Spiritual Life and Worship

July 3, 2008

Present: Sandy Hansen, Betsy Keiter, Elinor Redmond, and Richard Angell

Opening Prayer was led by Sandy.

Review of Minutes from June 6 and they were approved as written.

Hymnal Committee Update
A report from the committee was not available at this time. However, there are many signs that the Committee is active and proceeding forward. Last Sunday, before and after the service there was an invitation to the congregation to join committee members for a discussion of the possible hymnals and to take a look at them. In addition, there is a summary of the committee’s findings in the Narthex that the congregation is welcome to review.

Review and Discussion of UCC Conference
Rick Angell attended the UCC Conference recently as a delegate for our church. He was very impressed by the experience, and shared some of the highlights with us. They included the following:
-Open & Affirming – First Congregational Church is and is committed to be an Open and Affirming church. The UCC Conference is not. During the weekend, the delegates approved a Resolution to begin a process of study and reflection in order to determine whether the Conference should elect to be an Open and Affirming Conference. Rick also reported that out of approximately 174 churches in Maine, only 15 are Open & Affirming.
-Key Note Speaker – John Thomas gave a very impressive message entitled The Big Tent and the Great Parade. He encouraged people to be more daring, and invited people to enlarge the scale of what you are able to desire. His message can be found on the UCC Website, www.ucc.org.
-Stained Glass Window Workshop – This workshop focused on technology enhancing a worship service, and how technology can be introduced to the congregation. Rick would like to talk further about trying some ideas here.
-Next Generation – discussion of the UCC properties… necessary updates, financial strains, and the possibility of centralizing the properties.

Ongoing Issues:
Summer Communion Schedule – Mary Anne reports that she is all set for July, August and September with the Communion by Intinction schedule.
Summer Worship Leaders – Betsy is still looking for worship leaders for 3 weeks in August.
Participation Forms – Elinor has received new participation forms from the recent new members. She’ll be distributing the names to the appropriate people.
Organizational Chart of the Church – Elinor has agreed to continue to work on the organizational chart that Lisa Merchant had started.

Next Meeting: Thursday, September 4th @ 7:30p

Adjourned at 8:45p

Respectfully Submitted by,
Sandra Hansen