2013 January Stewards Minutes

Stewards’ Minutes, January 6, 2013

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

Worship: Margreta read Howard Thurman’s The Song of Christmas

Housekeeping: next meeting – February 10th
moderator – Peter Bankson
recorder – Marjory Bankson
worship – Sandra
angels – Dave & Lewise

FOG Report: Marjory distributed the 2012 Year-end Summary & Budget for 2013. Worth noting was the fact that building use income was larger than projected, while contributions were down. Expenses for building operations were higher than expected due to the aging of the building, but mission group utilization of their budgets came in below budget. Projections for 2013 took these factors into account. The 2012 Summary/2013 Budget are attached.

School of Christian Living update: Dave passed out a summary of classes from Spring 2012 through Second Term, Spring 2013, that included a list of some of the challenges that Learners and teachers are working with. He reported that L&T is looking at the challenges from many different directions, and they are looking at and reflecting on the purpose of the mission group and SCL. They made an appeal to Stewards to offer classes and suggestions, which seemed to be well received. (The class summary is attached.)

Shape of Seekers, in 3 parts: Part I – Peter explained the reasoning behind each slide as we watched the power point presentation about how SLT sees Seekers that Peter started working on a couple of years ago, and which Trish and Brenda helped Peter to complete. (This slide presentation was sent out prior to the meeting to all Stewards to think about and make notes for discussion. It is also included with these minutes.)
Part II – Stewards were invited to write sticky notes in 3 categories – questions, concerns, kudos – and put them up on the wall as tools for further discussion. Trish went through and read each sticky aloud by category before we broke for dinner.
Part III – Stewards broke up into 3 groups according to self-interest – inner journey, outer journey, and community. The noteworthy items from each group are attached as a separate document.
• Inner Journey
1. is 2 dimensional – the inner journey of the individuals in Seekers, and the inner life of the community as a whole
2. support for spiritual companions/guides
• restart Spirit guide group
• help assimilation and our accommodation of those with mental illness/needs
• nurture our use of more thoughtful language, i.e. homeless persons instead of THE homeless – stop making groups of people “other”
3. develop a registry of congregational resources – those willing to offer their special gifts and professional experience when needed
• Outer Journey
1. qualify as outer journey
• personal mission
• Seekers missions
• where we spend our money
• website
• building
• publicize our outreach more to strengthen our identity as a community on a journey of outward ministries
2. revive 3rd Sunday discussions
• ask for accountability reports from those who receive ribbons
• session to update Meet a Seeker profiles
• 5 minute testimonials by 3-4 people per Sunday
• Community
1. need to ask people what they are longing for at Seekers
2. continue to evoke those connections & find ways to affirm those acts
3. need to “tighten ship” on how we sponsor people into Stewards
4. consider how we sponsor people into Seekers
5. support for SLT dealing with the needs of those with mental health issues

Peter also distributed an updated version of the Shared Leadership Community Contacts brochure. (The brochure is attached to these minutes.)