dias, Inc. 1980

Used by permission

New York Sales Tax: As of September 1, 2008, New York mandates not-for-profit 501c3s charge sales tax for phone and internet sales in NY State. The 4 New York State communities, Long Island, New York Korean, Mid Hudson and South Hudson need to provide their NYS sales tax exemption certificate to both the home office and Ben Seal, Materials Administrator. Discussion TABLED until John McKinney arrives.

Discussion resumed when John McKinney arrived.

· Don mentioned our accounting system is not set up for this type of sale.

· John has sent Ben Seal the tax code by region for NYS for any individual orders where the buyer does not have a NYS tax exempt certificate.

· John said that PayPal could be set up with a separate line for an “additional item” to cover the sales tax (as we do for shipping costs)

· When it appears that individuals in NYS may be making a purchase on behalf of a community, Ben should attempt to reach the buyers and inform them that they will be required to pay sales tax unless their community provides the appropriate sales tax exempt certificate form.

· Items purchased by the NYS Tres Dias communities must present a copy of their tax exempt certificate form each time they make a purchase.

· An accounting procedure needs to be set up in the event other states begin to collect sales tax on purchases.

· Don, our TDI Treasurer, will be required to file NYS quarterly sales tax forms. Sue, Financial Secretary, has experience in filing similar forms and has offered to assist as needed

· John suggested we think of the process of ensuring that each TD community is separate but part of the whole. Membership should ensure that each community files for their own 501c3 status, and also any pertinent tax exempt authorization certificates.

Endowment Fund – How is the accounting for the $25,000.00 endowment fund listed in the Treasurer’s Report.

$25,000 of current CDs is considered the Endowment Fund. Will the process begin when the CDs mature? Interest is designated. Exact wording of the proxy vote and explanation on this issue (Assembly 2008) needs to be researched. Will come back to this.

The Tres Dias Fund: How can funds get to international communities? The money needs to be furnished to persons who can provide a funds disbursement accounting.

Database Manager: Julie brought this subject before the informal meeting on Friday. It was suggested there be a demonstration at the next meeting in Nashville. Robert & Marcy Myers feel this can be accomplished. At our previous meeting, Darla Meyer volunteered to serve as the Database Manager for each Secretariat Meeting. She, Robert and Marcy met and discussed the transfer of the information. Because the files are huge, it may best be accomplished by transferring the data to CDs with copies provided to the Database Manager and the current President. It was also suggested there be a back-up for the Database Manager. Beau Bruce volunteered to serve in this capacity. He and Darla will work out details with Robert and Marcy Myers.

Don VanLandingham moved The Executive Committee appoint 2 Database Managers to support the International Secretariat by researching on an as needed basis archived Secretariat and Committee Minutes. Judith Herren seconded. Motion carried.

Continuity Book Contents/Review/Additions: Julie used the Tres Dias By-laws to identify the Executive Committee responsibilities and begin the process of setting up a Continuity Book. We were all given a copy and reviewed it for additions and changes. Julie will revise according to the discussion and email a copy to all committee members, Paul Weis and John McKinney.

Assessments: Don prepared a study of community units under difference methods of allocation.

He set up 3 methods:

1) based on number of active members

2) based on number of candidates (using last known # of candidates figures from 2006)

3) based on number 2 but weighted by adding 1 vote to each community chartered for 10 years or more.

Discussion led to not just 1 additional vote for any community chartered for 10 years or more, but 1 additional incremental vote per 5 years in existence. Don volunteered to take method 3 and revise it to the suggested change tonight and present the new delegate totals when we meet Sunday AM.

Paul will work on the wording for a motion to change the By-laws for determining N and the number of delegates from each community so that the motion can be presented to the Secretariat for approval in March and be sent to proxy for Assembly ’09.

Don reported that the IRS forms are filed! (11/15 is due date).

Cross function of Exec Committee Members with other Committees/Members

Treasurer interacts with all Committee Chairpersons, President, Executive Director and Materials Administrator for budget planning information and anyone submitting invoice/expenses

Financial Secretary interfaces with Elections Committee chairperson, Membership chairperson and Materials Administrator.

