Meeting Minutes of January 8, 2009
Attending: Amy Foster, Jayne Quinn Sawtelle, Karen Pierce Souza, Elsa Peters, Margaret Thibodeau
The November Minutes were approved.
Coffee Hour – We need to make sure the sign-up sheet is out during coffee hour. Ginny’s been doing it lately, but some Sundays are covered in upcoming weeks by individuals and by church groups. Ginny may ask for volunteers to help clean the kitchen soon (we are willing and able!). Should we try an all-church email to solicit volunteers?
Nursery – Coverage has been better lately. Jen Harle and Mike Quinn have volunteered to work some Sundays. A new sign-up sheet has been posted.
Scholarship – Amy is in contact. Nothing has started up yet, but should be this month.
Library – Everything is going smoothly. They are ordering books.
Hospitality – Ash Wednesday breakfast – Margaret is in touch with a few people to provide a Continental-style breakfast. Karen is available to help if it’s early in the day. No Confirmation breakfast this year. The Elders’ Luncheon and Barbeque are both coming up. The immediate need is for the Inquirers Meeting on January 12th. Jean Fischer isn’t driving anymore and can’t do those meetings. Margaret will work with Elsa to find people. Possible the Growth Group will take on?
Budget – We need to cut 20% of our budget per request of the Council. Our proposed cuts include $700 form 7215 (supplies), $250 from 7250 (library), $160 from 7530 (YM) and $300 from $7525 (fellowship). Those cuts reflected money that didn’t get spent in 2008, so we think it won’t be missed as much in 2009. Karen will let the Library committee know. The Team discussed proposed cuts in the YM director’s salary, and would like to go on record as saying that should be preserved in order to keep the YM as active as possible.
Faith Formation – Sunday School 2nd semester is starting with a full slate of teachers. Wednesdays in January & February, Betsy Keiter is hosting Ethical Wills workshops. Lenten discussions with Elsa will focus on choices in the current economic climate and simplifying/finding out what you truly value. Deb Sandler and Cindy Arn will again teach Bible Discovery to 3rd – 4th graders in March (will buy bibles). On February 8 there will be a conversation for parents and youth grades 6-9 about confirmation.
Other – The Safe Church document will be emailed to the Team by Margaret so we can talk about it at the next meeting. We might relocate the next meeting so we can take our coats off/stop our teeth from chattering.
Respectfully submitted – Jayne Sawtelle
Showing posts with label January 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label January 2009. Show all posts
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Mission and Outreach
Meeting Minutes of 1/07/10
Present: Dick Parker, Greg Wyman, Laurie Cary, Mike Kasputes, Sarah Randall, Carol Scheffler.
Opening Reading: Laurie read a prayer prepared by Maureen Clancy.
December Minutes: Approved as submitted.
Treasurer’s Report: Greg
Review of disbursements and balances for 2009.
Review of budgeted amounts for all categories in 2010; Council has advised amounts can be augmented from discretionary funds, if needed & following any constraints associated with segregated funds; two deposits of $25.00 each have been received in the discretionary fund; Greg will check on the source.
Veterans of the Cross Offering - $2549.55 received.
Christmas Offering - $2522.52 received; up significantly from last year.
Minister’s Moment: Elsa Peters
Search for Micah Project coordinator report postponed until February.
Elsa has assembled a folder of informational materials on Darfur which is available for review; it was decided to table discussion of options for moving forward on this issue to February’s meeting.
Wayside Soup Kitchen – will be stopping its operation at Preble Street as of March 1st; series of 3 meetings of staff regarding restructuring are being conducted; Wayside Committee coordinators for our church will be meeting on January 17th to discuss congregations’ participation in any ongoing operation of Wayside; consensus was that congregation should continue to participate in a newly configured program providing food to the homeless ; Dick expressed concern about continued maintenance of food supply chain/network during this disruption.
Old Business:
Thank you notes received from: UCC Coalition, Good Shepherd Food Bank, Family Crisis Service, Maine Council of Churches, Preble Street -Homeless Voices for Justice Program, Cancer Community Center (from Mission Mall), Preble Street – Florence House (from Mission Mall), Wayside Soup Kitchen (from Mission Mall & Special Support); letters posted on Mission Bulletin Board.
Children’s Closet volunteers will be meeting on 1/23 to discuss new policies & their implementation in distribution of clothing, etc. More volunteers needed; there will be a sign up sheet at the coffee hours on 1/10 and 1/17 & Carol will be available to answer any questions along with other members of the Mission Team.
Mission Hosting of Coffee Hour – sign up sheet re-circulated but all needs seem covered; Sandy circulated sign up sheets for volunteers for the Children’s Closet & the Food Pantry; Sandy will be available to answer questions re: Food Pantry.
Christmas Giving Tree and Mitten Trees very successful; presents delivered to the Long Creek Center; smaller mittens put in Children’s Closet.
Dick circulated copies of Contact Information for the various support organizations in the Greater Portland area; he suggested that a back up copy be kept in the church office to facilitate any future revisions.
Subcommittees:
Micah Project – Preble Street Breakfast had 12 volunteers; next project is Habitat for Humanity build on 3/6; still not sure if we will be going to Freeport or Westbrook but will be inside work; no more than 12 people needed.
Fair Trade Coffee Project – popularity is increasing; several people have taken advantage of the availability of cocoa & chocolate during the winter months; Greg will check on status of coffee hour coffee.
Open Discussion: - no further comments.
Closing Reading: Laurie read a closing prayer prepared by Maureen.
Recorder: Carol Scheffler
Next Meeting: 02/14/10
Opening/Closing Prayer: Sandy Dyer
Recorder: Mike Kasputes
Upcoming Beacon Deadlines: 1/25, 2/8, 2/22 & 3/8
Present: Dick Parker, Greg Wyman, Laurie Cary, Mike Kasputes, Sarah Randall, Carol Scheffler.
Opening Reading: Laurie read a prayer prepared by Maureen Clancy.
December Minutes: Approved as submitted.
Treasurer’s Report: Greg
Review of disbursements and balances for 2009.
Review of budgeted amounts for all categories in 2010; Council has advised amounts can be augmented from discretionary funds, if needed & following any constraints associated with segregated funds; two deposits of $25.00 each have been received in the discretionary fund; Greg will check on the source.
Veterans of the Cross Offering - $2549.55 received.
Christmas Offering - $2522.52 received; up significantly from last year.
Minister’s Moment: Elsa Peters
Search for Micah Project coordinator report postponed until February.
Elsa has assembled a folder of informational materials on Darfur which is available for review; it was decided to table discussion of options for moving forward on this issue to February’s meeting.
Wayside Soup Kitchen – will be stopping its operation at Preble Street as of March 1st; series of 3 meetings of staff regarding restructuring are being conducted; Wayside Committee coordinators for our church will be meeting on January 17th to discuss congregations’ participation in any ongoing operation of Wayside; consensus was that congregation should continue to participate in a newly configured program providing food to the homeless ; Dick expressed concern about continued maintenance of food supply chain/network during this disruption.
Old Business:
Thank you notes received from: UCC Coalition, Good Shepherd Food Bank, Family Crisis Service, Maine Council of Churches, Preble Street -Homeless Voices for Justice Program, Cancer Community Center (from Mission Mall), Preble Street – Florence House (from Mission Mall), Wayside Soup Kitchen (from Mission Mall & Special Support); letters posted on Mission Bulletin Board.
Children’s Closet volunteers will be meeting on 1/23 to discuss new policies & their implementation in distribution of clothing, etc. More volunteers needed; there will be a sign up sheet at the coffee hours on 1/10 and 1/17 & Carol will be available to answer any questions along with other members of the Mission Team.
Mission Hosting of Coffee Hour – sign up sheet re-circulated but all needs seem covered; Sandy circulated sign up sheets for volunteers for the Children’s Closet & the Food Pantry; Sandy will be available to answer questions re: Food Pantry.
Christmas Giving Tree and Mitten Trees very successful; presents delivered to the Long Creek Center; smaller mittens put in Children’s Closet.
Dick circulated copies of Contact Information for the various support organizations in the Greater Portland area; he suggested that a back up copy be kept in the church office to facilitate any future revisions.
Subcommittees:
Micah Project – Preble Street Breakfast had 12 volunteers; next project is Habitat for Humanity build on 3/6; still not sure if we will be going to Freeport or Westbrook but will be inside work; no more than 12 people needed.
Fair Trade Coffee Project – popularity is increasing; several people have taken advantage of the availability of cocoa & chocolate during the winter months; Greg will check on status of coffee hour coffee.
