Diversity Committee

Meeting Minutes of 11-15-09

Present: Deb Theriault; Connie Baskett, Fran Rowell, Carol Scheffler, Pam Hermann, John Howard, Mike Kasputes, Dolores Broberg, John McCall, Joan Carrier.

Deb opened the meeting with the reading of the childrens’ book God’s Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Douglas Carlton Abrams and LeUyen Pham..

Deb asked that each of us hold in our prayers Kathy Cotter and her mother who is dealing with health issues.

It was the consensus that our participation in the Pride Parade (June), the Interfaith March for No on 1 campaign (October) and talk by Rev. Marvin Ellison (October) were all positive experiences for participants.

Feelings about and reactions to election results were informally discussed. There was agreement that though saddened by the results, looking back only five years ago, great progress has been made and that its increasingly clear that religious conviction should not have a place in shaping public policy.

Themes for Diversity Sunday (1/17/10) were discussed and it was decided that we should underscore the need for all in the congregation to feel safe in discussing divisive issues openly without fear of discrimination. Moreover, even though we might not achieve consensus, the congregation’s members should still feel loved, revered & valued as parts of the whole body of the church.

John M. read the Epistle for that Sunday: 1 Corinthians12:.1-11 and beyond. They seemed particularly appropriate for our chosen theme. Ways of illustrating this theme were discussed in which various unlike parts come together to make a whole. Visuals such as a heart, the figure of Jesus as in the body of Christ, a circle, the outline of the church, an elephant (as in the old folktale) were mentioned. Mike suggested having the congregation learn two disparate parts of a song which by themselves lack harmony but when sung together, create beautiful music. Deb will ask Shirley Curry for recommendations and also ask about an appropriate anthem.

It was suggested that we end the service by the entire congregation holding hands and singing “Many Gifts, One Spirit”.

Pam, Joan, Deb, Mike & John M. agreed to work as a sub-committee to flesh out these ideas. They will set a meeting date & e-mail any concerns that come up before our nest meeting.

John M. closed with a prayer.

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, December 15 at 5:00 p.m.

Submitted by: Carol Scheffler