Spiritual Life and Worship

September 4, 2008

Present: Richard Angell, Sandy Hansen, Betsy Keiter, Elinor Redmond, Debbie Riley, Dana Wiggins, Mary Anne Wallace, John McCall, and Elsa Peters


Opening Prayer was given by Rick Angell

Review of Minutes from July were reviewed and approved as written.

Spiritual Life and Worship Team Membership
Since the last meeting of the SL&W Team, Tex Hauser has given his resignation, saying that he is busy with work and other obligations. We all respect his decision, but sadly accepted his resignation ~ we all agreed that his presence, wisdom, and humor will be missed. With 7 members officially on the team, we still meet the minimum of 6 people required for a team. .

Updates from John
• Chancel Project – John is working with Chris Keiter and the Chancel Reconfiguration Committee to propose a way to acknowledge the gifts that made the Chancel project and piano acquisition possible. There will be a dedication of the chancel and piano on Sunday, October 26th as part of the worship service. These gifts would also be acknowledged on the plaque in the narthex, and in the Memorial Book. Debbie Riley has agreed to contact the calligrapher to have a new page added to the book noting the gifts.
• Sabbatical Time Approaching – John is starting to plan his 12-week Sabbatical in 2009. We can tentatively anticipate John being on Sabbatical in May, June and July, and then he will take vacation time in August. That means that John will be away May 1st – September 1st , 2009.

Homecoming Sunday
• Communion By Intinction – Elsa explained the idea of “families” sharing in communion this month. The congregation is invited to bring their own cup from home to share in communion with each other. Mary Anne is well prepared with bread, juice, and people in place for serving with John and Elsa.

• Volunteer Sign Up Sheets – Dana volunteered to make sign up sheets for all the volunteer tasks needed, and a poster to help make our table more inviting. Thank you for your artistic talent!

Review of By-Laws
A draft of the new By-Laws has been sent to the SL&W for review and comment. Feedback is encouraged. Please send your comments to Betsy by September 18th and she’ll send them to the Council all together from the SL & W team. Betsy pointed out that the age requirement for membership might need to be more flexible, if there is a consideration to changing the age/school grade for Confirmation. It was also noted that there wasn’t any notation in the By-Laws of being Open and Affirming. Other comments? Send them to Betsy.

Upcoming Events:
• Animal Blessing – September 28th – Elsa will be meeting those members and friends of the congregation that are interested in having an animal blessed, at the flag pole at Portland Headlight. She will be bringing water to bless all the animals. Elsa didn’t request any assistance on our part, but we offered to assist if needed.
• World Communion Sunday – October 5th – This had not been completely planned at this time, so ideas are welcome. Last year, colorful international napkins were used in the presentation, the globe was on the altar, and breads from all over the world were offered for communion. Any plans between now and next meeting can be done through email.

Thoughts on Multimedia Usage in Sunday Service
Rick is enthusiastic about and would like to start a discussion about the use of multimedia in our Sunday worship service. After his experience at the UCC Conference this summer, he read the book Silver Screen Sacred Story and found it to be very enlightening. Rick believes that although we don’t want to disrupt the traditions of our church, the use of multimedia can enhance the worship experience. He’d like to form a group to discuss what would be necessary to introduce and use multimedia in worship, including equipment needs and worship design. The team had an engaging initial conversation, including some pros and cons, about the idea and the exploratory process. It was decided that before a separate group is formed, more information and discussion would be necessary. Rick agreed to find out which local churches were currently using multimedia in their worship service. We would like to possibly visit and observe how and when multimedia is being used and gain a better understanding of why it was introduced and how the use has evolved over time. Also, we would like to know how the use of multimedia was initially received by those congregations. Further discussion within our team will follow before anything is introduced to the congregation.

Ongoing

Elinor met with council members Dave Allen and Chris Dow to discuss a systematic approach of stewarding volunteers: building a system to keep track of members’ interests and communicating to existing team leaders the names of members, new and existing, who are interested in a particular area.

The Growth Committee, a new small group, is focusing upon welcoming visitors to the church and making sure they don’t get overlooked. Rick has become a member of the Growth Committee and will be able to let us know how that is progressing. This new committee is trying to welcome visitors and get them connected to others with whom they may feel comfortable, which will hopefully create a more meaningful worship experience for them.

Next Meeting: Thursday, October 2nd @ 7:30p


Adjourned at 9:20pm

Respectfully Submitted by,
Sandra Hansen