12-19-04
Deacon Minutes

Those in attendance:  Mitch Dozier, Elena Cleary, Leslie Dorminey, Carol Cunningham, Jeff Sutton, Sara Pottenger, John Atkins, Duck Rufty, Betty Berghaus, Barb Vanden-Broek, Emily Collins, Dave Calderwood, Jerry Green, Morris Griffin, Rebecca Mattern-Mielcarek, Bobby Yurkatat, Bill Scott, Nancy Safrit, Michael Reich

Nancy Safrit opened with a devotional and prayer.

John Atkins gave a report/update on the stewardship campaign.  It is the job of the stewardship committee to help raise funds.  They don’t worry about the budget.  Last year they saw a 17% increase in revenue.  This years goal was $960,000, which represents a 15% increase over last year.  This seems like a large increase.  Roughly half of the pledges are in and indicate approximately a 6% increase so far.  Our budget will need to be revised downward if the goal is not met.

Concerns:
Mary Tatum was in an accident.
Carrie Marshall died after a struggle with lung cancer.
Bill Shingleton is ill.
Nancy Rozak’s brother is battling melanoma.

The minutes from November were reviewed and approved.

Share Your Christmas:  This year’s campaign was a huge success.  Many families will benefit from all the work of those in charge.  There were lots of helpers this year which made the packaging, distribution and delivery manageable.  Carol Cunningham did a marvelous job of organizing this effort.  Thanks Carol.  The 5-8 grade Sunday School classes were a huge help in loading the gifts.  A concern for next year is the equitable distribution of gifts within families.  Some folks were very generous, provided much more than what was specified on the request tags.  While this generosity is greatly appreciated, it may lead to some hurt feelings if other family members don’t receive an overabundance of gifts as well.  Next year we may need to encourage folks to stick to the suggested gift ideas in order to prevent hurt feelings.

IHN:  One woman will stay at the Quality Inn over the holidays.  Many folks have volunteered to help with meal preparation and donations.

Shelter Meal: Thanks to all who have given checks.  There are plenty of servers signed up to help.  We will begin heating lasagnas at 1:00.  Servers should arrive at the church at 5:30 to break down the tables/chairs from Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas Eve Dinner:  The set up plan is organized.  Dave Calderwood will purchase the ham.  Shelter Meal servers will break down the tables and chairs.  Sara will purchase paper goods from Sams.

Benevolence Review Committee:   No new requests this month.  The Nativity School will present at next months meeting.

Mission Focus:  Rebecca Mattern-Mielcareck is arranging for a representative from DCRC to speak at the Christmas Eve Service.  The Mission Focus Committee is starting to plan for next year.  We would like to consider whether or not to continue with Deacon Luncheons and if so, how many.  We also want to consider how to best use the donation boxes in the mission center.  How can we best educate the congregation and maintain their participation in the Mission Focus?

Shoeboxes-Betty B.:  We have 50 shoeboxes left.  We must contact our organizations at once to find placement for these.  Rebecca M-M will call DCRC.  Michael R. will call HNH and GH.  Betty will deliver if we can find placement.  Time is running out for these, we don’t want them to be wasted.

Donation Bins:  The bin near the front door of the Mission Center is full.  We need to remove and deliver donations in a timely fashion.  A list of items for donation was suggested for the upcoming months including:  trash bags, food for the Hispanic food bank, food for food bank of NC, diapers, School supplies, coupons.

Lenten Lunch:  Barb Vanden-Broek will take over as coordinator from Carol Cunningham.  The luncheon is scheduled for February 23.

Benevolence Updates:
Food Bank-Bobby Yurkatat:  Money is more helpful than actual food donations.  They are able to purchase $10 worth of food with a $1 donation.  Corporate donations are especially helpful as they are able to take advantage of matching funds programs.

DCRC-Rebecca:  They just remodeled their kitchen.  Our Christmas offering will help to purchase new appliances.

Time Stewardship:  Bonnie Derr is looking at study groups to try to revise the time/talent sheet process.  Nothing is happening with this process right now.  Still being considered.  Jerry Green suggested that we abandon the T/T sheet in favor of a 1:1 interview with new members.  A personal touch always encourages participation.

The Ways/Means Committee will meet on January 10th at 7:00 to consider upgrades to restrooms.  All of those interests are invited to attend.

The DCIA annual dinner will be held on January 18th at 6:30 at St Joseph's AME Church.

Elena Cleary is looking for someone to take over coordination of nursery volunteers.  If you know of anyone who might be interested, please let Elena know.

The next meeting will be January 23 @ 7:00.

Bill Scott Closed with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted by your clerk, Leslie Dorminey