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CCC NewsNotes November 4, 2003 Special Congregational Meeting, Property Administration Position, Recommitment Challenge, From the Property Administrator, Weather Emergency Policy, Two Opportunities for Giving this Thanksgiving, Advent Wreath Workshop, CCC's First Blood Drive, Supper for Seven (or so!), Social Witness Happenings, Youth Global Experiential Learning Initiative, Buy a Car & Support CCC, Help Wanted:, Early Fellowship Time Coordinators Needed, Late Fellowship Time, 40s+ Singles Group, Worship Opportunities at CCC, NewsNotes Deadline, CCC Staff Special Congregational Meeting At a special congregational meeting on October 19, the congregation voted to amend Christ Congregational Church’s Open and Affirming Statement explicitly to include transgender persons. The meeting was the culmination of a series of educational discussion forums throughout the fall in which the Open and Affirming Task Force provided opportunities for CCC members to learn about transgender issues and to discuss amending CCC’s statement to include transgender individuals. On behalf of the Task Force, Ann Marshall presented the motion. Among the reasons for the Task Force’s bringing the issue to CCC members’ attention was the fact that when CCC adopted its statement in 1995, there was not a great deal of awareness in the denomination of the presence and concerns of transgender individuals so they were not specifically included in the UCC’s statements. As awareness and understanding grew, however, the United Church of Christ officially included transgender persons in its open and affirming statements, and the Task Force recommended that CCC be aligned with the denomination’s position. Following a discussion primarily about the language of the statement and whether the word "all" suffices to convey the concept of inclusiveness and welcome at CCC, the motion was adopted by voice vote with one nay and one abstention. Jackie Walters As the Trustees discussed filling the position of Property Administrator following Dick Meyer’s retirement on August 31, it became clear CCC had an opportunity to reassess this position while building on the work of the two Staff Design Committees. The Trustees decided to create an interim position that incorporated two key responsibilities: (1) managing the property and (2) conducting a needs and task assessment of the administrative support functions of the Church. The Trustees are pleased that Jackie Walters took the position of Property Administrator. Jackie brings to the job her knowledge of the building from co-chairing the Building Design Committee and needs assessment and management experience from her work with the American Red Cross. With the assistance and concurrence of the Board of Trustees, Jackie will chair a committee whose tasks will be (1) to conduct a survey of the administrative support function needs of CCC, (2) to consider alternatives for providing admin support to the professional staff as well as for managing the physical property, and (3) to prepare a report to the Trustees with recommendations for how best to staff for comprehensive administrative support. As Property Administrator, Jackie is primarily responsible for insuring that the Church’s buildings at 9525 and 9601 and their grounds are well-maintained, for managing costs of maintenance, services, utilities and repairs, and for promoting use of the building under CCC’s policies and procedures. The Trustees were not seeking a custodial or handy-person candidate, and Jackie was clear about her skills not being in that area. With the full support of the Trustees, Jackie will be soliciting volunteers to assist in some of the routine maintenance tasks that the building requires. Like other candidates interested in the position, Jackie was informed that the Property Administrator position was being offered on a non-permanent basis to extend no later than the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, 2004. Once the process of research, deliberation and decision on a comprehensive plan for meeting CCC’s administrative support needs has been completed, interested candidates will be invited to apply for whatever position(s) has/have been determined. Pete Hotchkiss, We have an exciting challenge grant that many people have responded to since it was announced last Sunday. An anonymous church family has pledged up to $10,000 as a challenge grant for the Recommitment Campaign. For every dollar in new or increased pledges pledged by November 2, they will give 50 cents. If you have not yet made a pledge, this is a great time to do so. If you can pledge $5,000, the church will received $7,500. If you can pledge an additional $1,000, the church receives a total of $1,500. If you can pledge $100, CCC will receive $150. Any amount will help. If we can come up with $20,000 in new or increased pledges, CCC will receive a total of $30,000. I think we can do it. Please contact David Bobbitt (drbobbitt2000@yahoo.com,) or Elaine Wunderlich (Elaine@marlaine.com) if you can help meet this challenge. Thank you, Dave Main – Moderator From the Property Administrator