October 16, 2008
Present: Jean Siulinski, Chris Keiter, Nancy MacLean, Andy Ellis, Sally Hinckley, Chris Dow, Elsa Peters, John McCall. Absent: Sally Sutton, Carol Zechman, David Allen, Deb Andrews, Phil Whitney, Matt Brucker.
Opening: Chris Keiter opened the meeting at 6:35. He noted that there is no quorum, and it was agreed to discuss the agenda items, noting that no official decisions could be made. Nancy MacLean provided devotional comments and a prayer. Minutes: They were not officially approved, but no one present found any errors.
Ministers' Time: Elsa Peters - nothing to present at this time.
John McCall: He reported on his conversations with the Spiritual Life & Worship Team and the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee about plans for his 3rd sabattical leave May 1 to Sept 1 in 2009. In July, he hopes there can be a pulpit exchange again with Gillian Wakefield from Scotland. The Committees and he are working with Elsa in planning pulpit coverage during his absence. John exlained that, as he is nearing retirement age, it is healthy for the church to begin to plan ahead for that. It is generally known that churches have difficulty in making a transition after a long pastorate, and it is important to use interim times for self study. In May he will be attending a 3-day workshop sponsored by the Alban Institute on this topic. He will keep the Council informed periodically about sabattical plans.
John also reported that Barbara Stevens has resigned as Secretary, effective Oct 31. He and the Personnel Committee will work out details about covering the office and hiring someone new.
Someone to represent the Council at the next meeting of EG&F: Jean Siulinski will do that November 6.
Budget Committee: consists of Moderator (Chris Keiter), Sr. Pastor (John McCall), Admin Team rep (Jim Otis?), Office Manager (Cyndi Alden), At Large: need 2 people - Sally Sutton has volunteered. Chris will ask others from the Council (Chris Dow will do it if no one else can). Chris will ask Teams to submit budget requests ASAP.
Chancel Project: At the beginning of the planning, the choir expressed a preference for "modesty" railings. He will consult with them again, but there have been no comments about lack of railings. Council members present agreed that we should wait a few months to see how the Chancel is used and the chairs moved around.
Bylaws: There being no quorum, the current draft of new Bylaws will be discussed at the November Council meeting. John called attention to the rewritten paragraph, Article 2, Section 2.2, about membership qualifications. Council members present saw no problem with the changed wording. It was agreed that a good time for congregational voting on the new bylaws would be at the budget meeting in January.
EG&F request to assign coffee hour times to teams and committees: The immediate need has been alleviated because teams have volunteered. However, the question of how to find volunteers for various jobs has not been solved.
Rental Fees for non-profit groups? Question has arisen because of the cost of heating oil and the lack of functioning timers on thermostats. Considerations:
1) Reduce the number of nights available for renting, thereby enabling a shut-down of the heating system; 2): Allow non-profit groups to schedule only on nights when a church acitivity is already happening; 3) For-profit groups do pay a fee; 4) Admin Team is doing research on new controls that will allow zone-specific heating; 5) Our goal is to be faithful stewards and also carry out a mission in the community -- Council members present would recommend no charges for the time being. Get more information.
Further agenda items were referred to the November meeting: 1) financial contribution to the Maine Conference UCC for a feasibility study on the 3 facilities owned by the Conference. 2) policy drafting committee about use of mailing lists.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40. Next meeting November 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy MacLean
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Administration Team
October 2, 2008
Present: Ron Bennett, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis, Deb Sandler and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager). Absent: Eben Marsh
Call to Order at 7 P.M. by Jim
Secretary and Chair of the next meeting, Deb was appointed.
Minutes for the September 4, 2008 were reviewed and accepted.
OLD BUSINESS:
Finance: Cyndi explained that even though the pledges appear to be down we are anticipating the receipt of a large pledge soon which will put us at 76% for pledges, just right for the end of the 3rd Q. Oil prices have been steadily dropping, so we have stalled locking in. Guy will explore other options and will advise Cindy as to whether and when to make a move.
Tenant Update: Both tenants are paid up thro September, but as of this meeting neither had paid October. Old Crow Gallery owes 3 1/2 months worth of late fees. @$120/m they owe $420. Cyndi will send a letter documenting what they owe and will walk it over.
