Meeting Minutes of October 7, 2010
Attendance: Karen Pierce-Souza, Elsa Peters, Jennifer Fetting, Scott Ayer, Tom Hamerski
I. Agenda
A. Updates on Team Responsibilities:
1) Karen updated us on Library and Scholarship. In both cases, things are good and nothing needed for now.
2) Carolyn was unable to attend tonight’s meeting, so we didn’t get an update on the Sunday School, but at least one Sunday School teacher seems to think it’s going well.
3) Elsa gave us her Faith Formation update. We voted on choices for the children’s offering
a. Camp Sunshine
b. Winter Kids
c. Pilgrim Lodge
4) Jen reported that Coffee Hour is going shockingly, amazingly well. People and groups are being wonderful about volunteering and that is great. We’re filled up through Christmas!
B. Other items:
1) Homecoming Sunday
a. None of us had heard any feedback from other people re: the new setup, other than people liked the coffee hour that day.
b. EFG committee liked it better.
c. Not sure how it will work next year.
2) Nursery – We need those parents who volunteer to help downstairs to do background checks for Safe Church. There is no such list, however, so we need to figure out a good way of identifying these parents and getting the necessary forms to them.
3) Two potential new members of the EFG team visited today, Tom Hamerski and Scott Ayer. Tom is on board (whohoo!) and Scott is thinking about whether he has time and will let us know.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Diversity Committee
Meeting Minutes of October 17, 2010
PRESENT: Joan Carrier, Dolores Broberg, Pam Hermann, Kathy Cotter, Connie Baskett, Deb Theriault, and John McCall.
Deb opened the meeting with a prayer by Mother Theresa.
OLD BUSINESS:
We began the meeting with a recap of the Pride Parade in June. Joan and Deb both attended as well as Mike Kasputes, Carol Scheffler, Steve Ferris, Ed & Jill Saxby, and Elsa, and all marched behind the banner in the parade. As always, we were well received. Deb was interviewed by Channel 6 and was on TV. Joan noted that she heard a parade attendee shout out “tell God that” when he read our banner about God’s inclusive love. We were all glad that we participated and continue to have a presence at this important Pride event.
RCAD - John brought us up-to-date on the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination. John & Andrea and Elsa are all members (Elsa is on the Board). The committee formed (initiated by the Maine Civil Liberties Union) during the campaign for gay marriage and has been funded for another year. Hopefully the group will continue to do their important work if the funding ends.
“A Fish Out of Water” - This well-done film challenges common passages from the Bible used to condemn homosexuality. It was recently shown at St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church; unfortunately, none at the meeting today were able to attend. Deb has seen it and shared it with Elsa, and it is the hope of RCAD to show it in areas such as Lewiston/Auburn and York County. Elsa will keep us informed about this.
John's Report - John brought us up to date on the closing of Williston-West UCC. The congregation has joined with the folks at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Portland (who has welcomed gays and lesbians for sometime and been “censured” by their denomination). It seems to be a good fit, and it is hoped that they will continue to grow.
NEW BUSINESS:
Deb mentioned in light of the recent suicides by several young people who were gay or perceived to be gay that we should try to support GLSEN as much as we can. Joan reminded us that GLSEN does have a table at the Mission Mall during the Holly Daze Bazaar, and Deb will contact Laurie Cary to see if they are in the Mission budget. We also need to make sure we support the ONA Coalition, which is the part of the UCC that helps churches on their journey to becoming Open & Affirming.
Diversity Sunday 2011 - Diversity Sunday will fall on January 16th (MLK, Jr. weekend Sunday as usual). John said he has heard there will not be an MLK, Jr. Breakfast that has historically been put on by the NAACP in Portland and instead there may be an invocation held on Sunday evening, January 16th.
We all tossed around ideas for the service. Elsa had just preached on “Coming Out”, and Dolores felt that we all hide behind masks sometimes and perhaps this would be a good topic. It then turned to the idea of each person’s uniqueness being celebrated, the idea that no two of us in the whole world is exactly alike. (like snowflakes! ) Another important theme was “being fully present” when we listen to someone. Pam shared a story of someone with early Alzheimer’s being forgetful and people seemingly bothered by it, but had they known this person’s “story” they would’ve been more compassionate. John suggested perhaps we have a series of vignettes telling people’s stories such as this one.
