Church Council Meeting Notes, Sept. 24, 2023 - In Case You Missed It
We had a good turnout for the September 24th church council meeting even though it was a Sunday night. People joined us in person as well as via Zoom.
I mixed things up a little with this meeting (our third of the year) by asking the chairs of Trustees, SPR, and Finance to keep their updates very brief, so we could offer others a bit more time to fill us in on what they’re doing.
Trustees: the fall clean-up is scheduled for the first Saturday in November with the rain date the following Saturday. Things are moving forward with meetings with officials at Town Hall for the Accessibility Project. And we’re planning a Church Purge event for October 14th from 10-12. We’ll be pulling out old furniture, filing cabinets, and other miscellaneous stuff. Everyone is welcome to come take things (do NOT bring anything) and whatever is left will be recycled or thrown in the dumpster. Donations will gladly be accepted. We’ll be asking for some volunteers to help drag stuff out beginning at 8:00 that morning. If you have things stored at the church, this is a great opportunity to clean out!
Finance: we’re currently about $20,000 in the red, so please keep up with paying your pledges. We’re about 67% of the way through the year, but only at 60% of our giving goal.
SPR: the biggest news here is the hiring of Len Bobinski to lead the CAYA music team! Go, Len! The SPR continues to embrace the idea of “leaders leading leaders” and has spent time during the past ten months working on interracial awareness. Staff performance reviews are being scheduled for this fall.
Volunteer Opportunities:
The Tech Team could use a few more people to be trained on running the live-streaming and sanctuary monitors during Sunday services. This is not a difficult task if you have any experience with computers. According to Glenn Knight, who already helps with this, it is a fun task and often provides behind-the-scenes glimpses of what it takes to pull off three services – some poignant and some funny!
Hospitality is looking for a new chair. Heidi Fitzsimmons is stepping down after five years. She has put together a great team and has documented many of the events that we do every year. Call Heidi for more info if you might be interested.
Sunday morning display tables: Eileen Brogan did such a nice job having an Adult Spiritual Growth display during the Sundays leading up to Rally Day (because she knew she wouldn’t be there), that it occurred to us that any of our active teams/committees could set up displays in Wesley Hall any Sunday. So, we are inviting you to do just that! There’s no sign up, just feel free to grab a table and put up a display board or something else to entice people to come see what you’re doing. Think Rally Day tables, and you’re on the right track. The only catch is that you can’t leave them up. You can feel free to set them up for several weeks running, but we need to clear the Hall for LLI use during the week. If we have lots of people doing this and it starts to get crowded, we’ll get more organized.
VIM: Deacon Deb filled in for Cassandra Broadus-Garcia and reminded us that the VIM (Volunteers in Mission, which is usually disaster response) trip in May was a great success, and there are plans underway for another trip to Florida in January. This is yet another opportunity to volunteer – no specific training is needed. There are lots of ways to help. Reach out to Cassandra to learn more.
Welcoming Team: Leslie Lahue, with the help of John Thomson, has already run two focus-group discussions and has the first meeting on the calendar for her re-invigorated team. Leslie reminded us that welcoming guests and visitors to our church takes all of us! Think back to when you first came to SUM – what made you come back? Can you provide the same warm welcome to someone else?
Somewhat related to this, I took the opportunity to remind everyone to try to leave church business at home on Sunday mornings. At least as it pertains to our clergy. Pastor Gene and Deacon Deb are back to running three services every Sunday, and they try to chat with people in between. The chance that they’ll remember church business is a bit slim, and as I have heard them both say, “Please send me an email, so I remember that!” it might not be the best time unless it is urgent. Many of us don’t get a chance to connect except on Sundays, and that’s totally fine, but perhaps try to keep Sunday mornings for social time instead of work.
Sue Sames shared a testimonial about her and Mike’s service last year as they worked with the IRIS organization and many volunteers from the greater Hartford area to resettle a Syrian family in New Britain. Was there some painstaking paperwork? Yes, but it was hugely fulfilling for both of them. They have forged a very strong bond with this family of six who want to work with Sue and Mike this year to help another family get re-settled in our local area. When Sue shared that the number of displaced people has risen to over 100 million on the planet right now due to political unrest, conflict, and natural disasters, it was very sobering. She reminded us that no one leaves their home unless they have to. There are many ways to volunteer with this project, too.
Deacon Deb brought us up to date on a variety of things including all the many things the Justice and Joy teams have going on (too many to list!!). Pastor Gene jumped in and made sure we all knew that Deb has been asked to serve as the head of the Order of Deacons which is quite an honor. She will be providing leadership and coordination for all the deacons in our annual conference.
Pastor Gene reported that he is extremely grateful for the sabbatical he enjoyed this summer. It was valuable for him to have downtime with his family and re-energize. He and Erin were able to take a step back and evaluate where they are in terms of balancing two full-time jobs that both require a lot of “extra” and their family. And they even found some time to do yard and garden maintenance at the parsonage! Pastor Gene also reported that beginning Sep. 1, 2024, we will be sharing a bishop with another conference. There is currently a shortage of bishops as well as a shortage of funding to pay them. Mostly this will not have a huge impact on us. The next United Methodist General Conference (these are held every four years) will be in May of 2024. We missed the 2020 general conference due to Covid, so this will be a big deal. Much of the legal changes that happen nationwide within the Methodist church are decided during these conferences.
Our next church council meeting will actually be a church conference meeting with our district superintendent, Rev. Sylvester, on November 19, 2023 at 2:30. We will host only the other churches in our parish, unlike last year when we hosted over ten churches from the entire Hartford area. This will be a much smaller affair, and Rev. Sylvester will meet with each church’s SPR committee separately during the week leading up to the 19th. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what is happening within our parish (North Canton, Copper Hill, and Pleasant Valley), and it’s when we vote on next year’s preliminary SUM budget, our clergy’s salaries, and our 2024 Trustee members.
There is more information in the full minutes of the Sep. 24th meeting available here.
Thanks!
Jennifer Acheson, SUM Church Council Chair