2013 October Stewards Minutes

Seekers Church Stewards Meeting October 6, 2013

Present: Keith (moderator), Deborah, Sandra, Brenda, Cynthia, Jacqie , Ken, Dave, Pat, Trish, Margreta, Judy

Absent: Peter, Marjory

Housekeeping: For the next Stewards meeting, David will moderate, Deborah will lead worship, Ken will take notes, and the angels will be Sandra and Margreta.

SCL schedule 2013-2014. Dave went over the 2013 SCL courses and handed out a tentative schedule, noting that there still could be changes. He observed that we have been adding more courses on aging and companioning people who are ill or dying, which is consistent with the demographics of our members. Keith suggested that it might be a good idea to send announcements of classes out to other Church of the Saviour communities. SCL will do this in the future.

Preparation for 2014 budget. Cynthia report that FOG will be asking mission groups to let them know if they anticipate any changes in their budget amounts for 2014 and, if so, what these budget changes are. Mission groups should let FOG know whether their 2014 budgets will stay the same or change by October 20th. Trish suggested starting a youth growing edge fund that is less structured and has a less demanding application process but still requires that the experience funded be a growth experience for the applicant. Cynthia suggested that a group (perhaps the Sunday School group?) would need to request a specific amount to start this fund with.

Natural-world related disciplines/practices. Keith suggested increasing the number of ways in which Seekers invites members to a greater connection with the natural world. Deborah suggested that this might fit under the larger heading of “the physical areas of life,” including our relationship to our bodies. Several Stewards expressed an interest in a conversation on this topic though no one expressed an interest in starting a group around the topic. Trish suggested a Third Sunday discussion on the topic.

Takoma Park Folk Festival Report. Larry reported the Takoma Park Folk Festival booth was overall very successful but that the booth was very hot and there were some problems with the set-up. He would like to see a training session for volunteers at the table next year. He also suggested that food be provided to volunteers. There were not enough volunteers, so a small number of people were there all day.

Group to discuss 10th anniversary of building Brenda asked stewards to consider whether we want to have a 10th anniversary celebration and, if so, what we want to do. SLT proposed having an initial group meet to develop recommendations and present them to Stewards. The group should have at least one member each from Koinonia, Time and Space and Celebration Circle. Brenda will draft a letter for Stewards to send to their mission groups.

Recommitment review Steward shared their plans about recommitment. All Stewards planned to recommit.

Steward sharing/Soul talk Jacqie shared because her birthday is in October. Marjory’s birthday is also in October but she was not present and will share next month