It was decided we would have a sub-committee meet with John to give this idea more shape and shake out the best parts of it all. Dolores, Pam, and Connie all agreed to be on the sub-committee. Once the minutes are shared with those not present at the meeting, if any of them wants to be on the sub-committee they are welcome to join. Members can email the committee to let us know of their interest. Once the ideas are discussed and whittled down to a workable topic, everyone will get their part to work on for the service in January.
The next meeting will be determined after the sub-committee meets, and Deb will also find out from Shirley when extra choir rehearsals for Christmas are set to begin so we’ll know when the best time for everyone will be.
Deb closed with a reading of some words of Anne Frank.
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Theriault
PRESENT: Joan Carrier, Dolores Broberg, Pam Hermann, Kathy Cotter, Connie Baskett, Deb Theriault, and John McCall.
Deb opened the meeting with a prayer by Mother Theresa.
OLD BUSINESS:
We began the meeting with a recap of the Pride Parade in June. Joan and Deb both attended as well as Mike Kasputes, Carol Scheffler, Steve Ferris, Ed & Jill Saxby, and Elsa, and all marched behind the banner in the parade. As always, we were well received. Deb was interviewed by Channel 6 and was on TV. Joan noted that she heard a parade attendee shout out “tell God that” when he read our banner about God’s inclusive love. We were all glad that we participated and continue to have a presence at this important Pride event.
RCAD - John brought us up-to-date on the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination. John & Andrea and Elsa are all members (Elsa is on the Board). The committee formed (initiated by the Maine Civil Liberties Union) during the campaign for gay marriage and has been funded for another year. Hopefully the group will continue to do their important work if the funding ends.
“A Fish Out of Water” - This well-done film challenges common passages from the Bible used to condemn homosexuality. It was recently shown at St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church; unfortunately, none at the meeting today were able to attend. Deb has seen it and shared it with Elsa, and it is the hope of RCAD to show it in areas such as Lewiston/Auburn and York County. Elsa will keep us informed about this.
John's Report - John brought us up to date on the closing of Williston-West UCC. The congregation has joined with the folks at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Portland (who has welcomed gays and lesbians for sometime and been “censured” by their denomination). It seems to be a good fit, and it is hoped that they will continue to grow.
NEW BUSINESS:
Deb mentioned in light of the recent suicides by several young people who were gay or perceived to be gay that we should try to support GLSEN as much as we can. Joan reminded us that GLSEN does have a table at the Mission Mall during the Holly Daze Bazaar, and Deb will contact Laurie Cary to see if they are in the Mission budget. We also need to make sure we support the ONA Coalition, which is the part of the UCC that helps churches on their journey to becoming Open & Affirming.
Diversity Sunday 2011 - Diversity Sunday will fall on January 16th (MLK, Jr. weekend Sunday as usual). John said he has heard there will not be an MLK, Jr. Breakfast that has historically been put on by the NAACP in Portland and instead there may be an invocation held on Sunday evening, January 16th.
We all tossed around ideas for the service. Elsa had just preached on “Coming Out”, and Dolores felt that we all hide behind masks sometimes and perhaps this would be a good topic. It then turned to the idea of each person’s uniqueness being celebrated, the idea that no two of us in the whole world is exactly alike. (like snowflakes! ) Another important theme was “being fully present” when we listen to someone. Pam shared a story of someone with early Alzheimer’s being forgetful and people seemingly bothered by it, but had they known this person’s “story” they would’ve been more compassionate. John suggested perhaps we have a series of vignettes telling people’s stories such as this one.
It was decided we would have a sub-committee meet with John to give this idea more shape and shake out the best parts of it all. Dolores, Pam, and Connie all agreed to be on the sub-committee. Once the minutes are shared with those not present at the meeting, if any of them wants to be on the sub-committee they are welcome to join. Members can email the committee to let us know of their interest. Once the ideas are discussed and whittled down to a workable topic, everyone will get their part to work on for the service in January.