Planned Giving: The 1st meeting of the Planned Giving Committee is scheduled for Sunday, October 19th right after church. Gretchen Reynolds and Ellie Baker have graciously agreed to join Ron and Chris to make it a committee of 4.
Bulletin Board Policy: Jim agreed to type up the policy that Chris found from the Montgomery UMC and send it as an attachment to the Team so that we can read, edit and make comments before the next A Team meeting.
Swarthmore Road Update: Since the next step in the process of signage is getting a neighborhood petition, Jaime Schwartz, the neighbor who first contacted us about this concern, has agreed to contact the city and carry the ball from here.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: Brian Wallace, chair, has been doing a great job planning ahead and will soon have a schedule for Oct 19-Dec 21. A simple, but helpful thing that all of us can do is write on the outside of our pledge envelopes the amount that we’re enclosing.
House: Guy Gledhill, chair, gave a detailed report…
-Railings in front of church are due soon,
-Chancel carpet runner still has some spots that need work, Guy
-Painting, three sides are done, will be working on the front next.
-Stain glass window is in, Tom and Deb will work on a new outside glass for protection.
-Simplex gave us a new quote for services and wants a five year contract. Will explore combining extinguishers, fire alarms, and smoke detectors- elevators all under the same contract to see if we can get a better rate, Tom
-On the new steps in chancel area, the choir found they were tough to see and nearly tripped…will explore some tape to alert the eyes. Will wait for the new chairs to arrive and revisit the idea then.
-Discussed new programmable thermostats for the church, possibly tied into computers. Mechanical Services will come take a look and give us a bid, if in line will get more bids. Guy and Tom
-Lights…will be looking into putting some on motion sensors. To discuss with Mechanical Services. Guy and Tom
-Quilts for the Sanctuary Windows, Guy to check.
-Stage ceiling contract has been signed and will be done soon.
-Roofing is in CNA, for year 2, this year. We will look into it, but will also look into other sources of, wind, solar, etc, that maybe be used on the roof before we go ahead and roof the church. Will be a year long study as roof is OK for now.
-Other items for this year: cement walk and painting outside 509 Sawyer, electrical in rentals needs to be looked at, will do windows on the entire 3rd floor and oversee some outdoor gardening.
-We are very fortunate to have Tom Conlon as our Building Manager. He is a dedicated, concerned, conscientious employee who works with passion to keep our buildings in the best shape possible. Our church is being cared for with both the present and future in mind. We owe Tom our gratitude for his vision and inspiration.
NEW BUSINESS:
Coffee Hour Proposal: We discussed the idea presented by EG&F that each Team be in charge of a month’s worth of Coffee Hours. Since the food and beverages are all to be provided and our job would be relatively simple, basically to set everything out and clean up after, we decided that we would agree to have each committee take responsibility for one Sunday:
January 4th Planned Giving
January 11th Counting Committee
January 18th House Committee
January 25th Gardening Committee
Jim agreed to coordinate and report back to EG&F
A Team presentation on Sunday, October 12: Chris Mills agreed to give a short talk, both in Chapel at 8 and in Church at 10. Thank you Chris!
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 7 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Sandler
Present: Ron Bennett, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis, Deb Sandler and Cyndi Alden (Business Manager). Absent: Eben Marsh
Call to Order at 7 P.M. by Jim
Secretary and Chair of the next meeting, Deb was appointed.
Minutes for the September 4, 2008 were reviewed and accepted.
OLD BUSINESS:
Finance: Cyndi explained that even though the pledges appear to be down we are anticipating the receipt of a large pledge soon which will put us at 76% for pledges, just right for the end of the 3rd Q. Oil prices have been steadily dropping, so we have stalled locking in. Guy will explore other options and will advise Cindy as to whether and when to make a move.
Tenant Update: Both tenants are paid up thro September, but as of this meeting neither had paid October. Old Crow Gallery owes 3 1/2 months worth of late fees. @$120/m they owe $420. Cyndi will send a letter documenting what they owe and will walk it over.
Planned Giving: The 1st meeting of the Planned Giving Committee is scheduled for Sunday, October 19th right after church. Gretchen Reynolds and Ellie Baker have graciously agreed to join Ron and Chris to make it a committee of 4.
Bulletin Board Policy: Jim agreed to type up the policy that Chris found from the Montgomery UMC and send it as an attachment to the Team so that we can read, edit and make comments before the next A Team meeting.
