Recorder: Dana Wiggins
ATTENDING – Tex Haeuser, Dana Wiggins, Rick Angell, Debbie Riley, Elaine Brownell, Frank Arsenault, John McCall, Elsa Peters.
OPENING PRAYER – passages shared from Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth.
REVIEW OF FEBRUARY MINUTES – approved as read.
MINISTER'S TIME – John McCall: Life of church is going well with good attendance. Energy is on an upswing. Some key words throughout Lent will be used such as "Rising" and "Testing".
Elsa: Opened discussion on a new Lenten liturgy; accepted by all.
LENTEN EVENTS – Debbie will ask Kathy Cotter about Lenten Library materials.
(March 9, 7-7:30 a.m., followed by chancel service at 7:30 a.m.) SL&W hosts the Ash Wednesday breakfast – Simple fare of scones, muffins, fruit and beverages offered for 27 participants. Elaine, Dana and Debbie set up night before and Tex, Frank and Dana served in morning. Sexton was emailed to request table and coffee pot set up.
HOLY WEEK – School vacation falls within Holy Week so this may alter attendance patterns.
(April 17, time?) Palm Sunday – Debbie and Elaine organized palms last year, finding them stored in the downstairs fridge and in a box by the office. They placed in tall vases in the morning for the ushers to hand out. Many were collected and saved after the service for table decorations for the Soup Supper on the following Friday.
(April 21, 7:30 p.m. service) Maundy Thursday communion offered by intinction at 7:30, (may need 2 ushers, 2 deacons, 2 chalices and 2 and half loaves).
(April 22, 6pm service and 7:30 p.m. service) Good Friday Soup Supper(6:00-7:15 p.m.) – co-hosted by SL&W and Guild, serving approx. 80 between two services that evening. Tex and Rick offered to work in the kitchen. Elaine will organize 10 soup donations and serving help from the Guild. Bry Wiggins will bake bread. Dana will help serve and list menu items on easel. Some will meet night before to set up and decorate tables (Debbie used palms last year-left from Sunday's service).
(April 22, 23, 24) Easter Vigil - sign ups March 13 through April 17. The vigil begins after the 7:30 p.m. service on Good Friday and ends after Sunrise service on Easter morning.
(April 24, 6:00 a.m.) Sunrise Service led by Elsa – communion offered (may need 2 loaves, 2 chalices and 2 deacons), 100 or more expected.
(April 24, 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.) Easter Sunday - 2 Sanctuary services led by John.
ELDER LUNCHEON – (June 5) Invitations were discussed: Tex brought a sample to show and Debbie offered to hand address. Deadline for nominations is April 8, one week later than last year. Tex has worked out a schedule for acquiring and deciding on nominations - new and from previous year. Beacon ad calling for nominations was found and will be resubmitted this year with new dates. To cover expenses, Rick will ask the Eskimos for $100 and groceries, stamps and invitation costs come out of the administration budget.
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS – (March 12) Elaine and Debbie considered availability to help with Joel Pond's baptism at 10:30 a.m. in chapel; (March 26) Auction for Mission trip; (May 15) Children's Celebration Sunday as the last day of church school with the church picnic afterwards; (May 22?) Annual Church Meeting; (June 5) Founder's Day with celebration of Elders of the Church; (June 12) Confirmation Sunday.
Next Meeting: April 7, 2011
Agenda: Dana Minutes: Debbie Prayer: Elaine
Meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Administration Team
Meeting Minutes of March 3, 2011
Recorder: Ron Bennett
Present: Ron Bennett, Chris Mills, Deb Sandler and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).
Call to Order: Deb called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Ron agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting in April.
Minutes of the Admin. Team February 4 Meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.
OLD BUSINESS:
• Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through February 28 were presented by Cyndi. The year is 16% complete. Revenues are at 14.2% of year’s budget. Decrease in revenues is due to the fact that no revenue from endowments has been requested as of yet. Without the endowment revenue, we were on budget.
Expenses are at 16.9% of year’s budget, which is essentially on budget.
• Tenant Update: We reviewed Guy’s report on the tenant at the 509 Sawyer Street house. His report was generally positive. We have replaced the old refrigerator and will be replacing the stove. The electric service will be upgraded to 100 amp service. We will remove the old unused oil tank in the basement. The front porch also needs repairs. In return for this we will insist on a restoration of the monthly rent to $1,000 on July 1st. Cyndi was asked to write a letter to the tenant outlining the upgrades and new rent.