Open Discussion: - no further comments.
Closing Reading: Laurie read a closing prayer prepared by Maureen.
Recorder: Carol Scheffler
Next Meeting: 02/14/10
Opening/Closing Prayer: Sandy Dyer
Recorder: Mike Kasputes
Upcoming Beacon Deadlines: 1/25, 2/8, 2/22 & 3/8
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Spiritual Life and Worship Team
Meeting Minutes of January 8, 2009
Present: Debbie Riley, Betsy Keiter, Bryan Wiggins, Sandy Hansen, Elinor Redmond, Richard Angell, John McCall
Opening Prayer: Sandy opened with a beautiful, thoughtful prayer.
Review of Minutes: November and December minutes were approved.
News from John McCall: The following items were discussed:
Summer Sabbatical: John reviewed with the committee his tentative summer sabbatical plans and asked for input regarding three Sunday mornings during the summer when we will need someone to deliver a message.
Church Directory: The church directory will be completed within 90 days. 161 households participated.
Budget: There is good news regarding the budget. Instead of a deficit of $28,000 which was predicted, we only have a deficit of $5,000. The congregation heard our budget concerns and responded with great generosity.
The 2009 budget will be a big stretch. Teams have been asked to cut 10% - 20 % of their budgets and salary increases will remain at 2%. The biggest dilemma is the Mission budget which is the only truly flexible church budget. Mission has been asked to cut 20% and to look carefully at organizations that have other funding sources available.
It seems that we should facilitate a workshop between the Mission Team and the Community Crisis Ministry Team so that we might build a bridge between them. Some members feel that the work of mission board is no longer valued. At this point CCM spends $100.000 and Mission Team spends $60,000.
New Hymnals: As of today we have raised $2000 of the $9000.00 needed to cover the cost of the hymnals. There are plans to have a Hymn Sing in late March to retire the Pilgrim Hymnal.
Confirmation: John gave us all a calendar of upcoming events and announced that there will be no Confirmation class this year.
Communion: Elinor made a few suggestions regarding the procedure for serving communion. She will speak with John and Elsa .
Multi Media Use: Richard reported that the Saco UCC has been very helpful. They network with other churches. It was suggested that Richard write an article for the Beacon to assess the congregation’s interest in having a multi media worship option.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
The next meeting will be on February 5th at 7:00 p.m.
Sandy will take the minutes and Elinor will begin with a prayer.
Submitted by: Debbie Riley
Present: Debbie Riley, Betsy Keiter, Bryan Wiggins, Sandy Hansen, Elinor Redmond, Richard Angell, John McCall
Opening Prayer: Sandy opened with a beautiful, thoughtful prayer.
Review of Minutes: November and December minutes were approved.
News from John McCall: The following items were discussed:
Summer Sabbatical: John reviewed with the committee his tentative summer sabbatical plans and asked for input regarding three Sunday mornings during the summer when we will need someone to deliver a message.
Church Directory: The church directory will be completed within 90 days. 161 households participated.
Budget: There is good news regarding the budget. Instead of a deficit of $28,000 which was predicted, we only have a deficit of $5,000. The congregation heard our budget concerns and responded with great generosity.
The 2009 budget will be a big stretch. Teams have been asked to cut 10% - 20 % of their budgets and salary increases will remain at 2%. The biggest dilemma is the Mission budget which is the only truly flexible church budget. Mission has been asked to cut 20% and to look carefully at organizations that have other funding sources available.
It seems that we should facilitate a workshop between the Mission Team and the Community Crisis Ministry Team so that we might build a bridge between them. Some members feel that the work of mission board is no longer valued. At this point CCM spends $100.000 and Mission Team spends $60,000.
New Hymnals: As of today we have raised $2000 of the $9000.00 needed to cover the cost of the hymnals. There are plans to have a Hymn Sing in late March to retire the Pilgrim Hymnal.
Confirmation: John gave us all a calendar of upcoming events and announced that there will be no Confirmation class this year.
Communion: Elinor made a few suggestions regarding the procedure for serving communion. She will speak with John and Elsa .
Multi Media Use: Richard reported that the Saco UCC has been very helpful. They network with other churches. It was suggested that Richard write an article for the Beacon to assess the congregation’s interest in having a multi media worship option.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
The next meeting will be on February 5th at 7:00 p.m.
Sandy will take the minutes and Elinor will begin with a prayer.
Submitted by: Debbie Riley
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Community Crisis Ministries
MEETING MINUTES OF
JANUARY 19, 2009
PRESENT: Scott Berry, Terry Dellaire, Ann Googins, Kathy Sahrbeck.
ABSENT: Jerry Onos, Trish Naddaff
Scott called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., and Kathy read an opening story.
EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS: Scott presented the total numbers for 2008: Income was $111,260 and expenditures for assistance were $111,314. This compares with 2007 where income was $91,624 and assistance was $98,202. Needs have been higher in 2008 because of the price of oil and the economy. The major focus of CCM continues to be housing and utility assistance.
NEW BUSINESS: An interest has been expressed to join CCM, and we discussed adding new members.
The Council has approved the date for CCM Sunday for 2009; it will be April 26. Both John and Elsa will help although John is away April 23-25. Scott will get the lectionary from Elsa.* Possible themes were suggested and discussed. One suggestion of an outside speaker will be pursued before our next meeting after we have discussed these ideas with both ministers.
The subject of pledging for CCM was discussed briefly. Most people respond right away when they receive the card although a growing number of the congregation now give for Christmas or end-of-year tax purposes. It was noted that it would be helpful to the Team to know how much aid CCM provides to the city of South Portland each year for general assistance. They are our largest social agency requesting local aid to needy citizens; we will start keeping that record in 2009.
The Council has expressed an interest in holding a discussion regarding the outreach relationships of the CCM Team and the Mission Outreach Team. Scott will contact John to get the ball rolling.
The next meeting will be February 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Laity Room.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Googins
*Lectionary readings are Acts 3:12-19, Psalm 4, I John 3:1-7, and Luke 24:36b-48.
JANUARY 19, 2009
PRESENT: Scott Berry, Terry Dellaire, Ann Googins, Kathy Sahrbeck.
ABSENT: Jerry Onos, Trish Naddaff
Scott called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., and Kathy read an opening story.
EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS: Scott presented the total numbers for 2008: Income was $111,260 and expenditures for assistance were $111,314. This compares with 2007 where income was $91,624 and assistance was $98,202. Needs have been higher in 2008 because of the price of oil and the economy. The major focus of CCM continues to be housing and utility assistance.
NEW BUSINESS: An interest has been expressed to join CCM, and we discussed adding new members.
The Council has approved the date for CCM Sunday for 2009; it will be April 26. Both John and Elsa will help although John is away April 23-25. Scott will get the lectionary from Elsa.* Possible themes were suggested and discussed. One suggestion of an outside speaker will be pursued before our next meeting after we have discussed these ideas with both ministers.
The subject of pledging for CCM was discussed briefly. Most people respond right away when they receive the card although a growing number of the congregation now give for Christmas or end-of-year tax purposes. It was noted that it would be helpful to the Team to know how much aid CCM provides to the city of South Portland each year for general assistance. They are our largest social agency requesting local aid to needy citizens; we will start keeping that record in 2009.
The Council has expressed an interest in holding a discussion regarding the outreach relationships of the CCM Team and the Mission Outreach Team. Scott will contact John to get the ball rolling.
The next meeting will be February 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Laity Room.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Googins
*Lectionary readings are Acts 3:12-19, Psalm 4, I John 3:1-7, and Luke 24:36b-48.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Church Council
Meeting Minutes of January 15, 2009
Present: John McCall; Elsa Peters, Andy Ellis, Phil Whitney, Nancy Maclean, Sally Hinckley, Chris Dow, Deb Andrews, David Allen, Sally Sutton, Jean Siulinski, Chris Keiter, Cyndi Alden (for discussion of budget)
Sally Sutton read the opening prayer.
Budget Proposal Discussion – Chris K. presented the budget proposal from the Budget Committee. Highlights of the budget include the fact that for 2008, there was only a deficit of $3,730 when a much greater deficit had been anticipated. This was the result of the Teams limiting their spending at the end of the year and the very supportive response of the congregation in the final weeks of the year. Consequently, much more money is now available in the Retained Earning Segregated Fund for use in the 2009 Budget. Chris reviewed the proposed budget and answered questions. The 2009 budget takes advantage of some of the segregated funds as well as an anticipated $19,520 from the Retained Earnings Fund. Chris cautioned the Council that this is still not a balanced budget and that we continue to operate with a deficit. The Council approved the 2009 proposed budget to be voted on by the congregation.