Secretary – sends out any communications as she is requested-- i.e.: Secretariat and Committee Minutes and other business, the TD Newsletter to community chairpersons and delegates, other info as needed

Assignments: Julie requested each member of the committee provide her with their detailed job description for the Continuity Book.

Sunday AM: We reconvened at 9AM. Don worked on the delegate number for each community based on the 1 additional vote per 5 years a community has been chartered concept

Paul presented Don’s concept in a possible By-laws change using the previous By-law paragraph, changing census to candidates. It was decided we would present the change concept to the Secretariat and work on the change wording between now and the March meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Loveland

________________________________________________________________________

SERVICES COMMITTEE

Attendees in Person: Eric Borman,Wilson Burton, Don Bohls, Judy Borman,

Attendees by Cell Phone Conferencing: Paul Markowitz, Rosann Milloscia, Ned Heffington

Facilitator: Eric Borman

ü Rosann said that Ned has the readme file and we are waiting on him. Rosie said she would email or call Ned and Rosie would call us back. Rosie was contacted and she said that everything has been completed except a Read Me file. Wilson motioned that we send the materials to Ben Seal as is and have them published and a copy be sent to each Services Committee member for review before production. Seconded by Judy, passed unanimously. There will be no readme file
ü Ned has developed a data base of the Secretariat. Wilson asked if we could nominate you to interface with any other Secretariat Members in adding to the database. Ned said that he would do this. Eric suggested that a subcommittee be put together, from the Secretariat members, to help coordinate the database.
ü Wilson asked about Ned’s concept of how we can effectively get the newsletter to the secretariat and then on to the Secretariats. Ned thought that we would ask the communities develop a web site address that we could send the letter to for distribution. Wilson was concerned that only one source would not be enough. He thought that multiple sources would be better. Don said that some communities are putting a link on their own website. Judy suggested that the Palanca contacts be used to transmit the newsletter. Judy suggested that we utilize the Assembly attendance list. Don suggested that we should send it to the webmaster. Judy will broadcast the news letter to all of the International Palanca people. Don asked if he could have permission to send out carry out Ned’s wishes.
ü Paul Weiss was concerned about using the Pilgrim’s Guide. Bill Boyd obtained the copy write for the new guide. In the rewrite things should be annotated so that passages should be Biblical. Don Bohl said that he would revise the Pilgrims Guide. Wilson motioned that Don Bohl edit the Pilgrims Guide and make proper annotations. After completion he will forward the material to the Services committee. They will review it for publication and comment or approval. The comment is to be returned within seven days. Second by Eric, passed unanimously.
ü Editorial policy and potential articles for the next letter. Motion for pilot project for distribution. Guest article by Steve Gillis (Wilson Burton, Long Island experiences. ü Pastor to input, Mike Pinnington (Wilson), why I support TD. ü Article to be written about what effect support from Pescadores from the US have on the foreign countries, i.e. Moscow-Kiev-Peru. How the money is spent and how much are costs in foreign countries. What are the average wages ($900-$1,200)? ü Eric contacts Anna for a thank you as to how the outside support has helped TD in Russia. ü Editorial Policy, Wilson said that it is our way of communicating with the communities and its possibilities of lining up articles.
ü John McKinney wants a matrix made up of how we can contact the different communities. Eric will do with info provided by Wilson. ü Eric presented the idea of recording Secretariat meetings and broadcasting part of them over the internet. He also suggested that committee meetings could be held via web cam and would appreciate input from the other committees.

Policy Committee

Dave Routzon - Chairman

Jeff Mehl, Kathie Skaggs and Jeff Mentz were proposed as voting members of the Policy committee. This was approved by the Secretariat with voting status as of this meeting. Policy Membership list attached (10/08 attendance checked)

Kathie Lee Skaggs volunteered as Secretary and was appointed to that role.

Clergy in Leadership

Based on a request from John McKinney in April 2008, the Policy Committee reviewed the role of clergy in Tres Dias leadership positions. John suggested that an Essentials change might be necessary.

The advisability or necessity for an Essentials change was discussed by the committee and it was agreed that a change was unwarranted. Instead, it is recommended that a position paper be drafted and released to the communities as a TDI numbered document* in 2009.

