November Stewards Minutes 2012

Minutes of the Stewards Meeting
November 4, 2012

Present – Peter Bankson (Recorder), Marjory Bankson, Ken Burton, Lewise Busch, Pat Conover, Dave Lloyd (Moderator), Sandra Miller (Worship Leader), Trish Nemore, Brenda Seat, Keith Seat, Margreta Silverstone, Deborah Sokolove

Absent – Cynthia Dahlin, Jacqie Wallen

Visiting: Elese Sizemore & Roy Barber (Bokamoso Youth Foundation); Sharon Lloyd (Bokamoso Career Workshop)

Worship – The meeting opened with worship at 5:00 PM. Sandra offered a prayer by Ted Loder.

Housekeeping – The next Stewards meeting will be December 2 at Seekers Church starting at 5:00 p.m. Ken will moderate, Cynthia will plan our holiday celebration, Trish will record, Dave will lead worship, and Lewise and Sandra will serve as dinner angels.

Bokamoso Youth Foundation (BYF) Update – Roy and Elese reported on developments at Bokamoso. The computer Center has begun operations, with one computer available, and plans for a larger operation that may include starting an Internet Café for the people of Winterveldt. The next visit from Bokamoso is scheduled in January and February 2013, arriving on January 12th and departing on February 13th. Once again Seekers Church issued the formal invitation needed for the group to secure their visas. Major events involving Seekers include:
• 18 January – Bokamoso performs at the Potter’s House
All Seekers are invited to attend
• 21 January – Interplay at Seekers (may be affected by the US Presidential inauguration)
All Seekers are invited to participate
• 26 January – Bokamoso fundraising brunch at St. Andrews Episcopal School (SAES)
Seekers are invited to host tables and invite others to the brunch
• 27 January – Bokamoso brings the Word during worship at Seekers
• 27, 28, 29 January – Bokamoso Career Workshop at Seekers
Seekers are invited to support as mentors, worksite hosts and worksite visit drivers
• 8 & 9 February – Bokamoso performances at GWU
Seekers are invited to attend either performance
More information will be available on the Bokamoso Foundation web site at www.bokamosoyouth.org.

Roy shared that he has announced his retirement from the faculty at Saint Andrews Episcopal School, and is encouraged by the level of continuing support by SAES for the partnership with Bokamoso. Roy is developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Bokamoso Youth Foundation and SAES to insure continuing support for Bokamoso. Trish raised the idea of a similar MOU between Seekers Church and BYF. Currently, Seekers offers the formal invitation for the annual Bokamoso visit, and supports the Career Workshop portion of the visit. Many individual members of Seekers are involved in supporting the annual Bokamoso visit. The SLT agreed to consider the idea of a formal MOU between Seekers Church and the Bokamoso Youth Foundation.

Bokamoso Career Workshop as a Ministry of Seekers – Sharon Lloyd presented a request to Stewards that Seekers Church declare the Bokamoso Career Workshop as a “Ministry of Seekers Church.” The proposal is attached. Most of the support for this workshop is provided by Seekers, and the workshop has become an increasingly important part of the annual Bokamoso visit. The workshop includes two days of mentoring for visiting members of Bokamoso and site visits to meet professionals in the career fields of interest to them. During the period of the Career Workshop Seekers invite the Bokamoso visitors to bring the Word in worship, and provide meals and transportation to support the workshop. After a short conversation the Stewards approved designating the Bokamoso Career Workshop as a Ministry of Seekers.

Pastoral Report – Trish provided an update on support for one of our members. Based on the current situation the Stewards agreed to continue to provide funds for housing, medical and other incidental support from the Holy Spirit Fund. The SLT will report again to Stewards on this situation at or before the Stewards meeting in June 2013.

Review of the Draft Seekers Budget for 2013 – Marjory presented a summary of the proposed Seekers Budget for 2013 developed by the Financial Oversight Group (FOG). Stewards thanked the members of FOG for their work on the draft budget. (Members of FOG are Marjory Bankson, Debbie Barwick, Cynthia Dahlin, Keith Seat and Deborah Sokolove.)

Stewards had an extended conversation that touched on the deep spirit of generosity within the community, paying off the final loans for building renovation, receipt this year of a significant bequest, the overall size of the 2013 budget, how to aggregate expenditures more clearly, and the importance of accounting for changes in our membership as we estimate future levels of contributed income. In the end, Stewards provided the following specific guidance to FOG:
• Increase support in the 2013 budget for the Covenant Christian Community Thanksgiving Box program by $1,000 (to $4,000).
• Change guidance for two portions of the 2011 Christmas offering as follows:
o For person 1, release funds to offset expenditures for family relocation.
o For person 2, use funds for education-related support.
FOG will continue to revise the budget based on further input and have a final version for approval at the December meeting.

Authorizing Glen Yakushiji to coordinate with the DC government on our elevator license – Deborah Sokolove is the “Registered Agent” for Seekers Church with the DC government, but Glen is also a member of Time & Space Mission Group and has volunteered to coordinate our elevator inspections and licensing. To do so he needs official documentation from Seekers Church. The Stewards voted unanimously to authorize Glen to serve in this role. Keith Seat, as President of the Seeker Church corporation, will complete the paperwork Glen needs.

Two Stewards to Share – After some concern about the late hour (with only 15 minutes of scheduled time remaining) both Lewise and Marjory offered to delay their sharing to a later meeting.

Soul Talk – There was an opportunity for Stewards to share briefly, and the meeting closed with prayer at 8:50 PM.