Review of the Agenda – Chris K. reviewed the agenda and added the discussion of a bequest to the agenda.
Review of December Minutes – The December minutes were reviewed. It was pointed out that the minutes should note that Jane Eberle is a State Representative from South Portland.
Ministers’ Time – John reported that Christmas and Epiphany went wonderfully. He also stated that he was touched by the responsiveness of many people regarding the year-end financial situation. He also mentioned that there would be some exciting programs in the next several months.
In his sermon on 1/25 John will thank people for their support. Chris K. will also express appreciation as part of his presentation of the budget.
Elsa discussed some programs. She suggested that it may be appropriate for Community Crisis Ministries and the Mission Outreach to discuss how the work of the two programs might be congruent. She mentioned that on 2/8 there will be a program for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th graders and their parents to discuss confirmation. There will be some heart to heart conversations going on in the coming year.
Budget and Bylaw Review Meeting on January 22 – There will be a meeting to allow members of the congregation to ask questions about the proposed bylaw changes and the proposed budget. Everything will be ready and out to people before Sunday morning. There was discussion about how to make these available electronically. An e-mail will be sent to those who have provided their addresses with the hidden website address for how to access these documents.
There was discussion about who should attend on Thursday and it was suggested that it not be a large group, but that it should include people who can both explain the budget and the bylaws. John, Chris K., Nancy and Sally H. will attend on behalf of the Council.
Allocation of a New Bequest – An unrestricted bequest of $2,700 has been received from the estate of Leslie Andrews. The gift allocation formula was reviewed. 10% ($270) will go to the Mission Fund. 10% ($270) will go to the Major Maintenance Fund. The remainder will be invested in the unrestricted endowments, with the income to support the annual budget. Nancy suggested and the Council agreed that the Council recommend to the Mission Board that their portion of the bequest ($270) be sent to OCWM.
Date of the Annual Meeting – John recommended that the 2009 Annual Meeting be held on May 31st and the Council agreed. Recognizing Elders and 50 year-members will take place on June 7th.
Growth Group – Dave reported that this group is looking for ways to grow the church both in terms of more members and greater attendance. Last Sunday the Growth Group held a focus group to get a better insight about how to make improvements. The overall objective is to develop an extravagant welcome for people to join and participate in the church. Another effort of the Growth Group is to set-up a Parish Host Program. This will be a group of people who are trained and skilled at being open and welcoming. As people start to attend they will be appointed a parish host (if they want one) who will give them a better introduction to the church. The goal is to get this initially started in a couple of months and then after some experience, really get it up and running in the fall.
Discussion of Future Topics to Tackle – Chris K. lead the discussion about future issues for the Council to tackle. Ideas include:
- asking members of the Teams to come to a Council meeting, have Council members attend Team meetings.
- articulate the Church’s Vision Statement – what is special about our church?
- CCM and Mission Outreach relationship – look at assumptions that underlie both
- discussion about alternative sources of income.
- Center for Progressive Christianity – a loosely affiliated national program that looks beyond doctrines that have traditionally defined Christianity.
The Council set its priorities:
- the Vision Statement may logically be first.
- CCM and MO and how they relate to each other and the rest of the church.
- Team/Council connections – the Council can serve as a promoter of the Teams; the Teams/Council can invite feedback from congregation.
- Volunteerism – get a better understanding of how we can improve this in our church.
At the next Council meeting the Council will discuss:
- how the Council interacts with the teams.
- start the conversation about the Vision Statement.
- discuss meeting with Teams – and as we visit Teams, ask what they would like to see the Council work on.
- schedule one of the Council’s committees/month to present to the Council (Pastor/Parish, Investment Oversight, Stewardship, Personnel), starting with the Investment Oversight Committee.
- Elsa will talk to Mission Outreach to help them sit-down with CCM. The Council just needs to wait to see what happens.
Minutes prepared by: Sally Sutton
Present: John McCall; Elsa Peters, Andy Ellis, Phil Whitney, Nancy Maclean, Sally Hinckley, Chris Dow, Deb Andrews, David Allen, Sally Sutton, Jean Siulinski, Chris Keiter, Cyndi Alden (for discussion of budget)
Sally Sutton read the opening prayer.
Budget Proposal Discussion – Chris K. presented the budget proposal from the Budget Committee. Highlights of the budget include the fact that for 2008, there was only a deficit of $3,730 when a much greater deficit had been anticipated. This was the result of the Teams limiting their spending at the end of the year and the very supportive response of the congregation in the final weeks of the year. Consequently, much more money is now available in the Retained Earning Segregated Fund for use in the 2009 Budget. Chris reviewed the proposed budget and answered questions. The 2009 budget takes advantage of some of the segregated funds as well as an anticipated $19,520 from the Retained Earnings Fund. Chris cautioned the Council that this is still not a balanced budget and that we continue to operate with a deficit. The Council approved the 2009 proposed budget to be voted on by the congregation.
Review of the Agenda – Chris K. reviewed the agenda and added the discussion of a bequest to the agenda.
Review of December Minutes – The December minutes were reviewed. It was pointed out that the minutes should note that Jane Eberle is a State Representative from South Portland.
Ministers’ Time – John reported that Christmas and Epiphany went wonderfully. He also stated that he was touched by the responsiveness of many people regarding the year-end financial situation. He also mentioned that there would be some exciting programs in the next several months.
In his sermon on 1/25 John will thank people for their support. Chris K. will also express appreciation as part of his presentation of the budget.
Elsa discussed some programs. She suggested that it may be appropriate for Community Crisis Ministries and the Mission Outreach to discuss how the work of the two programs might be congruent. She mentioned that on 2/8 there will be a program for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th graders and their parents to discuss confirmation. There will be some heart to heart conversations going on in the coming year.
Budget and Bylaw Review Meeting on January 22 – There will be a meeting to allow members of the congregation to ask questions about the proposed bylaw changes and the proposed budget. Everything will be ready and out to people before Sunday morning. There was discussion about how to make these available electronically. An e-mail will be sent to those who have provided their addresses with the hidden website address for how to access these documents.
There was discussion about who should attend on Thursday and it was suggested that it not be a large group, but that it should include people who can both explain the budget and the bylaws. John, Chris K., Nancy and Sally H. will attend on behalf of the Council.
Allocation of a New Bequest – An unrestricted bequest of $2,700 has been received from the estate of Leslie Andrews. The gift allocation formula was reviewed. 10% ($270) will go to the Mission Fund. 10% ($270) will go to the Major Maintenance Fund. The remainder will be invested in the unrestricted endowments, with the income to support the annual budget. Nancy suggested and the Council agreed that the Council recommend to the Mission Board that their portion of the bequest ($270) be sent to OCWM.
Date of the Annual Meeting – John recommended that the 2009 Annual Meeting be held on May 31st and the Council agreed. Recognizing Elders and 50 year-members will take place on June 7th.
Growth Group – Dave reported that this group is looking for ways to grow the church both in terms of more members and greater attendance. Last Sunday the Growth Group held a focus group to get a better insight about how to make improvements. The overall objective is to develop an extravagant welcome for people to join and participate in the church. Another effort of the Growth Group is to set-up a Parish Host Program. This will be a group of people who are trained and skilled at being open and welcoming. As people start to attend they will be appointed a parish host (if they want one) who will give them a better introduction to the church. The goal is to get this initially started in a couple of months and then after some experience, really get it up and running in the fall.
Discussion of Future Topics to Tackle – Chris K. lead the discussion about future issues for the Council to tackle. Ideas include:
- asking members of the Teams to come to a Council meeting, have Council members attend Team meetings.
- articulate the Church’s Vision Statement – what is special about our church?
- CCM and Mission Outreach relationship – look at assumptions that underlie both
- discussion about alternative sources of income.
- Center for Progressive Christianity – a loosely affiliated national program that looks beyond doctrines that have traditionally defined Christianity.
The Council set its priorities:
- the Vision Statement may logically be first.
- CCM and MO and how they relate to each other and the rest of the church.
- Team/Council connections – the Council can serve as a promoter of the Teams; the Teams/Council can invite feedback from congregation.
- Volunteerism – get a better understanding of how we can improve this in our church.
At the next Council meeting the Council will discuss:
- how the Council interacts with the teams.
- start the conversation about the Vision Statement.
- discuss meeting with Teams – and as we visit Teams, ask what they would like to see the Council work on.
- schedule one of the Council’s committees/month to present to the Council (Pastor/Parish, Investment Oversight, Stewardship, Personnel), starting with the Investment Oversight Committee.