The tenants in the corner house report no problems. All tenants are current on their rent.
• Insurance Renewals: To be discussed at the April meeting.
• Team Member Replacement: No update.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
• Counting: No report. All appears to be going well.
• House: See above comments under Tenant Update.
• Planned Giving: Ron indicated that he will write a fifth article to appear for the Beacon in a few months.
NEW BUSINESS:
• Energy Efficiency Presentation - Discussed and agreed to send information to Dick & Barbara Merrill as well as Tom. We believe improvements undertaken during the past 3 years have made our properties energy efficient.
• Emergency Guidelines - We reviewed email from Nancy MacLean, Moderator, concerning usher guidelines for handling emergencies, the absence of evacuation maps in rooms, and the battery backup for fire alarm systems and the elevator. Many of these issues have already been addressed by Stan Jordan, Rick Angell and Tom. The House Committee will review all of the issues carefully at their next meeting and get back to the Council.
• Financial statement review by Smith & Associates - Review work completed. We are awaiting a draft of the financial statements.
• Nancy MacLean also inquired into our team’s role overseeing the personnel committee for non-clergy. Deb agreed to contact Nancy to provide some history about this oversight role being removed from the A Team by the Council in 2008.
• Web site issues were discussed with no action taken.
• We reviewed an email from the Maine Conference UCC announcing a seminar on April 2 for those responsible for church financial matters. Cyndi will not be available that day. We discussed the correspondence and believe we are compliant with appropriate policies and procedures.
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday April 7 at 7 p.m.
Meeting adjourned 8:08 p.m.
Recorder: Ron Bennett
Present: Ron Bennett, Chris Mills, Deb Sandler and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager).
Call to Order: Deb called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Ron agreed to record this meeting and run the next meeting in April.
Minutes of the Admin. Team February 4 Meeting: reviewed and accepted as written.
OLD BUSINESS:
• Financial Statements and Budget: Financial results through February 28 were presented by Cyndi. The year is 16% complete. Revenues are at 14.2% of year’s budget. Decrease in revenues is due to the fact that no revenue from endowments has been requested as of yet. Without the endowment revenue, we were on budget.
Expenses are at 16.9% of year’s budget, which is essentially on budget.
• Tenant Update: We reviewed Guy’s report on the tenant at the 509 Sawyer Street house. His report was generally positive. We have replaced the old refrigerator and will be replacing the stove. The electric service will be upgraded to 100 amp service. We will remove the old unused oil tank in the basement. The front porch also needs repairs. In return for this we will insist on a restoration of the monthly rent to $1,000 on July 1st. Cyndi was asked to write a letter to the tenant outlining the upgrades and new rent.
The tenants in the corner house report no problems. All tenants are current on their rent.
• Insurance Renewals: To be discussed at the April meeting.
• Team Member Replacement: No update.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
• Counting: No report. All appears to be going well.
• House: See above comments under Tenant Update.
• Planned Giving: Ron indicated that he will write a fifth article to appear for the Beacon in a few months.
NEW BUSINESS:
• Energy Efficiency Presentation - Discussed and agreed to send information to Dick & Barbara Merrill as well as Tom. We believe improvements undertaken during the past 3 years have made our properties energy efficient.
• Emergency Guidelines - We reviewed email from Nancy MacLean, Moderator, concerning usher guidelines for handling emergencies, the absence of evacuation maps in rooms, and the battery backup for fire alarm systems and the elevator. Many of these issues have already been addressed by Stan Jordan, Rick Angell and Tom. The House Committee will review all of the issues carefully at their next meeting and get back to the Council.
• Financial statement review by Smith & Associates - Review work completed. We are awaiting a draft of the financial statements.
• Nancy MacLean also inquired into our team’s role overseeing the personnel committee for non-clergy. Deb agreed to contact Nancy to provide some history about this oversight role being removed from the A Team by the Council in 2008.
• Web site issues were discussed with no action taken.
• We reviewed an email from the Maine Conference UCC announcing a seminar on April 2 for those responsible for church financial matters. Cyndi will not be available that day. We discussed the correspondence and believe we are compliant with appropriate policies and procedures.
