COUNCIL

Membership and Nurture 

 

Membership and Nurture Committee met 8 March 2023 under chairmanship of Lillian Reid.  The following items were discussed:

• Mary Mattar reported that 15 lay visitors are currently seeing 26 congregational members, 4 of the congregation remain unassigned. Two were almost lost to follow up but after some careful sleuthing they have been located. Mary reminded everyone that it was time for Lenten-Easter visits.

• Annabelle Logan reported that seven volunteer caring callers are staying in touch with 18 people.  At least three people are still unassigned.

•  Bev Lindsay who leads the prayer chain reported that two people were prayed for in February and at the time of our meeting one person had been prayed for in March.

• Gerry Meacham, who writes letters of support and/or consolation has written four notes since our last meeting in February and after discussion with the committee will be writing four additional notes in March.

• A New Members Sunday is being scheduled for Sunday April 23.  We are anticipating a possible 10 adults and four children to be welcomed. Since this is the first New Members Sunday since Joshua arrived we discussed the various responsibilities for each member of the team.  There will be a reception at C&C.

• Glenna Hall, who coordinates Coffee and Conversation, reported that following discussion with Merran Neville there will be a reception with cake at C&C to welcome Chris Fischer, our new music director and organist on April 16, 2023 on their first day. Our committee is very thankful for the way in which the committees of the church have stepped up to look after C&C on a monthly basis.

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Music

The Music Committee has not met in March.

• Our next meeting will be in May with Chris Fischer, new Director of Music, attending. Chris takes up the appointment on Monday, April 10. Plans to welcome Chris are under way, including a welcome reception with the congregation at C&C on Sunday, April 16.

• Choir Director: Kathy Frank has taken over directing the choir February through April 10 and is doing a stellar job. We are very grateful to Kathy for this. Our thoughts are with Viki, who is doing well.

• Easter: Good Friday will be held at FSA this year and the choir will be performing “Eternal Light, A Requiem” by Howard Goodall, with readings given by Joshua and Rev. Jeff Crittenden. A brass quartet will be playing in the Easter Sunday service.

• Concerts in March: Tuskegee University Golden Voices Choir - March 8, 7:30pm – a very enthusiastic audience attended this concert. The London Gospel Collective (LGC) participated in a workshop with the Tuskegee Choir in the late afternoon and sang together with them in the concert on the two songs they had prepared in the workshop. There was a post-concert sing-along around the piano with the LGC and members of the Tuskegee Choir.

• Friday Noon Lenten Recitals: March 24 – Richard Frank, saxophone; Lynda Kennedy, piano; Paul Merritt, organ

March 31 – Laudamus Bells, Richard Frank, Director. See posters and handbills in the Atrium. Please pick up and share with family and friends

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Youth and Young Adult Ministry Update Spring 2023....Marilyn Arthur

Below is a summary of some of the wonderful and meaningful things that have been happening in the youth and young adult ministry over the past few months.

 

Summer Students:

 I applied for the Canada Summer Jobs Grant back in early January. I applied for 5 youth coordinators, 1 youth director and 2 horticulture students that Met hopes to have.  Catherine, I know you applied for Hort students for Siloam. The hope is that these youth coordinators/directors would plan and implement the three weeks of camp that are planned in each of the 3 churches. The rest of the summer would involve planning, and leading youth and young adult events in the summer, as well as Intergenerational events, along with planning for Fall programming, doing some outreach and other things that come our way. We will know in early May if we receive this grant. In the past, I have always hired a team of students by mid-March because we always had a full summer of camps (and we worked on trust and faith that we would receive grant money). We wanted to ensure we had a good pool of people applying for these positions. Most summers this worked out. Due to these positions being new, I think it would be best to wait until we hear about how much grant money we receive, hours etc. I would hope we would get some grant money and have a good number of volunteers to help also. 

  

Vacation Bible Camp:

 A camp poster has been circulated through the church's e-blasts, bulletins etc. over a month ago as well as been sent to the other UCC churches in the city.  I will be making a big push and learning where else to advertise the camps, as we no longer have an established camp community since we have not been leading camps since 2019. Registration is low at the moment for each church congregation.

 

Worship:

 I have been attending each church's worship once a month. I have involvement pretty much each time I am at a church leading prayers, reading scripture and/or giving testimony.  Being at each congregation once a month helps me be visible, and people have the chance to see me lead, and in turn, helps understand who the person is they have hired. I lead something early in worship and then either take leadership or help with the Sunday morning kids’ (young at heart) programs. This is helpful for me to get to know the younger people, so we establish relationships and they will hopefully want to move into youth programming/leadership when in high school. 

 

Intergenerational Events

 The trivia and potluck were a huge success. We had around 60 people and many people said how much fun it was to get together eat, and have something to do that was friendly and a bit competitive. All ages were represented with 7-8 churches and other communities present. 