Swarthmore Road Update: Since the next step in the process of signage is getting a neighborhood petition, Jaime Schwartz, the neighbor who first contacted us about this concern, has agreed to contact the city and carry the ball from here.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: Brian Wallace, chair, has been doing a great job planning ahead and will soon have a schedule for Oct 19-Dec 21. A simple, but helpful thing that all of us can do is write on the outside of our pledge envelopes the amount that we’re enclosing.
House: Guy Gledhill, chair, gave a detailed report…
-Railings in front of church are due soon,
-Chancel carpet runner still has some spots that need work, Guy
-Painting, three sides are done, will be working on the front next.
-Stain glass window is in, Tom and Deb will work on a new outside glass for protection.
-Simplex gave us a new quote for services and wants a five year contract. Will explore combining extinguishers, fire alarms, and smoke detectors- elevators all under the same contract to see if we can get a better rate, Tom
-On the new steps in chancel area, the choir found they were tough to see and nearly tripped…will explore some tape to alert the eyes. Will wait for the new chairs to arrive and revisit the idea then.
-Discussed new programmable thermostats for the church, possibly tied into computers. Mechanical Services will come take a look and give us a bid, if in line will get more bids. Guy and Tom
-Lights…will be looking into putting some on motion sensors. To discuss with Mechanical Services. Guy and Tom
-Quilts for the Sanctuary Windows, Guy to check.
-Stage ceiling contract has been signed and will be done soon.
-Roofing is in CNA, for year 2, this year. We will look into it, but will also look into other sources of, wind, solar, etc, that maybe be used on the roof before we go ahead and roof the church. Will be a year long study as roof is OK for now.
-Other items for this year: cement walk and painting outside 509 Sawyer, electrical in rentals needs to be looked at, will do windows on the entire 3rd floor and oversee some outdoor gardening.
-We are very fortunate to have Tom Conlon as our Building Manager. He is a dedicated, concerned, conscientious employee who works with passion to keep our buildings in the best shape possible. Our church is being cared for with both the present and future in mind. We owe Tom our gratitude for his vision and inspiration.
NEW BUSINESS:
Coffee Hour Proposal: We discussed the idea presented by EG&F that each Team be in charge of a month’s worth of Coffee Hours. Since the food and beverages are all to be provided and our job would be relatively simple, basically to set everything out and clean up after, we decided that we would agree to have each committee take responsibility for one Sunday:
January 4th Planned Giving
January 11th Counting Committee
January 18th House Committee
January 25th Gardening Committee
Jim agreed to coordinate and report back to EG&F
A Team presentation on Sunday, October 12: Chris Mills agreed to give a short talk, both in Chapel at 8 and in Church at 10. Thank you Chris!
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 7 pm.
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Sandler
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Hymnal Committee
Septebmer 18, 2008
Attending: Bruce Lockwood, Dolores Broberg, Elaine Brownell, Shirley Curry, Lynn Howard, John McCall, Barbara Merrill, Barbara Powers, Evie Strom, Dana Wiggins
The contract for the new hymnals was given to Cyndi Alden— authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the church. Dana will provide Cyndi with information needed to complete the contract as that information becomes available.
Possible cover colors available are red, green, and blue. There is a preference for the red that seems go to best with the reds in the Sanctuary. Different textures are available in each of the colors. Gold lettering is preferred.
One option is a gold cross in the upper right of the cover with the church's name at the bottom of the cover- like the current Pilgrim. A second option is to have the church's logo centered toward the middle of the cover with "First Congregational Church United Church of Christ" either under the logo or at the bottom of the cover. It was suggested that the size of the logo and the printing be increased. "United Church of Christ" should be spelled out. Dana will provide us with new images of cover choices based on our discussion. November 1 is the deadline for a camera-ready copy.
The words "Hymns of Truth and Light" are required to appear on the spine. We may select the font and may choose to add a logo or the name of our church.
Dolores asked about our purchasing extra copies of the hymnals so people could buy them for personal use. It was decided that we couldn't afford to extend the quantity on our custom order but people could purchase the standard copy of "Truth and Light" if they so desired.
Shirley would like to have two spiral bound copies of the hymnal--one for the Sanctuary and one for the Chapel.
