Diaconate Agenda & Minutes April 24, 2005
7:00 pm - Welcome Mitch Dozier, Moderator
Attendance: Mitch Dozier, Betty Berghaus, Rebecca Mattern-Mielcarek, Emily Collins, Bill Scott, Barb Vanden Broek, Sara Pottenger, Dave Calderwood, Eleana Cleary, Morris Griffin, Sally Keener, Michael Reich, Nancy Safrit, Jeff Sutton, Scott McLeod
Opening Prayer was shared by Morris Griffin.
Nancy Safrit celebrated congratulations to Mitch who was recognized for his volunteer work by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools as a reading partner.
letters have been sent to all WPC supported agencies to keep our records current and will be sent on an annual basis.
Approve 4/3/05 minutes: Minutes were approved as submitted.
Ongoing Topics:
1. Durham Home for Recovery update, sent by Doug Wellemeyer, was reviewed by Mitch. Questions and concerns had arisen about our donations to this benevolence when it came to our attention that there was no direct responsibility or liaison from the deacons to the Durham Home for Recovery. Although there have been changes in their structure, there is still work continuing. We have suspended donations until we more fully understand how the money is being used and what role we may want to take in the future.
2. Collection Boxes: Rebecca Mattern-Mielcarek requested that, based on needs at DCRC, the May donations focus on paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning items.
Rebecca will empty the donation boxes and get the request for May to Gail for the newsletter.
3. Housing for New Hope bus tour: Michael Reich gave an update that the bus tour is scheduled for May 15th. Currently 15 people have signed up, but there is still room for more; he would like to see 20 people participate. There will be lunch at the church before leaving at 1:00; plans are to return about 2:30.
4. Camp New Hope - move to benevolence budget: This benevolence has been under the budget of the Session since Camp New Hope's plans had not been clear last year. Now that there is a clearer plan and that there is a deacon actively involved with the Camp New Hope program (Michael Reich), the deacons are happy to accept the Session’s request to resume responsibilities for this organization in the deacon benevolence budget.
5. Benevolence Review will be discussed at the next meeting. Two concerns were highlighted for next month’s consideration: (1) DCRC has lost a substantial amount of state funding and they are scrambling to cover costs. We will need to consider using the deacon discretionary fund to increase what we do for them. (2) Housing for New Hope will be requesting $1500 for lamps. Doug Wellemeyer will fill out the request form.
6. Mission Focus - Work Day - May 7: Elena reported that responses have begun with 30 already signed-up, but she urged all the deacons to get their names on the list and encourage others to sign-up for the work day. Elena encouraged participation even if you cannot stay the whole time.
She is still waiting to hear from the agencies to know what they will need done. One of the three sites is WPC where the focus will be the new IHN closet and the kitchen. Rebecca and Doug Smith will be site heads for the DCRC and the Thrift Store, Jeff Sutton will be site leader at WPC. Other responsibilities: Scott will be in charge of the breakfast; Betty will do the devotional; Dana Lange is in charge of the lunch; Nancy Rozak will organize the children’s activities and Barb VB will take care of the nursery.
The work day was highlighted at the sharing our mission in church (4/24), and there will be another announcement next Sunday (5/1). Elena also hopes to send a broadcast email that will provide another way for people to sign-up by simply replying to the email.
7. Presbyterian Point Weekend - May 27-30: Bill Scott reported that Sailors’ Haven will not be available because that is now being rented as a long-term camping location. Although there might be some spots available on any given date, that will not be known before the very last minute. Nearby is New Beach, which is available at $4 per person per night and is currently the only place for group camping. They can accommodate up to 80 campers there, so our whole group could be there together. It, however, does not have electrical hook-ups, which may be a deterrent to many participants. Kitchen and facilities are available at Sailors’ Haven, a short walk away. Bill has made a tentative reservation for 50 campers. Brief discussion of alternatives, Camp New Hope and Jordan, were eliminated as no advantage over the New Beach site. After further discussion it was decided that Bill and Elena would take an informal survey to see what the participation might be under these new arrangements. They will make a decision as to whether or not to go ahead with publicizing and getting sign-ups for New Beach for the May 27-30 weekend.
8. Time Stewardship / Volunteer recruiting / Website: Mitch facilitated the first stage of discussions on how to improve, update and utilize the WPC website as a tool for membership and participation recruitment. Gerry reported that more and more members of Inquirers Classes first learned of WPC through the website. Sam Bryan will continue to do updates and corrections to the website, but he needs a liaison from the deacons to channel information to him. A committee was formed to act as a task force to review the website, get immediate corrections/updates to Sam, and make longer-range recommendations back to the diaconate. The committee will be: Elena Cleary, Sally Keener, Jeff Sutton, Michael Reich and Betty Berghaus. Betty will be the liaison to Sam. That committee will meet at 7:00 on May 17th to begin their review and revision work. Their goal is to first make corrections/updates, then organize the sections and revise as appropriate to better use the site for congregational involvement and new membership recruitment. They will also establish a process for on-going review and maintenance.
