July 31, 2008
Present: Louise Davis, Leslie Gatcombe-Hynes, Barbara Merrill, Dick Merrill
Louise offered our opening prayer/meditation.
Louise shared the album she had put together for placement in the Green Action Group’s section of our church library. The album contains pertinent articles about the environment from such sources as Scientific American, the “Cape Lands” newsletter of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, and the Portland Water District. There are articles about energy saving in schools, a wind project in Texas, more energy efficient cars, and bottled water. A booklet titled “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living” was also included.
A July article in The Cape Courier reported how pastor, Msgr. Michael Henchal and a parishioner James Masi, who is a physicist, helped St. Bartholomew become one of three Catholic churches in the state using solar power.
Louise will continue to develop additional albums for our library. Articles from these albums could be copied for posting on church bulletin boards. Information could be utilized in writing articles for The Beacon.
Barbara will contact the Library Committee to arrange for the albums to be catalogued so people can check them out. Barbara will order additional copies of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living” so people can borrow these as well.
Dick will contact Msgr. Henchal and James Masi to obtain further information about St. Bartholomew’s solar project. Perhaps one of the gentlemen could visit our church and/or a group of us could visit St. Bartholemew. Dick will also contact Maine Audubon to learn more about their energy efficient building with the possibility of some of us visiting there as well.
Louise offered to look up information about four children’s books with which she is familiar on Energy, Recycling, Water, and Electricity. These might be added to our library.
Leslie contacted Ray Sirois and he is available to do a presentation this fall on “An Inconvenient Truth Update”. His information will focus on the New England region. Leslie will contact Cyndi Alden regarding church building availability in terms of date, time, and space. We discussed having the program at 7 PM during September or October in Guptil Hall. We would like to invite other faith communities and appropriate community groups to attend. We mentioned the idea of serving refreshments.
Sarah Ellsworth was not able to attend this meeting but said she has plans for a bulletin board presentation and will move forward on that.
Louise has a call in to Mary Ann Fathke regarding the possibility of a vegetable garden project.
Barbara shared materials that John McCall received from the Action Institute that includes information on Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition. A DVD and Study Guide are being reviewed by committee members. Barbara will order the complete program for possible use with study groups and/or placement in the library.
Items for our August Meeting on Thursday, August 28, at 7 PM in Davidson Lounge include:
-Green Action albums up-date by Louise
-Children’s books research by Louise
-Contact with Mary Ann Fathke report by Louise
-Library report by Barbara
-Ray Sirois’ program by Leslie
-St. Bartholomew report by Dick
-Maine Audubon report by Dick
-Bulletin Board report by Sarah
-Complete work on our Mission Statement (Objectives and Methods)
-Continue to plan for the adult education program in November
-Further planning for Gary Roberts’ program in the fall
-Plan for Homecoming Sunday—We discussed having our Green Action albums and fliers about Ray Sirois’ program on our table for Homecoming.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Merrill
Showing posts with label July 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label July 2008. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Spiritual Life and Worship
July 3, 2008
Present: Sandy Hansen, Betsy Keiter, Elinor Redmond, and Richard Angell
Opening Prayer was led by Sandy.
Review of Minutes from June 6 and they were approved as written.
Hymnal Committee Update
A report from the committee was not available at this time. However, there are many signs that the Committee is active and proceeding forward. Last Sunday, before and after the service there was an invitation to the congregation to join committee members for a discussion of the possible hymnals and to take a look at them. In addition, there is a summary of the committee’s findings in the Narthex that the congregation is welcome to review.
Review and Discussion of UCC Conference
Rick Angell attended the UCC Conference recently as a delegate for our church. He was very impressed by the experience, and shared some of the highlights with us. They included the following:
-Open & Affirming – First Congregational Church is and is committed to be an Open and Affirming church. The UCC Conference is not. During the weekend, the delegates approved a Resolution to begin a process of study and reflection in order to determine whether the Conference should elect to be an Open and Affirming Conference. Rick also reported that out of approximately 174 churches in Maine, only 15 are Open & Affirming.
-Key Note Speaker – John Thomas gave a very impressive message entitled The Big Tent and the Great Parade. He encouraged people to be more daring, and invited people to enlarge the scale of what you are able to desire. His message can be found on the UCC Website, www.ucc.org.
-Stained Glass Window Workshop – This workshop focused on technology enhancing a worship service, and how technology can be introduced to the congregation. Rick would like to talk further about trying some ideas here.
