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MISSIONARY INDEPENDENT SPIRITUAL CHURCH

Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 2

07-13-09

missionary-independent-spiritual-church-air-vent

Church air vent, adapted from an old green light traffic signal lens

BOARD MEETING MINUTES: July 4, 2009

Minutes for Board Meeting of 
	Missionary Independent Spiritual Church

July 4, 2009, 6632 Covey Road, Forestville, CA 95436
3pm to 4:30pm PT

In attendance: 
	Fred Burke, catherine yronwode, nagasiva yronwode

1) Board Member Replacement

	July 4, 2009 Board Member Replacement; in accord
	with his request, Dr. Kioni is being replaced on
	the Church Board. His replacement is Cynthia 'Sindy'
	Todo, who lives in Seattle, WA and who has already
	been working with the Board to get our financial
	documentation in order for the filing by Sept. 9.
	Sindy has an accounting background and is well-
	acquainted with the church, having repeatedly
	volunteered for church projects in the past and
	conducts her own spiritual practices in WA. As
	soon as possible we will be authorizing Sindy on
	the church's bank account and putting her fully
	in charge of the financial record-keeping.

2) May 2009 Workshop and Convocation Report

	The Workshop and Convocation coincided with the
	Lucky Mojo Open House and Party this year, and
	the classes were conducted outside the church
	at the Lucky Mojo shop tables during the whole
	of the weekend. This was less expensive than
	last year, and proceeded very smoothly. Food
	was potluck and the whole was both well-attended
	and an administrative success with as many or
	more participants than last year.

3) Church Baptisms and Ordinations, July 4, 2009 

	Baptisms and ordinations were conducted at the
	Russian River at Steel Head Beach in Forestville 
	in the afternoon on a warm day. Recorded as
	baptized that day were the following:
	
	Baptisms
	  * Robert Ian Philips
	  * Fred Burke
	  * Matthew Pavesic
	  
	Ordinations:
	  * Bishop Fred Burke
	  * Deacon Ian Philips
	  * Pastor Matthew Pavisec
	  * Bishop nagasiva yronwode

	It is a doctrine of our church that baptism is
	unrestricted in that each person may be baptised as
	often or on as many occasions as he or she desires,
	provided that there are ordained persons present who
	have an interest in performing the service.

4) Candle Services Report

	Candle Services continue to be a major portion of our
	work here at the church. Our candle servers have done a
	wonderful job helping the public. There have been some
	changes during the past year in this department.
	Reverend Mother Sienna moved away to Oregon and had her
	baby just after having done so. Deaconess Chelsea also
	retired from candle service to have a baby. Sister
	Yelena then took on the work for a brief period, after
	which she enrolled in Humboldt State University to
	continue her schooling. We thank all three of these
	young women for their service to the church, and wish
	them well in their future endeavours. Deacon Ian
	Philips, recently baptized and ordained, has taken over
	the performance of candle services for the foreseeable
	future, and we are very grateful for his dedication and
	devotion to the concept of candle ministry and service. 
	
5) Church Fan Fund Report

	The 3rd Annual Church Fan was designated on 7/4/09 and
	will be available in September as a thank you gift for
	donations, as a benefit of having visited the church
	from afar, and for purchase from the church gift shop.
		
6) Gospel Scripture Committee

	Similar to the Gospel Playlist Committee, the Gospel
	Scripture Committee seeks to acquire a broad and diverse
	compilation of gospels from both scriptural and literary
	sources in order to establish a body of of material
	reflective of the virtues of Jesus. The Gospel Scripture
	Committee is looking into the effort it would take to
	host these scriptures online at the church website and
	will be developing an online publication program to
	present to the board within the next few months.
	
7) Amazon Book Sale Project (Affiliates Program) Report

	The Amazon Book Sale Project has made a total of $14.99
	with 17 clicks, 2 items ordered, and 1 item shipped. We
	are not putting additional energy into developing this
	method of fundraising at this time as it is not worth
	the effort. 
	