Work was done on a page draft of the hymns to be included in the supplement, which has 16 pages (32 sides), and our church covenant on the first page. Hymns included were suggested by congregation members on the hymnal survey, from Shirley, John and some selections from Songs of the Spirit as space permitted. We began to place in alphabetical order but page efficiencies were made by moving some shorter songs under a longer song to complete a spread.
More hymns have been suggested for the supplement than we have room. A list will be made of those not included so they can be captured in the next revision of "Songs of the Spirit" making sure those requests are honored.
Lynn compiled additional information for her supplement draft in which she lists the hymns and information known to us about each one. A sub group is working on identifying song sources and obtaining usage rights from owners of work that is not in public domain.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Merrill and Dana Wiggins
Attending: Bruce Lockwood, Dolores Broberg, Elaine Brownell, Shirley Curry, Lynn Howard, John McCall, Barbara Merrill, Barbara Powers, Evie Strom, Dana Wiggins
The contract for the new hymnals was given to Cyndi Alden— authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the church. Dana will provide Cyndi with information needed to complete the contract as that information becomes available.
Possible cover colors available are red, green, and blue. There is a preference for the red that seems go to best with the reds in the Sanctuary. Different textures are available in each of the colors. Gold lettering is preferred.
One option is a gold cross in the upper right of the cover with the church's name at the bottom of the cover- like the current Pilgrim. A second option is to have the church's logo centered toward the middle of the cover with "First Congregational Church United Church of Christ" either under the logo or at the bottom of the cover. It was suggested that the size of the logo and the printing be increased. "United Church of Christ" should be spelled out. Dana will provide us with new images of cover choices based on our discussion. November 1 is the deadline for a camera-ready copy.
The words "Hymns of Truth and Light" are required to appear on the spine. We may select the font and may choose to add a logo or the name of our church.
Dolores asked about our purchasing extra copies of the hymnals so people could buy them for personal use. It was decided that we couldn't afford to extend the quantity on our custom order but people could purchase the standard copy of "Truth and Light" if they so desired.
Shirley would like to have two spiral bound copies of the hymnal--one for the Sanctuary and one for the Chapel.
Work was done on a page draft of the hymns to be included in the supplement, which has 16 pages (32 sides), and our church covenant on the first page. Hymns included were suggested by congregation members on the hymnal survey, from Shirley, John and some selections from Songs of the Spirit as space permitted. We began to place in alphabetical order but page efficiencies were made by moving some shorter songs under a longer song to complete a spread.
More hymns have been suggested for the supplement than we have room. A list will be made of those not included so they can be captured in the next revision of "Songs of the Spirit" making sure those requests are honored.
Lynn compiled additional information for her supplement draft in which she lists the hymns and information known to us about each one. A sub group is working on identifying song sources and obtaining usage rights from owners of work that is not in public domain.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Merrill and Dana Wiggins
Monday, October 6, 2008
Spiritual Life and Worship
October 2, 2008
Present: Richard Angell, Betsy Keiter, Elinor Redmond, Debbie Riley, Dana Wiggins, Bryan Wiggins, Mary Anne Wallace, and John McCall
Opening Prayer was given by Bryan Wiggins
Minutes from September were reviewed and approved as written.
Updates from John
• Mailbox – Somebody needs to check the contents of the SL&W church mailbox and respond if needed. (Group: did someone volunteer to do this?)
• Pew Papers – Bob and Joy Gale have kept the paper in the pew racks up to date for a number of years. They are retiring from that job and we need to find someone to take their place. The task takes from 1 to 1 ½ hours monthly. Elinor will check the ‘volunteer lists’ to see if there is a possible match. She may need help completing the signup process.
• Chancel and piano dedication – Sunday, October 26th. There will be a litany and memorial prayer. Les Andrews’ family will be present. Preparations include: updating the Memorial book. Deb Riley will take the book to Maggi, our calligrapher. There will be a brass plaque on the piano in memory of Shirley Findlay and the Narthex plaque will include Les Andrews’ name. The chairs are due to be delivered the week before the service. Because of Les Andrews’ generous bequest, nothing will be spent from the Investment fund on this project.
• 275th Anniversary Kick-off – Sunday, November 9th. The team approved John’s proposal to hold one service only that day. The sermon will be a dialogue between John and Elsa. No extra help is needed from SL&W.