The next meeting will be determined after the sub-committee meets, and Deb will also find out from Shirley when extra choir rehearsals for Christmas are set to begin so we’ll know when the best time for everyone will be.
Deb closed with a reading of some words of Anne Frank.
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Theriault
Administration Team
Meeting Minutes of October 7, 2010
Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Jim Otis, Rod Redstone, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).
Call to Order: Jim called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Minutes of the Admin Team Sept. 9, 2010 meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.
OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through October 7 were reviewed. The year is 77% complete. Revenues stand at 72% of the year’s budget.
Expenses are about 79% of the year’s budget. Overall, actual income and expenses vs. the budget appear reasonable. The actual loss was $(57,244) vs. a budgeted loss of $(27,289). The financial report was unanimously accepted. Cyndi agreed to: (1) cutting off statements on the last day of the month and (2) quarterly summaries of major maintenance work item expenditures. A discussion regarding the audit cost vs. budget was held and it was determined that it was higher than budget due to Discovery Center inclusion and to a mistake on the budgeted amount. Cyndi will get the Discovery Center cost broken out by end of November.
Tenant Update: Cyndi contacted the tenant at 509 Sawyer Street house via e-mail to ask about increasing rent to $900/month on Jan 1 but did not receive a response. Cyndi will contact the tenant again and get a response. The committee discussed and agreed that there should be an annual inspection of the house. There is also the issue of the dog. Cyndi will contact Pam Howard about the status of the dog and will brief the committee at the next meeting. The downstairs commercial space at 331 Cottage Road is still vacant. Jim will contact Roxanne Cole regarding the property. In the next lease a clause will be inserted to have the lease automatically renew with a 3.5% increase unless 30 days notice is given.
Chancel Railing: This item is complete and will be removed from next month’s agenda.
Church Signage and Rummage Storage: Guy will contact Dave regarding the signage.
Church insurance renewals and possible agent review: Ron will contact Scott Stacy and see if Scott would like to attend the next administration meeting in order to discuss review of Church Insurance. We may also want Pension/Health reviewed as part of the process.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: We have a very responsive group of counters right now. We have established a process of scheduling on a quarterly basis that seems to be working well. We only had one "missed" Sunday over the summer and the ushers handled that by locking the plates up and it was taken care of on Monday. Generally counters only need to serve 5 times a year or so and they are doing a great job covering for each other if conflicts come up.
House: Maintenance on the balcony ceiling will be delayed until after the winter to ensure that there will not be any more leaks from the roof and steeple.
Planned Giving: Ron will do another article in the Beacon before the end of the year.
Fuel Oil Strategy: Guy reported that he could get fuel oil for .10 over rack price from Frederick Brothers. The administration team believes that we should continue to wait until the market stabilizes. We will review four vendors for fuel and maintenance, Frederick Brothers, Giroux, Webber and Dead River. The House committee will be asked to put fuel conversion onto their agenda.
Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 19: The council voted to change the day's events so there was no need for us to be present with a formal table display and sign-up.
A Team Member Replacements: Ron and Chris will be off the team next June and we have to provide for new replacement members. We have not yet come up with an overall replacement strategy.
NEW BUSINESS:
Web Site: There was a discussion at Eskimos that they might not be mentioned in the new web site. Jim contacted Chris Keiter after our meeting and he said that the Eskimos as well as other church groups are in the new web site and there will be contact info.
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Meeting adjourned 8:23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rod Redstone
Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Jim Otis, Rod Redstone, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).
Call to Order: Jim called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Minutes of the Admin Team Sept. 9, 2010 meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.
OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through October 7 were reviewed. The year is 77% complete. Revenues stand at 72% of the year’s budget.
