Seekers Church
Stewards Meeting Minutes
4.6.2014
Present: Keith Seat (moderator), Brenda Seat, Trish Nemore (angel), Ken Burton, Margreta Silverstone (worship), Dave Lloyd, Marjory Bankson, Peter Bankson, Pat Conover, Kevin Barwick (angel), Jacqie Wallen, Deborah Sokolove
Guests: Vincent Shepherd (MSG), Judy Lantz (MSG), Sharon Lloyd (Koinonia), Debbie Barwick (Koinonia)
Housekeeping: for May meeting Ken will be moderator, Sandra will offer worship, Dave & Margreta will angel
Worship: Margreta played Lisa Moscatello’s “Throw it Away” song, and read a poem, after which all Stewards read the Seekers call.
Servant Leadership Team Review: Trish reminded Stewards that each SLT member undergoes a mutual review every 3 years, and that Peter was up for review. Deborah, Kevin, and Sandra volunteered to be the Stewards on the team and to issue the call to the community for other members, and to conduct the review.
10th Anniversary Celebration @ 276: Brenda reported that Koinonia was willing and able to provide the entertainment value for an event on June 29th. There will be a worship service focused on the anniversary followed by a potluck lunch. Koinonia will provide a WOW surprise dessert. Brenda and Peter are the points of contact if anyone has input. Keith said he thought we should show a video of how we demolished and rehabbed the building. A survey of Stewards led to the decision it would be a “family only” celebration.
Koinonia reporting: led by Margreta, the call of Koinonia was read and each member shared about their role in the mission group.
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Margreta and Brenda are the spiritual guides
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Linda (who was unable to be present) leads worship
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Sharon, Linda and Debbie rotate the moderator role about every month
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Debbie acts as note taker
They explained their understanding as the outward face of Seekers. Koinonia has someone in the entryway each week on a rotating basis to greet people (who also does the coffee clean-up the same week), and expressed gratitude to Kenny for acting as opening the door for everyone and greeting them also. Koinonia keeps the list of new people to Seekers and has a system for being in touch with them. If someone comes more than twice they are contacted, and the list is reviewed quarterly as to where they are connecting, do they need help in becoming involved, etc. Brenda does the 3rd and 4th time contacts with new people, but others in the group have expressed an interest in taking part. There was a further discussion of this process later in the meeting.
Koinonia realizes that they are good at organizing many events, but are not currently keeping up with contacting individuals (coffee dates, etc.). They are working with the fact that it is hard to replace the overnights as a way for the community to come together casually to build deeper community, and that there isn’t energy in Koinonia or the community to begin the overnights again. Quarterly lunches after worship are one substitute but do not provide the same opportunities.
Koinonia reports they are all Marthas and are looking for ways to be Marys.
Margreta said that the call to Koinonia is open as they need more people to be able to fulfill their call. Currently they meet every Monday and that is a challenge. They are an all woman group and wonder if that impedes how they serve the community. May invite Larry who challenges them with his ideas they find intriguing.
In terms of meeting mission group practices, Debbie shared that they are all too busy being nice to each other and letting each other off the hook. But they are working on this starting with being more disciplined about spiritual reporting, and thinking about another book study after Easter, which has been a good practice for them.
Koinonia is working with Celebration Circle around the introduction of visitors at Circle Time. They consider what it is that makes someone feel welcome. They meet with other mission groups as well. They are working on ways to be inclusive of all ages, especially the youth. Sunday School is a time to educate youth into inclusiveness, and they make sure there are snacks each Sunday.
Koinonia is working on making the library more welcoming and useful and will be buying new furniture.
Sharon takes care of the potted plants, inside and out, and has redone the upstairs porch. They will probably be replacing the outdoor rockers.
Ideas offered to Koinonia by Stewards were:
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connection to building renters is one way to fulfill their commitment to engage the wider community (Marjory(
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sounding their call during worship (Trish) (Brenda said they want to revise their call, a process which will be helped by the reflection questions they were given [see attached] to get ready for this accountability report)
Learners & Teachers: Dave provided the proposal for changes to the requirements for classes to join a mission group and become a Steward. (see attached proposal and Guide to Seekers) The proposal was passed unanimously to change authority for waivers from Stewards to L&T. Pat stood aside, all others voted for change to requirement for 1 Christian Growth class and 1 Christian Teaching class.
Stewards Financial Giving Discipline: Stewards broke up into 5 groups of 3 to consider –
DisciplineGiving proportionately of income, to Seekers Church, beginning at 10%
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How do you carry out this discipline? Be specific as to whether you include or exclude income from your spouse/partner or from savings and investments income.
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How are you held accountable for carrying out this discipline?
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Regular/periodic/occasional journaling?
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Inclusion in your spiritual reports? How frequently?
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Discussion in your mission group?
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Confessional prayer during worship?
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Other?
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Which of these work(s) well for you? Why?
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What changes would make other accountability practices work better for you?
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Other thoughts.
See attached document for outcomes from groups.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Questions for Mission Group Sharing at at Stewards Meetings
2. Learners & Teachers Proposal for Required Classes
3. Description of Stewards from “Guide to Seekers Church”
4. Financial Giving Reflection Questions
