May 5, 2011: Revised Minutes of South Central Mission Area Council Meeting
Thursday, May 5, 2011 Meeting at St. Mark’s in Shelby, Ohio.
The meeting was called to order at 6:17 p.m. by Chairperson Toma Lord.
Discussion and election of officers was held and voted upon for 2011 as follows: Robert Bennett, Harcourt Parish, for the Chair Person; Rev. David S. Sipes, St. Mark’s, Shelby, for Vice Chair; Jo Richards, Grace, Mansfield, for Treasurer and the place of financial record will be Grace Episcopal in Mansfield. As determined at the last SC MAC meeting in March, June Hulit, St. James, Wooster, Secretary. Current SC MAC Officers will run through March of 2012.
Discussion of three-year terms was discussed but would have to be determined at the Diocesan Convention.
The Rev. Sipes led us in prayer. He was the only priest at this meeting. Other priests were unable to attend for various reasons such as other business commitments, vacations, etc. Karl Stevens, St. Paul’s Mt. Vernon, and his family are moving to Columbus. He did not want to be considered for any 2012 office because he will be commuting between Columbus and Mt. Vernon.
St. Matthews; Ashland: Dana Jones reported mite boxes were collected and a parishioner built a wooden cross for the children and the children put the mite boxes inside the cross. St. Matthew’s has been involved in the Bricks for Haiti project; held a Seder meal on Psalm Sunday evening; having two instructional services. Book club meets third Thursday of each month. Will have a garden for church members; VBS will be held in June for all ages and will need volunteers. The parish hall will be painted; have a new web site and also a Facebook page. Participated in second survey for NCD (National Church Development) and the results were we lacked passion. Bible study is held each Wednesday morning. A member donated three Dogwood trees which were planted on the north side of the parking lot. The large yews in front of the church have been removed. The Ashland University student/choir director (of two years) graduated and left Ashland. Report by Dana Jones.
Harcourt Parish; Gambier: Toma Lord reported they are knee deep in sending their Rector off on sabbatical. Received $50,0000 for ministry development. The parish has been assigned tasks and prayers to pray and there is an agenda for the congregation or the whole parish while their priest is on sabbatical. The Rev. Helen Svoboda-Barber will be on sabbatical from May 8th to August 28th. Re-evaluating Harcourt mission based on Kenyon students. The proposed chaplaincy might be returned to the college. Not sure of the current mission for Harcourt. It depends on Kenyon College decision.
A chaplain will stay in Helen’s house and six members of the parish are educated in morning prayer. Worship will be held outdoors during the summer. Had a glorious Easter; did not do Godspell. Went to St. Paul’s for evening service. Harcourt has a fundraiser entitled “Better World Books” accommodating particularly to any parish that has text books circulating in their community. It has generated approximately $2,000 for the cost of helping one book drive; Harcourt would help other parishes to do this same fundraiser. Must store their own books. Textbooks are most productive in payback, but also books on your shelf can be donated. This benefits Cuttington University in Africa. Several members have already visited Cuttington. This is under the direction of one woman, Susan Givens. Need one person in your parish to take on this project.
Susan Givens is the contact at Harcourt if anyone is interested in the training. Harcourt wants you to help with one and then they will help you. Computers going to Cuttington University are used for training.
Had an Evensong at Harcourt which involved three parishes: Grace of Mansfield, St. Paul and Harcourt. The singers had a great time and it was a lovely evening.
Grace Episcopal, Mansfield: Jo Richards reported activities and provided a detailed written chronological report which was made the current secretary, June Hulit, beam from ear to ear and give a verbal hint …..”this is wonderful if other MAC members/parishes would like to submit their written activities to me.” (BIG SMILE).
Building expansion was approved by the vestry March 15 and is underway. Renovations are within the budget funded by the Vision for Future Pledges and Rountree bequest. Groundbreaking ceremony took place April 24 after church on Easter Sunday. Other Easter activities included the Way of the Cross, an interactive program presented by the church school children, which allowed parishioners to reflect on the events of Holy Week. Following the Good Friday service, a labyrinth experience was held in the Chapel. The fence is up, the construction trailer and bulldozer are on the site. Future activities, include an instructed Holy Eucharist May 1st and May 8th; Backward Bible Study, May 11th, which is a study of the minor prophets; May 15th will celebrate the graduating seniors from both high school and college; three children will be baptized May 22; church school will end this date and begin again on Rally Day in the fall. The monthly book club will meet May 23 and will discuss Louis Bromfield’s Early Autumn and the book for the summer will be Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants.A parish retreat will be held October 28th and the subject will be “Getting to Know You,” a programmatic/scriptural look at the traditional and biblical names given to the Trinity. So far 18 people have showed an interest. Additional updates include the repainting of the Labyrinth; winter markers have been removed. Medieval Chartres Replica has eleven circuits for reflection and prayer. As of Easter Sunday, $895 has been raised for the Bricks of Haiti with a goal of $1,000. The Thursday before Easter the following items were shipped to Haiti: 17 child-sized blankets; 373 dresses; 100 sets of shorts and shirts; 50 pairs of flip flops. We are now sewing in 18 states as well as Canada and Scotland.
