Emergency Meeting of the Church
A very important message from your Church Council:
Good afternoon members and friends of BCCUCC,

We apologize for so many emails coming to you during this unusual time, but we have one more VERY IMPORTANT message to get out to you ASAP. We pray that these messages always find you well and of strong faith. If you need anything during this time of pandemic, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your church. We want you to feel connected and remain a vital part of our ministry and each other’s lives.

We write to inform you that an emergency meeting of the Church Council of the Barrington Congregational Church was held on April 3, 2020. This meeting was called to explore the possibility of seeking a loan through the CARES Act just recently passed by the federal government. This loan offers to cover many of the expenses for personnel and facility utilities for a designated length of time during this worldwide pandemic. This loan can then be forgiven, provided the business does not drop its staffing levels and utilizes the funds for their intended purposes.

After some discussion, the council unanimously approved a motion to apply for such a loan. In order to comply with our by-laws, which state that any loan greater than $10,000 must be approved by the congregation, the council has called for an Emergency Meeting of the church to approve their actions.

We regret that we cannot hold this meeting in person, as we would all like to, but we cannot do so under current orders of the governor of Rhode Island. We are therefore holding this meeting via Zoom. Zoom allows us to all gather remotely, yet together, to hold a meeting and vote. It also has provisions for everyone who has access to either a computer or a telephone to participate. We believe this allows all our membership to join in. This zoom meeting will take place on Friday, April 10th at 4 pm . The information need to join the meeting is not included here for security reasons. If you're a church member and wish to join the meeting, it is included in the original email sent to you on 4/6/20, or will be in the reminder email to be sent on Friday morning, 4/10/20.

Tom Colby, from the Finance Team, will be prepared to share a summary of the council’s actions and their impact on the church. You will also find some further information on the CARES Act at this link or at the end of this email, below the official Warrant.

PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ATTEND THIS MEETING! We need to have 45 members attend in order to have a quorum and a legal meeting. As per our by-laws only official members of the congregation hold a vote and count toward a quorum . Thank you for your cooperation in this important work.

WARRANT 
for an EMERGENCY MEETING  
of the Barrington Congregational Church, UCC  
Barrington, Rhode Island 

Pursuant with Article VI. B. 1. b of the church’s by-laws an emergency meeting of the Barrington Congregational Church, UCC, Barrington RI, is hereby called to take place on  
FRIDAY, APRIL 10th, 2020 at 4:00 PM via Zoom. 

 The business to be transacted is as follows: 
   ARTICLE I:       To call the meeting to order.  
   ARTICLE II:      To vote whether to approve the actions of the Church Council regarding applying for a loan under the CARES Act to maintain our staff during this time of worldwide pandemic.
   ARTICLE III:    To adjourn the meeting.  

Respectfully submitted:   
Kathy Sullivan,    Moderator (on behalf of the Church Council) 
  Act Now to Secure Funding

Following is a summary of information regarding the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) passed by Congress:

1.Churches are eligible to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program loan. 
2.The loan amounts will be forgiven as long as:
  • The loan proceeds are used to cover payroll costs, and most mortgage interest, rent, and utility costs over the 8 week period after the loan is made; and
  • Employee and compensation levels are maintained.
3.Proceeds used for other purposes will have to be repaid.
4.Churches may need to have their Councils or Trustees agree to apply for this loan – that needs to happen ASAP. (Information on decision making during this time  can be found here .)
5.Applications can be  downloaded from The Treasury Dept. Here   (PDF). 
6.This money will go very quickly. Churches should work with their banks to make sure their applications are in the bank’s hands as soon as possible. Loan applications will begin being processed TOMORROW (April 3).

We are continuing to post updates about this and other financial assistance programs on the  Coronavirus Finance Section   of our website.
If after consulting the website you still have questions, please feel free to contact me.

Charlie Kuchenbrod
Executive Associate Conference Minister

  Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ
Framingham, MA office: 508-875-5233
Hartford, CT office: 866-367-2822
Sent from the church office by
Christine Wallis, Office Administrator
office@bccucc.org, (401) 246-0111
Barrington Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
461 County Road, Barrington RI 02806
(401) 246-0111   office@bccucc.org   www.bccucc.org