MCA

Members for Church Accountability Inc.

2004 Special Newsletter [November]

Section 2 - Trustees' Reports

You may have noticed that this newsletter is late in coming. Some health struggles have resulted in the delay. In the past, the secretary treasurer, Norm Smith, has been preparing the financial statement and editing the newsletter. Jane Smith has had the responsibility for keeping the membership list and getting the newsletter mailed out. This task takes a large number of hours each quarter. This spring Jane developed a heart rhythm problem. Jane is recovering well, but it would be well for her not to have the load of mailing out the newsletter as before. We have long considered the possibility of letting the web site posting of the newsletter be the primary mode of publication. We have until now favored sending it by regular mail because it brings the letter to member's ättention and because not all members have direct access to the internet. In light of the recent health problems, it seems that now would be a good time to switch to using the web site.

Since we are making changes for the above reason, it seems a good time to consider other aspects of the newsletter. Up to now the primary content of the newsletter in addition to the financial statement has been the presentation of letters from MCA members. In consultation with the other MCA trustees and the leaders of the Southern California Chapter (the only MCA chapter), it has been decided to change the format of the newsletter. The newsletter will now be oriented toward the publication of articles written by MCA members and by others. We will still include letters but would like to emphasize articles. We will not include a quarterly financial statement in the newsletter but rather intend to include a yearly financial statement in a short annual mailing to members. We do not have the resources to ensure that we have articles for publication every quarter. Because of this we will not tie the newsletter to a quarterly schedule; rather we will just put out a newsletter when we gather sufficient material for one.

Where will we get the articles for publication? We are hoping that several MCA members will consider writing articles. We say that noting this concern. There are those who view an article as stringing together a large number of Bible texts or Ellen White quotations. Others sometimes wax exceedingly strident in their expression. We would reserve the right to keep communicating with authors until we reach agreement on the style of articles. We would not alter any submission in a way that does not have the author's concurrence.

We are planning a somewhat different format for the MCA web site. The web address will still be www.advmca.org. For email still use advmca@aol.com. In the future as time allows we hope to revise some of the pages on the web site but we will not attempt that at the present time.

An article describing recent action taken by the Rocky Mountain Conference to adopt an accountability policy, is now on the web site.

Article V Section D of MCA bylaws states:

D The secretary-treasurer shall oversee the publication of an MCA newsletter to be distributed to all MCA members. The newsletter shall be published at least quarterly. The newsletter shall contain the following sections:

1 Section 1 shall contain a financial report of the corporation.
2 Section 2 shall contain any reports the individual trustees wish to include giving the reasons for actions they have taken. The trustees may also include reports of activities they have undertaken on behalf of MCA.
3 Section 3 shall contain notices of proposed amendments to MCA bylaws and trustee elections. Ballot forms for member voting shall be included as specified in VI A.
4 Section 4 shall contain letters from members as space and finances allow. Letters shall be edited only for libelous content or inappropriate expression.

We would like to suggest that the following be substituted:

D The secretary-treasurer shall oversee the publication of an MCA newsletter. The newsletter shall provide opportunity to publish letters from MCA members, articles dealing with MCA's objectives and reports of actions by the MCA trustees.

You may use the following ballot to vote on the bylaws change.

MEMBERS for CHURCH ACCOUNTABILITY, INC. (MCA)

CHANGE OF BYLAWS REGARDING MCA NEWSLETTER

Name:

__ I favor the proposed bylaws change

__ I am against the proposed bylaws change

Signature:

Send to: Members for Church Accountability, Inc.
P0 Box 1072
Morrison, CO 80465