From time to time, I plan to submit items concerning the building to News Notes. It seems appropriate for the first article to thank the many CCC members whose words of encouragement and support have made my first month on the job so rewarding and energizing. Dick Meyer left very big shoes to fill, and I am particularly grateful to him for his many hours of transition help and his willingness to help me over a steep learning curve. In addition, Dick has taken on as a volunteer project the upkeep of the church’s lawn, so when you see that the grass is mowed and the edges trimmed, Dick is the person to thank. Dick keeps me straight on other tasks that need doing that I haven’t even imagined yet! CCC was ready for Hurricane Isabel in September thanks to the extra work of Cory Gray, David Gayer and Jim Walters. Thanks to Cory for taking calls from the alarm system monitoring service and for checking them out. CCC incurred no damage from wind or water, and we provided the neighborhood with a treeless area in which to park during the storm. Thanks to Sue Dollins for providing hot coffee brewed on her gas grill when we came over on Saturday morning to check for storm damage. Ben Gallup spent three days trimming and painting the courtyard doors so they would close securely and easily. He also repaired the locking mechanism on the Brewster Avenue door. Ben is now CCC’s official "doorman" and carpenter extraordinaire! Alan Taylor volunteered a Friday morning to do some odd jobs in the church. Thanks to Alan, the backstops on the counters in the Deacons/Sanctuary Committee room are reattached, the curtain rod in the Conference Room is repaired, and Kris Glasco has soundproofing on her office door. The October 11 workday was ably planned and organized by the Building & Grounds Committee chaired by Bud Dennie. Thanks to Bud and his crew chiefs, Dick Meyer (for painting and landscaping work at 9601), Mary Pence (for landscaping work—weeding, planting, trimming—at 9525), and Mike Breads (for recruiting senior highs to paint cabinets for the CE classrooms), and to Sue Bratten who prepared lunch for the team of hard workers. Many folks gave up a large part of their Saturday to care for CCC. Thank you! Jackie Walters, In the event of a weather emergency, or other unexpected event(s), that would cause the cancellation of worship services, the senior minister, in consultation with the moderator and the chair of the Board of Deacons, will make the decision whether or not to cancel. In the event that any of the three persons named above cannot be reached, the remaining two or one (or appropriate substitute acting on their behalf) will make the decision independently. When a decision has been made to cancel worship services, the following steps will be taken:
If other church activities are cancelled because of weather emergencies or other unexpected events, the leader or coordinator of these activities is responsible for making the decision whether or not to cancel and for contacting the participants to let them know about the cancellation. The event leader or coordinator is also responsible for letting participants know when the event is rescheduled. Morning notice should be given for evening groups. If board night is cancelled, board chairs are responsible for rescheduling their individual meetings, as needed. Each year in November, a reminder notice will appear in News Notes and on the web site. NOTE: If you call the church and can reach no one - not even the Event Line that is a sign there is no electricity in the church. The church phones do not work during a power outage. Mary Carnahan Two Opportunities for With the holidays quickly approaching, The Board For Church Life would like to remind all CCC members that we are going to be collecting canned and dry foods on Sunday, November 23, or the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The donations will go to local shelters and food banks. Look for the donation box in the church foyer. Thank you soooooo much!!!! Brian Phelps Shaw Community Ministry—Thanksgiving Baskets Each year Shaw Community Ministry collects canned and packaged food items, plus cash for turkeys, in order to fill Thanksgiving baskets for residents of Lincoln-Westmoreland Housing in the Shaw area of the District of Columbia. The goal this year is at least 100 baskets. Although the contents of each basket varies according to the size of the recipient family, the average basket contains a turkey, two cans each of green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and fruit, two boxes of stuffing mix, two boxes of macaroni and cheese, one box of muffin mix and one box of cake mix. If you would be interested in supplying actual cans and boxes of food, or in making a contribution of $35 to cover the cost of one complete basket, please call or write Anne Weissenborn, 10021 Raynor Road, Silver Spring, MD. (301) 681-6042 (home) or (202) 694-1545 (office). She will be glad to pick up and deliver any and all in-kind contributions. Thank you in advance for helping a family have a special Thanksgiving. The Advent Wreath workshop will be held on Sunday Nov. 30th following