Minutes of the Seekers Stewards Meeting July 1, 2012
Present – Peter Bankson, Marjory Bankson, Ken Burton, Lewise Busch (angel), Pat Conover, Dave Lloyd, Sandra Miller (worship leader), Trish Nemore (angel), Brenda Seat, Keith Seat (moderator), Margreta Silverstone, Deborah Sokolove.
Absent – Cynthia Dahlin, Will Ramsey, Jacqie Wallen
Worship – Sandra read a version of Psalm 130, on the theme of coping with fear
Housekeeping – The next Stewards meeting will be August 5, starting at 5:30 p.m. Deborah will moderate, Trish will record, Marjory will lead worship, and Brenda and Keith will serve as dinner angels.
Giving Proposal – Brenda reviewed the status of the small working group’s proposal at the May meeting to revise the Stewards discipline regarding financial giving. There was extensive discussion of a new proposal made by David and of an accountability process for Stewards to annually review their commitment to this discipline. The proposal was not adopted, and a new proposal was made: “Giving generously of time, energy and financial resources to support Seekers Church.” There was further discussion of the change this proposal makes to the original language in the membership commitment of the Church of the Saviour. There was also discussion about where the process of accountability should occur – in mission groups, at a Stewards meeting, or in special meetings between each Steward and his/her spiritual director. (The last alternative may cause problems for Stewards in mission groups without an identified spiritual director and those where the spiritual director is not a Steward.) The consensus was to invite leaders from the sister churches to a meeting in the fall to discuss the language they use in their membership commitments and the understanding their congregations about giving to support their churches, and to have the results of these discussions reported back at the March meeting for further revisiting of the proposal. Pat proposed, and the Stewards agreed, that a small group be appointed to prepare an accountability discussion at the February meeting.
Takoma Park Folk Festival (Sept. 9). Keith gave an update on the planning progress. He has requested an adjacent booth for the Carroll Café but has not received confirmation from the organizers. Deborah will help design the look of the booths. We will have buttons for Seekers who will staff the booth, and will serve lemonade as was done in a previous year. The next meeting of the planning group will be after worship on July 22.
Dongo family arrival. Brenda reminded Stewards that David Dongo’s family will arrive at Dulles Airport on July 23 around 2 pm. The family will include David’s nephew Ivan, who is planning to study electrical engineering in college. There are volunteers to help transport the family and she will seek additional help to ensure that the luggage is transported. She will send out a message to all Seekers reminding them of the house blessing on July 8 at the Dongo home, and of the needed household items Seekers can bring.
Advertising Seekers Church. Peter stated that Seekers receives periodic solicitations for advertising and he reviewed the current status of Seekers advertising: a quarter page in the annual Takoma Park Business Directory and Survival Guide and a one-time ad in The Blade. Most people who contact Seekers either walk by the building or find our Web site. Although we have a Facebook page, it is not current. Stewards agreed that the Financial Oversight Group (FOG) should consider budgeting $500 for outreach, including costs for such special events as the Takoma Park Folk Festival. Stewards also agreed that $500 should be made available from the 2012 budget for the Takoma Park Folk Festival. It was suggested that the Servant leadership Team explore whether hotels/motels in the Silver Spring and Takoma Park areas would include Seekers Church in their listings of local congregations.
Purchase of Jill Joseph’s condo. Stewards expressed interest in seeing whether we could help make it feasible for Sandra to purchase Jill’s condo and asked FOG to work with Sandra to prepare an appropriate proposal for action by Stewards either by e-mail or at the August meeting.
Sharing. Trish and Pat shared about the current issues in their respective lives.
Soul Talk. We shared among ourselves about our lives.
Meeting adjourned.
