Thursday, October 22, 2009

Growth Group

Meeting Minutes of October 19, 2009

Members present: Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, John McCall.
Absent: Jim Kupel, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross.

The meeting opened at 5:40 p.m.

John brought several brochures from other churches.

**indicates future action

I. “The Plan”:
We went over Dave’s master plan, step by step:
1. Brochures: Jim incorporated changes based on the Parish Host meeting.

2. Team/Group summaries: in process – Dave remarked that achieving 80% is a good goal.

3. Materials for PH reference manual: Elinor and John will meet early next week. We discussed the challenge of keeping materials updated and possible use of the web in future.

4. Recruit hosts: 10 people attended the meeting and were enthusiastic. Rick (and Stan) will make more calls.

5. The first meeting was held.

6. Identity of guests to be hosted: our first thought considered new members signed up through the Inquirer’s Meeting. Later we discussed how to identify potential hostees within a few months of their starting to attend our church. They could also be people who did not respond to or declined an invitation to attend an Inquirer’s meeting.

7. Host training: This will consist of a brief (45 minute meeting). The group will spend ½ hour brainstorming ideas and 15 minutes touring the building. John will ‘train’ Rick to do the tour. We will look for a time to get the group back together ASAP. Dave and Rick will target a time.
We discussed how to match people up. It makes sense to look for affinities (children in Sunday school, etc.). The process can take place during a PH meeting.

8. Pilot a few relationships: Dave will e-mail the people who came to the PH meeting.

II. Parish Host Brochure
We discussed the changes Jim made to the brochure. We suggest being consistent in talking about guests (not newcomers). Dave will write ideas for the brochure, including moving the part about being a welcoming presence in the Narthex under expectations. Ushers can be welcomers also.

III. Kendra’s List
Kendra created another version of her master idea list which included symbols to denote the source of each idea. We may already do some of the suggestions. She made a separate list which breaks the ideas into themes for various church groups. Not all tasks are ‘for sure’ choices.

**HOMEWORK FOR THE NEXT MEETING: Identify your own top 5 ideas and bring them to the next meeting. These ideas should have the most impact with the least difficulty.

John suggested having a brief hospitality tip at the beginning of Sunday’s service. We decided it would be provided during the announcement time by a member of our group. Dave will do the announcement on 10/25, Rick on 11/22, Elinor on 12/20. This schedule is tentative. We arbitrarily chose a Sunday late in the month.

IV. Materials
We discussed what materials are available for guests when they first visit. What is in the pew racks? Kendra brought a sample pew card, “For Our Guest” which helped a person navigate the cues of the service and told about the UCC. We looked at the (extensive) welcome packet provided in the Narthex. We will review and talk about guest materials at the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

NEXT MEETING: Monday, November 9 @ 5:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond

Church Council

MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 15, 2009

Opening: Moderator Chris Keiter called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

Members present: Chris Keiter, Nancy MacLean, Roger Addor, Deb Andrews, Chris Dow, Matt Early, Andy Ellis, Sally Hinckley, Bob Morse, Carrie Skeffington, Phil Whitney. Ministers present: John McCall and Elsa Peters.

Guest: Pam Howard

Minutes review: September meeting minutes were approved.

Ministers’ time: From John: As part of the review process, Pastor Parish Relations (PPR) worked with Elsa and John on defining goals. In January the PPR will meet with Council to go over these goals and how they relate to the vision statement of the church (underway).

John shared a copy of an article about challenges of “oldline” churches like ours and the challenges of keeping the church vital.

Annual meeting of Maine UCC Conference: Maine UCC has changed significantly in last 2 years: downsizing, part-time pastors, merging/closing churches.

Approval of Nomination: Carolyn Foster for EG&F

Budget Committee: committee includes Moderator (committee chair), Sr. Minister, 2 Council members (Matt Early, Chris Dow), and Business Manager (Cyndi Alden).

Fundraising Criteria: There was a suggestion to have all groups complete a fundraising form, including established events (Bazaar, Rummage Sale, Eskimo cookie sale, etc). Deb and Nancy will re-type the application and include some other points for a future discussion. Do we need more structured criteria, or do we want to use the general guidelines and take each request as it comes? Email Deb or Nancy with any input/ideas. Next meeting we will plan to come to a consensus.