 I would like to put 4-5 Intergenerational Events on the calendar that this position plans and leads. 

•  Summer- Siloam-campfire

• November- Met (not sure what)

• February (before Super Bowl and Family Day): FSA- Trivia and Potluck

• May- ???

If you have ideas let me know. 

 

Young Adults

Young Adults are gatherings each Tuesday right now for a program called ‘Faith Questions.’ It is a small group of people right now who gather for community building, and chat about scripture, life, and questions of faith. We have participated in setting up beds for Ark Aid four times now, and doing social justice projects is something they would like to continue to be part of.

 

We had a pub night in January that had 6 people attend.  Another one is planned for March. We also went bowling in February to have the opportunity for play and recreation.

 

Youth 

 I have been offering, for the past month an opportunity to gather at FSA after school for community building, and leadership opportunities on Wednesdays. We did have four weeks of two people attending each week. This opportunity was good for those involved and provided some bonding opportunities for the youth. I chose downtown since I thought many people from the schools close by could walk, or busses would be easy downtown but many conflicting schedules has people not able to attend. Instead, I am offering youth opportunities to gather with myself and others for pastoral care and get to know each other better through ‘coffee/hot chocolate’ at local Tim Horton’s.

 

We have activities/events planned for 2  Friday nights and 1 Sunday afternoon each month. The different days help people who can’t come on a consistent night and hopefully be able to make it to something throughout the month.

 

We also have the once-a-month coffee house as we continue to partner with LUSO. We have a  few of the church youth who love coming to the coffee house as well as youth from LUSO. When the coffee house began in person again (May 2022) the numbers of people coming were small. We were meeting at Fairmont at this time. In October 2022 we moved the coffee house to North London Optimist Community Centre (where I was able to access free space from the city). This space has helped increase the number of youth attending from 4-5 youth to 15-20 youth each night.

 

The numbers coming out to these youth events are small but people are getting to know one another, forming a community and enjoying seeing one another.

 

Annual Meetings

 I have attended all three church congregations’ annual meetings. This has provided me with some good insight into each of the church communities, allowing me to learn more about each church’s values, missions and governance structures.

 

M and P meetings

 Each of the M&P liaisons touches base with me from time to time to learn how things are going. These have been good and easygoing conversations. I think I met with the group of them back in November for a “review” which went well. 

 

Staff meetings

 I attend FSA and Silom monthly staff meetings, which I find helpful. Met does not have formal staff meetings, but I meet with whom I need to when needed. 

  

Regional Events

There is a young adults weekend retreat being planned for April 28-30th. They asked me to participate. I am supporting the young adult team in their planning and coordinating but it will not take a lot of extra time. I have worked with many of these young adults through my time with being an adult advisor for London Conference Youth Forum for years. They asked me to lead worship on Saturday morning and be their chaplain for the weekend.

 

 Thank you for continuing to believe in youth and young adult ministry and for partnering with other congregations to ensure that our youth and young adults have the opportunity to meet together for recreation, community building, faith-based activities, social justice opportunities and for them to have a sense of belonging, and community with one another, where they feel safe and included. I feel so fortunate that I am able to accompany our young people in their lives and provide opportunities for them to gather. Many of our young people have shared that they are grateful that there is someone “paying attention” and hired to plan opportunities for them to gather with peer groups, that share similar values, faith and inclusivity.

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Property

• The Property Committee has largely completed the reorganization and space allocation as a requirement to accommodate the El Sistema program which is now fully in operation at FSA.  To date they seem to be pleased with working in our building.  There are some growing pains still to be worked out as we learn more about each other and how best we can share space. 

• We continue to monitor and repair as required building/property deficiencies:

• Outside lighting is now fully functional again.

• Repairs to the Atrium Entry door and Music entrance were completed.

• Tree trimming has been completed

• Repairs and servicing to Proudfoot Stove and dishwasher are underway

• Damaged furnace exhaust has been replaced (Ark Aid expense)

• We continue to work with Chris Lindsay to improve the children/youth spaces. 

• The Property Committee has identified capital projects for consideration:

  • Sanctuary LED lighting upgrade – quote $87 000.00 

  • Engineering Study to identify options and costs for replacing our aging boiler system

  • Electrical Panel upgrades – Fireside room, narthex – both aging and no longer up to code Sanctuary Eave Trough replacement – several areas are rusted and in disrepair. 

  • We are in communication with UC Grant program to explore eligibility for partial grant funds for either lighting or engineering study.

• Rental Updates: 

• 10 year Licence agreement with El Sistema is now in place. 

• Pro Musica has moved their music library to St James Westminster and will also have rehearsals and performances in that space. 

• We are currently in negotiation with Menear Worad to provide some overflow parking (2 spots) for them and to add additional rental parking in our back lot.

• A new 3 year lease agreement with Meals on Wheels has been completed. 

• A new rental rate chart is being developed. 

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