9. Officer Assignment Evaluation Update: Gerry Green shared the latest discussions from the session and the evaluation committee. He asked that a deacon join the committee to create evaluation survey(s) and Dave Calderwood agreed to be the deacon representative to that committee, joining current members Frances Anton, Brian Nicoll, Blair Chestnut, Doug Wellemeyer, Nancy Rozak and Gerry Green. Gerry reviewed the importance of this project to evaluate how we are doing – celebrate what we are doing well and identify areas we may grow or improve, even redesign ourselves. It will be an opportunity to clarify priorities and celebrate successes. It will be a look at where we are and where we might want to be. It is the intention of the committee to provide an opportunity to gather input from every single person in the church. The plan is to report on the feedback in January or February.
Gerry again asked the deacons to research how responsibilities are assigned/organized in other churches and share that back to him, Dailey Derr, Mitch, Elena or Doug Wellemeyer. The session is eager for ideas as they examine ways to set up boards and tasks. They have been looking to both the Bible and the Book of Order as they have their deliberations. Currently the discussion has centered around three variations: (1) stay as we are, (2) create more formalized assignment of duties/responsibilities to the diaconate and the session, or (3) move to a unicameral governance. The session wants to resolve this by mid-summer to make any transitions as smooth as possible and in place while Haywood is available to support any transitions.
Gerry’s next meeting is May 15th. He will report to us again at the deacons’ May meeting.
10. Benevolence Budget & Deacon Assignment Alignment: Mitch handed out copies of a revised spreadsheet of benevolences that includes columns designating account number, budgeted amount, the deacon with primary responsibility and the co/assistant deacon, name of a WPC board member and any active WPC members. Two additions were made: (1) Kristen Overholt is actively involved with Urban Ministry of Durham, and under unbudgeted outreach benevolences, (2) Christ the King shoeboxes is to be added with Elena Cleary as the deacon with primary responsibility.
11. Deacon Committees: As a follow-up to a suggestion from the last meeting, discussion was introduced on how we might organize and implement a committee approach to deacon responsibilities. The purpose includes the desire to get a wider participation in benevolence activities and to avoid deacon burn-out from over-taxed work loads. To aid the discussion of how committees might be formed, a list of themes was introduced and both additions and deletions were made in discussion. The theme list became: job training, poverty, housing, behavioral health, health issues, cultural diversity and Hispanic issues, education, hunger, local missions, holiday celebration/outreach. The next task would be to plug in the benevolence responsibilities under the most appropriate themed heading. One suggestion for organization was to conduct an examination of what we spend the most time and money on to decide where we might need the strength and depth of a committee. Another idea raised was based on a model where there would be an in-reach and an outreach division of the diaconate, each with a deacon chairperson. Meetings would start with division meetings and then come together for joint session for the second half of the meeting. An example might be a committee to support Betty with in-reach congregational care. All these ideas will be discussed at the next meeting.
New Topics:
1. Upcoming event/calendar planning
o May 24 - Food Bank breakfast update from Bobby Y:
I would like to give you a quick update on the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The Durham branch of the Food Bank is in the midst of a record year of food distribution. With three months left in their fiscal year, the Food Bank has distributed almost as much food as they did in the previous 12 months. During February and March alone, close to 1 million pounds of food was delivered to local food pantries, homeless shelters, and other agencies.
There are several exciting events coming up on the Food Bank calendar, but one in particular I would like to tell you about. The Durham branch of the Food Bank is sponsoring a breakfast for anyone interested in learning more about the Food Bank. A similar breakfast was held in Raleigh last month, and over 200 people attended. I would like to invite you to attend the Durham breakfast with me. It will be held Tuesday, May 24 from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM at the Durham Marriott (downtown). This is an informational breakfast, and there will be an opportunity (request J) for donations. However, a donation is not required. We also promise to respect your time and keep the breakfast to one hour.
Please let me know if you would like to attend, either by e-mail (yurkutat@qualexphoto.com), by phone (380-9907), or in person the next time you see me. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Also, please forward this information to anyone else who you think might be interested. We do need to have an accurate count of attendees, so they can RSVP to me as well. Thanks for your consideration!
Bobby
o June 12 – Elder/Deacon joint meeting: at WPC, 12:00, lunch provided
2. Other: Michael reported there will be a fund-raiser breakfast for Housing for New Hope on July 15th. He will provide details at the next meeting.
Deacon’s Calendar: Next meeting – May 22
- Officer nominations (moderator, co-moderator, clerk)
- Opening: Sara
- Closing: Mickey