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CCC NewsNotes January 28, 2002 Home Stretch Nears As CCC Building Progresses, Letting Ourselves Go To Find God's Strength, With New Era Ahead, New Ideas On Worship, Turn Around For Camp, Open & Affirming Talk For Churches On Feb. 9, Personnel Costs Comprise Large Part Of CCC Budget, Diversity In Silver Spring, Makes Plans To Attend These Older Adult Events, Parents Night Out 2/8, Youth Workshop Feb. 16, News Notes Deadlines, CCC Staff Home Stretch Nears As CCC Building Progresses At the progress meeting on Jan. 23, Fred Svec, Henry L. Lewis' project manager for CCC's renovation, provided an updated construction schedule, with completion date still scheduled for April 28. Beginning in February, workers will start making their way out of the building by finishing the second floor. From the street, the new entrance shows exciting progress, with brick and stonework complete, roofing started, and all but the large picture windows installed. Those windows were damaged in shipment, and new windows will be delivered Feb. 1. Inside, workers swarm over the building, completing installation of attic insulation, air-conditioning ducts, cold and hot water pipes and electrical conduits.Since Christmas, milestones include:
The Building & Grounds Committee toured the building on Jan. 5 to assess needs for furnishings and finishes not included in the contract, and to assess what we need to make the sanctuary ready for worship. Walking around the facility inside or out, it is now quite easy to see, with only a little imagination, what the finished renovation will be like. The Building Design Committee is working with the Executive Council to plan tours of the building for all members of the congregation on Easter Sunday, March 31 -- keep reading News Notes and Keystones for details. In May, the day we've all waited for arrives -- we have our first worship service in our renovated home! Jackie Walters & Tom Ault, Building Design co-chairs Letting Ourselves Go To Find God's Strength From Jim Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How do they learn it?They fall, and falling, they're given wings. - Rumi A friend recently shared with me the events leading up to quite serious surgery. He is a very competent, take charge, in-control kind of guy, and he had been bravely trying to keep going on a daily basis in the face of very debilitating symptoms. But on Christmas Eve he found himself hardly able to move. He looked at his wife and said, "Help me!" And he related to me in that moment he felt the spiritual power that comes when we truly let go. When we are not just "at," but beyond the "end of our tether," we can become open to the presence of God. And the feelings he expressed were feelings of tremendous peace, relief and gratitude. That presence is real. How hard it is to truly let ourselves fall. How hard to let go of all the ways we cling to the illusions of control and self-sufficiency. But what opportunity there can be at such times. We are all familiar with less dramatic, but still frustrating moments: feeling helpless and angry in snarled traffic, or during a power outage, or harried by over-scheduling, or whenever things just don't go the way we expected. The opportunity in any such moment comes when we recognize our limits and the limits of the situation, when we let go, and when we can simply say "Help!" Jesus said, "Ask, knock, seek." And the promise is that help is always there. Blessings, Rev. Jim Todhunter With New Era Ahead, New Ideas On Worship As we enter a new year with high hopes for our return to our church home, we are thankful for the tremendous dedication of time and effort by all those who have helped in this great undertaking. We have a unique opportunity to prepare our new schedule of worship services with the experiences gained from our "wilderness journey" (some have become very comfortable with a Sunday afternoon service)! We also have the benefit of the Worship workshop led by Hale Schroer last October, where Dr. Schroer indicated that churches providing contemporary and meditative (Taize) styles of services are showing the largest increases in membership. These services generally are lay-driven and embrace nontraditional music and drama. Dr. Schroer recommended, and the Board of Christian Education supports helping our children experience authentic worship by being present throughout services. The recent welcoming of our children into the service prior to serving communion was well received. We need to have warm, friendly and inviting worship services that are truly God-centered. We recognize that the charge to Peter was "Feed my sheep," not teach them new tricks. We understand that many are content with the format of