-Next Generation – discussion of the UCC properties… necessary updates, financial strains, and the possibility of centralizing the properties.
Ongoing Issues:
Summer Communion Schedule – Mary Anne reports that she is all set for July, August and September with the Communion by Intinction schedule.
Summer Worship Leaders – Betsy is still looking for worship leaders for 3 weeks in August.
Participation Forms – Elinor has received new participation forms from the recent new members. She’ll be distributing the names to the appropriate people.
Organizational Chart of the Church – Elinor has agreed to continue to work on the organizational chart that Lisa Merchant had started.
Next Meeting: Thursday, September 4th @ 7:30p
Adjourned at 8:45p
Respectfully Submitted by,
Sandra Hansen
Present: Sandy Hansen, Betsy Keiter, Elinor Redmond, and Richard Angell
Opening Prayer was led by Sandy.
Review of Minutes from June 6 and they were approved as written.
Hymnal Committee Update
A report from the committee was not available at this time. However, there are many signs that the Committee is active and proceeding forward. Last Sunday, before and after the service there was an invitation to the congregation to join committee members for a discussion of the possible hymnals and to take a look at them. In addition, there is a summary of the committee’s findings in the Narthex that the congregation is welcome to review.
Review and Discussion of UCC Conference
Rick Angell attended the UCC Conference recently as a delegate for our church. He was very impressed by the experience, and shared some of the highlights with us. They included the following:
-Open & Affirming – First Congregational Church is and is committed to be an Open and Affirming church. The UCC Conference is not. During the weekend, the delegates approved a Resolution to begin a process of study and reflection in order to determine whether the Conference should elect to be an Open and Affirming Conference. Rick also reported that out of approximately 174 churches in Maine, only 15 are Open & Affirming.
-Key Note Speaker – John Thomas gave a very impressive message entitled The Big Tent and the Great Parade. He encouraged people to be more daring, and invited people to enlarge the scale of what you are able to desire. His message can be found on the UCC Website, www.ucc.org.
-Stained Glass Window Workshop – This workshop focused on technology enhancing a worship service, and how technology can be introduced to the congregation. Rick would like to talk further about trying some ideas here.
-Next Generation – discussion of the UCC properties… necessary updates, financial strains, and the possibility of centralizing the properties.
Ongoing Issues:
Summer Communion Schedule – Mary Anne reports that she is all set for July, August and September with the Communion by Intinction schedule.
Summer Worship Leaders – Betsy is still looking for worship leaders for 3 weeks in August.
Participation Forms – Elinor has received new participation forms from the recent new members. She’ll be distributing the names to the appropriate people.
Organizational Chart of the Church – Elinor has agreed to continue to work on the organizational chart that Lisa Merchant had started.
Next Meeting: Thursday, September 4th @ 7:30p
Adjourned at 8:45p
Respectfully Submitted by,
Sandra Hansen
Council Work Session
July 14, 2008
Present: Carol Zechman, Nancy Maclean, Sally Hinckley, David Allen, Jean Siulinski, John McCall, Sally Sutton, Stan Jordan, Chris Keiter
Call to order: Chris K. called the meeting to order at 6:30pm. With only seven members present, a quorum was not present. We decided to proceed with the work session, recognizing that the results would be recommendations to the full Council, not decisions of the Council.
By-Laws: Stan led a review of the latest draft of the by-laws. Stan will update the by-laws with the comments and will send them to Chris. Chris will add a cover page and table of contents and will propose a process for having them reviewed by the congregation.
Church Mailing List: A situation occurred last week that could be interpreted as the church allowing the church mailing list to be used for other than church-related business. This is not the case. The church only allows the church mailing list to be used for church-related business. However, there is no written policy to this effect. The Council will develop a policy about this in the fall.
Church Directory Permissions: The church directory will be updated soon. We discussed concerns and options about what permissions are required in order to include member contact information in the church directory. Our recommendation is to include listed member contact information in the church directory unless a member specifically requests the contact information to be withheld.
Les Andrews additional bequest: After Les Andrews passed away, a bequest was given to the church and was accepted. It was known at the time that an additional bequest was likely. Last week, Les’ son came into the office and gave John two checks worth a total of about $68,500. He requested that $1,500 be put into the Ministers’ Discretionary Fund, with the remainder to be put into the unrestricted endowments, unless there was a specific project that it could be used for. When John described the chancel reconfiguration project to him and showed him the progress to date, Les’ son said that we could use any of the bequest to pay for the chancel reconfiguration project. Les loved the church and he loved music, so this would be an appropriate use of the bequest.