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday April 7 at 7 p.m.
Meeting adjourned 8:08 p.m.
Church Council
Meeting Minutes of March 17, 2011
Recorder: Robin Reinhold
Present: Sally Hinckley, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, Robin Reinhold, Carrie Skeffington, Elsa Peters, Carl Murphy, Bob Morse, Andy Ellis, John McCall, Peggy Murray, Nancy MacLean. Absent: Matt Early, John Shoos
Opening: Nancy MacLean opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Robin offered a reflection about how the proverb “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” applies to our church.
Meeting Minutes: from the February meeting were reviewed and approved.
MINISTERS’ TIME:
John - reported that there will be a fundraiser on Saturday evening, April 2nd in the sanctuary. It will be a musical program by 3 groups to raise money for the medical team that is going to Konbit Sante in Haiti. Tickets are $15. John said that it was heartwarming that we can and want to make our space available for the wider community.
Elsa - reported that there are now 17 people going on the Maine Seacoast Mission trip this July. She reported that the group is planning a Spaghetti Supper fundraiser on Saturday evening, March 26th at 5:30. The ticket costs are $7 for adults, $3 for children, and $20 for a family. There will also be an auction at the supper. Tickets will be on sale in Wright Pavilion on Sunday.
Elsa also reported that she is working on arranging for camperships for the people that will be attending Pilgrim Lodge this summer. She sent a letter last week to parents of kids she knows are interested. The Church Council is responsible to hand out money for these camperships from the interest earned from 3 endowment funds (these are listed in the segregated funds in budget). In addition, the Hilltop Guild and the Holly Daze Bazaar each donated money for camperships. Elsa requested authorization from the Council to distribute the funds, and all members were in agreement of this.
Elsa also began a discussion about how we can create a larger sum of money for camperships in the future. Suggestions included:
1. Ask the parents of the children who are planning to attend Pilgrim Lodge to organize some fundraisers. Elsa said that other churches in the area do this.
2. Host an “Adopt a Camper” program where sponsors are found who would be willing to donate money to send a child to camp. This would be a tax-deductible contribution.
3. Host a “Winter Picnic” in Guptill Hall where box lunches are sold.
Questions were raised about how to get the word out about opportunities (perhaps an announcement from the pulpit?). Perhaps Elsa should form a committee (like the Scholarship Committee under CF&G). Or should CF&G oversee this committee? Council decided to look at this again next year.
OLD BUSINESS UPDATES:
Emergency Guidelines - Nancy reported that these guidelines are complete and are in circulation. The Administrative Team is working on signage, elevator access, and phone access. The User Guidelines for Emergencies document was modified and a line was added in the middle of the guidelines specifying that, in case of an emergency, all Sunday School children would be evacuated by their teachers to the Church parking lot. Other issues (from last month’s minutes) concerning fire drills, the fire alarms, the phone system, and the elevator were presented by Stan Jordan to the Administrative Team and are currently being looked into.
Discovery Center Legal Status - Andy reported that he reviewed the documents for the Discovery Center and they appear to be in order. He explained the history of how the Discovery Center Corporation was established and that the Church Council is responsible for electing the members of the Board of Directors of the Discovery Center.
UCC Conversation (Part 2), The Association - Elsa shared information about the history of the United Church of Christ. She explained the difference between contracts and covenants and helped to clarify how Biblical covenants are instituted by God whereas historical covenants are instituted by people. Elsa then shared a diagram of the origins of the UCC and explained how the two entities (the Congregational Christian churches and the Evangelical and Reformed church) came together to form the UCC.
Elsa explained that there are currently 37 churches in the Cumberland Association, of which we are a part, and that each church contributes to the energy that goes into the association. A portion of our per capita dues goes to the association through the conference. Churches are assessed per member, and the association uses this money mostly for administrative costs.
Financial Futuring Tasks - Nancy and John met to discuss the role of a Working Group and what its mission would be.
John proposed the question: “Do we want the Working Group to generate next steps or just come back to the Council with information and have the Council decide what to do? In other words, do we want only information or do we want recommendations, too? This was discussed, and it was suggested that the Working Group should gather information, report to the Council, and then based on discussions and feedback, come back with recommendations. This should be done in steps, with conversations happening throughout the process.
