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Westminster Presbyterian Church
Durham, North Carolina
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Diaconate Meeting
Minutes 12-14-2008
Attendees: Betty Berghaus, Pam Smith, Pat Gunter, Tiny Bradley, Sally Cook,
Anne Vann, Fritz Simonson, Gary Lehew, Carl Boxberger, Bill Burig, Carol Kelly,
Helen Tharrington, Jamie Dilweg, Louise Holland, Jim Joseph, Gayle Etter, Neal
Nichols, Darren Skeen, David Duling
Neal called the meeting to order. Pat opened with devotion about the significance of Jesus’ birth and how the world would be different without his birth. Pat blessed our lunch and we joined in fellowship over lunch.
Concerns and Celebrations: Heath Tuttle received a heart transplant last night – the surgery went well. Debbie Hatch’s mother, Gail Russwurm, passed away Friday. The funeral will be on Tuesday at 11:00am at St. Francis Methodist Church in Cary, NC. Mickey Henriquez will have surgery on January 14.
The minutes for October and November were reviewed. The minutes were approved with modification.
Selecting Committees:
o Congregations in Action need a Deacon liaison. Chuck Byrd is currently President and there are others in the congregation who are involved. David Duling volunteered to check into this organization beginning January.
o Durham Crisis Response needs a Deacon liaison. Alyson Bosworth and Laura Chesnut are both actively involved in this organization. Fritz volunteered to work with them as the liason.
Committee Updates
o Assimilation: Fritz said there will be an event on December 21st. If you are available to help, please contact Marty Warburton.
o Congregational Care: Tracy Joseph is the Care Leader for the Tuttles. Julie Beckwith is the Care Leader for the Hatch family. Anne Vann is coordinating for Jean Eaves. Anne discussed the Jean was hesitant to ask for help because she felt that the Tuttle’s needed assistance more than she did. This is a large congregation who can support more than one need at a time; please make sure if you are aware of anyone else in need that may not be asking, that we reach out to help.
o Fellowship: Advent Caroling & Potluck with be tonight. Darren asked for volunteers to help with clean-up at the Christmas Eve service potluck dinner. Basketball season is approaching; due to increase in interest, there will likely be two WPC teams this year.
o Local Missions:
o Louise Holland reported Genesis Home has gotten a new leader and she will meet with her in January.
o Pam and Jamie have volunteered to share responsibility for the Mental Health co-chair position.
o Sally reported that Meals on Wheels is looking for a new place to reside. They are looking for a space that will allow meal preparation and office space for 5-6 people.
o There is still a need for a chair-person for the Homelessness sub-committee. There are a number of church members active in organizations for homelessness: Kenzie Brannon, Lucy Stokes, Doreme Palermo, Doug and Kay Wellemeyer that will assist with this effort.
o IHN will be at Westminster is January 18-25.
o The Deacons will host the December 23rd Shelter Meal. Please contribute $20 for the cost of the meal. If you are available to serve, please meet at church at 6:00pm. There are also openings for Shelter Meal for January and May.
o Global Missions:
o Mary Berghaus and Helen Tharrington are working together to identify ways to help Mary in Honduras. They have identified that the highest need may be providing bundles of clothing.
o The Alternative Gift Fair went well. Attendance that Sunday was low; however, the sales were only down by $200. Jim suggested one person in the congregation who represents a local mission did not feel informed and wanted to be represented in the future.
o Helen made a motion to change the Hurricane Relief Fund to Global Disaster Relief Fund. The motion was approved.
o The next meeting is Wednesday night at 7:15 following the Advent.
o Mission Focus: The Christmas Eve offering will be evenly split between Food Bank and Housing for New Hope. Bill Burig met with Housing for New Hope to discuss directing the funds to Presbyterian Urban Ministries and PATH. Presbyterian Urban Ministries has a staff of 2 individuals and a part time employee. They respond to requests to help families with urgent needs of money for heat, bus fare, baby formula, etc. PATH goes into the community to identify people living on the streets, befriend these individuals, and get them into housing. Bill suggests we earmark the Housing for New Hope portion of the offering to these two specific organizations. Betty asked Pat and Bill to provide additional information regarding these organizations for the newsletter and Christmas Eve bulletins.
Old/New Business
o Please return your Pledge card if not yet returned.
o 2009 Budget update: We are under budget almost $250K. The Deacon budget may be reduced the budget is finalized.
o CROP Walk: WPC won the golden sneaker for the first time this year. The church raised $14,000 for Crop. Crop Walk for 2009 will be March 22nd.
The next meeting will be January 11th at 5:30.
Betty closed in prayer.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne Vann