Expenses are about 79% of the year’s budget. Overall, actual income and expenses vs. the budget appear reasonable. The actual loss was $(57,244) vs. a budgeted loss of $(27,289). The financial report was unanimously accepted. Cyndi agreed to: (1) cutting off statements on the last day of the month and (2) quarterly summaries of major maintenance work item expenditures. A discussion regarding the audit cost vs. budget was held and it was determined that it was higher than budget due to Discovery Center inclusion and to a mistake on the budgeted amount. Cyndi will get the Discovery Center cost broken out by end of November.
Tenant Update: Cyndi contacted the tenant at 509 Sawyer Street house via e-mail to ask about increasing rent to $900/month on Jan 1 but did not receive a response. Cyndi will contact the tenant again and get a response. The committee discussed and agreed that there should be an annual inspection of the house. There is also the issue of the dog. Cyndi will contact Pam Howard about the status of the dog and will brief the committee at the next meeting. The downstairs commercial space at 331 Cottage Road is still vacant. Jim will contact Roxanne Cole regarding the property. In the next lease a clause will be inserted to have the lease automatically renew with a 3.5% increase unless 30 days notice is given.
Chancel Railing: This item is complete and will be removed from next month’s agenda.
Church Signage and Rummage Storage: Guy will contact Dave regarding the signage.
Church insurance renewals and possible agent review: Ron will contact Scott Stacy and see if Scott would like to attend the next administration meeting in order to discuss review of Church Insurance. We may also want Pension/Health reviewed as part of the process.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: We have a very responsive group of counters right now. We have established a process of scheduling on a quarterly basis that seems to be working well. We only had one "missed" Sunday over the summer and the ushers handled that by locking the plates up and it was taken care of on Monday. Generally counters only need to serve 5 times a year or so and they are doing a great job covering for each other if conflicts come up.
House: Maintenance on the balcony ceiling will be delayed until after the winter to ensure that there will not be any more leaks from the roof and steeple.
Planned Giving: Ron will do another article in the Beacon before the end of the year.
Fuel Oil Strategy: Guy reported that he could get fuel oil for .10 over rack price from Frederick Brothers. The administration team believes that we should continue to wait until the market stabilizes. We will review four vendors for fuel and maintenance, Frederick Brothers, Giroux, Webber and Dead River. The House committee will be asked to put fuel conversion onto their agenda.
Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 19: The council voted to change the day's events so there was no need for us to be present with a formal table display and sign-up.
A Team Member Replacements: Ron and Chris will be off the team next June and we have to provide for new replacement members. We have not yet come up with an overall replacement strategy.
NEW BUSINESS:
Web Site: There was a discussion at Eskimos that they might not be mentioned in the new web site. Jim contacted Chris Keiter after our meeting and he said that the Eskimos as well as other church groups are in the new web site and there will be contact info.
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Meeting adjourned 8:23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rod Redstone
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Mission and Outreach Team
Meeting Minutes of September 2, 2010
Recorder: Laurie Cary
Members present: Sarah Randall, Sandy Dyer, Laurie Cary, Kristen Silvia, Jan Bosse, Maureen Clancy and Associate Minister Elsa Peters.
Members absent: Mike Kasputes, Richard Parker and Kendra Palmer.
Kendra Palmer met with Laurie Cary prior to the meeting to resign from the Team as she has found new employment out of the Portland area and will not be able to attend the meetings. She will be able to lead the Thanksgiving Day Baskets project this year, however. We’re sorry to lose her on the Team but wish her well in her new job.
Meeting begins: 7:10 p.m. with Sarah leading the meeting.
Sandy Dyer led the opening reading with a prayer on the spirit of giving by William Sloan Coffin.
Roundtable introductions were made followed by sharing of special times during the summer.
Homecoming Sunday is September 19, 2010. Mission Outreach had decided in the spring that we would not have a booth this year, and would instead volunteer a couple of Sundays to serve coffee hour and share our projects with other parishioners and invite their involvement.
Treasurer’s Report: None as Mike Kasputes is absent due to illness.
Minister’s Moment: In recognition of Labor Day, Elsa invited Christopher Teret from the Southern Maine Labor Council to speak as part of her sermon on September 5th.
Gretchen Reynolds is trying to line up a Micah Project for the month of October. Our Youth Group will be going to Pilgrim Lodge on Saturday October 30th to help with the end-of-summer clean up.
