August Stewards Minutes 2012

Minutes of the Seekers Stewards Meeting August 5, 2012

Present – Peter Bankson, Marjory Bankson (worship leader), Ken Burton, Lewise Busch, Pat Conover, Cynthia Dahlin, Dave Lloyd,, Trish Nemore(recorder), Will Ramsey, Brenda Seat (angel), Keith Seat(angel), Deborah Sokolove (moderator)., Jacqie Wallen

Visiting: Jane Engle (Steward emerita), Muriel Lipp (Steward emerita) Jesse Palidofsky, Glen Yakushiji

Absent – Sandra Miller, Margreta Silverstone.

Worship – Marjory invited us to name into the silence where Seekers’ bread is broken, scattered and feeding the world.

Housekeeping – The next Stewards meeting will be September 2 starting at 5:30 p.m. Ken will moderate, Marjory will record, Peter will lead worship, and Lewise and Deborah will serve as dinner angels.

Time and Space spending request: Peter reported for T&S that the porch railing repair went over the amount for which T&S is not required to get Stewards’ advance approval. He calculated that the rate charged was fair vis a vis an earlier repair we’d had done. Stewards approved the payment of the bill.

Carroll Café: Jesse and Glen reminded us of the long history of their vision for the Carroll Café (from 20 years ago!) and how the Café has moved toward greater audiences in each of its three seasons. The primary genres of music for the Café are folk, celtic, blues and original music with themes of making the world a better place. They shared with Stewards a gorgeous poster of all the musicians who have performed over the three seasons. They’ve improved both the sound and lights over the last few years and are contemplating investing in a stage. They thanked their great volunteer crew. They noted that musicians love playing here and that they have learned a lot about Takoma Park and Takoma, DC in the course of booking groups and advertising the concerts. They are working with Dave to consider the benefits of incorporating. They answered a variety of questions from Stewards, noting that one way Seekers could support the Café is by folks volunteering for the crew: they are losing Will and Teresa this season.

Circle Time report from Celebration Circle. Peter led a discussion soliciting ideas for how Circle Time can be made to feel like it really is part of our worship (as we say it is but as behavior does not always confirm). Ideas included Stewards making a commitment to be there on time; starting with an original poem or reading that folks would miss if they were not there; not repeating announcements that are made in Circle Time after worship, so folks who missed earlier would not hear them. Peter thanked Stewards for the ideas noting that Celebration Circle will work with the issue and report back.

Planning a Memorial service for Gordon (who is not yet dead). Becca Stelle has invited CofS folks to engage in conversation to plan a service remembering Gordon after he dies. This is being done at Gordon’s request. Marjory indicated that she felt some obligation to be part of that conversation and invited other Stewards who are interested to contact her.

Pastoral Care plan for a member of Seekers. Trish reported on developments and SLT’s recommendations on how to proceed. Stewards voted to support the SLT recommendation and to have SLT report back in three months.

FOG proposal for use of Kate Cudlipp’s bequest to Seekers. Stewards had a lengthy discussion of the proposal without making a decision.

Two Stewards to share. Keith and Ken were scheduled to share but chose to postpone their sharing until next month, when no one else is scheduled.

Soul Talk. We shared among ourselves about our lives.

Meeting adjourned.