The Council discussed the situation and developed the following proposal:
· Accept the Les Andrews additional bequest
· Still have the Music Fund contribute $2,000 to the chancel project
· Still have the North Church Memorial Fund contribute $4,000 to the chancel project
· Still conduct the fund raising effort for the chancel project (it is almost complete)
· Still sell the choir pews to help fund the chancel project
· Instead of using the unrestricted endowments to fund the remainder of the chancel project (as previously discussed), use much of the additional bequest from Les Andrews
· Put $1,500 from the Les Andrews additional bequest into the Ministers’ Discretionary Fund
· Put the remainder of the Les Andrews additional bequest into the unrestricted endowments
Chris will ask the Council to vote on this proposal via email.
Homecoming Sunday: This event is coming up on September 7th. Chris asked for volunteers to develop a display / event to represent the Council on Homecoming Sunday. Sally H and Jean volunteered. Thank you!
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Keiter
Moderator
Present: Carol Zechman, Nancy Maclean, Sally Hinckley, David Allen, Jean Siulinski, John McCall, Sally Sutton, Stan Jordan, Chris Keiter
Call to order: Chris K. called the meeting to order at 6:30pm. With only seven members present, a quorum was not present. We decided to proceed with the work session, recognizing that the results would be recommendations to the full Council, not decisions of the Council.
By-Laws: Stan led a review of the latest draft of the by-laws. Stan will update the by-laws with the comments and will send them to Chris. Chris will add a cover page and table of contents and will propose a process for having them reviewed by the congregation.
Church Mailing List: A situation occurred last week that could be interpreted as the church allowing the church mailing list to be used for other than church-related business. This is not the case. The church only allows the church mailing list to be used for church-related business. However, there is no written policy to this effect. The Council will develop a policy about this in the fall.
Church Directory Permissions: The church directory will be updated soon. We discussed concerns and options about what permissions are required in order to include member contact information in the church directory. Our recommendation is to include listed member contact information in the church directory unless a member specifically requests the contact information to be withheld.
Les Andrews additional bequest: After Les Andrews passed away, a bequest was given to the church and was accepted. It was known at the time that an additional bequest was likely. Last week, Les’ son came into the office and gave John two checks worth a total of about $68,500. He requested that $1,500 be put into the Ministers’ Discretionary Fund, with the remainder to be put into the unrestricted endowments, unless there was a specific project that it could be used for. When John described the chancel reconfiguration project to him and showed him the progress to date, Les’ son said that we could use any of the bequest to pay for the chancel reconfiguration project. Les loved the church and he loved music, so this would be an appropriate use of the bequest.
The Council discussed the situation and developed the following proposal:
· Accept the Les Andrews additional bequest
· Still have the Music Fund contribute $2,000 to the chancel project
· Still have the North Church Memorial Fund contribute $4,000 to the chancel project
· Still conduct the fund raising effort for the chancel project (it is almost complete)
· Still sell the choir pews to help fund the chancel project
· Instead of using the unrestricted endowments to fund the remainder of the chancel project (as previously discussed), use much of the additional bequest from Les Andrews
· Put $1,500 from the Les Andrews additional bequest into the Ministers’ Discretionary Fund
· Put the remainder of the Les Andrews additional bequest into the unrestricted endowments
Chris will ask the Council to vote on this proposal via email.
Homecoming Sunday: This event is coming up on September 7th. Chris asked for volunteers to develop a display / event to represent the Council on Homecoming Sunday. Sally H and Jean volunteered. Thank you!
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Keiter
Moderator
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Hymnal Committee
July 17, 2008
Attending: Elaine Brownell, Barbara Merrill, Dana Wiggins, Evie Strom, Dolores Broberg, Lynn Howard, Shirley Curry, Betsy Keiter, John McCallExcused: , Barbara Powers, Bruce Lockwood, Deb Theriault, Carrie Skeffington
Recap of progress
-March - we called 10 UCC churches in surrounding communities to discover which hymnal they use and if it was a good choice for them.
