Diversity Committee

Meeting Minutes of June 7, 2009

Present: Kathy Cotter, Carol Scheffler, Connie Baskett, and Deb Theriault.

Kathy opened the meeting with a reading from “Prayers for 1,000 Years”, a compilation by Elizabeth Roberts.

The minutes from the last meeting were approved.

OLD BUSINESS
• “TYING THE KNOT”: The plan for today’s meeting was to watch “Tying the Knot”, a documentary about same-sex marriage. Since the DVD was not available for the meeting, Deb volunteered to have a cookout/potluck at her house for the movie and a brief meeting on Sunday, August 23 after church.

• SPHS GSA: After the presentation on Diversity Sunday by Betsy Parsons of GLSEN (Gay-Lesbian Student Education Network), the Diversity Committee asked how we could support them. Betsy told us one of their biggest needs was transportation to the GLSEN meetings. In our effort to help South Portland High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance get their students to the GLSEN meetings, it was decided that we would put an article in the Beacon telling people what we are doing to help (purchasing a gas card), that some folks have already stepped forward to help, and letting others know how they can help if interested.* Deb and Carol will put something together right after the meeting in time for this week’s Beacon. There is a Council meeting on June 18 when formal fundraising for this will be discussed (Carol will be attending). A donation directly to GLSEN in the future was also discussed.

• PRIDE PARADE: The Pride parade will be held at noon on June 20, beginning at Monument Square. Deb has contacted Cyndi Alden, and a check has been sent registering us for the parade. Andrew & Elizabeth Lupien have volunteered to be the 2 traffic coordinators that were requested on the registration form. Those of us who can march with the church banner (Deb will bring banner) will meet in the Mitchell Road parking lot to car pool or meet in-town by noon. Deb will make an announcement on Sunday inviting anyone in the congregation who would like to join us to meet us to carpool or at Monument Square. We will also put an announcement in this week’s Beacon. Deb thought perhaps the Pride festival, which is held in Deering Oaks following the parade, would be a great way to publicize Marvin Ellison’s upcoming discussion on marriage equality at FCC on October 22. Since we don’t have a table at the festival, Deb will contact Equality Maine to see if it would be possible to put “flyers” with the information on their table.**

NEW BUSINESS
• “TYING THE KNOT” showing for the congregation. We have planned to show “Tying the Knot” on September 20 after church. It has been suggested that we show it in the Community Room (Joan will check on availability), which has shades for the windows and is a large room, which will be more comfortable and have more room for chairs. Popcorn and refreshments will be served! Deb will check out the “Tying the Knot” website regarding permission to show the DVD to groups if there is no fee being charged, donations, etc.

• YOUTH INVOLVEMENT: We discussed the involvement of the youth of the church in diversity related topics. It was noted that OWL (“Our Whole Lives”, a UCC program offered regarding sexuality) has been discussed in the past but there has been no interest. Elsa has mentioned that perhaps it could be part of the confirmation process. It was decided that we’d like to have Elsa/Aaron/Steve come and talk to us about Elsa’s suggestions in the past. We’d be happy to help in any way we can.

• HOMECOMING: Homecoming is September 13. Deb volunteered, but it was agreed by all that perhaps there should be a discussion about the need for the Homecoming setup after church as it is now. We discussed the fact that no one stops at our table and never really has. Those of us who have represented other boards and committees noted the same experience. It was felt by all that the only table that attracts people at the presentations after church on Homecoming is the Sunday School sign-ups. We are hoping that perhaps a different model could be looked at for Homecoming in the future.

• PREBLE STREET TEEN CENTER: Carol noted that there are lots of clothes for older kids in the Children’s Closet that could be sent to the Teen Center. Deb will regroup and plan on making an announcement to the congregation in the late summer (when new school clothes are being bought) regarding the donation of teen-sized clothing for the Teen Center. A box will be placed in the Narthex for these donations.

• MARVIN ELLISON AT FCC ON OCTOBER 22: We discussed ways to publicize Marvin’s discussion on Marriage Equality. Deb has spoken with Elsa about making a poster and will follow-up on that. Everyone has volunteered to help with getting the posters up around the community. Kathy will contact local publications like the Sentry, the Forecaster, Cape Courier, Current, as well as SPTV. Deb will contact other area churches, the new Portland Daily Sun, and see if Bill Nemitz might be interested in writing something. It was also suggested that Marvin might like to bring along some of his books in case folks were interested in them.

• UPCOMING CLASSES: Elsa’s upcoming bible study on marriage and John’s on the separation of church and state were mentioned. We all agreed we are very fortunate to have ministers who are so supportive and pro-active around the topic of marriage equality!

In light of this past year’s Diversity Sunday stories of “hidden” diversity in the congregation, it was hoped that perhaps in the future we could make such stories a part of worship on an occasional basis throughout the year.

NEXT MEETING: AUGUST 23rd COOKOUT/POTLUCK/MOVIE/MEETING at Deb Theriault’s house after church (just down the hill at 26 O’Neil Street). Bring a dish to share, we’ll have some food, fellowship, a movie, and a brief meeting!

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER!!

Respectfully submitted,
Deb Theriault


* after the article for the Beacon was submitted, we were notified that it was edited as it seemed too much like fundraising. We need to be careful and make sure we clear things like this with the Council.

** regarding placing “flyers” regarding Marvin’s presentation on the Equality Maine table at the Pride festival, it was again requested that this be brought to the Council before doing so. Because of the dates, Council meeting June 18 and Pride festival June 20, we’ll have to see if timing allows if the plan is okayed.