Such a position paper was distributed by internet to the committee prior to the meeting and was discussed thoroughly there. A copy as discussed is available on request.

Discussion of the role of Clergy as well as Lay-Leadership:

Paul Weiss forwarded a Policy Committee statement released in 1990 (copy available on request). This document was discussed and this committee feels that this document was misleading in that it suggests that a non-ordained spiritual director may serve in “the position of lay-persons on Tres Dias weekends”. The document also suggested that clergy can serve in any role on a weekend other than Rector or Lay Rollista. We believe that there are other positions on a weekend that constitute “lay leadership”. For example, table leaders (Rollistas/Professors) and the assistant Rector or the Rectors deputy are certainly leadership positions. In addition, this document did not address local community Secretariat positions.

The role of clergy in general was discussed. New, struggling and emerging communities may have difficulty getting spiritual directors. They may consider “borrowing” spiritual directors from other communities, including their sponsoring community. In addition, in some international communities, clergy can lead the community…or in other countries, they can be unavailable. Although the Policy committee has not taken a position on this, it may be that if a community cannot find spiritual directors, team members or even candidates, they may want to consider postponing weekends “for a season”.

Other aspects of clergy were discussed including the question if a clergy person has been a spiritual director, but leaves the ministry on a permanent basis, can he or she be in lay leadership? The answer to that needs more discussion, but as with many such discussions may be decided based on an individual situation. Can an elder (not ordained) serve as a spiritual director? The answer is “yes”. However, once they have crossed that line, they can’t serve in a lay-leadership position. It was suggested that the communities be advised to tell new spiritual directors that once they have served as a spiritual leader they can no longer serve in lay leadership roles.

The most controversial discussion both in committee and in the Secretariat meeting revolved around the concept of spiritual directors serving in non spiritual director roles (other than leadership) such as Chas, Angels or Auxiliaries. We decided that for now, there doesn’t need to be a change in the current understanding. However, we do believe that Table Leaders (professors) and the Rector’s backup are potentially in a leadership position and should be included as “Lay Leadership”. Also, in the communities, Secretariat officers and heads of standing committees are also considered leadership. These have been incorporated in the letter to the communities.

The subject of ordination was discussed. It was pointed out that it varies even in the denominations and certainly in non-denominational churches. Although the ability to bury and marry are typically a part of state legal code, they are two indicators of “licensing”. Another is the right to serve communion. We believe that the Glossary definitions should be used as written.

Action Plan

ü The committee will continue to review the Clergy in Leadership document using email and will have a proposed final communication to communities ready to present at the March Secretariat meeting.

ü This document can be sent out as a * “numbered TDI document”. This concept was presented to Jim Bailey prior to Portland and utilizes a numbering system for communications to the communities (TDI-00, 002, etc.). In this way, the communities and International can have a consistent and date-relative reference to communications coming from International. The Administration committee can track the documents and allocate the numbers. This does not involve origination or approval, which are the responsibility of each committee and the Secretariat respectively.

ü Should a “Lay Leadership” definition be added to Glossary? - Not at this time.

4.Alternative Lifestyles discussion

The committee discussed the issue of allowing those in chronic sin to participate in lay leadership roles. We received an email from the Long Island community regarding individuals who believe that living together outside of marriage or living in a homosexual relationship is not sin. These individuals raised the issue when asked to sign a document containing a statement similar to the one below when becoming a team member. The challenge is that they state that their denominations now support such lifestyles.

The Committee discussion revolved around all chronic sin issues, not just these specific sins. It was agreed that scripture speaks about many sins. Many communities and even TDI require a signed statement of all individuals in lay leadership positions as a prerequisite for leadership positions. An example is shown below.

We will continue to discuss the issue via email in the interim and will thoroughly discuss it at the March meeting. Current thinking is that the requirement should be that all communities have such a signed document for anyone in a leadership position (as defined in the clergy document). There is some concern about this. John McKinney feels that this brings Tres Dias closer to being a denomination. We must however, be consistent with scripture in our position across the organization.

1) Policy Manual

The Meyers are still finishing the typing work and will present it at the March meeting.