8) AIRR Committee Report (Formerly "UISP Committee")

	See the document "AIRR Committee of MISC," which
	describes the procedures and rules by which the
	Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
	(AIRR, formerly known as 'UISP') shall conduct its
	public outreach services through the worldwide web
	at readersandrootworkers.org and related roll-over 
	domains. 
	
	The AIRR website has been online since June 6, 2009. Its
	spiritual outreach facilities are being browsed at the
	rate of about 250 vistors per day, each of whom spends
	an average of 3.9 minutes at the site. 
	
	We are pleased with the rapid spread of interest in this
	new site, which is focussed on describing the many
	methods that Spiritualists, trance mediums, psychic
	readers, palmists, tasseographers, astrologers,
	numerologists, card readers, prophets, dowsers,
	psychometrists, and other diviners use to help counsel
	their clients, and also describes in general terms what
	spiritual practitioners do for clients at their altars,
	in their candle ministries, and as prescribing
	herbalists and root doctors.

	All of the actual work of writing, photographing,
	editing, encoding, and site design for the nearly 100
	pages at the site has been contributed by volunteers,
	working under the direction of catherine yronwode. Their
	names are listed on the Site Credits page at the site,
	and we extend our gratitude toward them.

	To fund the acquisition of the AIRR site's domain names,
	monthly web hosting, monthly maintainance of the
	mediawiki database by Lara Hopkins Rivera and Art
	Roberts, and the one-time creation of the AIRR site's
	logo and masthead by Shimmering Wolf Studios, fees have
	been paid to AIRR for listing in its online directory by
	16 spiritual practitioners who perform this type of work
	and who support the aims of the church's educational
	program. They have each paid $100.00 for a yearly
	directory listing, for the year 2009. 
	
	Four of the individuals who paid for listings were also
	Church Board members, namely catherine yronwode,
	nagasiva yronwode, Christos Kioni, and Fred Burke.
	Nagasiva has not activated his listing to the public as
	he does not perform readings or candle services for
	clients, and has no plans to do so, but he contributed
	his fee in solidarity with the aims of the working group
	that was organizing the site. Sindy Todo, who has been
	today approved to join the Board to replace Christos, is
	also a spiritual practitioner who is listed in the AIRR
	directory, which means that at the present time, three
	board members (of five) are listed at the site and four
	(of five) have paid the yearly listng fee.

	See the June 6, 2009 Church Newsletter for the names of
	all indivuals who to date have paid a yearly fee to be
	listed in the AIRR online directory of ethical spiritual
	readers and rootworkers. 

9) Church Financial Report

	Current monies as received from visitor donations,
	online donations, AIRR directory dues, table fees for
	the use of the church building for readings and
	consultations, and sales of books, fans, etc., comes to
	$2200.00, secured in the church bank account and the
	church Paypal account. Expenses on the horizon include
	the monthly phone bill and payment to Art Roberts for
	work on the AIRR website. No board members have received
	compensation during this time period. Catherine yronwode
	is the only board member who is making use of the church
	building, and, as always, she pays a 15% table fee to
	the church for every reading for which she is paid by a
	client. Services which she conducts at the church pro
	bono do not result in table fees to the church. As
	before, the cost of renting the building has been waived
	for the year to come by the property owners, catherine
	and nagasiva yronwode. 

10) Joshua Tree Sanctuary Plans

	Bishop Burke reported to the Board that he has
	undertaken preliminary steps to develop a meeting place
	for his small congregation in Joshua Tree, California.
	The name of his church is Four Altars Gospel Sanctuary.
	
	At the present time, services are conducted in his home,
	with an outreach program conducted through the worldwide
	web. To meet the needs of his growing congregation, a
	physical church site near Highway 62 has been chosen and
	construction plans are being developed. He has secured
	the appropriate internet domain, FourAltars.com.

	Four Altars Gospel Sanctuary is part of the Missionary
	Independent Spiritual Church fellowship, and will be our
	first 'expansion church', abiding by the MISC Creed and
	Bylaws. We wish Bishop Burke and Four Altars Gospel
	Sanctuary the greatest success in reaching out to the
	inhabitants of the High Desert.

Minutes approved 7/13/09

END

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