A Mission Trip is scheduled for July 24–July 30, 2011 to Downeast Maine to work with the Maine Seacoast Mission. There is not fee for lodging or food, except a request for money for supplies. Elsa hopes to have at least ten volunteers for painting and other work depending on the skill level of the volunteers.
The following Thank You notes were received since the last meeting:
• South Portland Cape Elizabeth Emergency Food Pantry
• Gwen Moore – Children of China fund
• The Center for Grieving Children
• Andover Newton Theological School
• Protestant Hospital Ministry
• United Church Christ – Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
• Shalom House
• Serenity House
• Oxfam of America
• Preble Street
Special Offerings: Neighbors in Need will be received on Sunday, October 3rd. Laurie is preparing the articles for the Beacon and will contact Betty Deschenes with the date to place the envelopes in the pews.
Mission Sunday: will be held Sunday, February 13, 2011. Several themes were discussed; a decision will be made at the October meeting, along with a planning schedule.
Sarah Randall re: Holy Joe’s Café – this program provides UCC Exchange coffee to our troops in the Middle East. Discuss further at October meeting.
Quarterly Disbursements: $500.00 each for a total of $3,500.00 to the following Maine non-profits:
• Union Theological Seminary
• Preble Street Lighthouse Shelter
• Day One
• Equality Maine
• Habitat for Humanity
• Iris Network
• Pilgrim Lodge
Jan Bosse volunteered to check on Maine State Prison Pastoral Fund, a Maine Special Support that we have not allocated funds to in several years.
Long Creek Birthday Cakes: Maureen states that she has been approached by Long Creek contact Emmy Brown. Ms. Brown is trying to determine how many churches donate birthday cakes to Long Creek to be sure all cottages receive one. Our cake goes to Spruce House, which is a boy’s cottage.
Sandy closed the meeting with a rereading of William Sloan Coffin’s prayer.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Recorder: Laurie Cary
Members present: Sarah Randall, Sandy Dyer, Laurie Cary, Kristen Silvia, Jan Bosse, Maureen Clancy and Associate Minister Elsa Peters.
Members absent: Mike Kasputes, Richard Parker and Kendra Palmer.
Kendra Palmer met with Laurie Cary prior to the meeting to resign from the Team as she has found new employment out of the Portland area and will not be able to attend the meetings. She will be able to lead the Thanksgiving Day Baskets project this year, however. We’re sorry to lose her on the Team but wish her well in her new job.
Meeting begins: 7:10 p.m. with Sarah leading the meeting.
Sandy Dyer led the opening reading with a prayer on the spirit of giving by William Sloan Coffin.
Roundtable introductions were made followed by sharing of special times during the summer.
Homecoming Sunday is September 19, 2010. Mission Outreach had decided in the spring that we would not have a booth this year, and would instead volunteer a couple of Sundays to serve coffee hour and share our projects with other parishioners and invite their involvement.
Treasurer’s Report: None as Mike Kasputes is absent due to illness.
Minister’s Moment: In recognition of Labor Day, Elsa invited Christopher Teret from the Southern Maine Labor Council to speak as part of her sermon on September 5th.
Gretchen Reynolds is trying to line up a Micah Project for the month of October. Our Youth Group will be going to Pilgrim Lodge on Saturday October 30th to help with the end-of-summer clean up.
A Mission Trip is scheduled for July 24–July 30, 2011 to Downeast Maine to work with the Maine Seacoast Mission. There is not fee for lodging or food, except a request for money for supplies. Elsa hopes to have at least ten volunteers for painting and other work depending on the skill level of the volunteers.
The following Thank You notes were received since the last meeting:
• South Portland Cape Elizabeth Emergency Food Pantry
• Gwen Moore – Children of China fund
• The Center for Grieving Children
• Andover Newton Theological School
• Protestant Hospital Ministry
• United Church Christ – Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
• Shalom House
• Serenity House
• Oxfam of America
• Preble Street
Special Offerings: Neighbors in Need will be received on Sunday, October 3rd. Laurie is preparing the articles for the Beacon and will contact Betty Deschenes with the date to place the envelopes in the pews.
