Parish Council Minutes

June 22, 2004

The moderator began the meeting at 7:10 P.M. Present were Phil Johnson, Raymond Patch, Barbara Langill, Bruce Gist, George Hayden, Tony Lucia and Linda Ladd. Bruce Gist presented a meditation from Matthew. Minutes of the last Council meeting were approved with minor changes sent to Susan Lambe.

Senior Pastor: UCC Annual Meeting topics were acceptance and promoting the UCC as an open church. A national media campaign, themed "This is who we are" has been created. Raymond also attended five full days of workshops at Hartford Seminary. On Stewardship - ‘What you do after you say "I believe"’, the less an institution needs, the more it will receive. We need to know our mission and talk about it in terms of faith, focusing on what we’ve received. Human contact is important to create a culture of giving. Phil J, Hugh P, and Stewardship Comm. will meet with Raymond to brainstorm, and may hire teacher of the class to advise us.

Christian Ed.: Church School Sunday went well with a larger group at the picnic after than in recent years. The Middle School Youth held their end of the year party at Richardson’s, enjoying ice cream and playing mini golf in the rain! Teens to Tennessee have met their goal with more money still coming in. The extra will fund van transport to/from Logan. $1,600.00 was raised in shares of stock. The shareholder dinner will be held on Sun., Sept. 26. Vacation Bible School is July 6 -9. Sept. 17 is the date for the fall golf tournament combined with a pizza dinner put on by the Family Life Comm. The Rotation Sensation Fall unit "Jonah", will include display of a 40’ inflatable whale on the front lawn. Jill and Barbara will each take a few weeks of vacation after VBS.

Financial Secretary: More people should have access to CCC investment info. Phil J./ Hugh P. will work on expanding the number of signatories to 3. A new hand held and new lapel microphone are needed at $200/ea.

Investments: Tony Lucia received a letter confirming CCC ownership of 600 shares of Kinder Morgan stock.

Treasurer Report: Staff vacation and sick days were discussed.

Board of Faith Development: Linda Ladd presented the Tower Day School budget. Sally MacDonald, Director of TDS is invited to the Sept. meeting to discuss how the Church and Council can support TDS more actively.

The Landscaping Committee has cleaned up the area surrounding one lawn sign. Phil J. will check their plans.

Board of Parish Life: Possible guest speakers for the Fall were discussed. On the idea of opening a Youth Center for the town at CCC: Doug Russell, principal of LMS has been contacted for names of parent monitors. Chris Parker will review CCC’s liability concerns. The CCC Pamphlet updates were approved. Two thousand copies will be printed, with changes made to confirmation age and HS Youth description.

Board of Worship: Lay led service went well last Sunday. Services have moved into the Chapel and all Worship Team duties of ushering, scripture reading, etc. have been assigned through the summer. George H. noted the parking lot was chained off all weekend and questioned why. Decided to remove chain indefinitely.

Other Business: Raymond presented an outline for CCC’s wedding policy. Comments for slight additions and changes were made. Discussion on wedding photography, pre-marital counseling, and fees ensued. Phil J. asked Council to suggest nominations for Moderator in 2005. Phil will have completed 5 years as Moderator then, and is ready to step down. He suggests an Asst. Moderator position to train for the job in the future.

Future topics: Moderator, Youth Director reviews, Board chair vacancy, long term strategy for Youth Ministry.

Respectfully submitted, Linda Ladd for Susan Lambe, Recording Clerk