• Inactive List –SL&W approved transferring the following names to the inactive list:
By their request:
Dakers, Scott and Jane
Farr, Mitchell and Debbie
Kersteen, Laurel
Platt, Jon & Carrie
Smith, Ted & Mary
Wallace, Rebecca – transfer to Woodfords
Moved from the area:
Benson, Scott and kristen (to Connecticut)
Hobbs, Craig & Jenn (to Indiana)
• Communion – John, Elsa and Shirley met and suggested a series of steps for serving communion in the new Chancel. Mary Anne has a copy of the document. All will debrief after Sunday.
World Communion Sunday will be on October 5th. 3 bread machines will be baking so that the smell of fresh baked bread will fill the church building. Mary Anne is arranging for several types of bread to be used: challa, naan, rye and corn tortillas.
Review of By-Laws
A small group is reconciling the language of our Open and Affirming statement with the details of the By-Laws. Focus is on the age (14) and preparation necessary for membership (those under 16 need to complete the confirmation process). The Council will confirm the By-Laws.
Hymnal Committee has been working on the supplement to the chosen hymnal, Truth and Light. Shirley brought in the suggested hymns and the group worked to paste them into a notebook with 32 sides available. The mock-up will go to Maggi at the Truth and Light company and to Bob Currier who formats the music. Dana is working with Shirley on usage rights for several of the hymns. There is a strict timeline so that the hymnal can be printed in February and arrive by Easter. The contract has been filled out but is not in yet. The group chose a bright red cover with gold lettering.
Multimedia Usage in Sunday Service
Rick and Bryan are going to visit First Parish Church in Saco to observe their use of multimedia during a service. They also will visit Westbrook-Warren and a service with Steve Carnahan. The use of multimedia should appeal to younger people. We plan to start slowly, take our time and look for volunteers.
November Coffee Hour
We received a proposal from EF&G suggesting the various teams be responsible for one month of coffee hour service after the Sunday Services. Set up, clean up and baking/shopping would be necessary. It is a chance to ‘get the word out’ on what our team does. The kind-hearted, generous SL&W team members agreed to accept the proposal and quickly came up with a schedule. They resisted the temptation to put Sandy Hansen in charge of everything. Deb Riley will e-mail the schedule and a summary of the responsibilities.
Other: Shirley has requested approval to use the sanctuary on November 6th for a musical performance. We are unclear on what group needs to approve this request. (i.e. it is fine with us, but approval may be the Council’s job)
Next Meeting: Thursday, November 6th @ 7:30pm. Betsy will do the opening and Deb will take the minutes.
Adjourned at 8:33pm
Respectfully Submitted by,
Elinor Redmond
Present: Richard Angell, Betsy Keiter, Elinor Redmond, Debbie Riley, Dana Wiggins, Bryan Wiggins, Mary Anne Wallace, and John McCall
Opening Prayer was given by Bryan Wiggins
Minutes from September were reviewed and approved as written.
Updates from John
• Mailbox – Somebody needs to check the contents of the SL&W church mailbox and respond if needed. (Group: did someone volunteer to do this?)
• Pew Papers – Bob and Joy Gale have kept the paper in the pew racks up to date for a number of years. They are retiring from that job and we need to find someone to take their place. The task takes from 1 to 1 ½ hours monthly. Elinor will check the ‘volunteer lists’ to see if there is a possible match. She may need help completing the signup process.
• Chancel and piano dedication – Sunday, October 26th. There will be a litany and memorial prayer. Les Andrews’ family will be present. Preparations include: updating the Memorial book. Deb Riley will take the book to Maggi, our calligrapher. There will be a brass plaque on the piano in memory of Shirley Findlay and the Narthex plaque will include Les Andrews’ name. The chairs are due to be delivered the week before the service. Because of Les Andrews’ generous bequest, nothing will be spent from the Investment fund on this project.
• 275th Anniversary Kick-off – Sunday, November 9th. The team approved John’s proposal to hold one service only that day. The sermon will be a dialogue between John and Elsa. No extra help is needed from SL&W.
• Inactive List –SL&W approved transferring the following names to the inactive list:
By their request:
Dakers, Scott and Jane
Farr, Mitchell and Debbie
Kersteen, Laurel
Platt, Jon & Carrie
Smith, Ted & Mary
Wallace, Rebecca – transfer to Woodfords
Moved from the area:
Benson, Scott and kristen (to Connecticut)
Hobbs, Craig & Jenn (to Indiana)
• Communion – John, Elsa and Shirley met and suggested a series of steps for serving communion in the new Chancel. Mary Anne has a copy of the document. All will debrief after Sunday.
