Heard It at Council (April 2014)

April 8, 2014

This month’s Council meeting focused on the Vision and its various task forces, Children’s Education, a new grant process from Christian Service and Outreach, a possible Capital Campaign, and Pride week plans.

The Vision Working Group has made tremendous progress, building on the success of three task forces: Christians in Formation, Faith at the Crossroads, and Sanctuary in the City. Debby Kuenstner updated Council that the three year terms of these task forces are coming to an end and the Vision will now take time for reflection and discernment. Looking back, there has been much energy and passion generated with people being broadly engaged to help define vision for the church’s future. An excellent example is Urban Body of Christ which was formed under Faith at the Crossroads and has worked closely with other organizations to provide services in the city. In other areas there has been much innovation and energy including sacrificial service, the extravagant welcome, Caring for Creation, and Restored Vision. In the Fall, the Vision Working Group will report back to Council on best paths forward with hopes to retain some of these projects.

There is much excitement about a possible Capital Campaign for Old South Church. Wayne Davis and Todd Krohne summarized current efforts on the part of an informal committee. The group has been created in response to many discussions about preparing for Old South’s future in a sustainable way. There are two sub-groups: Campaign Readiness and Campaign Priorities. For a church of our size and history, the absence of a capital campaign is unusual. Clearly the goals, timeline, and priorities of such a campaign will require much discussion and planning with a lot of input from the congregation. At the moment, the group is simply gathering initial ideas with the expectation that it will be formalized in the near future as a temporary committee that reports to Council.

On the Christian Education front, Maren Batalden and Rev. Anthony Livolsi reported on recent activities. It is amazing to think that we now have more than 150 children at Old South Church, almost half of which are less than 2 years old! To plan for their future, Old South aspires to be a Best-in-Class Church School and is taking a new look at the curriculum for preschool and elementary school aged children. Maren was sad to report that Church School Director Tricia Hazelton has submitted her resignation, having served Old South Church with dedication and passion. Her presence will be missed. However, Christian Education is confident that it can build from past successes and chart a new path using Godly Play, an imaginative and highly interactive curriculum that engages children in a hands-on way. The curriculum will require volunteer facilitators and teachers and it will likely be offered once per Sunday. How to move forward will be a topic of discussion and the committee plans to seek the input of parents in the Spring. There will be a search for a new Director in the near future.

Christian Service and Outreach Chair Ruth Ricker explained a new grant process. In the past, the process was laborious with relative little monetary reward for applicants. Going forward, there will be less grants but each with a larger budget. In this way, Old South Church can track grantees’ progress and have a more engaging relationship, helping us to build ties with the community.

Rev. Nancy Taylor reported that Pride Week, the week of June 14th, will be very special for Old South Church this year. In years past, organizers have become fragmented. This year, Old South will be a primary organizer, helping to put faith back into the event and showing Old South’s true open and affirming position.  There will be an Open Door Award with medallions presented to two highly influential local figures, Bishop Tom Shaw and Rev. Frank Schaefer. Pride has the potential to be a signature event for Old South Church! Nancy will be on sabbatical starting April 22nd. The meeting closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

Lisa Mahnke, Clerk