Discovery Center (DC): Pam Howard (the DC Director) presented information about their budget. Enrollment is down and they are looking at a $6000 deficit this year, after ending last year with a $5000 deficit. Questions for the bookkeeper: What accumulated savings/cash flow is there? Also unsure of how much Barb Adams Scholarship money is left. The question of charging rent to the Discovery Center was raised. The income from the DC rent is part of the church budget. Pam will get financial information to Chris, and he will get it to Council members through email. Decisions can then be made.

H1N1 Flu Virus: Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance to sanctuary, chapel, and in Wright Pavilion. Elsa will write an article for the Beacon: a general reminder to stay home if you’re sick, use hand sanitizer, etc.

Web Site Design: Discussion to redesign website to accommodate some beneficial changes: on-line giving, Sunday School registration, linking business referral list, newer look, appeal to younger generation, etc. Money is not in the current budget for this. One web designer is available for a no-cost consultation to look at the needs and wants of the church website. Council Fund has uncommitted funds available that could be used to fund the website redesign. The Council gave its approval to look into options and costs. Proposal: offer tutorial for seniors and others who would like instruction on accessing the web.

Business Referral Directory: Since the website cannot be modified to accommodate the Business Referral Directory at this time, we are proceeding with a paper-only version that can be moved to the website at the appropriate time. Chris collected feedback from the Council on Don Russell’s first draft of the Business Referral Directory process and guidelines. Chris will work with Don Russell to reword the proposal.

Sanctuary Railing: Discussion of need of a railing going up to the chancel. The Council approved looking into the proposal, sketches and cost.


The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Submitted by Carrie Skeffington

Administration Team

Meeting Minutes of April 2, 2009

Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis, Cyndi Alden, Eben Marsh
Guest: Nancy MacLean, special guest from the Council.

The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair Deb Sandler at 7:05 p.m.

Chris Mills was appointed Meeting Secretary and Chair for the next meeting.

The minutes of the March 5, 2009 meeting were reviewed and approved with the corrected spelling of Stephen Popp’s name.

OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi lead a review of our financial statements .Everything looks on course with the 1st quarter behind us. The scholarship interest account was negative due to disbursements after an initial approval of a dollar amount.

Tenant review: Stephen Popp moved out on April 1, according to Cyndi. There was discussion on pursuing rent still owed by Popp. It was decided by the team to put it behind us. Guy will do a walkthrough of the property on 4/3. Any damages will be deducted from security deposit, as will back rent. Cyndi will send a final billing to Popp.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: Brian Wallace reports that he is all set for counters for Palm Sunday & Easter. He will be selecting a new chair for the next year.

House: Guy reports all is well. Prudy Wiggins will get work party together for church grounds; much of work will be spreading mulch. Found and repaired minor water leaks. Major leak in community room; it appears to have come in around window during major storm. Guy discussed awarding “heating control” bid to Maine Controls which is a division of Mechanical Services. There were three bids. Maine controls won with a bid of$16,680. We will be able to implement this control system on our current computer system. The other bids would have required purchase of a separate computer. The church should save $4500 per year, which would be a 4-5year payback. With this system the heat can be controlled from home. We also are looking into dual burners for boiler for cost savings. 3rd floor windows will be done this fall. Oil bid recently locked in at $1.94.9

Planned Giving: no report

NEW BUSINESS:
Nancy MacLean from the Council met with us to see how we were doing with the new paradigm of church governance. The A-team reported, it took the 1st year to smooth out, but all agreed, things were running fine with no problems to report.

Nancy raised a concern of Council & church members of accounting of monies raised by subgroups that do not flow through the budget, i.e. - Eskimos, rummage sale, etc. Nancy stated there is no serious concern, other than having a full accounting of monies raised in the church. Discussion centered on these groups being a footnote in the annual budget. Cyndi will check with auditor on this issue.

Nancy also wanted feedback on the idea of a business referral bulletin board, which would consist of church members who could provide a service to members of the church. Although the A-team saw benefits to this, it was agreed it could also make for complications. It was agreed by the A-team to keep referrals the old fashioned way, word of mouth.

Ron & Jim will attend Council meeting on 4/16.

Jim will be contact person for A-team for next year.