- Elsa will talk to Mission Outreach to help them sit-down with CCM. The Council just needs to wait to see what happens.
Minutes prepared by: Sally Sutton
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Green Action Group
Minutes of January 29, 2009
Present: Sarah Ellsworth, Barbara Merrill, Dick Merrill, Ed Saxby, Jim Van Hoeven
Ed opened our meeting with a discussion of our group accepting John McCall’s invitation to work with him or with Elsa to plan the worship service for April 19, 2009, Green Sunday, and to host a conversation in Davidson Lounge after the 10 a.m. service. We decided we would like to do that and Ed Saxby and Sarah Ellsworth will help plan the day. Ed will contact John. Ideas shared included a celebration of Earth Day with Food, Fun, and Fellowship; inclusion of thoughts around food, i.e. Community Supported Agriculture, families growing their own food; and possibly for a later time sharing information about environmental bills before the legislature and how individuals could become involved.
There was discussion around offering a book group this spring. Ed is interested in offering one. Sarah and Jim will work on initiating a group where people could meet for a period of time in each other’s homes during April/May to enjoy fellowship while discussing a selected book.
Jim presented each of us with copies of “Our Defining Moment: A Call to Create the Future We Truly Want” by Jacqueline McMakin, published in January, 2009. Jim may write a Beacon article relative to this article.
As a follow-up to our December meeting, Jim contacted Roger Addor to learn if the Eskimos might be interested in working with us on a project to offer to help people make their homes more energy efficient. Roger was supportive of this effort and thought others would be as well. Jim will check back with Roger to help this move forward.
Ed shared a thank you note from Ray Sirois regarding the honorarium and thank you card our group sent him in appreciation for the program he presented on Climate Change in October. Ray was moved by our response, returned the check with a note asking that we “apply $50 to your church’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and educate your community on how important it is to live more sustain-ably. Let me know if I can help you in 2009. There is so much public education that is needed. “Pray with your feet moving!” (African proverb). The voided check has been returned to our church. When we decide how we want to use the $50, we can request the money from the Social Witness Ministries budget. We plan to advise Ray of how we used his gift.
We plan to invite Guy Gledhill of the House Committee to speak to our group regarding the work being done at our church to help the environment.
There is considerable interest in our group in doing something with our congregation regarding community supported food efforts such as buying shares in agriculture of in fisheries. A Master Gardener could explain that program and encourage people to consume healthier foods grown locally and cut back on the transportation of foods.
Ed reported that on February 8 from 1-4 pm and the First Parish Church on Congress Street there will be a program on Community Supported Food. Information will be shared and there will be opportunity to buy shares from farmers and fishermen.
On February 15 from 1-4 at First Parish there is a program on The Irreplaceable Wild—Climate Change effect on species becoming extinct.
Ed recommended the book “Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawkins.
Sarah attended the workshop at Woodfords on January 10 titled “Saving Money, Energy and the Environment”. She shared information and materials from the conference which focused on what congregations can do in churches to conserve energy.
Sarah has joined the U.S. Green Build Chapter and is committed to green action.
Sarah is developing a time and talent survey for us based on one used in Farmington. We could use the information to learn who in our church might have time and talents to contribute to environmental programs and efforts. Some church members might be interested in helping people make their homes more energy efficient, for example. This could be helpful in getting the program with the Eskimos underway. Workshops could be offered to help people develop particular skills—for example, raised bed gardening.
Members will share responsibility for writing articles for The Green Spot in the Beacon. Ed will write an article for the next Beacon. He may also write about the Environmental Coalition and current legislative bills for the second March Beacon. The First April article will relate to the April 19 service of worship. Janis offered to write an article about planting for wildlife in your backyard and another article about the work she is doing to establish environmental resources in our library. The first Beacon in March and the second one in April are possible dates for those articles.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Merrill
Present: Sarah Ellsworth, Barbara Merrill, Dick Merrill, Ed Saxby, Jim Van Hoeven
Ed opened our meeting with a discussion of our group accepting John McCall’s invitation to work with him or with Elsa to plan the worship service for April 19, 2009, Green Sunday, and to host a conversation in Davidson Lounge after the 10 a.m. service. We decided we would like to do that and Ed Saxby and Sarah Ellsworth will help plan the day. Ed will contact John. Ideas shared included a celebration of Earth Day with Food, Fun, and Fellowship; inclusion of thoughts around food, i.e. Community Supported Agriculture, families growing their own food; and possibly for a later time sharing information about environmental bills before the legislature and how individuals could become involved.
There was discussion around offering a book group this spring. Ed is interested in offering one. Sarah and Jim will work on initiating a group where people could meet for a period of time in each other’s homes during April/May to enjoy fellowship while discussing a selected book.
Jim presented each of us with copies of “Our Defining Moment: A Call to Create the Future We Truly Want” by Jacqueline McMakin, published in January, 2009. Jim may write a Beacon article relative to this article.
As a follow-up to our December meeting, Jim contacted Roger Addor to learn if the Eskimos might be interested in working with us on a project to offer to help people make their homes more energy efficient. Roger was supportive of this effort and thought others would be as well. Jim will check back with Roger to help this move forward.
Ed shared a thank you note from Ray Sirois regarding the honorarium and thank you card our group sent him in appreciation for the program he presented on Climate Change in October. Ray was moved by our response, returned the check with a note asking that we “apply $50 to your church’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and educate your community on how important it is to live more sustain-ably. Let me know if I can help you in 2009. There is so much public education that is needed. “Pray with your feet moving!” (African proverb). The voided check has been returned to our church. When we decide how we want to use the $50, we can request the money from the Social Witness Ministries budget. We plan to advise Ray of how we used his gift.
We plan to invite Guy Gledhill of the House Committee to speak to our group regarding the work being done at our church to help the environment.
There is considerable interest in our group in doing something with our congregation regarding community supported food efforts such as buying shares in agriculture of in fisheries. A Master Gardener could explain that program and encourage people to consume healthier foods grown locally and cut back on the transportation of foods.
Ed reported that on February 8 from 1-4 pm and the First Parish Church on Congress Street there will be a program on Community Supported Food. Information will be shared and there will be opportunity to buy shares from farmers and fishermen.
On February 15 from 1-4 at First Parish there is a program on The Irreplaceable Wild—Climate Change effect on species becoming extinct.
Ed recommended the book “Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawkins.
Sarah attended the workshop at Woodfords on January 10 titled “Saving Money, Energy and the Environment”. She shared information and materials from the conference which focused on what congregations can do in churches to conserve energy.
Sarah has joined the U.S. Green Build Chapter and is committed to green action.
Sarah is developing a time and talent survey for us based on one used in Farmington. We could use the information to learn who in our church might have time and talents to contribute to environmental programs and efforts. Some church members might be interested in helping people make their homes more energy efficient, for example. This could be helpful in getting the program with the Eskimos underway. Workshops could be offered to help people develop particular skills—for example, raised bed gardening.
Members will share responsibility for writing articles for The Green Spot in the Beacon. Ed will write an article for the next Beacon. He may also write about the Environmental Coalition and current legislative bills for the second March Beacon. The First April article will relate to the April 19 service of worship. Janis offered to write an article about planting for wildlife in your backyard and another article about the work she is doing to establish environmental resources in our library. The first Beacon in March and the second one in April are possible dates for those articles.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Merrill
The Food Pantry
Meeting Minutes
January 15, 2009
Present: Betty Crane, Nance Driscoll, AnnElissa Leveque, Francis Jane Addor, Burt Randall, Barbara Merrill, Gail Dransfield, Kathy Sahrbeck and Jan Files.
Balance: $5,056.37
Requests: Sept. 18, 2008 – Jan. 15, 2009
Families – 152; Adults – 265; Children – 24
Old Business:
We had a very long list of food and money donations, which you will find attached to these minutes. We at the meeting picked donors names to write Thank You notes to. Notes will be written from home.
Gail will write the Thank You notes on donations as they come in, while Judy is away.
It was mentioned that Chris Mill has been bringing bakery products to us for a long time and most likely has never been thanked. It was suggested that we send him a note.
Twice there have been bags left in the pantry with food donations that had no names on them. Kathy thought some of the bags were donations from Jane Eberle’s pot luck supper.
Barbara has just bought $120 worth of Gift Cards.
New Business:
Gail suggested that we take $300 out of our budget and buy flats of our most needed foods, such as small instant coffee, cereal, canned fruit, peanut butter, jelly, and canned meats. All agreed and AnnElissa will go shopping.