World Communion Sunday will be on October 5th. 3 bread machines will be baking so that the smell of fresh baked bread will fill the church building. Mary Anne is arranging for several types of bread to be used: challa, naan, rye and corn tortillas.
Review of By-Laws
A small group is reconciling the language of our Open and Affirming statement with the details of the By-Laws. Focus is on the age (14) and preparation necessary for membership (those under 16 need to complete the confirmation process). The Council will confirm the By-Laws.
Hymnal Committee has been working on the supplement to the chosen hymnal, Truth and Light. Shirley brought in the suggested hymns and the group worked to paste them into a notebook with 32 sides available. The mock-up will go to Maggi at the Truth and Light company and to Bob Currier who formats the music. Dana is working with Shirley on usage rights for several of the hymns. There is a strict timeline so that the hymnal can be printed in February and arrive by Easter. The contract has been filled out but is not in yet. The group chose a bright red cover with gold lettering.
Multimedia Usage in Sunday Service
Rick and Bryan are going to visit First Parish Church in Saco to observe their use of multimedia during a service. They also will visit Westbrook-Warren and a service with Steve Carnahan. The use of multimedia should appeal to younger people. We plan to start slowly, take our time and look for volunteers.
November Coffee Hour
We received a proposal from EF&G suggesting the various teams be responsible for one month of coffee hour service after the Sunday Services. Set up, clean up and baking/shopping would be necessary. It is a chance to ‘get the word out’ on what our team does. The kind-hearted, generous SL&W team members agreed to accept the proposal and quickly came up with a schedule. They resisted the temptation to put Sandy Hansen in charge of everything. Deb Riley will e-mail the schedule and a summary of the responsibilities.
Other: Shirley has requested approval to use the sanctuary on November 6th for a musical performance. We are unclear on what group needs to approve this request. (i.e. it is fine with us, but approval may be the Council’s job)
Next Meeting: Thursday, November 6th @ 7:30pm. Betsy will do the opening and Deb will take the minutes.
Adjourned at 8:33pm
Respectfully Submitted by,
Elinor Redmond
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Non-Violence Advocacy
September 18, 2008
Present: R. Angell, S. Curry, L. Hill, C. Vachon
Homecoming Sunday Report: Evie Strom reported (by telephone) that she had displayed a variety of informational materials at the spot allocated to Non-Violence Advocacy Committee as part of the Social Witness Mission booth. They included the “Torture” Brochure, handouts about Guantanamo and recent announcements from Human Rights First, Global Solutions and the Maine Department of Peace.
She observed that no inquiries were made and no handouts were picked up while she was attending the booth. The lack of interest was very revealing. Many thanks, Evelyn, for setting up and manning the N-VA booth at Homecoming Sunday.
Planned Fall Program: Richard Parker reported via e-mail. At our May meeting the committee decided to ask Rev. John McCall if he would integrate in his October 26 Sunday message the purpose of the Non-VA Committee and encourage attendance at the Monday, Oct. 27, film program organized by Richard (P.). John agreed to do so.
Following subsequent exchanges with John, the committee decided to hold its regular programs on Sundays after the service. That would schedule Dick’s program on October 26. As the church calendar developed during late summer, Oct. 26 was selected as the Sunday to dedicate the newly acquired grand Piano and the recently reconfigured chancel area. Dick’s program was rescheduled for March, 2009.
Chairmanship change: In e-mails between August and September Rick Angell announced that he was relinquishing the chairmanship of the N.-VA committee. He would not have the time to properly chair the committee because of the new responsibilities he would be taking on. Richard Parker indicated that he would not have the time to give that position the time the position deserved.
Today’s Agenda:
1 - Whether or not to continue or disband the Non-Violence Advocacy Committee.
2 - If we disband, what other committee may be interested in incorporating
the N-VA Mission in its mission?
3 - What vehicle could be used to continue informing the church family
about “Torture and Non-Violence” issues?
4- Archives
5- Closing
1 – We discussed the fact that only three to four members have been actually involved in major program activities. At this stage we cannot identify a possible chairperson and leader. As a result we concluded that we are unable to maintain the necessary energy to sustain the required effort to continue forward. Members present unanimously decided to disband the Non-Violence Advocacy Committee as a formal committee. Other members, not present, had also come to the same conclusion.
