May 2008 Stewards Minutes - Seekers Church

MINUTES OF THE STEWARDS MEETING
SEEKERS CHURCH
May 4, 2008

Present: Stewards: Marjory Bankson, Peter Bankson, Ken Burton (shepherd), Lewise Busch, Pat Conover (worship), Kate Cudlipp (recorder), Jane Engle, Sue Johnson, Muriel Lipp, Dave Lloyd (moderator), Sandra Miller, Trish Nemore, Brenda Seat (angel), Keith Seat (angel), Margreta Silverstone, and Deborah Sokolove. Members: Katie Fisher, John Morris, and Glen Yakushiji, who are members of the Time and Space mission group.

Absent: Cynthia Dahlin

Worship: Pat invited us to tell each other brief stories about Seekers.

Housekeeping: Keith will moderate; Marjory will take notes; Muriel will lead worship; and Sue and Margreta will serve as dinner angels.

Report from Time and Space mission group. Keith read the call of the mission group and then invited each member to speak about her/his role in the group and the ways that s/he sees the work of the mission group reflecting the call of Seekers Church. Keith is moderator; Glen, worship leader; John, navigator (the one who takes a step back from time to time to ask, “Are we focused where we need to be?”); Katie, building coordinator and celebrant; Peter, spiritual guide; and Deborah, “member without portfolio” and/or theologian-at-large.

Group members shared that the agendas of their meetings, which take place every other week, are full, including numerous detailed items that deal with the integrity of the building and relations with the other users of the building, as well as attention to the ministry of place that the building represents.

Stewards were unanimous in expressing our gratitude for the work the mission group does on behalf of the whole church and were especially appreciative of Katie’s gracious way of balancing the schedules of all the users and introducing new users to the space. There was interest among Stewards about ways that others beyond T&S can participate both in the nitty-gritty matters of maintaining the building and its contents and in fostering connections with the other users of the building.

Review team for Kate. Sandra, Marjory, and Jane volunteered to serve on the review team for Kate’s call to, and service on, the Servant Leadership Team. Sandra will act as convener of the group, which will invite one or two Members to participate.

Policy for the Seekers art gallery. Steward approved a policy that Peter proposed for art exhibits in the building. Peter will serve as the gallery coordinator for the present. (A copy of the policy is attached to the minutes.)

Seekers Memorial Wall. Marjory brought a display and described how the Seekers Memorial Wall, which will be created in the back stairwell between the main and ground floors, will look. In addition to tiles that will be mounted on the wall, there will be an entry in a Memory Book for each person memorialized on the wall. Any Member of Seekers may also create a brief entry for the Memory Book so that individual stories will not have to wait until someone dies to be told!

Anti-torture banner. Keith brought a request made to the Ecumenical Council to put up a banner opposing torture at 2025 Massachusetts Ave. All C of S faith communities are considering the request, and agreement by all is required for the request to be approved. After a brief discussion, Stewards approved the display of the banner for the month of June, agreeing to use the Church of the Saviour name on the banner and to either message that was available.

Follow-up on public advocacy discussion. To follow up on the April discussion about putting up a banner opposing torture, Kate asked Stewards to divide into small groups to discuss two broader questions relating to advocacy on public issues:
• Would you like to see Seekers Church, as a whole, work on any issues of public policy, or would you prefer to leave those issues up to individuals to engage?
• What underlying values, hopes, or fears led to your answer?

She noted that these conversations were not intended to lead to decisions but were a next step in an effort to learn about engaging questions on which individuals in Seekers may have different views.

After work in the small groups, each group reported summary of its discussions. A difficult, heartfelt conversation that revealed differing points of view followed.

Soul talk

Adjourn