AnnElissa suggested that we write up some recipes to put in bags with the ingredients to make casseroles made with pasta. We have an abundant amount of pasta that was collected at one of our food drives. She said she would write up the recipes and leave copies to put in bags.
We were asked, when we shelved, not to put the cans way back in the rear and to make sure we put things in the right places. All extra large cans are to be put in a box to go to the Soup Kitchen. All baking supplies are to be given to Holly for her Soup Kitchen baking that she does.
Francis Jane said her husband, Roger, would be glad to hang our plaque we’d made to commemorate Verna Andrews and Beryl Brink. If it is not going to be hung by our door, the plaque by the door should be moved so that both plaques will both located alongside each other.
Request to Holly Daze Bazaar: We’d like to have some money to replace our rug and to build some more shelves. The name of Guy Gledhill was brought up as someone who could give us an estimate as to how much money would be needed to do this. Gail will look into this.
Gail wants to be put on the sub-list.
AnnElissa is going to make up a list of allergies for a child that she knows that we donate to. A note will be attached to her file, reminding us to check to list before packing for her.
A date for our coffee hour sale of post dated food was chosen. It will be Sunday, March 1. Gail will take care of putting a note in the Beacon and making a poster. AnnElissa and I will be doing the setting up before church and stay for sales. The money we make at these sales will be set aside for pantry improvements, whenever needed.
Respectfully submitted by Jan Files.
January 15, 2009
Present: Betty Crane, Nance Driscoll, AnnElissa Leveque, Francis Jane Addor, Burt Randall, Barbara Merrill, Gail Dransfield, Kathy Sahrbeck and Jan Files.
Balance: $5,056.37
Requests: Sept. 18, 2008 – Jan. 15, 2009
Families – 152; Adults – 265; Children – 24
Old Business:
We had a very long list of food and money donations, which you will find attached to these minutes. We at the meeting picked donors names to write Thank You notes to. Notes will be written from home.
Gail will write the Thank You notes on donations as they come in, while Judy is away.
It was mentioned that Chris Mill has been bringing bakery products to us for a long time and most likely has never been thanked. It was suggested that we send him a note.
Twice there have been bags left in the pantry with food donations that had no names on them. Kathy thought some of the bags were donations from Jane Eberle’s pot luck supper.
Barbara has just bought $120 worth of Gift Cards.
New Business:
Gail suggested that we take $300 out of our budget and buy flats of our most needed foods, such as small instant coffee, cereal, canned fruit, peanut butter, jelly, and canned meats. All agreed and AnnElissa will go shopping.
AnnElissa suggested that we write up some recipes to put in bags with the ingredients to make casseroles made with pasta. We have an abundant amount of pasta that was collected at one of our food drives. She said she would write up the recipes and leave copies to put in bags.
We were asked, when we shelved, not to put the cans way back in the rear and to make sure we put things in the right places. All extra large cans are to be put in a box to go to the Soup Kitchen. All baking supplies are to be given to Holly for her Soup Kitchen baking that she does.
Francis Jane said her husband, Roger, would be glad to hang our plaque we’d made to commemorate Verna Andrews and Beryl Brink. If it is not going to be hung by our door, the plaque by the door should be moved so that both plaques will both located alongside each other.
Request to Holly Daze Bazaar: We’d like to have some money to replace our rug and to build some more shelves. The name of Guy Gledhill was brought up as someone who could give us an estimate as to how much money would be needed to do this. Gail will look into this.
Gail wants to be put on the sub-list.
AnnElissa is going to make up a list of allergies for a child that she knows that we donate to. A note will be attached to her file, reminding us to check to list before packing for her.
A date for our coffee hour sale of post dated food was chosen. It will be Sunday, March 1. Gail will take care of putting a note in the Beacon and making a poster. AnnElissa and I will be doing the setting up before church and stay for sales. The money we make at these sales will be set aside for pantry improvements, whenever needed.
Respectfully submitted by Jan Files.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Administration Team
Minutes of Meeting: January 8, 2009
Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis and Cyndi Alden. Excused: Eben Marsh.
The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair Ron Bennett at 7:05 p.m. Jim Otis was appointed Meeting Secretary and Chair for the next meeting. Guy Gledhill graciously volunteered to take over after Jim.
The minutes of the December 4, 2008 meeting were reviewed and accepted.
OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi lead a review of our financial statements and budget for the 12 months ended 12/31/08. The good news was that the financials reflected a tentative loss of $(4,578), which is much lower then the budgeted loss of $(28,176) for the year. Overall, revenues were higher and expenses were lower. The higher revenue was generally the result of additional new member pledges this past April and May, along with additional pledges of about $8,000 from existing members during the last month or so of the year (we felt this was probably the result of John McCall mentioning our fiscal situation to the congregation). The further good news is that the final year end loss may be even less. We perused the maintenance expense account and the rental property income account and found about $3,700 of capital expenditures that should be charged (and paid from) Major Maintenance funds ($1,500 from maintenance (electric) expenses and $2,200 of appliances/improvements in the rental property account). Thus, the loss could be $3,700 less, but there probably will be $1,000 or so of final expense bills trickling in which will increase the loss. Cyndi said that, in the future, she will check with the House Committee when she receives larger maintenance bills to be sure that they are charged appropriately to operations or to Major Maintenance funds.
The A Team then decided it was a good time to talk about the 2009 budget and the two (2) 10% expense reduction goals that Chris Keiter had mentioned. After carefully reviewing the expense accounts under the A Team’s jurisdiction, the following reductions were agreed upon: (1) reduce Advertising from $2,150 to $1,000 (no newspaper advertising for Easter, etc.); (2) reduce Office Expense from $13,000 to $12,000; (3) reduce Stewardship expense from $1,600 to $1,100; and (4) reduce Conference expenses from $2,000 to $1,000. Together with the 50% withdrawal of $722 from the Garden Memorial Fund to offset maintenance expense, expense savings and additional receipts related to the 2009 budget will total $4,372, or about 15% of the Administration expense budget for 2009.
Tenant review: Both tenants in the corner building are still delinquent for December. Old Crow Gallery owes $1,200 and the upstairs residential tenant owes $560. Old Crow did pay the late fees we assessed them during 2008. We will monitor this closely.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: To date, the system appears to be working fine and Brian is doing a great job.
House: House Committee member Guy said everything was moving along fine and that the Committee didn’t meet in the last month and there was no formal report.
Planned Giving: Ron handed out a draft of a Planned Giving outline prepared by Committee Member Ellie Baker. The draft was of an educational nature and that is what the focus is intended to be. Ellie did a nice job over viewing what a planned gift is and the general ways of giving. This may go into the Beacon in the future, but the priority right now is to get the church budget finalized and approved. The Committee may want to put quarterly articles in the Beacon. In regard to possibly maintaining an “honor roll” of church members who put the church in their wills, it was felt that this wasn’t appropriate for various reasons. The Committee will be giving thought as to who the contact person (s) may be if someone wants to make a planned gift to the church.
NEW BUSINESS:
Rentals from Non-Profits: Chris Keiter has requested the A Team to address the topic of charging non-profit organizations that use the church’s facilities. We thought that more information is needed before making any decisions. For the next meeting, Cyndi will create an inventory of which non-profit groups use the church and how much they paid for 2008. Cyndi will also provide us with the present church guidelines (and perhaps the standard rental agreement we use). We also discussed having the Boy Singers of Maine use the church and we felt this sounded fine. The preliminary consensus was that we should charge those organizations who use our facilities and make money by doing this (i.e. charge fees for a concert, etc.).
The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 5, 2009
Respectfully submitted by: Jim Otis, Meeting Secretary
Present: Ron Bennett, Deb Sandler, Guy Gledhill, Chris Mills, Jim Otis and Cyndi Alden. Excused: Eben Marsh.
The meeting was called to order by the Meeting Chair Ron Bennett at 7:05 p.m. Jim Otis was appointed Meeting Secretary and Chair for the next meeting. Guy Gledhill graciously volunteered to take over after Jim.
The minutes of the December 4, 2008 meeting were reviewed and accepted.
OLD BUSINESS:
Financial Statements and Budget: Cyndi lead a review of our financial statements and budget for the 12 months ended 12/31/08. The good news was that the financials reflected a tentative loss of $(4,578), which is much lower then the budgeted loss of $(28,176) for the year. Overall, revenues were higher and expenses were lower. The higher revenue was generally the result of additional new member pledges this past April and May, along with additional pledges of about $8,000 from existing members during the last month or so of the year (we felt this was probably the result of John McCall mentioning our fiscal situation to the congregation). The further good news is that the final year end loss may be even less. We perused the maintenance expense account and the rental property income account and found about $3,700 of capital expenditures that should be charged (and paid from) Major Maintenance funds ($1,500 from maintenance (electric) expenses and $2,200 of appliances/improvements in the rental property account). Thus, the loss could be $3,700 less, but there probably will be $1,000 or so of final expense bills trickling in which will increase the loss. Cyndi said that, in the future, she will check with the House Committee when she receives larger maintenance bills to be sure that they are charged appropriately to operations or to Major Maintenance funds.