2 - In view of the lack of interest over the year in the issue of “Torture” and the inability to recruit other members, it would be inadvisable to attempt to recruit other committees or groups to pick up the baton and continue running with it.
3 – However, former N-VA members will be invited, individually or in a small group, to initiate ad hoc “non-violence” programs and activities to maintain information sharing with the congregation about “torture”, non-violence and peace issues (e.g., films, bulletin board postings, etc.). We would plan these activities under the auspices of the New Governance Structure and procedures of the Social Witness Ministries.
4. Archives: Archival information about the Non-Violence Advocacy Committee (initially the “Anti-Violence Committee”) may be found in the church files on Committee Minutes and in Annual Reports.
5 – The last meeting of the N-VA committee closed with a prayer of thanksgiving and warm hugs for the graced-filled opportunity to get to know each other and to work jointly for the issues of non-torture and non-violence.
We then took some time to reminisce about the last two years and to talk of possibilities for the future.
Submitted by Claude Vachon, Secretary (9-28-2008)
Present: R. Angell, S. Curry, L. Hill, C. Vachon
Homecoming Sunday Report: Evie Strom reported (by telephone) that she had displayed a variety of informational materials at the spot allocated to Non-Violence Advocacy Committee as part of the Social Witness Mission booth. They included the “Torture” Brochure, handouts about Guantanamo and recent announcements from Human Rights First, Global Solutions and the Maine Department of Peace.
She observed that no inquiries were made and no handouts were picked up while she was attending the booth. The lack of interest was very revealing. Many thanks, Evelyn, for setting up and manning the N-VA booth at Homecoming Sunday.
Planned Fall Program: Richard Parker reported via e-mail. At our May meeting the committee decided to ask Rev. John McCall if he would integrate in his October 26 Sunday message the purpose of the Non-VA Committee and encourage attendance at the Monday, Oct. 27, film program organized by Richard (P.). John agreed to do so.
Following subsequent exchanges with John, the committee decided to hold its regular programs on Sundays after the service. That would schedule Dick’s program on October 26. As the church calendar developed during late summer, Oct. 26 was selected as the Sunday to dedicate the newly acquired grand Piano and the recently reconfigured chancel area. Dick’s program was rescheduled for March, 2009.
Chairmanship change: In e-mails between August and September Rick Angell announced that he was relinquishing the chairmanship of the N.-VA committee. He would not have the time to properly chair the committee because of the new responsibilities he would be taking on. Richard Parker indicated that he would not have the time to give that position the time the position deserved.
Today’s Agenda:
1 - Whether or not to continue or disband the Non-Violence Advocacy Committee.
2 - If we disband, what other committee may be interested in incorporating
the N-VA Mission in its mission?
3 - What vehicle could be used to continue informing the church family
about “Torture and Non-Violence” issues?
4- Archives
5- Closing
1 – We discussed the fact that only three to four members have been actually involved in major program activities. At this stage we cannot identify a possible chairperson and leader. As a result we concluded that we are unable to maintain the necessary energy to sustain the required effort to continue forward. Members present unanimously decided to disband the Non-Violence Advocacy Committee as a formal committee. Other members, not present, had also come to the same conclusion.
2 - In view of the lack of interest over the year in the issue of “Torture” and the inability to recruit other members, it would be inadvisable to attempt to recruit other committees or groups to pick up the baton and continue running with it.
3 – However, former N-VA members will be invited, individually or in a small group, to initiate ad hoc “non-violence” programs and activities to maintain information sharing with the congregation about “torture”, non-violence and peace issues (e.g., films, bulletin board postings, etc.). We would plan these activities under the auspices of the New Governance Structure and procedures of the Social Witness Ministries.
4. Archives: Archival information about the Non-Violence Advocacy Committee (initially the “Anti-Violence Committee”) may be found in the church files on Committee Minutes and in Annual Reports.
5 – The last meeting of the N-VA committee closed with a prayer of thanksgiving and warm hugs for the graced-filled opportunity to get to know each other and to work jointly for the issues of non-torture and non-violence.
We then took some time to reminisce about the last two years and to talk of possibilities for the future.
Submitted by Claude Vachon, Secretary (9-28-2008)
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