our main Sunday service, but we should consider suggestions for improvement. If we do develop two separate Sunday services, there are many logistics to consider: When should they start and how long should they be? How long should the interval between the services be? Would the interval provide time for church school, adult education, social time? The ministerial staff is working with the Board of Deacons to outline possible options for church services. The Board of Deacons wants as many members as possible to share ideas and participate in the decisions, with the goal of enhancing our worship experience together. We may request answers to a questionnaire at some point, but in the meantime we would like you to write us with your thoughts and suggestions to improve our worship experience. When we have sufficient material, we will arrange a forum for a discussion of all possibilities. It is hoped that following thorough research and discussion, and some experimentation, we should be able to make firm decisions by the fall of this year. Please respond to Elsa Brandt or Neville Platt, co-chairs, Deacons' Worship Committee. Turn Around For Camp The CCC Summer Camps will follow the theme "Turn Around" this year. Staff for the camps have volunteered, but we are still looking for youth qualified in life saving. Contact Tom Martin if you or a friend are interested in life guarding. Here is the camp calendar: Middle School (students completing grades 6-8 in June): Sun., June 23 through Sat., June 29.Family Camp: Sun., June 30 to Sat., July 6.Senior High (students completing grades 9-12 in June): Sun., July 7 through Sun., July 14.Traditional Camp (students completing grades 3-6 in June): Sun., July 14 to Sat., July 20.Music Camp (students completing grades 4-8 in June): Sun., July 21 through Sat., July 27. More information and registration forms will come later in the spring. Use these dates to plan ahead. Tom Martin, (301) 608-8919, hankin71@erols.com. Open & Affirming Talk For Churches On Feb. 9 On Sat., Feb. 9, what it means to be an Open & Affirming congregation will be the topic of a day-long conference at Plymouth Congregational UCC in Washington, DC. CCC is the conference organizer and has invited the Rev. William R. Johnson, minister for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender concerns of the UCC to be the keynote speaker and moderator of the event. UCC members from the Potomac and Chesapeake associations are invited to attend. The conference will be held from 9 a.m. -- 3 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational UCC, 5301 North Capitol St., Washington DC. There is no charge for the conference, but a small fee for lunch will Personnel Costs Comprise Large Part Of CCC Budget Our operating budgets say a lot about our priorities as a church, and they sometimes require difficult choices. But the process of creating a budget also can be exciting. That process is beginning for the fiscal 2002-2003 budget that the congregation will debate and adopt at the annual meeting in June. To illuminate some issues that will be addressed in this process, the trustees will present articles that try to give an objective look on church budgeting over the last 20 years. The trustees welcome your reactions and comments, and we invite your active participation in this budget process. This first article looks at the budgetary implications of our staffing pattern. Perhaps the key fact is that over the last two decades the percentage of our operating budget devoted to staff salaries and benefits has grown from 54 percent to 69 percent. In 1982, our operating budget had expenditures of $231,500, of which $125,300 was for personnel. In the 2001-2002 fiscal year, our operating budget lists expenditures of $480,084 (not including one-time costs for relocation and a few other items), of which $332,547 is for personnel. This increase has been gradual. From 1982 to 19', the percentage of the budget devoted to staff increased in every year but two, with the increases ranging from 1 percent to 4 percent. By 19', the percentage had increased to 65 percent. In most years since then, the percentage stayed in the range of 65-67 percent, and this year it rose to 69 percent. These changes reflect both the composition of our staff, and a desire and willingness by the congregation to increase pay and benefits. We've restructured the responsibilities of our ministerial staff during these years, but we have consistently had a senior minister, an associate minister, a director of music, a ministerial or lay administrator for CE (more recently for children and youth), a parttime custodian and a fulltime office administrator. The changes are that we've made the position of music director fulltime rather than