St. John United Church of Christ
Outreach Missions Group (OMG)
Meeting Notes (by Eileen Thornton)
Date: October 1, 2015
Attended: Bruce Horn, Stephen Phillips, Carol Rich, Willie Tackett, and Eileen Thornton.
Excused : Carol Griffith and Pastor Keith Haithcock. Guest : Donna Hoffman
Church Lower Level Space Use:
Donna announced that during the production of the current theater play, until October 25 th , the black screen dividers that separate the space devoted to WIT and the Friendship Center must be kept five feet into the area originally allocated to OMG. After much discussion, we agreed.
We decided to submit a proposal to the SLC to form a committee that will have input into the use of church space. It will include Willie, to represent OMG, Stephen to represent MOTA, and
Dale Clark, to represent the Rummage Sale fund-raising project. Bruce will draft the proposal.
Accomplishments:
1. After Service Socials: Guest Chefs were Mark Thornton on 9/6 and Karl Frey and Doug
Baldridge on 9/27. Bruce placed a card on the serving table displaying the chef(s) name.
2. Senior Meal and Socials: on 9/27, after setting up the lower level for the meal, it was discovered that the elevator was out of order. Folding tables, serving dishes, tableware, food, etc. had to be moved to the Lounge, which necessitated multiple trips up and down the stairs.
This caused a delay in the starting time, but the 36 attendees did not complain, and had a great time. A good will offering of $77 was collected, to offset the $144 expenditure, so the cost per person was below $2.
Challenges:
1. After Service Socials: The sign-up sheet for this year is almost full. The plan is to move the serving table and the name tags board from the left side of the sanctuary to the right side. The welcome table, with a new Welcome Banner, will be moved to the left side. This will allow more room for people to congregate. Stephen will contact Pastor Keith and ask for a timeline.
2. Senior Meal and Socials: The next event is scheduled on October 31 st , on Halloween.
Willie and Bruce will purchase theme-related decorations , Bruce will bring appropriate background music , and Carol will create a box game.
Everyone will be encouraged to wear a costume. Bruce will send an article to the Prevues and make an announcement during
Worship.
We decided to cancel the November and December regular dates and replace the two events with a Holiday Meal on Saturday December 12 th . Willie will sent postcards and emails as usual, emphasizing the change .
3. Friendship Center: The OMG had a meeting on 9/13 to discuss whether to continue to allow children to attend. We decided that our recent experience of having four children under 6 in the same room with mostly seniors made us realize that the facility is not conducive to mixing these two age groups. Therefore the new policy is to restrict attendance to adults and seniors
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only. An article has been published in the Prevues with these news. Willie will revise the postcard draft announcing the center to reflect the new rule, and get 500 printed. The
“
Adults and Seniors
”
provision will be included in all future ads and posters.
Following up on our September meeting decision, Carol will compile a computer database listing everyone who attends and see that an Intake Information form is completed by all.
4. Newspaper Ads: It was decided to advertise the Holiday Senior Meal instead of the
Friendship Center in the Bellevue Community News in their November and December issues, emphasizing the change of date. Willie agreed with Dale Clark to submit a November ad for the December 4th Church Christmas Sale when he sends the other ad to the Paper . Bruce will ask Dale Sexton to allow the extra $25 expense from the Church Budget.
5. Cookies with a cop Idea: On 9/18 Mitch Leigh emailed Willie a link to the UCC website which describes a grassroots program that started after Synod this summer with the purpose of building relationships between police officers and the community they served. If St. John is to undertake a similar project, it will consist of the congregation baking cookies once a year and placing them in plastic containers to hand to the police, who will share them with adults and children along their routes. Once empty, the containers will store coloring and art supplies and be placed in the cruisers. When officers encounter a situation where children need to be removed temporarily from a dangerous circumstance, the children can use the supplies in the box while the officers calm the situation. Carol will approach Wayne Turner, Bellevue Chief of
Police, with the idea. At the same time, she will invite him to come to the Friendship Center for a Q&A session about Bellevue.
Action items:
Bruce will: 1. Draft a proposal to the SLC for the formation of a Space Usage Committee.
2. Arrange to obtain decorations and music, write an article for the Prevues and make an announcement in church regarding the Halloween Senior Meal and Social. 3. Contact Dale
Sexton about purchasing an additional Newspaper ad in November.
Carol will: 1. Create a database for the Friendship Center and ask participants to complete an
Intake form. 2. Bring a box game to the October Senior Meal and 3. Contact the Bellevue
Chief of Police to present the idea of participating in a
“
Cookies with a cop
”
project and invite him to give a talk at the Friendship Center.
Steve will ask Pastor Keith for a timeline regarding switching furniture in the back of the
Sanctuary.
Willie will: 1. Revise the Friendship postcard and get 500 printed. 2. Send invitation postcards and emails and purchase decorations for the Halloween Senior Meal, and 3. Publish ads for the Christmas Sale and the Holiday Senior Meal.
Next meeting: Thursday, November 5, 2015 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in the Church Lounge
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