SEEKERS CHURCH
MINUTES OF STEWARDS MEETING
October 4, 2020
STEWARDS PRESENT: Marjory Bankson, Peter Bankson, Ken Burton, Cynthia Dahlin, Joan Dodge, Michele Frome (Recorder), Elizabeth Gelfeld, Judy Lantz (Meditation Leader), David Lloyd, Trish Nemore, Sandra Miller, Brenda Seat, Keith Seat, Margreta Silverstone, Deborah Sokolove (Moderator), Jacqie Wallen, Glen Yakushiji
STEWARDS ABSENT: Vincent Shepherd
GUESTS PRESENT: Erica Lloyd, Anita Jackson.
MEDITATION: Judy opened the meeting with a meditation entitled, “Wake in Me a Sense of Joy.”
HOUSEKEEPING: The following volunteered to serve at the November Stewards meeting:
Moderator – Keith
Recorder – Sandra
Meditation Leader – Trish
Our next meeting will be on Sunday, November 1 at 5:00 pm.
FINANCIAL REPORT: Marjory presented the financial summary through September (75% of the year). Contributions are holding strong at 79% of budget, Building Use Income is at 70%, and Total Income is at 78%. See 2020 Seekers Budget Summary through September here.
Building expenses are at 80% of budget, while Community Life expenses are at 63%. Staff expenses are lower than expected because one staff member has waived payment for a couple of months. Most of the Domestic and International Giving payments have been made. Holy Spirit Fund expenditures are at 176% of budget due to unexpected, extraordinary needs in the community. We are currently showing a net loss, but Marjory said we have the funds to cover it.
We have been hoping to get an appointment with Bob First to help clear up some issues in the books, but that has not yet happened. We hope that will happen in the next month. We need that in order to get an accurate balance sheet.
FOG will meet this month to develop a Budget for 2021. Mission Groups are asked to submit their realistic requests for next year to Marjory.
RECOMMITMENT REVIEW: All Stewards present indicated their intention to Recommit. Ken offered a reminder that everyone recommitting needs to send an email to him.
WEBSITE: Erica reported on behalf of the website team, comprised of Peter, Dave Lloyd, Keith, Erica, and Deborah. The team was formed about six months ago in order to gain recognition for Seekers from a progressive group call Church Clarity, and also to revise and update the website. One goal has been to shift away from Church of the Savior and Christian jargon and toward language more understandable to visitors. Pages are being restructured to be more intuitive for visitors. Other goals include refreshing photographs, simplifying website maintenance, and trying to capture what makes Seekers a unique spiritual community.
Deborah presented the current draft of the new website, which the team aims to finalize and make live by November 1. One of the new features is a section featuring Seekers Artists and Authors, in which any Seeker who wishes can work with Deborah to create a page for themselves, including ten images and about 1000 words of text. Deborah also explained that there will be many fewer listings in the “Links” page. In the future, if a link on the “Links” page no longer works, the community will be notified and whoever cares about that link will need to let the web team (Peter, Katie, and Deborah) know the new, working address.
Stewards offered thanks to the website team, and also to Katie for assisting with some of the back-end work.
REIMAGINING LEADERSHIP STRUCTURES: Dave presented the proposal from the Servant Leadership Team to reimage leadership structures for the whole in Seekers. He noted our aging population, more complex needs for the Holy Spirit Fund, and other changes over time that contribute to the need to re-think how we structure servant leadership. Historically, members of SLT joined in their 40s and served for decades; more recently, they’ve joined in their 60s.
Trish explained that SLT feels this is a question for Stewards, rather than SLT, to address.
Brenda agreed that Stewards group needs to decide what it needs; twenty years in the future. SLT members stressed that this is important.
Dave announced that Brenda and Marjory will lead a class in the School for Christian Growth on Servant Leadership, starting in November.
SLT is asking that several Stewards step forward at the November Stewards meeting to be a part of the Reimaging Servant Leadership group.
The meeting concluded with pastoral concerns and personal sharing.
—submitted by Michele Frome
10/12/2020