A timeline for the process was discussed, and it was decided that, if we identify the task and ask people to be in the group, realistically they probably would only get to meet once before the summer and then would pick up the work again in the fall. The hope is to engage the congregation with some questions to help the group determine what direction they will be going in. It is anticipated that the recommendations will not be ready for the 2012 budget process.
The next step is to decide who is to be in this group. Several names were suggested, and Council members were asked to forward any recommendations to Nancy.
Filling Vacancies:
Four members of the Council are finishing up their term (Andy, Sally, Phil, and Nancy). New members need to be found for the Council and for the Stewardship Committee. Council members were asked to come up with 5 people they would like to recommend for these vacancies and forward the names to Nancy by next Wednesday, March 23rd.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Next Meeting: April 28th; Carl Murphy will be the opener and recorder.
Recorder: Robin Reinhold
Present: Sally Hinckley, Phil Whitney, Roger Addor, Robin Reinhold, Carrie Skeffington, Elsa Peters, Carl Murphy, Bob Morse, Andy Ellis, John McCall, Peggy Murray, Nancy MacLean. Absent: Matt Early, John Shoos
Opening: Nancy MacLean opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Robin offered a reflection about how the proverb “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” applies to our church.
Meeting Minutes: from the February meeting were reviewed and approved.
MINISTERS’ TIME:
John - reported that there will be a fundraiser on Saturday evening, April 2nd in the sanctuary. It will be a musical program by 3 groups to raise money for the medical team that is going to Konbit Sante in Haiti. Tickets are $15. John said that it was heartwarming that we can and want to make our space available for the wider community.
Elsa - reported that there are now 17 people going on the Maine Seacoast Mission trip this July. She reported that the group is planning a Spaghetti Supper fundraiser on Saturday evening, March 26th at 5:30. The ticket costs are $7 for adults, $3 for children, and $20 for a family. There will also be an auction at the supper. Tickets will be on sale in Wright Pavilion on Sunday.
Elsa also reported that she is working on arranging for camperships for the people that will be attending Pilgrim Lodge this summer. She sent a letter last week to parents of kids she knows are interested. The Church Council is responsible to hand out money for these camperships from the interest earned from 3 endowment funds (these are listed in the segregated funds in budget). In addition, the Hilltop Guild and the Holly Daze Bazaar each donated money for camperships. Elsa requested authorization from the Council to distribute the funds, and all members were in agreement of this.
Elsa also began a discussion about how we can create a larger sum of money for camperships in the future. Suggestions included:
1. Ask the parents of the children who are planning to attend Pilgrim Lodge to organize some fundraisers. Elsa said that other churches in the area do this.
2. Host an “Adopt a Camper” program where sponsors are found who would be willing to donate money to send a child to camp. This would be a tax-deductible contribution.
3. Host a “Winter Picnic” in Guptill Hall where box lunches are sold.
Questions were raised about how to get the word out about opportunities (perhaps an announcement from the pulpit?). Perhaps Elsa should form a committee (like the Scholarship Committee under CF&G). Or should CF&G oversee this committee? Council decided to look at this again next year.
OLD BUSINESS UPDATES:
Emergency Guidelines - Nancy reported that these guidelines are complete and are in circulation. The Administrative Team is working on signage, elevator access, and phone access. The User Guidelines for Emergencies document was modified and a line was added in the middle of the guidelines specifying that, in case of an emergency, all Sunday School children would be evacuated by their teachers to the Church parking lot. Other issues (from last month’s minutes) concerning fire drills, the fire alarms, the phone system, and the elevator were presented by Stan Jordan to the Administrative Team and are currently being looked into.
Discovery Center Legal Status - Andy reported that he reviewed the documents for the Discovery Center and they appear to be in order. He explained the history of how the Discovery Center Corporation was established and that the Church Council is responsible for electing the members of the Board of Directors of the Discovery Center.
UCC Conversation (Part 2), The Association - Elsa shared information about the history of the United Church of Christ. She explained the difference between contracts and covenants and helped to clarify how Biblical covenants are instituted by God whereas historical covenants are instituted by people. Elsa then shared a diagram of the origins of the UCC and explained how the two entities (the Congregational Christian churches and the Evangelical and Reformed church) came together to form the UCC.