The A Team then decided it was a good time to talk about the 2009 budget and the two (2) 10% expense reduction goals that Chris Keiter had mentioned. After carefully reviewing the expense accounts under the A Team’s jurisdiction, the following reductions were agreed upon: (1) reduce Advertising from $2,150 to $1,000 (no newspaper advertising for Easter, etc.); (2) reduce Office Expense from $13,000 to $12,000; (3) reduce Stewardship expense from $1,600 to $1,100; and (4) reduce Conference expenses from $2,000 to $1,000. Together with the 50% withdrawal of $722 from the Garden Memorial Fund to offset maintenance expense, expense savings and additional receipts related to the 2009 budget will total $4,372, or about 15% of the Administration expense budget for 2009.
Tenant review: Both tenants in the corner building are still delinquent for December. Old Crow Gallery owes $1,200 and the upstairs residential tenant owes $560. Old Crow did pay the late fees we assessed them during 2008. We will monitor this closely.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Counting: To date, the system appears to be working fine and Brian is doing a great job.
House: House Committee member Guy said everything was moving along fine and that the Committee didn’t meet in the last month and there was no formal report.
Planned Giving: Ron handed out a draft of a Planned Giving outline prepared by Committee Member Ellie Baker. The draft was of an educational nature and that is what the focus is intended to be. Ellie did a nice job over viewing what a planned gift is and the general ways of giving. This may go into the Beacon in the future, but the priority right now is to get the church budget finalized and approved. The Committee may want to put quarterly articles in the Beacon. In regard to possibly maintaining an “honor roll” of church members who put the church in their wills, it was felt that this wasn’t appropriate for various reasons. The Committee will be giving thought as to who the contact person (s) may be if someone wants to make a planned gift to the church.
NEW BUSINESS:
Rentals from Non-Profits: Chris Keiter has requested the A Team to address the topic of charging non-profit organizations that use the church’s facilities. We thought that more information is needed before making any decisions. For the next meeting, Cyndi will create an inventory of which non-profit groups use the church and how much they paid for 2008. Cyndi will also provide us with the present church guidelines (and perhaps the standard rental agreement we use). We also discussed having the Boy Singers of Maine use the church and we felt this sounded fine. The preliminary consensus was that we should charge those organizations who use our facilities and make money by doing this (i.e. charge fees for a concert, etc.).
The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 5, 2009
Respectfully submitted by: Jim Otis, Meeting Secretary
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Mission and Outreach Team
Meeting Minutes January 8, 2009
Present: Laurie Cary, Chair; Linda Skinner, Elsa Peters, Greg Wyman, Carol Scheffler, Sarah Randall, Maureen Clancy
Maureen opened the meeting with a reflection on Ecclesiastes and asked that her e-mail address be changed to clancym@mercyme.com
Thank you notes were received from the following:
• Bill (recipient of gifts from the Giving Tree)
• Mission Mall: Seeds of Peace, Wayside Soup Kitchen, Animal Refuge
League, Ronald MacDonald House, & Gary’s House
• Andover Newton
• Grace Street Ministry
• Frannie Peabody Center
• Southern Poverty Law Center
The notes will be posted on the Mission Bulletin Board
December minutes were accepted as corrected:
“ . . . new bylaws allow teams to have more than six members and terms
of six consecutive years are now allowed.”
Treasurer’s Report:
Greg reported that the disbursements authorized at December’s meeting have been made resulting in a zero balance in the 2008 Special and Other Support funds. The other disbursement was $235.00 from the Social Witness Ministries item which he believes represents the amount needed for the Women in Harmony ad requested by the Diversity Committee. Carol is to confirm that amount with the DC.
December’s Special Offerings were:
• Christmas Offering: $1689.00
• Veterans of the Cross $2393.85
MOT Budget Request - Laurie & Greg met at 6:30 to review the MOT budget request for 2009 in response to Council’s request to all Teams to cut ’09 budgets by 20%.The Mission Team was also asked to take 50% from our Discretionary Fund ($4931.53) & add this amount to our operating budget.
•In order to reduce our budget by 20%, a total of $12, 387, Greg & Laurie determined that the Special & Other Support total would have to be reduced by 30% as the amount given to OCWM- Per Capital Distribution is fixed. Elsa pointed out that this amount can be reduced by purging of membership rolls of inactive members & that Council has recommended this be done.
•It was also decided that the contribution to the Maine Conference be reduced by 20% (to $21,168.00 from $26,460.00), reflecting the need for reduction in all budgets.
•Laurie noted that the amount budgeted for Elder Programs is more of a personnel matter & we will leave that to the discretion of the personnel committee & John McCall. However, in line with the council’s directive, we cut 20% from Elder Programs.
•Laurie & Greg ended by noting that 40 pledging households have not yet sent in their pledge & expressed the hope that funds would be restored to Missions, particularly the Special & Other Support Item should there be additional money received.
Minister’s Moment:
Elsa reported that about 30 enthusiastic folks showed up for the Preble Street Micah Project. Even better, they were still enthusiastic when they finished slicing, dicing, serving, cleaning, sorting, etc at 10:00 a.m.
Plans are proceeding for February’s project, the Habitat Build on February 14th. Project runs from 9:00 – 3:00, so we will meet to carpool at Sawyer Street parking lot at about 8:15 a.m.. Elsa provided a list of volunteers who will be called 2-3 weeks prior to the 14th. Carol will contact Elsa for answers to FAQ so that we will have that info available when making calls. Habitat Walk will be on May 3, 2009.
Other Micah Projects were briefly discussed:
• March 7th – Heifer Project trip
• End of April – Work days at Pilgrim Lodge; Elsa will get details
• May – Friendship House on Lincoln Street in South Portland. Laurie contacted Richard Kepler, Co-Ordinator who said they need help from perhaps 10 people to help paint the front porch. He also noted that they need on-going monthly help to take to recycling cardboard & clothing that the city will not pick up. These items pile up in a back room.
New Business:
a. 2009 budget – see Treasurer’s Report
b. Preble Street Teen Center – Carol just gave a heads up of the Diversity Committee’s hope to hold a short clothing drive for residents of the Teen Center. The DC will be responsible for it & it will run for about 2 weeks.
c. Request from Don Russell – Children of China Fund which is geared to help with the education of children in rural China; Don knows Gwen Moore, one of the organizers & recommends her as a guest speaker. It was decided that we would recommend that Don consider having her as a Forum presenter. Given the present budget circumstances, the Team felt we could not promise any kind of financial support or even an honorarium. Laurie will contact Don.
d. Coffee Hour 2/1 and 2/22- It was determined that our responsibilities will be to provide baked goods, serving & clean up afterwards, with EG& F being responsible for juice, “goldfish”, & condiments. A sign up sheet for baked goods was circulated. Laurie noted that we will be taking Fair Trade coffee orders on 2/1 and distributing coffee on 2/22, so we will be needing help from any members available. (Maureen cannot be there for either date & Greg will be out of town on 2/1.)
Team Feedback:
Carol encouraged everyone to check out the Childrens’ Closet which is now 100% brighter & cleaner due to the new ceiling & lights & effort by CC volunteers to sort/weed through accumulated clothing & toys. She also asked if CC could purchase a dustpan & broom for their use.
Maureen distributed sample search results from the website, http://www/211maine.org/ , a directory of health & human information & resources in Maine. Maureen will be happy to do in depth research on any organization we might want to explore more deeply.
Laurie provided an update on the food pantry in Washington County to whom we made a donation in 2006, The sponsoring organization, Greater Eastport Ecumenical Churches Assn., sent a note stating that they have raised $85,000 of the $100,000 needed to complete the project & have received a matching grant from USDA with which to purchase a walk-in cooler. They need only $8300.00 to retire the mortgage on the land.