Nominations: Jim & Deb were nominated to 3 year terms on the A-team.

Next meeting: May 7, 2009

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.


Respectfully submitted by: Chris Mills, Meeting Secretary

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Music Committee

Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2009

Present: Shirley Curry, Kim Early, Anna O’Connor, Sheryl Kieran, Trudi Bakke

1. Reviewed and accepted September Minutes.

2. Updates:
Debriefed on Homecoming Sunday – consensus was that less people strolled by the music table possibly due to the set up sprawling over different areas of the church.

Anna spoke with Sue Stevens and was informed that there was no longer a need to borrow the clavinova.

Kim reported that she attempted to contact the Organ Clearing House twice by phone and received a message saying that the number was not taking calls. She also sent an e-mail and received no response. The committee talked about donating the organ to a church that is in need of one. Kim will talk with Elsa and John about this.

3. The 2010 proposed budget line items were reviewed. Shirley would like to see any money left in the Organ Maintenance Sanctuary line and the Handbell Repair line at the end of the year to be transferred into segregated accounts. Shirley reported that if something happens to the organ we would be looking at thousands of dollars in repairs and that it would also be very pricey to appropriately box up, ship and have the handbells repaired if needed. Kim will ask Cyndi Alden if this is a possibility.

4. Christmas Vespers will be held on Sunday, December 13th at 5:30 p.m. Committee members will arrive at 5:00 p.m. to set up for the reception that will follow the program. Tasks were volunteered for as follows…
• Beacon article and pulpit announcement - Anna
• Reserve room and request set up – Kim
• Learn how to work the heat in Wright Pavilion and unlock the front door - Kim
• Centerpiece - Anna
• Paper products - Sheryl
• Tea – Trudi & Anna
• Cider – Trudi, Anna & Kim
• Christmas cookies - all

5. Shirley requested to use some funds from a segregated account to have a trumpeter at the December 13th 10:00 a.m. service. The committee approved this request. Sheryl will check with Matt Leberge to see if he would be interested in playing. Shirley also said that she would love to have more people in the choir!

Mission and Outreach

Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2009

Present: Laurie Cary, Carol Scheffler, Mike Kasputes, Sandy Dyer, Greg Wyman, Richard Parker, and Sarah Randall.

Opening Reading: Sarah read from the book of Hebrews Chapter 11, about faith.

After two spelling corrections; Deb Theriault and Glsen, the minutes of September 3rd were accepted.

Treasurer’s Report: Greg Wyman
- Two disbursement letters were returned, incorrect address. Greg will check into it and resend. A Thank You note was received from Bangor Theological Seminary.
- Will start budget planning for 2010 next month.
- Maine Council of Churches 20/20 vision campaign has been completed, our pledge to this has been met. After a discussion and vote it was decided we would continue our support to this, having it come out of the “Special Support In Maine” part of the budget.
- Board voted to make a special donation for the victims of the recent Tsunamis in American Samoa and Indonesia. A donation of $500 will be sent to the American Red Cross.

Ministers Moments: Elsa Peters
- Micah project responses are starting to come in.
- UCC conference was last weekend; pamphlets about “Our church’s wider Mission” sent to be disbursed to the congregation. Discussed best way to do this, decided to put in pew racks and have an article in the Beacon about where to find the pamphlets.
- Opportunity for board members to attend a seminar “Just Practice”, Friday- Saturday November 6th and 7th in Worcester, MA. It’s a New England UCC Justice and Witness event. Elsa is unable to attend.

Old Business:
- Micah Project ; will table discussion until November.
- Homecoming Sunday; mixed feelings on success of overall event. Mike gave the idea of perhaps promoting one group each Sunday during coffee hour. Would give more focus to that group.
- Special offering Neighbors in Need this Sunday, October 4th.

Subcommittees:
- Fair trade coffee; orders have been collected and sent. Expecting shipment this next week. Will need sorters, Greg will e-mail team with time and date for sorting.
- Food Pantry; Sarah spoke with Gail Dransfield, pantry is very low on food. Time for a “Food Drive”. Sarah will make an announcement during Chapel service this Sunday, October 4th. Carol will announce at the 10:00AM service. Pass out bags and lists October 11th, and collect donations October 18th.
- Mission Mall; have six charities so far, looking for two more. Carol will contact and invite “Florence House”, a new facility for homeless women. Sarah will contact and invite “Grace Street Ministries”, a ministry for street people.

