Spiritual Life and Worship

Meeting Minutes of June 4, 2009

Attending: Elinor Redman, Betsy Keiter, Dana Wiggins, Debbie Riley, Rick Angell, and Sandy Hansen.

Opening Prayer – by Betsy.

Review of May 7th Minutes – Approved as written.

Elders Recognition & Elder Sunday, June 7 -
• Presentations at the service on Elder Sunday – Dave Allen and Darla Harris are prepared.
• Elders Luncheon – Plans to prepare the meal on Saturday are in place: Dana to cook the chickens; Betsy, Sandy, and Dana meet to put together the casseroles. Dave and Margaret will set up. Those helping to serve are: Gretchen Reynolds, Bob and Betty Crane, and Jan Bosse. (Thank you!)

Hymnal Celebration & Book Plates – Debbie and Dana are working on the book plates and moving forward with getting those done in the next few weeks. The Hymnal Celebration Sunday is June 14.

Summer Hours for Sunday Service – Starting the 21st of June, there will be only one service on Sunday mornings, in the sanctuary at 9:30.

SL & W Team Membership – Ed Saxby has decided that he can not commit to being on the Team at this time due to other commitments. Elaine Brownell has agreed to be on the Team. This change will need to be noted for the Council. There is still one opening on the team.

Council Recommendations – The Council discussed the issue of hospitality events that occur during the church year. After much discussion about both the SL & W Team and the Education, Fellowship and Growth teams, they felt there are too many food events to have one team responsible for all events. The Council recommends:
• Discontinue the Jesus Birthday Party.
• SL&W responsible for: Ash Wednesday Breakfast, Good Friday Soup Supper, & Elder Luncheon.
• EGF responsible for: Coffee Hour, Church Picnic, and Confirmation Celebration.
• They strongly suggest sub groups to work on these events.
The SL&W Team feels that the recommendations are a reasonable compromise/decision.

New Structure – Following the topic of responsibilities for social/food events, a discussion arose that brought about more questions. Is the new structure working as expected? How can we get more volunteers for the teams and subcommittees? How can we get more people to feel connected? How can we interest individuals to participate in the groups and events? How do we reach those people who want to participate, but need to be asked? How do we create a culture of volunteerism and get the message out that there is more to church than Sunday Service to feel good. Talk about it in church at announcements? Or put it in the Beacon? Should these questions be brought to the Council?

SL & W Responsibilities – The team agreed that many of the responsibilities of the SL&W team are done by certain individuals that “just know what to do”. This information should be written down so that others can be aware and informed about each area of responsibility. To accomplish this, it was suggested we start with a list of topics that need to be used as a guide for future team members. It is important that the little details that we currently all know, will be carried forward. The old Deacon manual can be used as a guide.

Discussion on Use of Multimedia in Worship Service - Moved for discussion next month.

Discussion on John Attending SL&W Meeting – Moved for discussion next month.

Next Meeting: July 2

Adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sandra Hansen