2017 April Stewards Minutes

SEEKERS CHURCH
Stewards Minutes
April 2, 2017

Present:
Stewards: Brenda Seat, Peter Bankson, Kevin Barwick (angel), Marjory Bankson (angel for Sandra Miller), Judy Lantz (notes), Michele Frome, Margreta Silverstone (worship), Jacqie Wallen, Vince Shepherd, Keith Seat, Ken Burton (moderator).

Absent: Trish Nemore, Cynthia Dahlin, Deborah Sokolove, Sandra Miller, David Lloyd
Guests: June Gable & Larry Rawlings

Housekeeping: Stewards will meet on Sunday, May 7, at 5:30 pm – TBA either at Seekers or the Conover-Nemore summer house.

Worship: Margreta played Somebody’s Knocking from Sacred Songs of Gee’s Bend and Don’t Talk to a Stranger by The Kennedys.

Agenda:
Report of Outreach Mission Group: Larry
OMG is meeting twice a month.  Members are Joan Dodge, Doug Dodge, Teresa Ramsey, Keith Seat and Larry Rawlings.
The group is sponsoring an evening activity on relationships, led by Kevin, to be held on Thursday, June 1, 7 – 9 pm.
Part of standard procedures going forward is that only activities happening at Seekers will be posted on the front window.
OMG’s first retreat is scheduled for Saturday, May 20 at Teresa’s & Will’s home.
Periodic luncheons will continue to be held for prospective new members.  None is scheduled at this time.  Marjory’s book Stalking the Spirit is given to each guest.
It has been decided that a member of OMG will be available pre-Carroll Café evenings to answer questions about the church from concert attendees.
Members of OMG continue to serve as greeters on Sunday mornings.  Are guests to be introduced at Circle Time?  This ongoing discussion was not concluded. It is hoped that greeters will ask the guest if they want to be introduced and convey this to the Circle Time moderator each Sunday.

Care Pack Ministry: June
Will Ramsey is heading up the team.  He and June have met to share ongoing concerns about the program and asked for input from Stewards or the congregation on the following points:
Do we want to continue the program?
How do we obtain supplies?
What information does the congregation need to receive?
How can we improve communication flow between team and congregations about this program, including stories about distribution experiences?
Would a list of core items for each bag and estimated prices be helpful to the congregation
It was suggested that individuals might offer to donate specific items by signing up to supply them.  This would let the care pack team know what’s to expect is coming in.  There are core items that could be listed with suggested what is a bargain cost-wise.
There is safe storage at the church but it is limited.  SLT was asked to weigh in on helping coordinate the above issues.  Brenda stated that Will and June have “authority at the point of call” and they may need to claim it.  Others will follow their lead and the two of them will feel confident if they get the support they want.
It was estimated that Seekers have given out about 50 bags in the last 3 months.

5 Wishes: Brenda
The program continues to do well.  Almost all the applications are in.  There will be more to report next month when Cynthia is back.

Ecumenical Council: Marjory
Kayla has asked to be relieved of her COS administrative duties due to her critical health issues.  Kate Lasso has agreed to be Treasurer.  Kate, Mike Little and Jim Edmunds are working together to transfer Kayla’s financial duties so that COS continues to function efficiently.  They plan to close the COS office at the Festival Center within the next month or so and move the “request desk” answering inquiries to a person yet to be designated.
Kayla hopes to continue her Inward-Outward ministry.  She hopes to do so sometime after Easter, if possible.

Sanctuary Update & Discussion: Joan
Joan reported on attending the local MOCO group re: Sanctuary with Dave and indicated that the group is just beginning the process of strategic planning.  The attached summary indicates the areas under discussion:
Brenda reported on a visit she and Trish made to a local immigration lawyer regarding issues related to joining the Sanctuary movement.
A poster regarding Sanctuary was reviewed but we agreed that it seemed to imply more than Seekers is ready to commit to at this point in time and will be considered later when we have a more specific action plan.

COS Discernment Retreat: Judy & Marjory
On the weekend of March 24 – 26, the COS communities (except New Community) gathered at Wellspring for a silent retreat to contemplate “Who is God calling us to be in this new time?”  There were 24 people in attendance from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon.  Twice on Saturday, we gathered in contemplative prayer as a group.  Then on Sunday morning we celebrated Communion and shared out of the silence what had come to us over the previous period since Friday evening.  Before we left Wellspring that day, each of us spent 30 minutes writing our thoughts and conclusions.  The Dayspring Church members (who sponsored the retreat) are reproducing the collected writings to share with all the participants.  They will be published in the next issue of Callings.

Still Point & Rolling Ridge: Kevin & Keith
Workdays are being held 2X a year.  All are welcome to participate.
Still Point – in order to increase use of the facility, airb&b has been engaged.   There is a new host, Ken Kudart, who oversees the facility.  Both are working out well and increasing use of Still Point as a place for retreats.

Two Stewards share: Peter

Soul Talk concluded our meeting

Submitted April 7, 2017
By Judy Lantz