Open Discussion:
- Carol reminded us to “save the date”, October 22nd at 7:00 p.m.here at FCCUS. Dr. Marvin Ellison will speak on Marriage Equality. Then on October 15th, Bishop Gene Robinson will be speaking at St. Luke’s.
- Sandy told us that for June-September 15th our food pantry served 130 families from South Portland and Cape Elizabeth.

Closing Reading: Sarah finished the reading from Hebrews
Chapter 11.

Meeting ended at 8:20 p.m.

Recorder: Sarah Randall

Next Meeting: November 5th.

Opening/Closing Prayer: Greg Wyman

Recorder: Maureen Clancy

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Education, Growth and Fellowship

Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2009
Recorded by: Margaret Thibodeau

Team Members attending: Jana Frank, Ginny Gledhill, Margaret Thibodeau, Karen Pierce, Carolyn Foster and Elsa Peters.

The meeting began with the approval of September’s Minutes.

The Team discussed Homecoming Sunday, which occurred on September 13th. Due to rummage sale items collected in Guptill Hall, Homecoming Sunday tables were spread throughout the hallways and meeting rooms of the church. EG&F provided beverages in Wright Pavilion, and food items were dispersed amongst the tables, in the hope to encourage people to walk around, and visit the various groups and committees represented. The event seemed to go smoothly, although the recruitment of volunteers was not any better than in previous years. A larger table was needed for Sunday School registration. People appreciated that healthy food options (grapes, pineapple, etc) were available in addition to traditional baked goods.

The coordination of Coffee Hour continues to be a challenge. A few volunteers do sign up each Sunday on the sign-up sheets available at Coffee Hour, however, the EG&F contact (Jana Frank) still spends a good deal of time each week making phone calls and enlisting help. Margaret makes sure that supplies (cream, milk, AJ, tea, etc) are stocked in the kitchen each week. It is the goal of the EG&F Team to recruit a small committee to head up Coffee Hour. This committee would organize coffee hour each Sunday, and report to Jana, as was the original intent when the EG&F Team was organized. Jana will contact the church office, and have a whole church email sent out requesting volunteers, as well as a notice put in the next bulletin. She will also try to recruit while making the coffee hour calls. Margaret will talk to Tom about the amount of coffee made (seems to more than enough), and emptying the coffee pots, which are too heavy for many of the volunteers.

Ginny is heading up the Nursery this year. She circulated for the Team’s approval, the notice posted in the nursery, asking parents not to leave more than one child with Diane alone. A signup sheet will be available in the nursery asking parents to help with coverage.

Carolyn reported that Sunday School had started smoothly. The suggestion was made for the Superintendent each Sunday to circulate amongst the classrooms, and be a visible support to the teachers. Often the younger ages need assistance with bathroom trips, etc, and the superintendent could be helpful at these times. The idea of a “pager system” for teachers of the younger grades was discussed by the Team.

The next Inquirer’s Meeting is Tuesday, October 20th, and Margaret will provide refreshments. New members will be inducted on Sunday, 11/15.

Elsa reviewed the Faith Formation update. There are many children registered for Sunday School, including several new families. Christ Kid’s Club, with almost 50 students attending, needs some adult assistance and adjustment in the program to empower the 7th & 8th graders. The Adult Faith Formation Committee met, and has much enthusiasm around focusing on themes for our congregation’s exploration. Several other opportunities are available this fall for adult faith exploration and study. The Veggie Tale event is scheduled for November 14th at 6:30, and several parents have already volunteered to assist.

Margaret reviewed Aaron’s Youth Ministry update. Aaron had asked the group’s opinion on offering the youth an opportunity to visit a temple. The Team was supportive of this activity.

Margaret will send the completed “Growth Group” forms to Dave Allen, and ask if he would like to join the Team at the next meeting in November.

The Team also reviewed and updated the “Church Contacts” list for the office, and progress on the Nametag Committee.

Next meeting: Thursday, November 5th

Spiritual Life and Worship

Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2009

Attending: Elaine Brownell, Betsy Keiter, Dana Wiggins, Debbie Riley, Rick Angell, John McCall.