St. Mark’s, Shelby: Barbara Traven, Mike Lowe and Fr. Sipes reported. They have Monday night prayer for one hour. There are cards for prayer requests in the pew that Sunday attendees complete and deposit into the collection plate. Several folks come into the parish on Monday evenings; sit in silence and pray. St. Mark’s had normal Easter services. Donated $200.00 to an organization that make up Easter baskets and distribute them to various kids in the community. They also have a $5,000 scholarship for a student at Shelby High School. The student has to be a member of a church and a letter of recommendation is needed from the student’s pastor. The student does not need to be an Episcopalian. To date, they have received four applications for the scholarship.
Shelby has been asked to host the Bishop’s Bike Ride on Monday, June 27th. St. Mark’s members will accommodate the bikers for the night. St. Mark’s has an apartment they might use for some of the bikers. They may need air mattresses. Currently Shelby has one of their apartments rented and one is available to rent. The apartments have been renovated very recently.
Shelby also participated in a St. Baldrick’s event (worldwide effort of Shaving the Way to Conquer Kids’ Cancer). A young man, about 14 or 15 years of age raised $1,600 dollars in donations from various people and members of St. Mark’s. They allow their hair to grow for one year and then it is cut and used to make various hair pieces for cancer patients.
St. James, Wooster: Damon Hickey reported that last Sunday when Bishop Hollingsworth visited our parish, there were approximately six confirmations, receptions and renewals of vows. Bishop Hollingsworth made a special trip to a care center in Orrville to confirm Lowell Reynolds, a long-time member but was not yet confirmed. Lowell’s family and his wife, Nancy, were also present. There were two baptisms at the Great Vigil of Easter and one coming up this Sunday. There is a second “Unbinding” group coming up. It is based on the books that were written by Martha Grace Reese. (She was funded by the Lilly Endowment, to study evangelism in mainline protestant Churches and she developed this curriculum designed to help adult members of the church be more comfortable in sharing their own faith with one another and also with others outside of their church and also praying together.) There are several different books in the series that different churches can use. St . James started out with “Unbinding the Gospel” which is an eight-week program. We had eight people in that group and are now doing one with five people and using a book entitled, “Unbinding the Heart” which is a six-week program. Some churches in the dioceses are doing a whole programmatic emphasis with the goal of getting well over half of their members involved. St. James may not get there right away, but the groups have been very valuable to the people who have been involved. Our church is bidding goodbye to our choral scholars for the summer, a group of about a half a dozen college students from the College of Wooster, who receive a stipend and sing in our choir and who have enriched our choir. We are participating in the “Bricks for Haiti” project and thus far have raised over $270.00. Our Outreach Committee developed a brochure that lists all the different Outreach activities that people at St. James are involved in and the name/names of the person/persons responsible for them, when they take place, what agency they work with, what the needs are, etc. They can be distributed to parishioners and this is a way to get folks involved. St. James has also converted the apartment over our church office. The apartment was used by Matt Humm and his family before he became a priest during his interim year with St. James. Evelyn Manzella came up with the idea of turning the apartment into a retreat space for clergy and clergy families. It has been refurbished and renamed “The Upper Room at St. James.” It can be used for spiritual retreat for a nominal suggested fee. It is downtown and easy walking access to shopping, grocery and several restaurants. There was an article recently in Church Life about it and a brochure will be made available.
June mentioned the Prayer Chain at St. James and how she got involved with a Prayer Chain when a member at St. Matthew’s. She brought it to St. James and now Mary Hickey, Damon’s wife, leads and coordinates it. There are 12 to 15 Prayer Warriors. June drew up some instructions and guidelines originally which she could share this with parishes within SC MAC. There is a choice whether folks want to be on the Prayer Chain or in Sunday’s corporate prayers.
Shelby stated if a phone call is received; the whole church is involved in praying for the person/situation.
Other items or topics of discussion for SC MAC: Harcourt had 100% participation for the Bricks of Haiti project. St. Mark’s contributed money also for the Bricks of Haiti.
Discussion was held regarding a study that started over a year ago in the Episcopal Church. Every rector received this. Seventy- six percent (76%) of the people; who received it, filled it out. It is an interesting compilation of statistics and what parishes are doing. In some ways it is very interesting and uplifting, and in other ways, it is very scary as to the number of churches who have left the Episcopal Church. It talks about the clergy and the shortcomings of the clergy and it talks about the good things parishes are doing and it is done in a statistical analysis which is very interesting.
The email from our Bishop about the outcome of the lawsuit was also mentioned.
Harcourt has a gender-based competition (women competing against men)…..money is used for the general fund not the parish house. The only gender-based thing Harcourt is doing. It has been fun.
Toma asked if any parish needs help.
Damon talked about the fact the parish in Marion has been struggling and they were not able to be represented at the Diocesan Convention because they missed the deadline for payingr their Diocesan assessment. They are in our Mission Area but have not sent anyone to come to the SC MAC meetings. Damon inquired and was told they are over their heads. Damon would like to attend a Eucharist in Marion and have someone else from the South Central Mission Area Council accompany him to let Marion know they are not by themselves.
