Spiritual Life and Worship Minutes

Present: Deb Riley, Elinor Redmond, Sandy Hansen, Betsy Keiter, Dana Wiggins, Tex Haeuser, John McCall
Excused: Bryan Wiggins

Opening Meditation was offered by Deb Riley and much appreciated by the group.

Review of Minutes from March 6: approved as written with compliments to Bryan.

Review of Lenten/Easter Activities
Good Friday Soup Supper

• Big success; lots of volunteers
• Sign-up sheet helped; good leadership by Sandy with sign-up assistance by Margaret Thibodeau
• Too many PB&J sandwiches; next year let people make their own
• Paul Indorf again performed the miracle of the many electrical connections
• Donations of $188 came in, but after deductions for supplies & groceries, $113 was the net profit

Easter Vigil

• Sign by Bryan was great
• Elinor led the effort; she made calls to try to fill in some of the 2-hour periods that only had one person signed up. It was difficult to find people to come in during the middle of the night
• Elinor both mailed and emailed the schedule to those who signed up and put the schedule in the Chapel
• Those doing the vigil need each other’s phone numbers in case someone forgets to come
• May want to consider suggesting that people sign up with a friend
• The Chapel preparations (mostly Elsa) were beautiful; thoughtful reading materials; a notebook for journal entries

Sunrise Service

• Bryan and Dana led this project
• Good attendance (65 people)
• Cold but beautiful
• Quite dark to start with; need to check sunrise times
• Service went well; may need some accompaniment for singing—choir is otherwise occupied

Governance
Subcommittee feedback: Communion Subcommittee: Sometimes it seems as if there is still a small group of people doing everything.
What is going well?
SLW had so many former Deacons that the transition seemed seamless; not much different than before except having a smaller, more intimate group given the separate Communion subcommittee.
Having Communion separate has worked, mostly because of Mary Ann’s devotion and leadership.
Having meeting time/date flexibility has been good.
Some miss the opening service.
Some miss the former Deacons’ retreat (but we can still have one).
We enjoy the more informal meeting setting (and comfort) of Davidson Lounge
Challenges encountered
Concept was that we would not be doing the food events, but we understand given how much EGF has had to do
Concern for Communion should Mary Ann ever step down
Needed improvements
Better if did volunteer recruiting in the spring and not wait for Homecoming
Allow more people on SLW (as we’ve already decided)
Effectiveness of the new structure
Overall, it seems like the tasks that need to get done are getting done
We feel SLW has been effective

Nominations for SLW
Sandy contacted all those who expressed interest on the participation forms, and to date only Richard Angell had expressed interest in joining the SL & W Team
Debbie is contacting some new members to inquire about interest level in participating in some way on our Team or in a subcommittee

John’s Update
Elsa’s grandfather passed away and she is in New York; we are keeping her in our prayers.
Kim Early has resigned effective the end of the church school year; if we have thoughts on the job description or a candidate, let John know; Kim has been with us for five years and has done a tremendous job
This Sunday John will deliver a sermon about the racism we find hard to acknowledge; full page ads in the NY Times and USA Today by the UCC about Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Question: when should we start intinction? Response: better if we wait until July given attendance by elders in June

Confirmation Sunday

• May 4th
• We need to arrange for the boutonnières
• Leslie will handle the flowers
• Betsy to talk with Mary Ann to coordinate communion
• Betsy will take care of the altar cloths.
• Betsy and Sandy will talk with Margaret as Betsy has materials left over from last year
• Sandy will be a server but not an organizer

Elder Selection

• Going well; meeting with John on Monday
• David Allen has a list of candidates
• To meet the timeframe, we may vote by email

Annual Report
Betsy will do because she is a nice person! Dana offered to be back-up.

Terms of Office
Somewhat under protest, but understanding the need, the group decided (for itself and for Bryan because that’s how in tune we are):

Class of 2008
Tex Haeuser
Dana Wiggins

Class of 2009
Sandy Hansen
Bryan Wiggins
Betsy Keiter

Class of 2010
Elinor Redmond
Deb Riley

2011
Tex Haeuser
Dana Wiggins

Richard Angell

Hymnal Committee

• Dana Wiggins reported
• Everyone did reports from other churches
• Majority are using New Century, but it’s flawed
• Plan to seek feedback from our congregation in several ways
• Some publishers will bind in your favorite songs
• Some information sessions are being planned

Pentecost
Elsa has plans to decorate the sanctuary. Elsa, Dana, and Randall Landry will organize. Congregation again will be crafting the decorations.

Next meeting: May 1, at 7:30 PM.

Adjourned 9:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted by,
Tex Haeuser