Education Growth and Fellowship

Meeting Minutes of December 3, 2009
Recorded by: Margaret Thibodeau

Team members attending: Ginny Gledhill, Karen Pierce, Carolyn Foster, Margaret Thibodeau, Elsa Peters

The meeting began with the approval of November's Minutes.

A "Church Contacts" list was distributed. All contacts are via the church website (fccucc.org), to protect individual's personal emails. Information on the list looked correct and complete, although the question was raised whether Karen Pierce should be added as a contact for Library and Scholarship Committees. Margaret will check with Jen in the church office.

Margaret read the email from Chris Keiter and the church Council, requesting that any remaining 2009 open budget funds that are not needed, not be spent for the remainder of the year, and the Team will attempt to honor this request. Karen will contact the Library Committee regarding the remaining money in their budget. Jesus' birthday celebration will use a small amount for purchasing a large cake. Only minimal supplies have been purchased this year for Christian Education (glue sticks). The Team agreed that any supplies essential to the Sunday School program and positive experience of the children should continue to be purchased this year.

The Advent Workshop went well, according to Kim Early, one of the organizers. Approximately $90.00 was raised from the event. Kim shared that the workshop tends to require funds for supplies one year, then make money the next two years. She asked the Team where the money raised should go. This year, with the current budget deficit, the Team decided the funds should go back into the line-item for such events. Perhaps in the future, money raised during the Advent Workshop could be targeted for the soup kitchen, food pantry, etc.

The Team will host Jesus's Birthday celebration after the family Christmas service, which is Dec. 24th at 5PM. Margaret will purchase a large sheet cake and paper goods, and the Early family have offered to serve.

Jana could not attend the meeting, but sent an update on Coffee Hour. Volunteers to serve and bake are scheduled right through mid-January, when the Mission Team will host. On December 20th, there will only be coffee and apple juice served after the Christmas Pageant, as the Eskimos have their annual cookie/fudge sale.

Karen shared that the Scholarship Committee is ready to begin in the New Year. They will be looking to find two new people to join their committee for next year. Karen reported that the Library Committee is well-organized, and things are going along fine.

There seems to be consistent coverage in the Nursery to assist Diana each Sunday when Ginny has checked. Ginny spoke with a parent, Stephanie Cook, who will contact some of the parents that frequently use the nursery to see if a volunteer schedule might be developed. Some parents appear to volunteer frequently, while others choose not to. The Team discussed the idea of possibly hiring a consistent caretaker on Sundays for the Nursery, with the understanding that Diana should be paid as well, if this were to occur. For now, the Team would like to see if we can continue to use parent volunteers.

Elsa shared that the special Veggie Tales movie event was a success, and something she hopes the church can offer again. She has been working with the Adult Faith Formation Committee on some focused planning for a Lenten program. The number of youth committed to Confirmation is up to seven, and Elsa is actively recruiting mentors.

Several areas regarding the Sunday School program were discussed. One matter was the role of the Superintendent. There are currently 5-6 adults who take turns serving as the Superintendent on Sundays. Carolyn reports that there are clear instructions for this role, with the responsibilities outlined. As volunteers become more familiar with the role, they tend to be more
effective and helpful to the teachers. It is important for the Superintendent to check on the teachers early, to assess individual needs and situations where they might lend support.

A second area of discussion was the children's offering. The Team reflected on whether there are alternate ways to enhance our children's understanding and way of giving, such that their offering has relevance to their spiritual development. During Christ Kid's Club, there is participation in giving and blessing the gifts, as well as a clear understanding of where the donation goes (because the children are involved in the decision by vote). It is not as evident, during Sunday School, that our children are making that same connection. Various methods and means of giving were discussed, some of which came from Team members own positive childhood memories of giving to their church. It was decided to try a new approach of providing a cohesive giving moment, during the Children's Sermon, perhaps with a unique or unusual jar the children can place their own offerings in. The Team decided this should start the beginning of Lent, which allows the Sunday School teachers in January time to explain the new method.

Another area discussed was whether the church should offer an adaptive communion service for the children on Communion Sundays. Church service on these Sundays tend to run longer man usual, so there might be time to gather the children together for sharing and community. An idea was offered to have various grade levels take turns leading the special service. The Team was supportive of this idea, and will discuss it further for Christian Education in 2010.

Lastly, the recruitment schedule of Sunday School teachers was discussed regarding how best to provide consistency for the children. While it may serve children best to have a consistent teacher for a month or two, the reality is that coverage is dependent on the team of teachers and their various schedules. Consistency, even with several team teachers, improves when those teachers strive to communicate frequently about the children and curriculum.

The Team would like to invite a member of the Growth Group to our next meeting, to share some of the group's ideas and programs. Margaret will contact the group regarding this. We also are still hoping to recruit an additional member for our Team, and will discuss this further at the January meeting.

The next meeting is January 7th.