2013 April Stewards Minutes

Stewards Mintues

April 4, 2013

Present: Marjory Bankson (notetaker), Peter Bankson, Ken Burton, Lewise Busch (worship), Pat Conover (angel), Cynthia Dahlin, David Lloyd, Sandra Miller, Trish Nemore, Brenda Seat, Keith Seat (moderator), Margreta Silverstone, Deborah Sokolove, Jacqie Wallen (angel).

Visitors: Vince Shepherd and Judy Lantz (from Mission Support Group).

Housekeeping: Stewards will next meet on May 5 at 5:30pm
Moderator: Deborah

Worship: Sandra
Notetaker: Marjory

Angels: Cynthia & Lewise

Worship was offered by Lewise with two quotes on “resurrection” from Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner.

Contract Calendar: Deborah requested input for our corporate records, which will be shared with Deborah and David, as our official board officers, and the SLT for monitoring all ongoing contracts for services at Seekers.

Bokamoso Update: Peter
After attending a recent Boka Foundation Board, Peter conveyed thanks to Seekers for their emergency assistance in processing checks this year when the Boka non-profit status was not filed properly. Peter listed 161 checks for a total above $64,000, which will be sent in monthly installments. In light of Roy’s retirement from St. Andrews this year, we are hoping to complete a Memorandum of Understanding with Bokamoso, outlining our mutual expectations.

In a related effort, Jim Cawley is helping Linda Nunnes-Schrag (chair of the Othandweni Task Force) develop a group similar to that which became the Bokamoso Foundation Board. They will send a rep to the Stewards meeting in May and hope for another representative (besides Kathy Tobias) from Seekers.

Brenda’s Review Team: Trish
In our regular rotation of confirming the call of one member of the SLT, Brenda will be the focus in 2013.
Deborah, Cynthia (chair) and Ken volunteered. Cynthia will solicit other volunteers from the wider circle of Members, coordinate dates and circulate questions for Brenda.

Mission Support Group: Trish
Looking ahead to the lack of a Steward in MSG when Lewise moves to North Carolina this summer, there was a lively discussion that included Lewise, Vince and Judy about why we value having two Stewards in a mission group (for connection and deepening commitment). Because MSG has responsibility for the Growing Edge Fund, the link is especially important. Margreta noted that having different members attend the Stewards meeting does not serve the same purpose, because the organic nature of Stewards is helped by regular participation. Although there are two members of MSG who are beginning the process of becoming Stewards, Keith volunteered to be their linking Steward, since he was a member of MSG for many years. MSG will let us know how they want to proceed.

Report from the Ecumenical Council Meeting (March 17): Keith (Seekers rep) & Marjory (Council chair)
Since there was no consensus supporting the request by Potter’s House Church that Church of the Saviour take title to the Potter’s House property, that proposal was tabled until the next meeting on April 28. Both described the call of the Banyan Tree Mission Group (from 8th Day) to return the PH to its original purpose as a coffeehouse. The question of ownership and authority to delegate responsibility for the ministry there must be sorted out before Banyan Tree can go ahead with their call.

Holy Spirit Fund: Peter
Peter handed out a confidential list of expenditures from the Holy Spirit Fund, which has been raised to $25,000 this year. He collected the list for shredding and that data will not be included in the minutes.

Support for Othandweni Trip: Lewise
Reporting on a Growing Edge Grant to Linda Nunnes-Schrag for her trip to South Africa in May, Lewise requested additional funding for Linda to cover her plane fare. This time, that will be covered by the Holy Spirit Fund, but we flagged the issue of supporting Seekers who are “on mission representing Seekers” when they cannot provide that financial support themselves. FOG will also consider adding such an item to our 2014 budget.

Sharing:

After dinner, Deborah shared more deeply. That was followed by Soul Talk.