three-quarters time and added a parttime director of programming for older adults, a parttime property administrator and a parttime administrator for CE. During these years the church has also tried to more fully recognize our staff's professional abilities by bringing our salary and benefit packages more into line with the guidelines of the Central Atlantic Conference and with the cost of living in the Washington area (although there may be debate over the extent to which we've succeeded in this effort). These changes have without question immeasurably enriched the quantity and quality of the church's ministries, and our property administrator routinely saves us many times his salary. But there may also have been tradeoffs. The next several articles will look at what has happened to our mission-giving, our budgets for boards and committees and our property expenditures during these years. A final article will examine the income side of our budget. Dave Ackerman, chair, Board of Trustees Diversity In Silver Spring Everyone interested in the future of Silver Spring should keep Sat., March 9 open to attend the Building A Diverse Community Conference being held by IMPACT Silver Spring (formerly the Silver Spring Community Leadership Initiative). CCC is one of the conference's sponsors, and all CCC members are invited. The purpose of the diversity conference is to provide dialogue, networking and action to fulfill the vision of a multicultural, diverse, empowered Silver Spring. It will be an "open space conference," emphasizing interactive events. You won't hear lectures, speeches or panels of experts. Instead, the conference will encourage people to bring ideas and concerns to a one-day community of other people who want to share. After an update on the rate of cultural change in Silver Spring, you'll talk in groups with neighbors and those you haven't yet met. The free conference will be held at the Hilton Silver Spring, 8727 Colesville Rd. from 9:30 a.m. -- 4 p.m. Visit the IMPACT Silver Spring web site at www.impactsilverspring.org or CCC's web site for more information. Makes Plans To Attend These Older Adult Events Valentine's Day Luncheon at the historic Blair Mansion Inn, 7711 Eastern Ave., Silver Spring. Gather at noon on Thurs., Feb. 14. Luncheon cost is $16. RSVP by Feb. 9 to Mable Elliott (301) 622-3174 or Dale Ostrander at CCC. Make checks payable to CCC (designate "Valentine's Lunch"). Day trip to the National Cryptologic Museum at Fort Meade, MD and lunch afterwards at Club Meade (Officer's Club Restaurant), Thurs., March 14. The National Cryptologic Museum honors the men and women who served their country by protecting U.S. communications and breaking enemy codes and ciphers. The museum contains many artifacts and devices used in these efforts. We will car pool from the Marvin Memorial parking lot at 9:30 a.m. and return by mid-afternoon. The cost for a buffet lunch at Club Meade is approximately $10. Day trip to Homewood House Museum and the Evergreen House in Baltimore, MD on Tues., April 30. Both houses are among Baltimore's oldest buildings. Homewood is a National Historic Landmark located at the Johns Hopkins University. Evergreen House, on the National Register of Historic Places, is a 48-room mansion set amid 26 acres of gardens and walking paths. The tour of Evergreen House will include a high tea luncheon. A bus will leave Marvin Memorial parking lot at 10 a.m. and return by 3:30 p.m. The cost of bus transportation, tours and tea luncheon will be $40. Parents Night Out 2/8 Please note that in February, Parents Night Out will be held on the second Friday of the month, Feb. 8, rather than the third which is on a holiday weekend. The regular schedule for Parents Night Out will resume in March. Please sign up on the CCC bulletin board at Marvin Memorial UMC. If you have questions, please call Glenda Neal at (301) 622-3948. Youth Workshop Feb. 16 Teachers, church educators, parents and pastors are invited to attend a workshop about working with middle school youth on Sat., Feb. 16, from 10 a.m. -- 1 p.m. at Seneca Valley UCC in Germantown, MD. Rick Wormeli, author of "Meet Me In The Middle" will share ideas and experiences. The cost is $10 per person. For more information contact Lucy Brady, at lucbrady@juno.com. PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for the Feb. 14 issue is THURSDAY, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. News Notes editor -- Susan DeFord (301) 649-3093, or sjdkjk@erols.com The Rev. Jim Todhunter, senior minister; the Rev. Linda Carder, assoc. minister; John Touchton, director of music; the Rev. Dale Ostrander, director of programming for older adults; Richard Meyer, property administrator; Ruth Avery, office administrator. |