the second worship service, along with a soup lunch. Watch for a sign up sheet on the Board for Church Life bulletin board. Many thanks to everyone who volunteered at the blood drive on October 11th, including the blood donors, the receptionists, and the children who helped at the canteen. Although our goal was 40, the drive was successful, with 29 units collected. Our volunteers included 6 first time donors. We hope to hold ongoing blood drives at the church, so be on the lookout for a sign-up sheet in the future. Sandy Brush, Supper for Seven (or so) is an opportunity for you to join a small group that takes turns having a meal in each other’s homes (or other location). It’s a great way to get to know others at CCC. You’ll be grouped with 6-8 other people -- singles and couples. One person needs to offer to contact the others in the group and host the first meal, and then the group decides its own schedule. If it’s hard for you to host in your home, you can arrange another location or buddy up with another member of the group. Name: ______________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ Telephone: _________________________________________
PRINT Email: ______________________________________ (please give email if you use it, makes communication much easier) Are you willing to be the first host? Yes No (someone needs to!) Do you want to be in a group that includes children at the dinner? Yes No If yes, ages of children: _______________________ Please return by November 9 to Sara Watson, saradwatson@aol.com or fax 301-879-7693 or mail to 14616 Notley Road, Silver Spring, MD 20905. Questions, call Sara at 301-879-7692. November 18 - The 24th Annual InterFaith Concert. Using the theme "Let There be Peace on Earth," the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington ("IFC") will hold its 24th annual interfaith concert on Tuesday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Washington National Cathedral. The evening will include music and other presentations by the IFC’s 150-member combined choir and by representatives of many faiths. The doors will open at 6:40 p.m. General admission is $15 in advance, $18 at the door; reserved seats are $30. $5 and $15 of these sums respectively will be tax-deductible. See the orange announcement on the BSW bulletin board outside the CCC sanctuary. The IFC "brings together the Baha’I, Hindu-Jain, Islamic, Jewish, Later-day Saints, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh and Zoroastrian faith communities in this region to promote dialogue, understanding and a sense of community among persons of different faiths and to work cooperatively for social and economic justice in metropolitan Washington." Common Ground News Service. Through its Peacemaking Mailing List, the U.S. Institute for Peace has drawn attention to the new Common Ground News Service-Partners in Humanity available by subscription online. This service of Search for Common Ground "seeks to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Arab/Muslim World," and is the result of a Partners in Humanity conference held in Jordan in July, 2003 that was funded by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Every two weeks the Service "will distribute 2-5 news articles, op-eds, features, and analyses from the Arab/Muslim world and Western press that aid in developing and analyzing the current and future relationship of the West and Arab/Muslim world." The first edition was distributed on Oct. 24, 2003. To subscribe, go to subscribe-cgnewspih@sfcg.org . Board for Social Action Youth Global Experiential Learning Initiative (YGELI) Last Sunday evening, CCC hosted the second training event for youth who want to be a part of this exciting program. The event was led by Jennifer Morazes and focused on being aware of and sensitive to racism. Jennifer is very skilled, and she was able to help the youth and their adult advisors talk about some difficult issues. Some of the activities included role-play, a video and small group discussion. There were 48 people there from the three churches that are participating in this endeavor. We had our Sunday night dinner as usual (many thanks to Mike and Jane Weber) and worship (many thanks to John Touchton). The Junior Highs and the Covenant Class joined us for dinner than went on to their regular programs. The next two YGELI training events will be at the other two churches. The next one will be at Heritage Church in Baltimore, MD on Saturday February 7th from 10 AM to 3 PM. The last one for this year will be on Saturday May 15th from 10 AM to 3 PM at Little River UCC in Annandale, VA. These sessions are preparing the youth for our trip together next summer to the Taize Community in France to experience their approach to spirituality and then on to Geneva, Switzerland to visit the World council of Churches as a part of the Decade to Overcome Violence. This trip will be in late June - early July. There will also be a trip to the UCC Nation Youth Event in Knoxville, Tennessee, July 22 - 26, 2004. The three churches are planning on attending that also. Linda Carder and Joanne Dennie Are the 2004 models calling