Parish Council Minutes

August 5th,2003

The moderator convened the meeting at 7:10 PM. Present were Bill Newell, Bruce Gist, Raymond Patch, Phil Johnson, George Hayden, Barbara Langill, Linda Ladd, Hugh Penney and Susan Lambe.

The minutes of the June meeting were reviewed and accepted.

Senior Pastor Report:
- The evaluation forms from the Small Groups have been reviewed. Feedback includes having more publicity next time and that some new church relationships were formed as a result of the groups. The Aging Parents Group has added a resource binder to the library that can be used by all. The hands-on work groups were very successful at combining mission, purpose and fellowship. Raymond would like suggestions for new groups, as well as ideas on how to expand the Small Group program with mission in mind.
- Raymond has assigned Council members some readings that will be discussed at a recap meeting in September. The goal in mind is leading our church in an evaluation of what directions we want to take in the future.
- During the last week of October, Raymond will attend a workshop for leading congregations through an envisioning process. This is the second week of his continuing education.
- Lay Communion will be held the 2nd Sunday in September. The Worship Team will be observing and offering a critique. We will rotate Communion between the Chapel and the Sanctuary.
- Update on the Amistad visit: UCC Day aboard the ship will be Sunday, Oct. 26th. We need to publicize this. Bill Newell will be organizing a CCC outing.
- Notes from Nancy Taylor, Chief Ecumenical Officer of the UCC: she has sent a letter welcoming Archbishop O'Malley to Boston; and she has sent a letter of sympathy to the congregation of the mosque in Quincy that suffered a fire.
- Raymond distributed to Council a calendar of this years Sundays so that we can better schedule and spread out our events.

Report from Youth Ministry:
- Barbara reported that all church school changes are progressing well. A wall is to be demolished on 8/6 by volunteers; the electrician will begin after the wall is down. A funding request for a video projector has been sent to Memorials. Closets will be added to the stage area for Drama. All teaching staff is in place for the first two sessions of church school. Publicity for our new church school will be in local papers inviting people to attend an Open House tour on 9/7.
-Youth Group this fall will be split into two groups, one for 5th and 6th grades and one for 7th and 8th.

Property update: Painting is almost complete. Some windows in the Chapel have been broken and need to be replaced. Some more shutters are needed to complete the outside and this is being taken care of. The new Kindergarten room has been painted by Oscar. The curtain in the Chapel is being removed and will be replaced by a cross that Bruce Gist is making. Raymond's office will also be painted to repair damage from leaks. Raymond is researching an appropriate new church sign. Discussion ensued on sign location.

Treasurer's Report: Hugh reported that expenses are mainly in line for this time of year. Capitol Improvements is over budget due to the Kindergarten construction, but this money will be recouped later from Tower Day School.

Financial Secretary's Report: Bruce reported that church income for 2003 through the end of July is up. Tower Day School income is even with past years. Pledges are coming in well for the summer months and the new envelopes are working well.

Board of Christian Service: Bill reported that Missions needs to purchase a rolling cart for the new food pantry. Publicity for our new church school Open House will be done ASAP. The Publicity Committee is in need of a digital camera.

Coming Events: Sept. 19th will be a golf outing followed by a family dinner at the church. Phil Johnson, Chris Parker and Rick Carey will organize. An autumn social dinner will be held on Friday, Oct. 17th. The Fellowship Commission and volunteers will organize this.

Other Business: Phil is looking for input into a succession plan for Moderator. One idea is to try co-moderating for a year. We would like to recognize the enormous contribution that Tower Day School makes to CCC, please try and come up with ideas. The church staffing model for the short and long term needs to be reviewed. We will pursue this subject during our fall discussions. Phil will be meeting with a consultant to hear ideas about our goals. Parish Council will complete their assigned readings and convene in September to plan a larger, all-church meeting.

The next meeting of Parish Council will be on September 9th at 7:00 PM. Parish Council will not meet on August 26th or September 23rd. Parish Council will meet on Sunday, September 28th after worship.

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Lambe, Recording Clerk