Joe Ashby mentioned this at the last SC MAC meeting held March 17. Damon will talk to Joe. Jo Richards will go with Damon to Marion.
Damon spoke regarding the history of the Mission Area Councils. Damon was appointed the Liaison to Diocesan Council from the former Deanery, but the only part of the Deanery that met was the clergy and Damon did not have anyone to report to in the Deanery. All members of the of the Diocesan Council were assigned to be liaisons with particular parishes within the Dioceses of Ohio and were to send in reports on those parishes to Diocesanes Council and liaise with Diocesan committees. With the creation of the Mission Areas to replace the Deaneries, there is now a body to report to and to report for. Now the liaisons Diocesan Council from the MACs are not expected to serve on other committees of the Dioceses. They are expected to come to the MAC meetings and to report for their MACs to the Diocesan Council, both on behalf of the individual parishes and on the behalf of the MAC as a whole. Question – What do you want Damon to report to the Diocesan Council? If there is something going on that could be useful to other MACs or other parishes in the Dioceses then that seems to be good information to report. The MAC’s are all quite different from one another. Those in urban areas have more churches and are closer together, whereas rural MACs have fewer churches farther apart. Ex: It is easier for a group of people and much more natural for people in West Cleveland to get together more often and easily collaborate missions with each other and that is what they report on in their mission areas.
Barb Traven asked how do we (Shelby) collaborate with other Episcopal parishes in our own area as it is not mentioned in the Cannons or MAC rules? Shelby does collaborate with other churches (not Episcopal) in their area and the churches in the area support one another. Ex: Preschool and programs at the different churches; we (all churches in Shelby) all contribute to one another.
If churches in a Mission Area work together with other churches, not necessarily all Episcopal, could they receive funds for the collaborative projects in their area? Ex: Collaborative Bible School. We (Shelby) are not going to collaborate with St. Matthew’s in Ashland for Bible School when we have three churches in our own area that want Bible School here in Shelby. That does not make any sense. We are doing a lot in our own town with other churches and we have a good relationship with them. We all serve the same God.
Smaller towns are looking at working together with other churches. In Shelby alone, there are a couple of churches closing. The two Methodist churches in Shelby are also in trouble and there is talk of closing at least one of them. Another church has dropped Sunday School altogether because there are not enough children. Several Protestant churches do not have enough young people for a Sunday School. Having a good relationship with all the churches in the community is very important. It is important to reach out not only to other church congregations but community organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, the Lions – all organizations that are doing great things for people and it is important to support them as a church community and to recognize they are all part of a larger group.
Damon mentioned that St. James does a great deal of collaborative work in regards to People to People ministries; the Brown Bag concerts given by St. James for Viola Startzman Free Health Clinic. Except for the Lutheran church, other downtown churches participate in Vacation Bible School. June mentioned the chicken dinner put on by Trinity Church of Christ in support of the Lakota Indians. Trinity provided flyers to St. James for folks to sign up and participate. Damon mentioned too the young people from St. James were also invited to join this mission trip.
We all can share activities within our own parishes that would fit in with our individual parishes. Ex: Evensong. Possibly members from SC MAC could visit parishes within our own SC MAC area.
We have uses for each other. MAC is healthier. Jo Richards pointed out there are things unique to individual areas; such as, “Unbinding the Gospel.” Possibly attendees from other parishes might attend. What book is needed? What is the cost? What are the dates? Share information within SC MAC. If other parishes have supported the Bishop’s Bike Ride………how can we (another parish hosting the bike ride) share past experience with other parishes to successively support the bikers? What has worked successfully in the past?
It was suggested there be some modifications to the Cannons. Ex: MAC members are for one year term. Should officers be elected for three years? Should the office travel with the position? Should we mention it or just think about it? Seem to be heavy on the rules and adamant about one clergy and one lay person. Lay folks may not know who’s who in the Dioceses?
This is one of the things the Bishop would like – having people serve on various Diocesan committees. MAC can encourage folks to serve on Diocesan Committees but what are the committees and what is their function? Match the talents of the person to the committee. Could we have someone from the Dioceses attend a MAC meeting and talk to us and tell us what the Diocesees does? Or who’s who in our Dioceses? Damon to ask someone from the Dioceses to attend the next SC MAC meeting in July. There are various programs for lay people in the Dioceses….what are they?
June wants to get more information for SC MAC members/meetings ahead of time so they can plan accordingly. Ex: Whoever hosts the MAC meetings, will they be serving food? Where do we park? Where are we meeting; what address? Possibly maps of the location of the meeting from the host of the SC MAC meeting. Want to ask these questions two to three weeks in advance of the meeting for better planning. Ex: How many attendees? Host has food preparation for 20 and only ten attendees.
The next SC MAC meeting will be at Harcourt Parish House on Thursday, July 7th at 6 p.m. The address is 201 West Brooklyn. Parking is to the south of the building.
Toma will get a map to June, the secretary, so she can send out to everyone.New officers to be in place for the next meeting. Possibly a member of the Dioceses to visit and speak at the next MAC meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
