2021 December Stewards Minutes

SEEKERS CHURCH
Stewards Minutes
December 5, 2021

Present: Marjory Bankson (recorder), Peter Bankson, Cynthia Dahlin, Joan Dodge, Michele Frome, Judy Lantz, David Lloyd, Sandra Miller (meditation), John Morris, Trish Nemore, Brenda Seat, Keith Seat, Vincent Shepherd, Margreta Silverstone (moderator), Deborah Sokolove, Jacqie Wallen, Glen Yakushiji.

Absent: Ken Burton, Elizabeth Gelfeld,

Guests: Liz Gould-Leger, Anita Jackson, Erica Lloyd, Sharon Lloyd

Meditation: Sandra shared a reading from Yes magazine on the inner work of becoming community.

Housekeeping: Stewards will next meet via zoom Sunday, Jan 2, 5-7 pm.

Moderator – Joan

Recorder — Michele

Meditation leader — Trish

1 ) CreatureKind Statement: Peter

The group tasked with reworking the CreatureKind statement has met and will send out their revised statement [attached] for discussion at the January meeting.

2) 2022 Budget approved as offered by FOG in November [attached].

3 ) Feedback on hybrid worship: Deborah (for Celebration Circle)

Erica — liked being able to worship from home when not feeling well

Being there for communion was “good for my soul”
Today felt less like a production – hopes for both to continue getting smoother;

Liz — echoed Erica, appreciated seeing people, and enjoyed communion;

Joan – amazed to have both options for real participation

Doug missed Glen’s voice and guitar for music while he handles technology;

Trish — has been in person all three times, recognizes it is a lot of work

Encourages training for anyone able and willing to host from home or in the sanctuary;
Pat enjoyed getting reacquainted with the building;

Sandra, who preached from home today, appreciates being able to work with the liturgist in the sanctuary for a combined leadership experience;

John – asked whether people are leaving the building right after worship?

No, people cluster in smaller groups inside OR outside after worship.

Cynthia – asked how many additional people it takes to have this hybrid worship?

3-4 to handle the technology plus the regular worship team.

Keith – affirmed hybrid experience

asked about highlighting the speaker AND giving a general view?
Answer: not possible with our present technology.
Encouraged us to keep holding up DC Guidelines as a reminder for people to stay masked etc.

Dave – pushed for this experiment and urged people to attend Deborah’s training sessions;

Reminded us that people can always step outside to continue conversations.

Sharon – maybe there are elements of tech in the sanctuary that we could hire help for

Seeing “boxes on the screen” during the liturgy is not so helpful;
Spotlighting the distant readers would help;
What about Christmas Eve? [No answer yet]

Discussion ended by time constraint.

Pastoral concerns and Soul Talk – no notes.

Zoom Christmas Party: following a multi-authored Christmas story, we shared with hats and an object to anchor a story from some overlooked part of your life.

Submitted by Marjory Bankson

12/6/21

Added by email:

Erica

· I wholeheartedly second (or fourth?) the idea of hiring someone to support our tech needs. The reality is that there are not many members of the congregation who are tech-savvy enough in general, and certainly the number who are interested in being in-person are even fewer. While I appreciate the plug that those who want to see the hybrid solution succeed should get trained to host, the reality is that some folks do not have the skills required to do so – and those of us who do have the skills need to have the chance to worship (I for one would not be willing to commit to hosting more than once every 4-6 weeks right now).

· The one spot where I have really struggled with the in-person service is during the prayers. Getting up to stand at the lectern felt very uncomfortable to me. I have been trying to brainstorm good alternatives but come up empty-handed… but I thought I would share this just in case someone else could come up with a good idea.

· If we want to have future discussions, I think the Stewards meeting is perhaps not the right venue, as the 15-20 minutes allotted has not been sufficient either time this topic has come up. Perhaps an after-church meeting, which might also allow more folks to participate?