Recorder: Carol Scheffler
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Opening Prayer: AnnElissa Leveque
Recorder: Maureen Clancy
Present: Laurie Cary, Chair; Linda Skinner, Elsa Peters, Greg Wyman, Carol Scheffler, Sarah Randall, Maureen Clancy
Maureen opened the meeting with a reflection on Ecclesiastes and asked that her e-mail address be changed to clancym@mercyme.com
Thank you notes were received from the following:
• Bill (recipient of gifts from the Giving Tree)
• Mission Mall: Seeds of Peace, Wayside Soup Kitchen, Animal Refuge
League, Ronald MacDonald House, & Gary’s House
• Andover Newton
• Grace Street Ministry
• Frannie Peabody Center
• Southern Poverty Law Center
The notes will be posted on the Mission Bulletin Board
December minutes were accepted as corrected:
“ . . . new bylaws allow teams to have more than six members and terms
of six consecutive years are now allowed.”
Treasurer’s Report:
Greg reported that the disbursements authorized at December’s meeting have been made resulting in a zero balance in the 2008 Special and Other Support funds. The other disbursement was $235.00 from the Social Witness Ministries item which he believes represents the amount needed for the Women in Harmony ad requested by the Diversity Committee. Carol is to confirm that amount with the DC.
December’s Special Offerings were:
• Christmas Offering: $1689.00
• Veterans of the Cross $2393.85
MOT Budget Request - Laurie & Greg met at 6:30 to review the MOT budget request for 2009 in response to Council’s request to all Teams to cut ’09 budgets by 20%.The Mission Team was also asked to take 50% from our Discretionary Fund ($4931.53) & add this amount to our operating budget.
•In order to reduce our budget by 20%, a total of $12, 387, Greg & Laurie determined that the Special & Other Support total would have to be reduced by 30% as the amount given to OCWM- Per Capital Distribution is fixed. Elsa pointed out that this amount can be reduced by purging of membership rolls of inactive members & that Council has recommended this be done.
•It was also decided that the contribution to the Maine Conference be reduced by 20% (to $21,168.00 from $26,460.00), reflecting the need for reduction in all budgets.
•Laurie noted that the amount budgeted for Elder Programs is more of a personnel matter & we will leave that to the discretion of the personnel committee & John McCall. However, in line with the council’s directive, we cut 20% from Elder Programs.
•Laurie & Greg ended by noting that 40 pledging households have not yet sent in their pledge & expressed the hope that funds would be restored to Missions, particularly the Special & Other Support Item should there be additional money received.
Minister’s Moment:
Elsa reported that about 30 enthusiastic folks showed up for the Preble Street Micah Project. Even better, they were still enthusiastic when they finished slicing, dicing, serving, cleaning, sorting, etc at 10:00 a.m.
Plans are proceeding for February’s project, the Habitat Build on February 14th. Project runs from 9:00 – 3:00, so we will meet to carpool at Sawyer Street parking lot at about 8:15 a.m.. Elsa provided a list of volunteers who will be called 2-3 weeks prior to the 14th. Carol will contact Elsa for answers to FAQ so that we will have that info available when making calls. Habitat Walk will be on May 3, 2009.
Other Micah Projects were briefly discussed:
• March 7th – Heifer Project trip
• End of April – Work days at Pilgrim Lodge; Elsa will get details
• May – Friendship House on Lincoln Street in South Portland. Laurie contacted Richard Kepler, Co-Ordinator who said they need help from perhaps 10 people to help paint the front porch. He also noted that they need on-going monthly help to take to recycling cardboard & clothing that the city will not pick up. These items pile up in a back room.
New Business:
a. 2009 budget – see Treasurer’s Report
b. Preble Street Teen Center – Carol just gave a heads up of the Diversity Committee’s hope to hold a short clothing drive for residents of the Teen Center. The DC will be responsible for it & it will run for about 2 weeks.
c. Request from Don Russell – Children of China Fund which is geared to help with the education of children in rural China; Don knows Gwen Moore, one of the organizers & recommends her as a guest speaker. It was decided that we would recommend that Don consider having her as a Forum presenter. Given the present budget circumstances, the Team felt we could not promise any kind of financial support or even an honorarium. Laurie will contact Don.
d. Coffee Hour 2/1 and 2/22- It was determined that our responsibilities will be to provide baked goods, serving & clean up afterwards, with EG& F being responsible for juice, “goldfish”, & condiments. A sign up sheet for baked goods was circulated. Laurie noted that we will be taking Fair Trade coffee orders on 2/1 and distributing coffee on 2/22, so we will be needing help from any members available. (Maureen cannot be there for either date & Greg will be out of town on 2/1.)
Team Feedback:
Carol encouraged everyone to check out the Childrens’ Closet which is now 100% brighter & cleaner due to the new ceiling & lights & effort by CC volunteers to sort/weed through accumulated clothing & toys. She also asked if CC could purchase a dustpan & broom for their use.
Maureen distributed sample search results from the website, http://www/211maine.org/ , a directory of health & human information & resources in Maine. Maureen will be happy to do in depth research on any organization we might want to explore more deeply.
Laurie provided an update on the food pantry in Washington County to whom we made a donation in 2006, The sponsoring organization, Greater Eastport Ecumenical Churches Assn., sent a note stating that they have raised $85,000 of the $100,000 needed to complete the project & have received a matching grant from USDA with which to purchase a walk-in cooler. They need only $8300.00 to retire the mortgage on the land.
Recorder: Carol Scheffler
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Opening Prayer: AnnElissa Leveque
Recorder: Maureen Clancy
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes
1/5/09
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross, Elinor Redmond
Dave opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m. No changes were made to the minutes from 11/24/08.
I. Preparations for the 1/11 Focus Group:
Dave folded, stamped and sent 34 letters. To date 3 people have accepted the invitation. Jim will facilitate and Kendra will attend as an invitee. Stan will take notes. On Saturday Kendra and Jim will call invitees who have not responded if attendance appears to be less than 6. Kendra will be in touch with the Church about responses.
Refreshments: Kendra will make something, Jim will bring cider and (someone) will fetch a carafe of coffee from Wright Pavilion.
We reviewed Jim’s (excellent) discussion guide in detail:
He will point out that Stan is taking notes of what people have to say but not recording their names with their comments. On Dave’s suggestion, #6 (areas needing change) will focus on areas where the church might do a better job of making people feel welcome. The same focus will be placed on #10 (magic wand). The answers to #4 (In the early days, what kept you coming back?) and #10 will be the most useful as well as whether someone is comfortable inviting others to the church.
We hope for a good conversation. This is a self-selected group, a group which chose to come (and continue coming) to our church. We wondered about obtaining anonymous feedback from people who did not respond to the invitation. Also, we wondered about a way to survey people who attended church for a while and then disappeared. That will be a future project.
II. Mission Statement
We started with a statement drafted by Stan (thank you for getting us started!):
‘To seek ways to increase the number of people participating in the life of our Church and from that foundation to seek ways to increase the church membership.’
John: add extravagant welcome.
Elinor: what about building relationships?
We want to be able to measure success (attendance and membership)
‘We seek to extend a warm welcome that will incorporate people into the life of the church (leading to increased attendance, participation and membership).’
From Elinor, other possibilities:
• To extend a warm welcome, building a strong relationship with people coming to our church and to include them in the life of the church so that they will join us in attending services, participating in our community and formalizing their relationship with church membership.
• To provide the structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, incorporate them into church life and lay the groundwork for attendance, participation and membership.
• To provide structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, build relationships with them so that they are part of our church community, attending services, participating and joining.
III. Mentor Program
HOORAY! We agreed on a name: Parish Host. The word host implies knowledge of the church and allows for flexibility in the length of the relationship.
We reviewed Dave’s draft for the Parish Host Program:
2. The host needs to know the physical layout of the church and how to find things out.
3. On Jim’s suggestion, we added ‘be able’ (What would a parish host be able to do).
We added linking people up with something they are interested in. (Determine what the new person’s interest might be)
John said the relationship should be 2 way and should start after a few months’ attendance.
Kendra will research whether the UCC has any guidelines for parish hosts and look into what other churches do.
4. Characteristic: Consistent (outgoing) but not pushy.
5. Success: Eliminate ‘getting them to attend regularly/join’
Know their personal needs in relation to their church experience.
6. Most of these materials are available (the Directory includes the phone list and the membership list)
Kendra queried how to track people. How will we find out about people who stop attending? We will need a focus group for the hosts.
Add #7: Following up with parish hosts.
Dave will supply us with an updated version.
Jim: Future agenda item = re-visit our current welcome and invitation process from the aspect of having a host in place. There may be other things to implement over time. Should attendance at small groups be passed along to the office?
John requested help in phoning people who have received an invitation to next Monday’s Inquirer’s meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Next Meeting: Monday, February 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
1/5/09
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross, Elinor Redmond
Dave opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m. No changes were made to the minutes from 11/24/08.
