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Westminster Presbyterian Church
Durham, North Carolina
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Diaconate Meeting March 9, 2008
Attendees: Sarah High, Lynn Chesnut, Betty Berghaus, Walt Beckwith, Bill Hatch, Sally Cook, Sharon Barnes, Darren Skeen, Gary Lehew, Jim Joseph, Louise Holland, John Lockhead.
Betty welcomed Sally Cook as the newest member. She then opened with devotion from Psalm 130.
Concerns and Celebrations: Julie Beckwith had outpatient surgery on her toe this week. Mary Beck Sutton is traveling in India with students from Duke. Mitch Dozier’s mother has been diagnosed with cancer. Four individuals had cash/credit cards taken from their purse at church the previous Wednesday; please keep purses with you on premises. Cal Hesse is still at Duke and is expected to be in the area through May; the congregation has really stepped up to provide meals for the family while they are here. Sharon asks for prayers for her sister Patty as she files for bankruptcy.
The minutes were reviewed. Sharon made a motion to approve with the date correction. Bill Hatch second the motion and the minutes were approved.
Committee Reports:
· Assimilation – No update.
· Congregational Care –The Congregational Care team will host an event at Dream Dinners on March 17th to stock the freezer for meals to be used for congregational care.
· Fellowship – The potluck for getting more people involved in Supper Clubs was cancelled due to lack of participation. The WPC basketball team won the season title. Lenten lunch on March 5th went well. There is some discussion of having a softball team if there is enough interest.
· Global Missions – No update.
· Local Missions –
o IHN will be at the church April 6th through April 12th.
o Threshold – Due to changes in Medicare/Medicaid, some participants in Threshold are no longer covered. Threshold continues to support these individuals even without financial support. As such, they are increasing fundraising with (1) Reception & Auction 5/17 at Parker and Otis, (2) Partnering with a local artist, Andrea Lynn, to paint a mural on 9th Street bakery and have a community event on 5/18.
o Community Workday – please check your calendars for May 3rd as a possible date for the Community Workday.
o CROP walk is next Sunday – please walk or sponsor a walker.
o Shelter Meals are staffed through June or July.
o The Youth group will have a yard sale as a fundraising event – likely 4/26 or 5/3. The Boy Scouts also asked the session if they could have a yard sale but were asked to find another fundraising event so the two events did not compete.
Old/New Business
· There was discussion in reference to alcohol use at camp outings. Due to a past incident, the youth and youth leaders will be asked to sign commitment forms for all overnight activities. In addition, state run campgrounds have “no alcohol” policies. These will be well published in upcoming promotions of the camp outings.
· Budget cuts – During the next meeting, we need to review the budget and determine where the $5,000 budget cut should be taken. Walt will have copies of the budget and asks that everyone attend the April meeting for the discussion.
· Meals on Wheels – Marty Warburton requested financial support for Meals on Wheels. This request will be reviewed in April when reviewing the budget. Sally Cook gave an update for Meals on Wheels that they need $35,000 in new donations by the end of April to qualify for a matching grant. Also, they have a new executive director with new and exciting ideas for the program. Meals on Wheels gets most funding from Social Services but is capped at $210,000; they will run out of funding before the end of the fiscal year on 6/30. There is additional fundraising efforts with a breakfast in April and a GospelFest in May.
Betty closed with prayer.
Respectfully submitted
Anne Vann