Cabinet Minutes-Highlights - First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Bedford, MA

Highlights from the November Cabinet Meeting

Brief highlights from the November Cabinet Meeting on November 15th are: Masons are donating a defibrillator to us; we reviewed the custodial job description—Peter Gerrish and Sue Seeley will be meeting with the custodians to go over their responsibilities; Peter Gerrish has obtained forms from the town to apply for Community Preservation Funds to help with costs of repairing the manse, an historic home—Pam Brown will help with this process. Stewardship reported that the repair of the granite steps in front of the church will be done in the spring; they received approval for us to put up a 26-square-foot sign (includes space underneath) in front of the church; Gary Ackerman will check the manse sills; round tables will soon be purchased and the Collation Fund will pay for them. Deacons reported that Dave Acker has resigned as Deacon and they are looking for past deacons to help with deacon tasks. Deacon representatives (Dotty Blake, Terry Gerrish, and Cathy Mann), Jamie Howard, and Loryne Koebele took a field trip to our banner maker to order new banners for the Sanctuary...the banners are being designed and general memorial funds will pay for them. Nurture reported that on the Advent Workshop Day, November 29th, we will also hang the greens. Our church is one of the stops for the Chamber of Commerce Holiday House Tour on December 6th. See notice below for more details. Other information discussed at Cabinet is throughout the newsletter.

Highlights from the October Cabinet Meeting

Moderator Peter Gerrish presided over the meeting and opened with a centering moment. Roy Kring reported that the Masons would like to provide a defibrillator to the church to be placed between the Sanctuary and Upper Fellowship Hall. Cabinet voted to accept this gift.

Cabinet also approved for office staff to use Constant Contact for some of our church emails to provide more vivid visual impact. Constant Contact does not share email addresses. Cabinet also approved the office to pursue sending an electronic copy of the newsletter to members who request it. We will still need to mail 200 hard copies to get the discounted mailing rates.

The treasurers are revamping Church Windows and Quick Books.

The Outreach theme this year is “Uniquely Different.” Anyone who wants to share their volunteer experiences at our Sunday services this year should speak with our pastor. Thirty people volunteered on Habitat Build Day. Habitat will have their bridge fundraiser on February 5th. CROP Walkers won second place for their banner, but inclement weather kept them from walking (see article on page 4 and banner picture on page 12).

Nurture reported that the Middle School Youth will set up for the Turkey Dinner. The Sr. High Youth recently led an energetic worship service. They also participated in the ALS Walk. Their Pasta Dinner and Pampered Chef fundraisers for the February mission trip earned $450 ($150 from Pampered Chef and $300 from the Gulf Mission Team’s Pasta Dinner). They are planning another babysitting fundraiser on December 5th. They also raised $100 at Parents’ Night in September.

Deacons reported that ushers are now called welcomers. They spent time at their last meeting orienting new deacons.

Stewardship reported the gutter work on the garage and sun room and the painting of the parking lines in the driveway are now done. A member of the board (Kate Trigg) will be going to the zoning board soon to request their approval for the Wayside Pulpit (signage in front of the church). Tree work was completed by Rich Fedele. Gordon Pedersen is the point of contact for work on the Manse. RER will be providing oil and service to us this year. Major work needs to be done to the granite steps in front of the church but may be postponed until spring. We will need a church meeting to approve the funds for these repairs.

Our church will be the last stop for the Bedford Holiday House Tour on December 6th. Julie Braschler, Cyndy McGowan, and Phyllis Cooke will help with this and the Yuletide Treasures Room will be open for purchases.

Cabinet discussed the solicitation guidelines and will continue to work on this at the November meeting.

The Gulf Mission Team will not be having a bake sale for the SuperBowl, but the Sr. High Youth/Nurture Board will. Funds raised will be applied to the mission trip in February.

Ken Hall said our investments are slowly improving.

An idea was suggested to publish First Church yellow pages listing who sells what, who babysits, etc.

Our next meeting will be on November 16th at 7:15 p.m. If you cannot attend, please notify our moderator.