to you? Looking for a great deal on those 2003’s? If you purchase a car this fall, consider donating your old vehicle(s) to CCC. It’s a lot easier than negotiating a trade-in and, because you decide the value you want to claim as a charitable deduction, donating a vehicle is often a better deal for you. The process is simple and fast. (1) Call Ken Stith (301-438-0907) and let him know you have a vehicle to donate. (2) Within 24-48 hours, you will get a call from Jim Lerch, the person running CCC’s donation program, to set up a time, at your convenience, for him to pick up your car. (3) Take the tags off the car and get the title; meet with Jim for about 5 minutes to transfer and sign some paperwork and watch your car being taken away. (4) Feel good knowing that you contributed to CCC’s Building Fund and to reducing our debt. Help Wanted: Responsible, customer-service oriented individual to provide custodial and administrative support to CCC members and visiting groups for meetings and events on weekday evenings and weekends. Duties include light housekeeping; providing logistical support to meetings and events; opening, closing and securing the building, and other duties as assigned. Hours are part-time and will be negotiated in cooperation with the current night custodians and the Property Administrator. Training is provided; wages are hourly. Interested individuals should call or email Jackie Walters, Property Administrator, at 301-585-8010 (CCC); 301-565-3197 (Home); Early Fellowship Time Coordinators Needed The Church Life committee is looking for five volunteers to coordinate Fellowship Time in the foyer following the 9:00 a.m. church service. Each volunteer is asked to assume responsibility for the coffee hour on one Sunday a month. Refreshments will consist, at least initially, of coffee and cookies only, and the Church Life committee purchases all of the supplies. The person should arrive about 15 minutes before church begins to brew coffee. Cookies, pretzels, cream and sugar are to be set out when church ends. The refreshments are provided self-service style, so the coordinator can socialize instead of filling cups. Around 10:15, he/she should dismantle the buffet and clean up. In case of a conflict, the person could swap days with another coffee coordinator. This is an opportunity to serve the church in a pleasant setting, with a limited commitment of time. Please call John Potts at 301-879-7894 if you can help. Fellowship time following the 10:30 service has moved downstairs to the Social Hall. Please come down for cookies and punch! The 40s+ Singles Group (generally for ages 40-60) will be having a pot-luck dinner and sock-hop on Sunday, November 9 at 6:00 p.m. at the home of Sue Dollins, 412 Brewster Avenue (across the street from CCC). All singles are welcome to come bring a dish for dinner and enjoy music from the 50s, 60s and 70s. If you’d like to know more or have any questions, call Sue at 301-585-8874 or email suedollins@cs.com . As you well know, the Board of Deacons has been wrestling with developing a worship schedule to meet the many needs of our congregation, and indeed we still very much regard this as a work in progress. There are some exciting developments ahead of us but due to peoples schedules it is taking longer than expected to put all of these in place. We thought it might be helpful to let you know the latest state of these plans, and also list the opportunities for worship that are already in place or in the pipeline. Sunday 8:30 to 8:55 a.m. Meditation & Communion. A group of 8 people or so meet for a simple communion and meditation service in Room 206. If you would like more information about this contact Susan Gray or Sarah Anders. 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. Worship. The shorter of our two morning services with Communion on the first Sunday of the month. There is a Nursery for children up to age two. Church School is provided for preschool to kindergarten. For First Grade and above School for the Arts is being developed, and should be in place by January. In the meantime church school is being provided. 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Worship. The chancel choir sings at this service. Communion on the first Sunday of the month. Nursery for children to age two, with Church School for ages three to Senior High. Fifth Sunday of the month. Youth led creative worship – this year these are the first Sundays in Advent, Lent, and Pentecost. Youth members will demonstrate new experiential worship ideas. It is planned to hold these services in the Meeting Room on the ground floor. Please note dates on your calendar: November 30, 2003, February 29, 2004 and May 30, 2004. PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for the next issue is WEDNESDAY November 13, 5:00 P.M. Please submit articles via: email - mojobo@aol.com, phone - 301-236-0025, or paper copy - drop off in the News Notes box in the church office. Thank you, Joan Boyer, Editor 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; Jackie Walters, property administrator; Ruth Avery, office administrator; Archie Freedman, Custodian |