Mission Sunday: will be held Sunday, February 13, 2011. Several themes were discussed; a decision will be made at the October meeting, along with a planning schedule.
Sarah Randall re: Holy Joe’s Café – this program provides UCC Exchange coffee to our troops in the Middle East. Discuss further at October meeting.
Quarterly Disbursements: $500.00 each for a total of $3,500.00 to the following Maine non-profits:
• Union Theological Seminary
• Preble Street Lighthouse Shelter
• Day One
• Equality Maine
• Habitat for Humanity
• Iris Network
• Pilgrim Lodge
Jan Bosse volunteered to check on Maine State Prison Pastoral Fund, a Maine Special Support that we have not allocated funds to in several years.
Long Creek Birthday Cakes: Maureen states that she has been approached by Long Creek contact Emmy Brown. Ms. Brown is trying to determine how many churches donate birthday cakes to Long Creek to be sure all cottages receive one. Our cake goes to Spruce House, which is a boy’s cottage.
Sandy closed the meeting with a rereading of William Sloan Coffin’s prayer.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 10/4/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall. We send our apologies to Stan for needing to schedule the meeting without him. Every member is important and we look forward to seeing him at the next meeting.
Dave will ask different members to provide the opening for each meeting. He opened the meeting with a prayer.
Dave sent out the following documents before the meeting: Growth Group Ideas (a table listing activities spotlighted at the last meeting), Friendship Sunday Ideas, and 2 versions of the Welcome brochure. We followed the Growth Group Ideas table along with the meeting agenda.
1. Friendship Sunday: John said we have not had a designated ‘Bring a friend to church Sunday’ in 3 years. We need several rounds of notice in the Beacon and a postcard as a tangible reminder for people to take with them from worship. We agreed to go ahead with planning for Sunday, November 21st. Tasks were divided as follows:
• Rick will announce the event during a hospitality moment on Sunday, Nov. 7
• Elinor will create a written invitation (postcard) for people to mail to a friend.
• Elinor will write the Beacon article
• Sue will talk with EF&G about the Growth Group’s hosting the coffee hour.
• John will plan the sermon with a theme around friendship/making people feel welcome. He may include a way for the congregation to actively participate in the service.
• Mandy Shumaker will be giving the children’s story. Dave will ask her to use a friendship theme.
• John will call Robin invite if the Joyful Noise to sing.
• Sue will talk with Elsa about having the Sunday School groups make posters for the church
2. Invitation to Worship in Thanksgiving baskets: Dave will contact missions and he will create the invitation.
3. Article for Beacon on hospitality: Elinor is working on it.
4. Verbal invitation to groups using building: John will contact AA and Al Anon to ask whether there is a time to visit them with the invitation.
5. Handwritten notes for newcomers: These notes would be mailed to first-time guests. They would be identified by their names on the friendship pads. We focused on process. If we have a generic note, does it matter if the address is in different handwriting? We discussed enrolling a group to write the notes. The church would supply paper, stamps and the text for the note. Rick will talk with Darla about whether the Prayer Shawl group would be willing to take on this project.
6. Bookmark: Dave will work on the bookmark. ‘Keep it simple’
7. Ushers: Rick has scheduled a meeting for Sunday, November 7th. Topics include demeanor, posting (where ushers stand), seating particularly welcoming people near newcomers. Rick wants to provide a handout to remind ushers of the points discussed. Sue suggested keeping a copy with the carnations. Also, Rick will e-mail the points to each team on the week of its turn.
8. Welcome Brochure: We looked at the 2 versions of the brochure. We did not have the most recent version from our group and Elsa had based her version on the ‘older’ text provided. We agreed we need to have the Mission segment inside the brochure. John will work on the Open and Affirming text. He wants it to more precisely follow the wording voted upon by the congregation. The group preferred using the more traditional headings (‘worship’, ‘music’, etc.). We decided to keep it simple and not use any photos. The UCC was formed in 1957. Dave will work with Bryan Wiggins to bring together the ideas.