Elsa explained that there are currently 37 churches in the Cumberland Association, of which we are a part, and that each church contributes to the energy that goes into the association. A portion of our per capita dues goes to the association through the conference. Churches are assessed per member, and the association uses this money mostly for administrative costs.
Financial Futuring Tasks - Nancy and John met to discuss the role of a Working Group and what its mission would be.
John proposed the question: “Do we want the Working Group to generate next steps or just come back to the Council with information and have the Council decide what to do? In other words, do we want only information or do we want recommendations, too? This was discussed, and it was suggested that the Working Group should gather information, report to the Council, and then based on discussions and feedback, come back with recommendations. This should be done in steps, with conversations happening throughout the process.
A timeline for the process was discussed, and it was decided that, if we identify the task and ask people to be in the group, realistically they probably would only get to meet once before the summer and then would pick up the work again in the fall. The hope is to engage the congregation with some questions to help the group determine what direction they will be going in. It is anticipated that the recommendations will not be ready for the 2012 budget process.
The next step is to decide who is to be in this group. Several names were suggested, and Council members were asked to forward any recommendations to Nancy.
Filling Vacancies:
Four members of the Council are finishing up their term (Andy, Sally, Phil, and Nancy). New members need to be found for the Council and for the Stewardship Committee. Council members were asked to come up with 5 people they would like to recommend for these vacancies and forward the names to Nancy by next Wednesday, March 23rd.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Next Meeting: April 28th; Carl Murphy will be the opener and recorder.
Education Growth and Fellowship
Meeting Minutes of March 3, 2011
Committee Attendance: Jennifer Fetting, Tom Hamerski, Elsa Peters.
Subcommittee Guests: Margaret Thibodeau and Elinor Redmond
This month the EFG committee invited representatives of the subcommittees to attend our March meeting. The representatives of the Inquirer’s group (Margaret) and the Growth group (Elinor) accepted and visited.
Inquirer’s:
1) Margaret is taking care of Inquirer’s Meeting this month (with Tom).
2) Church picnic (which is not Inquirer’s but also discussed at this time).
a. Margaret offered to take charge of the picnic.
b. The church picnic will be May 15, 2011.
c. Seating was an issue (may be again if it is nice out, fingers crossed). It’ll be important to line up lots of volunteers to bring different sides; Eskimos usually handle the grilling.
Growth:
1) Elinor put together a handout on the history of the Growth Group, and the approaches they’ve taken in the past.
2) Current projects include bookmarks, handouts, etc. Things seem to be going well with the group; like all groups, including ours, they could use more volunteers.
Important Upcoming Dates:
• Church Picnic – May 15.
• Confirmation Sunday - June 12.
• Capture the flag game – 2:00 p.m. 5/22/11. It’ll be held in a park in either South Portland or Cape Elizabeth.
Bible discovery will be led by Beth Hess & Deb Theriault (many thanks to them both!). Dates unknown at this time.
Committee Attendance: Jennifer Fetting, Tom Hamerski, Elsa Peters.
Subcommittee Guests: Margaret Thibodeau and Elinor Redmond
This month the EFG committee invited representatives of the subcommittees to attend our March meeting. The representatives of the Inquirer’s group (Margaret) and the Growth group (Elinor) accepted and visited.
Inquirer’s:
1) Margaret is taking care of Inquirer’s Meeting this month (with Tom).
2) Church picnic (which is not Inquirer’s but also discussed at this time).
a. Margaret offered to take charge of the picnic.
b. The church picnic will be May 15, 2011.
c. Seating was an issue (may be again if it is nice out, fingers crossed). It’ll be important to line up lots of volunteers to bring different sides; Eskimos usually handle the grilling.
Growth:
1) Elinor put together a handout on the history of the Growth Group, and the approaches they’ve taken in the past.
2) Current projects include bookmarks, handouts, etc. Things seem to be going well with the group; like all groups, including ours, they could use more volunteers.
Important Upcoming Dates:
• Church Picnic – May 15.
• Confirmation Sunday - June 12.
• Capture the flag game – 2:00 p.m. 5/22/11. It’ll be held in a park in either South Portland or Cape Elizabeth.
Bible discovery will be led by Beth Hess & Deb Theriault (many thanks to them both!). Dates unknown at this time.
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