-Publishers were called for ordering deadlines and prices to guage affordability
-April - a Music Survey was written to explore preferences of the congregation
-100 surveys were gathered and results reported
-July - Two sessions of question and answer sessions "Book Talks" were held
-Song comparisons were made between the 4 hymnal choices
Book Talks - Dolores reported on the 10:45 Book Talk session. Only 10 attended but many questions were asked with good discussion of the 4 choices of hymnals in consideration
Review - of the hymnals in use by area UCC churches and their opinions. Review of pricing and ordering deadlines. We considered what will serve our congregation best in the next 20 years, looking forward to musical worship that could bring together a more diverse congregation.
Favorite songs - a list of favorites from the music surveys will be cleared for usage rights. CCLI is a church licensing fee paid each year for usage permissions on a number of our hymns.
Concerns discussed - Changing economy in regard to the expense: Consensus was that prices may only get more expensive and the books are priced very affordably at $17 per, a good value. Segregated funds (specified for the worship service) are available in the Memorial Fund. Costs will also be subsidized by members ordering books 'in memory of' or 'in celebration' of a family member.
Considerations, Questions
-Will the new hymnal be used in conjunction with the Songs of the Spirit? It was suggested that we use the new hymnal for a month or two and then update the SOS with any songs missed by the congregation. The reproduction quality and typeface could be made bolder at that time for easier use.
-Check again for pew rack widths before ordering to make sure of a good fit
Move to vote
-Motion to end discussion.
-Motion to vote (Dolores), second motion (lynn), all in favor of voting
-Hymns of Truth and Light nominated (Dolores), motion seconded (Elaine)
-Vote was unanimous for Hymns of Truth and Light
Following
-Energetic exchange of ideas ensued - positive reactions to the decision.
-Dana will hand off informational packets sent by Truth and Light representative
-The standard issue is a red cover with silver stamping – we have a choice to customize (color, name, type font, logo?) on the cover and/or the spine.
-A supplemental bind-in of up to 32 pages is available and if we wish to have that included, selections and permissions are needed by October 15
We will try to finalize next steps by email reviews.
Submitted by Dana Wiggins
Attending: Elaine Brownell, Barbara Merrill, Dana Wiggins, Evie Strom, Dolores Broberg, Lynn Howard, Shirley Curry, Betsy Keiter, John McCallExcused: , Barbara Powers, Bruce Lockwood, Deb Theriault, Carrie Skeffington
Recap of progress
-March - we called 10 UCC churches in surrounding communities to discover which hymnal they use and if it was a good choice for them.
-Publishers were called for ordering deadlines and prices to guage affordability
-April - a Music Survey was written to explore preferences of the congregation
-100 surveys were gathered and results reported
-July - Two sessions of question and answer sessions "Book Talks" were held
-Song comparisons were made between the 4 hymnal choices
Book Talks - Dolores reported on the 10:45 Book Talk session. Only 10 attended but many questions were asked with good discussion of the 4 choices of hymnals in consideration
Review - of the hymnals in use by area UCC churches and their opinions. Review of pricing and ordering deadlines. We considered what will serve our congregation best in the next 20 years, looking forward to musical worship that could bring together a more diverse congregation.
Favorite songs - a list of favorites from the music surveys will be cleared for usage rights. CCLI is a church licensing fee paid each year for usage permissions on a number of our hymns.
Concerns discussed - Changing economy in regard to the expense: Consensus was that prices may only get more expensive and the books are priced very affordably at $17 per, a good value. Segregated funds (specified for the worship service) are available in the Memorial Fund. Costs will also be subsidized by members ordering books 'in memory of' or 'in celebration' of a family member.
Considerations, Questions
-Will the new hymnal be used in conjunction with the Songs of the Spirit? It was suggested that we use the new hymnal for a month or two and then update the SOS with any songs missed by the congregation. The reproduction quality and typeface could be made bolder at that time for easier use.
-Check again for pew rack widths before ordering to make sure of a good fit
Move to vote
-Motion to end discussion.
-Motion to vote (Dolores), second motion (lynn), all in favor of voting
-Hymns of Truth and Light nominated (Dolores), motion seconded (Elaine)
-Vote was unanimous for Hymns of Truth and Light
Following
-Energetic exchange of ideas ensued - positive reactions to the decision.
-Dana will hand off informational packets sent by Truth and Light representative
-The standard issue is a red cover with silver stamping – we have a choice to customize (color, name, type font, logo?) on the cover and/or the spine.
-A supplemental bind-in of up to 32 pages is available and if we wish to have that included, selections and permissions are needed by October 15
We will try to finalize next steps by email reviews.
Submitted by Dana Wiggins
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