9. Church Signage: Dave is working with the A-Team.
10. Building Tours: Rick will give tours to new people as requested.
11. Hospitality Moments: Dave had prepared a list of ideas for hospitality moments. He will speak on October 17th and ask the congregation what Hospitality means to them. Rick will be providing the moment on Nov. 7th when he announces Friendship Sunday. We hope Stan will agree to appear in December.
Next meeting: Monday, November 8th.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Agenda items for next meeting:
Friendship Sunday
Welcome brochure
Walk down ‘Growth Group Ideas’
Elinor will do the opening
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall. We send our apologies to Stan for needing to schedule the meeting without him. Every member is important and we look forward to seeing him at the next meeting.
Dave will ask different members to provide the opening for each meeting. He opened the meeting with a prayer.
Dave sent out the following documents before the meeting: Growth Group Ideas (a table listing activities spotlighted at the last meeting), Friendship Sunday Ideas, and 2 versions of the Welcome brochure. We followed the Growth Group Ideas table along with the meeting agenda.
1. Friendship Sunday: John said we have not had a designated ‘Bring a friend to church Sunday’ in 3 years. We need several rounds of notice in the Beacon and a postcard as a tangible reminder for people to take with them from worship. We agreed to go ahead with planning for Sunday, November 21st. Tasks were divided as follows:
• Rick will announce the event during a hospitality moment on Sunday, Nov. 7
• Elinor will create a written invitation (postcard) for people to mail to a friend.
• Elinor will write the Beacon article
• Sue will talk with EF&G about the Growth Group’s hosting the coffee hour.
• John will plan the sermon with a theme around friendship/making people feel welcome. He may include a way for the congregation to actively participate in the service.
• Mandy Shumaker will be giving the children’s story. Dave will ask her to use a friendship theme.
• John will call Robin invite if the Joyful Noise to sing.
• Sue will talk with Elsa about having the Sunday School groups make posters for the church
2. Invitation to Worship in Thanksgiving baskets: Dave will contact missions and he will create the invitation.
3. Article for Beacon on hospitality: Elinor is working on it.
4. Verbal invitation to groups using building: John will contact AA and Al Anon to ask whether there is a time to visit them with the invitation.
5. Handwritten notes for newcomers: These notes would be mailed to first-time guests. They would be identified by their names on the friendship pads. We focused on process. If we have a generic note, does it matter if the address is in different handwriting? We discussed enrolling a group to write the notes. The church would supply paper, stamps and the text for the note. Rick will talk with Darla about whether the Prayer Shawl group would be willing to take on this project.
6. Bookmark: Dave will work on the bookmark. ‘Keep it simple’
7. Ushers: Rick has scheduled a meeting for Sunday, November 7th. Topics include demeanor, posting (where ushers stand), seating particularly welcoming people near newcomers. Rick wants to provide a handout to remind ushers of the points discussed. Sue suggested keeping a copy with the carnations. Also, Rick will e-mail the points to each team on the week of its turn.
8. Welcome Brochure: We looked at the 2 versions of the brochure. We did not have the most recent version from our group and Elsa had based her version on the ‘older’ text provided. We agreed we need to have the Mission segment inside the brochure. John will work on the Open and Affirming text. He wants it to more precisely follow the wording voted upon by the congregation. The group preferred using the more traditional headings (‘worship’, ‘music’, etc.). We decided to keep it simple and not use any photos. The UCC was formed in 1957. Dave will work with Bryan Wiggins to bring together the ideas.
9. Church Signage: Dave is working with the A-Team.
10. Building Tours: Rick will give tours to new people as requested.
11. Hospitality Moments: Dave had prepared a list of ideas for hospitality moments. He will speak on October 17th and ask the congregation what Hospitality means to them. Rick will be providing the moment on Nov. 7th when he announces Friendship Sunday. We hope Stan will agree to appear in December.
Next meeting: Monday, November 8th.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Agenda items for next meeting:
Friendship Sunday
Welcome brochure
Walk down ‘Growth Group Ideas’
Elinor will do the opening
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