I. Preparations for the 1/11 Focus Group:
Dave folded, stamped and sent 34 letters. To date 3 people have accepted the invitation. Jim will facilitate and Kendra will attend as an invitee. Stan will take notes. On Saturday Kendra and Jim will call invitees who have not responded if attendance appears to be less than 6. Kendra will be in touch with the Church about responses.
Refreshments: Kendra will make something, Jim will bring cider and (someone) will fetch a carafe of coffee from Wright Pavilion.
We reviewed Jim’s (excellent) discussion guide in detail:
He will point out that Stan is taking notes of what people have to say but not recording their names with their comments. On Dave’s suggestion, #6 (areas needing change) will focus on areas where the church might do a better job of making people feel welcome. The same focus will be placed on #10 (magic wand). The answers to #4 (In the early days, what kept you coming back?) and #10 will be the most useful as well as whether someone is comfortable inviting others to the church.
We hope for a good conversation. This is a self-selected group, a group which chose to come (and continue coming) to our church. We wondered about obtaining anonymous feedback from people who did not respond to the invitation. Also, we wondered about a way to survey people who attended church for a while and then disappeared. That will be a future project.
II. Mission Statement
We started with a statement drafted by Stan (thank you for getting us started!):
‘To seek ways to increase the number of people participating in the life of our Church and from that foundation to seek ways to increase the church membership.’
John: add extravagant welcome.
Elinor: what about building relationships?
We want to be able to measure success (attendance and membership)
‘We seek to extend a warm welcome that will incorporate people into the life of the church (leading to increased attendance, participation and membership).’
From Elinor, other possibilities:
• To extend a warm welcome, building a strong relationship with people coming to our church and to include them in the life of the church so that they will join us in attending services, participating in our community and formalizing their relationship with church membership.
• To provide the structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, incorporate them into church life and lay the groundwork for attendance, participation and membership.
• To provide structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, build relationships with them so that they are part of our church community, attending services, participating and joining.
III. Mentor Program
HOORAY! We agreed on a name: Parish Host. The word host implies knowledge of the church and allows for flexibility in the length of the relationship.
We reviewed Dave’s draft for the Parish Host Program:
2. The host needs to know the physical layout of the church and how to find things out.
3. On Jim’s suggestion, we added ‘be able’ (What would a parish host be able to do).
We added linking people up with something they are interested in. (Determine what the new person’s interest might be)
John said the relationship should be 2 way and should start after a few months’ attendance.
Kendra will research whether the UCC has any guidelines for parish hosts and look into what other churches do.
4. Characteristic: Consistent (outgoing) but not pushy.
5. Success: Eliminate ‘getting them to attend regularly/join’
Know their personal needs in relation to their church experience.
6. Most of these materials are available (the Directory includes the phone list and the membership list)
Kendra queried how to track people. How will we find out about people who stop attending? We will need a focus group for the hosts.
Add #7: Following up with parish hosts.
Dave will supply us with an updated version.
Jim: Future agenda item = re-visit our current welcome and invitation process from the aspect of having a host in place. There may be other things to implement over time. Should attendance at small groups be passed along to the office?
John requested help in phoning people who have received an invitation to next Monday’s Inquirer’s meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Next Meeting: Monday, February 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Diversity Committe
January 4, 2009
Present: Deb Theriault, Mike Kasputes, Karen Westerberg, Kathy Cotter, John McCall, Joan Carrier, Dolores Broberg, Carol Scheffler
Dolores gave the opening
Minutes of the Meeting of November 16, 2008 were accepted as corrected
OLD BUSINESS:
Women in Harmony
- receipt of ad for 2009 program confirmed
- Deb will check with Leigh Garrett that an invitation to use the Sanctuary for their Spring Concert was issued
Clothing Drive for Preble Street Teen Center- Deb received no response to her initial e-mail to Resource Contact to confirm need for clothing drive
- Deb will re-contact
- John agreed that having a box in the Narthex will be OK for a couple of weeks
- Carol will alert MOT that Diversity is heading up the drive
- Dolores has knit goods to add to box
GLSEN
- donation of $100.00 to GLSEN was approved by the committee members on-line in December
- unanimous agreement to listing of First Congregational as a supporter on GLSEN website
- Betsy Parsons will be leading a Forum describing the purpose of GLSEN following the Diversity Sunday service;Joan has provided guidelines to Betsy
“Anyone and Everyone” video
- It was decided to open the showing of the video to the
congregation in a Forum type format following a church service
- John will check for an available date in February or March
Other Old Business:
- John reported that AnnElissa Leveque will be leading a
Forum on signing on February 8th
NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business
DIVERSITY SUNDAY PLANNING:
Scripture chosen: Matthew 12:46-50
Hymns: #’s 7, 36, & 19 in Songs of the Spirit; Shirley will choose Anthem
Bulletin Cover: Joan presented a draft; John suggested “water-marking" tool & Joan will try this; Deb has house graphic that might work for both Bulletin & publicity posters to be put around church; Deb will find & e-mail to Joan & Kathy; Deb will produce 6 8 ½ x 11 posters & bring Tuesday to choir practice
Worship Leaders:
Carol: Life of the Church; Unison Prayer & Lord’s Prayer;
(Dolores will write Unison Prayer)
John: Welcome to Worship
Kathy: Children’s Time (many suggestions for theme
implementation made)
Elsa: Prayers of the People
Dolores: Prayer for Illumination; the Word
Message: Pam Hermann, Mike Kasputes, Karen Westerberg,
John McCall
Joan: Sharing our Tithes; Dedication Prayer
Benediction: Carol, Kathy, Joan & Dolores
Chapel: John, Mike, Karen, & Pam; Carol – Worship Leader
(John will provide outline)
NEXT MEETING: To be scheduled as needed with Agenda to include:
Possible participation in Pride Celebration Volunteering
for Women in Harmony Concert
Dolores gave the closing
Minutes taken by Carol Scheffler
Present: Deb Theriault, Mike Kasputes, Karen Westerberg, Kathy Cotter, John McCall, Joan Carrier, Dolores Broberg, Carol Scheffler
Dolores gave the opening
Minutes of the Meeting of November 16, 2008 were accepted as corrected
OLD BUSINESS:
Women in Harmony
- receipt of ad for 2009 program confirmed
- Deb will check with Leigh Garrett that an invitation to use the Sanctuary for their Spring Concert was issued
Clothing Drive for Preble Street Teen Center- Deb received no response to her initial e-mail to Resource Contact to confirm need for clothing drive
- Deb will re-contact
- John agreed that having a box in the Narthex will be OK for a couple of weeks
- Carol will alert MOT that Diversity is heading up the drive
- Dolores has knit goods to add to box
GLSEN
- donation of $100.00 to GLSEN was approved by the committee members on-line in December
- unanimous agreement to listing of First Congregational as a supporter on GLSEN website
- Betsy Parsons will be leading a Forum describing the purpose of GLSEN following the Diversity Sunday service;Joan has provided guidelines to Betsy
“Anyone and Everyone” video
- It was decided to open the showing of the video to the
congregation in a Forum type format following a church service
- John will check for an available date in February or March
Other Old Business:
- John reported that AnnElissa Leveque will be leading a
Forum on signing on February 8th
NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business
DIVERSITY SUNDAY PLANNING:
Scripture chosen: Matthew 12:46-50
Hymns: #’s 7, 36, & 19 in Songs of the Spirit; Shirley will choose Anthem
Bulletin Cover: Joan presented a draft; John suggested “water-marking" tool & Joan will try this; Deb has house graphic that might work for both Bulletin & publicity posters to be put around church; Deb will find & e-mail to Joan & Kathy; Deb will produce 6 8 ½ x 11 posters & bring Tuesday to choir practice
Worship Leaders:
Carol: Life of the Church; Unison Prayer & Lord’s Prayer;
(Dolores will write Unison Prayer)
John: Welcome to Worship
Kathy: Children’s Time (many suggestions for theme
implementation made)
Elsa: Prayers of the People
Dolores: Prayer for Illumination; the Word
Message: Pam Hermann, Mike Kasputes, Karen Westerberg,
John McCall
Joan: Sharing our Tithes; Dedication Prayer
Benediction: Carol, Kathy, Joan & Dolores
Chapel: John, Mike, Karen, & Pam; Carol – Worship Leader
(John will provide outline)
NEXT MEETING: To be scheduled as needed with Agenda to include:
Possible participation in Pride Celebration Volunteering
for Women in Harmony Concert
Dolores gave the closing
Minutes taken by Carol Scheffler
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