December 10, 2008

Present:     Fred Hale, Carolyn Holland, Paula Stephens, Rev. Mike Duda, Chris Cowans, Joe Scuderi, Sue Ackerman, Hal Maddix, Sue Kalloch

Mike’s Items:

·                  Sanctuary Lights on Christmas Eve – There is an override switch to turn off the candles during the 10:00 service. 

·                  We will need extra people to go to the balcony during the communion.  We will recruit ushers to serve communion in the balcony.

·                  Mike would like one large piece of bread to break at communion.

·                  Mike does not drink from the large communion cup, so it can be left empty.

·                  Paula will borrow an extra communion tray from her workplace to use on Christmas Eve.

·                  Mike will take 12/28 off.  Bonnie Prizzio will lead the service on that day.

·                  The Christmas Cantata is Sunday, 12/14.  Mike will be the liturgist.

·                  Esther Craig will chair the ONA Committee.  There will be an organizational meeting in December.

Old Business:

·                  Church directories will be coming in soon.

·                  We should have a “master” book of new member photos.  Carolyn and Paula will work on putting one together.

·                  There are people who did not get their pictures taken in time for the new directory.  We discussed whether these people might be asked to donate the cost of an extra directory.  It was decided that we will ask everyone if they will donate a dollar or two to defray the cost of the extra directories.

New Business:

·                  Guest checklist for Hospitality – We would select someone we know who is not affiliated with our church to attend a service and fill out the checklist.

·                  Poinsettias will still be in the sanctuary on January 4, so we do not have to order a flower arrangement.

·                  Men’s Retreat – The men’s retreat was held at Gerry Cathcart’s house.  It was very successful.  The food was very good, and there was some great sharing. 

·                  Communion Trays – Instead of taking a full tray to the balcony, which keeps people downstairs waiting during communion, we should prepare six trays instead of five and ask someone to serve the balcony.

·                  Support Groups – Chris Davis would like us to begin having some support groups for people who are out of work and looking for jobs, having financial difficulties, etc.  Mike suggested that instead of a group, there may be a few people who would be interested in sharing their expertise with someone who is having a tough time, i.e., managing finances, job searching, mortgage, negotiation, etc.  Chris Davis will write something to put in the next newsletter.

·                  Hospitality – There are four people on Hospitality.  Joe would like to have two more people join this committee.

·                  There are several upcoming Hospitality events, including:

·         “Christmas Cheer” after the Christmas Sunday service – eggnog, cookies, etc., will be served.

·         Kitchen celebration – A celebration of the new kitchen will be on Sunday, February 8, 2009.  Joe and Jim Shane are working on menus to celebrate this event.  It will cost $8 for adults and $4 for kids.

·         Pancake breakfast – later this year.

·         Progressive Dinner – A progressive dinner is being planned.  Dessert will be at the church with a musical program.

Other:

·                  Volunteers to videotape the service are in place through December.  Drake and the person from the cable company will do some training with these people.  We need to recruit some more people to help out with this.

·                  Badges – wearing our badges raises awareness of how many people it takes to run the church and helps people identify who is on which committee.

·                  Kitchen Renovations – The kitchen will be packed up on 12/17 and 18.  We need to get all of our supplies out of there before 12/17.  Supplies can be stored in the sexton’s closet.  Coffee supplies will go in the hospitality closet.

·                  Keys – the key to the balcony disappeared and was found in the deacons’ closet.  We need to be more careful about putting the keys back where they belong.

·                  Cones – The cones on Arbor Street should be put at either end of the fire lane.

·                  Old Records – Old church records are being stored at the Wenham Museum.  The State Archives is asking for our records so they can scan them.  They would give us digitized copies of these records.

·                  Parsonage – Cabinet and Trustees are discussing ideas for the parsonage, i.e., sell it, continue to rent it, use the space of church activities and/or offices, etc.

·                   Budget – Fred will send out an update on the budget after next Wednesday.

·                  Important Dates:

-          Cabinet meets 12/17

-          Special cabinet meeting 1/6/09

-          Special meeting re budget 1/11

-          Annual budget meeting 1/25

·                  Thoughts for next year:

-          Who is going off of the Diaconate?

-          Who will be chair next year?

-          What is the process for Mike’s next evaluation?

·                  A lot of area churches are ringing their bell 350 times on 12/15 to raise awareness of the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  We will not do this, because only a limited number of people will hear it.  Mike will talk about it in his Christmas letter.

·                  Enon Brass will have their annual sing-a-long on Sunday, 12/21, at 7:00 p.m.  We will provide cookies.  Enon Brass needs to come in on the 20^th to practice.

·                  Our next meeting will be January 14, 2009.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Paula Stephens, Secretary