Opening Prayer by Debbie.

Review of Sept. Minutes – Approved as written.

World Communion Sunday – plans were made to serve communion at 4 places in the sanctuary to symbolize the 4 corners of the world. The SL&W team will help serve and ushers will direct congregants to the closest quadrant.

Inquirer's Meeting – scheduled for Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Wright Pavilion – Dana will represent SL&W.

Growth Group – Rick reports that a Parish Host Inquirer's Meeting will be held after church on 10/3 to give information about this new program offered to newcomers in our church. Parish hosts might sit in church with a new family, or give a tour of our church or go along to coffee hour with them and introduce them to others. The Growth Group would like to encourage our church members to be more welcoming.

Hymnal Memorial Bookplates – Bryan Wiggins drew the design that Debbie and Dana have submitted – the group approved the design with a few color changes and now the memorial text is being entered and copy fit into the bookplate before printing and applying to inside covers.

Altar Table - The server in Davidson Lounge has been used for communion this past year and the SL&W has found its size and design fits well in the sanctuary – we would like to move it there on a permanent basis for communions. We will look for a new piece of furniture to replace the Davidson Lounge piece.

Communion Servers – Betsy will train new servers and organize a list of servers for the coming year.

Team Leadership – Sending the agenda will rotate as follows for future meetings: Dana/ November, Debbie/ December, Elaine/January, Rick/February, Betsy/March, Dana/April, Debbie/May, Rick/June.

Next Meeting: November 5 at 7 p.m.

Adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dana Wiggins

Monday, October 5, 2009

Food Pantry

Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2009

PRESENT: Betty Crane, Nance Driscoll, Burt Randall, Barbara Merrill, Gail Dransfield, Jan Files, Nancy Senger, Sandy Dyer, Judy Hardy.
ABSENT: AnnElissa was sick with the flu.

Kathy Sahrbeck has had to retire from our group. She, along with her great personality, will be missed. We did have a nice surprise, though. Nancy Senger has rejoined our group for a few months. Welcome back, Nancy.

BALANCE:
I’m sorry, but didn’t get the amount, but we spent the $3,242.00 that was a grant given to us by the United Way, on food and gift certificates. We have $400.00 in gift certificates left from that amount to give out.

REQUESTS:
June – Sept. Families / 130; Adults / 220; Children / 220

OLD BUSINESS:
Gail wrote thank you notes to Peter & Marcia Webber and to Peoples Methodist Church for their donations. Nancy Senger will get the names of other donors from the office & write them thank you notes. We made $80.00 to put into our piggy bank from our swap last Sunday, Sept. 20th.

NEW BUSINESS:
We decided to have a table with the Mission Mall at the Holly Daze Bazaar this year. Nancy Senger will set up and man the table for us after talking to AnnElissa to see what is needed. Sandy Dyer will make up gift certificates to give out and a alist of pantry foods needed.

Theft Problem: We had a problem this summer with some people stealing gift certificates out of bags. We discussed not giving certificates and giving powdered milk, but decided to still give the certificates. Any bags not picked up when Jen leaves on Friday will be put in the pantry. Gift certificates are to be put in the bottom of the bags. Jen is to tell people when they call that the food will be re-shelved if left here 3 days.

Mailings: Gail requested mailings be sent to community churches, schools & police departments. We want to remind people that we are here for those in need and to ask for whatever donations they can give. Jan will be writing the letters for the mailings.

Subs: If anyone needs a sub, when they get a name for the sub, it is up to the person asking for the sub to do a group email and let everyone know who that person is.

Thanksgiving: It was suggested when people call for food that Jen tell them that if they should want a basket that they should order Nov. 1st through Nov. 15th. They should also know that it will not hurt their pantry standings.

Emergency Help: Betty & Barb will make some new listings for Emergency help to put in bags and to give to Jen. Barb will also check on 411# and see exactly what it means.

Casserole Bags: We will once again start making our casserole bags. Need small bags and also any kind of bags for food. Will put a notice in the Beacon for bags and will also make up notes to put into food bags to ask people to recycle and bring us back their bags.

NEXT MEETING: Thursday, 1/21/10

Respectfully submitted by Jan Files.