CUMC Council Meeting Mar 21, 2022
Attendees: Barb Julian, Bonnie Kegan, Dave Lanzer, Erik Alsgaard, Marilyn McKee, Ron Boller, Rita Boller, Crystal Spalding, Charles Moore, Carol Moore, Candis Milbourne, Gina Perantoni
Daily Devotional: Luke Chapter 20: Jesus the Cornerstone. Are we building on a foundation that will stand the test of time, can we change the world? Closed devotion with prayer from this month’s prayer room.
Dave noted that minutes from last meeting were posted and shared through Realm/Connect and solicited comments and corrections.
- Trustees update: Roof repair in progress, estimate for last HVAC units that need update, spring cleanup- 2 dates: March 26th (congregation and older scouts invited) April 2nd (younger scouts, congregation) Leaf removal (blowing) will be handle by landscapers (scheduled by Doug)- around the street and the outdoor chapel area. Helping Hands meets every Wednesday and has been cleaning up since beginning of March.
Looking into to getting carpets cleaned/refreshed.
- SPRC update: Church has negotiated a new relationship with Rick Kellner to be the primary worship/band leader (not through Guest Worship which saves some money). Dave Lanzer will do one Sunday each month.
- Budget update: Finance committee hasn’t met this month, will meet on Thu March 24th. Member giving in month of February exceeded last February and YTD is 2.5% above the first two months YTD last year. Bottomline: Still negative but this is common for this time of year.
- Lay leader report: Former United Methodist Women met (13 attendees) as new Methodist Women of Faith to determine if there is enough interest to continue a women’s group and to celebrate women in the church. Decided to release half of funds (about $5000) to ZimVim and VBS. Balance would be applied to the outreach ministries of the church on a monthly basis (side offerings) May 21st Women’s fellowship event- details forthcoming
- Pastor’s report: We had a 45-minute discussion on the Black Lives Matter banner. It was decided that pastor would reach out to people to help facilitate church conversations. Touched base with Sarah Schlieckert
Reached out to Stacey Cole Wilson and gave her some background on the issues we are facing. Stacey recommended person to lead “brave conversations”, K Scary. Pastor will meet with her tomorrow to plan for conversation to happen sometime after Easter. Will also discuss with the adhoc Wilson covenant team. This team will meet Thursday at 7pm in person in Library or church outer office. Purpose of team is to strengthen and foster communication between CUMC and Wilson, to create a covenant between the churches, and identify collaborative ministries that we could direct funds to ($7500) LLDC will meet tomorrow. Team will also discuss holy week worship plans, including Palm Sunday processional w/ donkey. Maunday Thursday, Good Friday service, Easter Sunday, sunrise service in outdoor chapel (6:30am), 9:30am service indoors.
Pastor Jay and his wife are joining the ZimVim team traveling in July. Fundraiser on April 30th– food jointly prepared by Wilson and CUMC members.
Conversations with Ukiah Austin about starting a United Methodist Men’s group. A current men’s group meets for breakfast 3rd Tuesday of every month.
- COVID policy changes- COVID positivity rate in AA County 2.3%, both community spread and level are good/low. Schools have made masking optional. CDC advisory board met to discuss changes to masking policies in child care centers (per the MD State Dept of Education)- masking now optional. Make it clear that we support people where they are, masking can be a personal decision, encourage use of KN95 masks vs. cloth. Suggestion that we make masks optional. Conference expects churches to decide together (https://www.bwcumc.org/article/re-entering-well/) Do we know if anyone who is currently attending would be uncomfortable and stop attending if we went mask optional? Recommend we reach out to a couple families to see how they feel about it. Note that children under 5 can’t be vaccinated and also haven’t been required to wear masks. We can open windows to keep fresh air calculating (be mindful of allergies!) Online streaming is intended to continue, barring technical difficulties. Two weeks ago attendance was 65 in person, 49 watched on Facebook, 39 watched on YouTube (device counts). Group was in concurrence for mask optional policy.
- Return to in-person council meetings? Day/time to be determined. Maybe a quarterly in-person meeting. Zoom registration is now required to join council meetings- to ensure that attendees are active members.
April council meeting (3rd Monday is right after Easter- so may change date)
Barb closed the meeting in prayer at 7:28pm.