ü Who "owns" – probably Administration. This was discussed at the general Secretariat session.

ü Where stored? A CD will be made available On TDI website?

ü Maintenance. The Meyers will not be doing content updates, but can respond to technical issues with the database.

2) Pilgrims Guide

This document was worked on by Dr Allen and Bill Boyd, but several issues arose. We will re-open the subject and decide what to do with the document at the March meeting. Dave will get a copy from Bill Boyd and forward it to the committee for review in the interim. The document is not an essential, but it is one of the valued traditions of Tres Dias and deserves a thorough review.

3) Conducting denominational events on weekends

Dr. Allen expressed a serious concern about a number of activities occurring on weekends that are denominational in nature and should not be a part of Tres Dias weekends. Such activities include Baptism, foot washing and marriages. This will be thoroughly discussed at our March meeting.

4) Time for committee meetings in this and future Secretariat/Assembly meetings

ü The Secretariat is addressing this in other committees and although we discussed the problem, it is not our responsibility.

Policy Committee 10/2008 Portland, Maine meeting

check	Name	Phone	Email
◙	Dr Charles Allen		a.charles.allen@gmail.com
□	Mary Bailey		mbailey@admin.fsu.edu
□	Harry Davis		hed_vmi@alltel.net
◙	Bob Decker	570-686-4570	jbdecker2@yahoo.com
◙	John Green	719-487-7361 719-641-3167 (c)	papa.green@comcast.net
□	C.J. Hankins		hankinscj@bellsouth.net
◙	Denver Henderson	731-593-0566 615-516-8947 (c)	denver49@juno.com
◙	Jeff Mehl	848-384-6451	jeff@jmehl.com
◙	Jeff Mentz	845-744-5641	jmentz@hve.rr.com
◙	Robert Myers	704-263-5216	mctd2003@aol.com
◙	Marcy Myers	704-263-5216	mctd2003@aol.com
◙	Dave Routzon (chair)	817-721-8997	droutzon@sbcglobal.net
◙	Kathie Lee Skaggs (sec)	508-713-1608	kathieskaggs@yahoo.com
◙	Linda Vanlandingham	706-713-1608	donvanlandingham@yahoo.com


◙	Attendees - 10/08 meeting (voting members)

Membership Committee

Meeting called to order at 10:30 a.m.

Secretariat Members Present: Richard Thornhill, Adele Smith, Jane Henderson, Harold Thurmond, Chuck Allen

Voting Members: Joan Green, Charles Ligon, Judy Ligon, Sheryl Allen,

Observers: Tom Morrison

Absent: Mike Holmes, Carolyn Davis, Tim Abril, Willy Dubois, Caesar Velez

The minutes were read. Jane Henderson moved to approve. Joan Green seconded. The minutes were approved.

The Membership Committee voted and approved Tom Morrison as a voting member of the membership committee.

Adele Smith conducted the Essentials training in Portland, Maine, assisted by Harold Thurman. Richard Thornhill conducted the “Train the Trainer” workshop.

The next meeting will be in February in Nashville, TN, hosted by Music City Tres Dias.

Paul Weis reported to the committee about chartered communities, and how some communities “de-charter” themselves. He encouraged better communication with communications. We don’t want to pull charters on communities, but rather, encouraged and support those communities. Membership might want to “adopt” the communities who we have lost contact with, and those whose charters have lapsed. He used “Big Sky of Montana”. They have not responded to the re-chartering letter.

Paul gave us specific communities to be in contact with and form relationship with.

Richard talked about the need for a “Continuity Document” for Membership Committee. The purpose of this document is to create something that will be tangible to hand to subsequent members of the Membership Committee. It is intended to be a road map, and probably needs to be a living document which is revisited and updated often.

There is a concern that many different committees of the Tres Dias Secretariat are making different contacts with the local communities, and one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing. Richard suggested that all the chairpersons from all the committees meet briefly prior to the regular committees so that there was a better idea of what everyone is doing. Also, the Membership Committee would like to know who is contacting whom, and if they make contact, what was said, etc. In the minutes from the Georgia Assembly in July 2008, there are several different contacts to communities that were mentioned from different communities.

Membership Committee Members and the Communities they will contact: