CCC FORUMS

melinda hawbaker · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 4

Central Christian Church
CACS Department Meeting
February 5, 2007
6:30 pm in the Disciple Room

Present: Robert Bushey, Judy Ford, Andy Fulk, Melinda Hawbaker, Julie Martin, Penny Rutherford, Donna Strong, Bruce Williams, Kevin Wilmot

Department Chair Melinda thanked everyone for agreeing to serve on this committee and explained she’s looking forward to learning from their prior service not only to our church but our entire community. She shared that she had organized the agenda around our past activities and would like input from everyone, especially past chairs, about their success.

Good Samaritan Inn

Judy coordinates our committee of five to eight people who prepare and serve weekday meals on the second Monday of every month.

Robert coordinates our Hunger Relief Task Force who will prepare and serve meals on the following Saturdays throughout the year:

February 17 April 14 June 16
August 18 October 6 December 15

Robert explained how much he appreciates the leadership of Yvonne Purcell, Lois Whitacre, and Carol McClure in planning the menus.

Both Robert and Melinda serve on the advisory board for Oasis Day Center where they recently learned that over 100,000 meals were served at the Good Samaritan during 2006. Members of Central were responsible for nearly 800 of those meals, and we expect to serve more this year. On the weekends we serve many children who are without nutritional meals on Saturday and Sunday, as oftentimes their only meal of the day is their school lunch through the free/reduced lunch program.

Peace & Justice Task Force

Bruce encouraged everyone to attend the meeting about Pay Day Loans scheduled for Thursday, February 8th at 6:30 here at Central. To learn about solutions to the problem of Pay Day Loan companies increasing predatory lending, our task force has been working with the Central Illinois Organizing Project (CIOP), an ecumenical faith-based community organization with a mission to help its membership work collectively for justice in local communities and throughout the Central Illinois region. The CIOP recently led an organizing effort to secure night time bus transportation within Springfield’s Public Transit System.

A Public Education Panel Discussion will be held here at Central on Sunday, March 4th from 4 to 6 pm. The panel will consist of seven members of Central involved in public education, including a Superintendent, teacher, principal, and student. The discussion will focus on the greatest challenges our public education systems face today.

On Sunday, February 11th at 6 pm the film Chocolat will be shown at First Presbyterian Church as part of our Just Flicks film series co-hosted with the Peacemaking committee there.

One Church One School

Robert reported that our efforts at Hope Academy prove to be successful with over nine members of Central, including Judy, Donna, and Sue, volunteering their time to tutor and mentor students. Judy shared that she tutors and 8th grade girl, and Donna tutors a 3rd grade boy. They both mentioned that these children receive services from a variety of agencies and they have noted increased self-esteem in their students. Robert reported that Hope is one of 13 schools participating in this program, and soon additional volunteers will be sought to assist with standard achievement tests by serving as proctors for students with special needs.

Dove Auction

Melinda mentioned that our Dove Auction would most likely be held on April 29th and May 6th if we follow previous calendars, and she asked Judy and Donna for their input as previous chairs of this event – and also if they would be willing to organize it again this year. They both suggested we try something different for Dove this year, as the auction doesn’t seem to be as successful in recent years. Last year we raised $1500 to $2000 during the auction, but Judy and Donna shared that it’s becoming more difficult to secure donated items that “attract the eye”; for example, baseball tickets are a nice item, but more items must be packaged with it to make them more attractive. Hearing these comments, Robert suggested a sub-committee be formed to discuss other possibilities to raise money for Dove. Judy, Donna, and Melinda agreed to help.

Alternative Giving

Last year Alternative Giving raised approximately $900 for the various agencies. The group discussed the possibility that this amount was lower than previous years because of the budget shortfall we faced in the fall – perhaps members increased giving to church instead. Julie also reminded everyone that the purpose of alternative giving is more of service to our members rather than a fundraiser.

Spirit of Christmas

Our efforts this year were once again successful, but Penny did mention there were quite a few names left when we took the display down. The committee was able to take care of these individuals with monetary donations received for this project, though. Coats, shoes, and clothes were not purchased as much as toys, so maybe we should emphasize the need for those items more this year. Penny noted the greatest challenge of this project is balancing out the number and types of gifts for multiple individuals in one family, especially children. Fortunately she plans to chair this project again this year.

Special Offerings

There will be two special offerings within this department:
Emergency Fund Offering July 1 & 8
Reconciliation Offering September 9 &16
We’ll have a Minute for Mission prior to the worship services for each of these offerings, and we’ll need to send letters to our membership. The deadline for the first letter will be around June 15, and the second deadline has not yet been determined. Julie agreed to lead the Emergency Fund Offering, and Bruce agreed to lead the Reconciliation Offering.

Other Business

Melinda suggested we discuss our role, as Central’s congregation, not only in our neighborhood, but also throughout our entire community. Since some of group needed to leave, they decided to table this discussion until our next meeting. However, those of us who could stay ended up tossing around some ideas, including inviting our neighborhood to attend our All Church Picnic in the fall. Doing so would require more supervision and activities for the kids. Serving sno-cones and/or popcorn for the kids was also suggested. Involving our neighborhood for this event could replace the Neighborhood Play Day we’ve held in past years. Either Robert or Melinda will talk with Brett Swallow or Shirley Swarthout of the Fellowship Dept. to ask them to present this idea to their committee for consideration.

Robert informed the group of a couple of ongoing conversations he’s having with the YWCA and Baby Talk. Central may become one of the YWCA’s Before & After School Care Sites for children (grades K-6) of several schools within District 61. Central’s Preschool and Baby Talk are working to expand our services to reach more at-risk children through our state’s Preschool for All Initiative. Robert believes our partnerships with these agencies are a ministry bringing diversity into our church, and the group agreed.

Future Meetings

The group decided to meet on the first Monday of the even-numbered months at 6:30 pm, so here are our meeting dates for the rest of this year:

April 2
June 4
August 6
October 1
December 3

Respectfully Submitted,

Melinda Hawbaker
Department Chair