Board Buzz: New Board Steps Up on June 1st

Beginning in June, four newly elected members at large will join the First Church Board of Trustees - Yvelyne McCarthy, Jeanne Barnard, Tina Mielke, and Kelsey Atherton.

They will join President Cherie LeBlanc and second year members-at-large Kathy Ellery Hubbell and Robert Demarais Sullivan. The new board will select a Secretary and Vice President from among themselves. Also transitioning into leadership is Treasurer Veronica Young, who will be an ex officio member of the board. Recent interim Treasurer Michael Tucker has agreed to show her the ropes, and to stay on as assistant treasurer which will add depth to our important financial team. Past president Ann Maclaine has promised to remain active as an ex officio member of the board.

Our new nominating team includes Esther Scott, Angie Palazollo, and Linda Reine.

Still needed are one or two people to serve as coordinators for the 2009 Canvass, which will be conducted during the fall of 2008. This important but time limited task is easier if several people share the responsibilities. One person has agreed to serve PROVIDED at least one more steps up. Ideas for new ways to conduct canvass are welcome. Please contact Cherie LeBlanc or Ann Maclaine if you have questions or wish to volunteer.

Fellowship Hall will soon be jumping!

Beginning in mid-June, First Church will lease the Fellowship Hall to two different programs for morning and weekend use. Gym Rompers will be moving to FUUNO from First Presbyterian. They are donating significant time, expertise, and advance costs to make improvements to the Fellowship Hall before their classes begin on June 23rd. They will hold classes on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and Wednesday evenings, and will also host birthday parties on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.

In return for Gym Rompers use of the space at these times, they will have the floors thoroughly cleaned, install back doors and an awning, install baseboards and doorway trim, finish wall board, improve the women’s rest room, and paint the hallway between the Fellowship Hall and the rest rooms! Their equipment, which will take up about 1/3 to 1/2 of the Fellowship Hall, will be left in place from Sunday afternoons (after coffee hour) until Saturday evenings. We can, with advance notice, make special arrangements to use the hall on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and can use it at any time they are not holding classes as long as we arrange to have their equipment picked up and later put back down.

On June 16th, Jazzercise, another renter, will begin holding classes in the other half of the Fellowship Hall on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. They will also use the nursery during class times.

We will realize some much needed income for our operating budget from these lessees, and are looking forward to a long and satisfying relationship with them. There will be some adjustments for us, but on the whole, we think this can be a win/win. If anyone has questions or concerns about these leases, please contact the building usage team – Mary Jo Day, Reese Brewer, Howard Mielke, Betsy McGovern, or Ann Maclaine.

A special thanks to all the people who came out the morning of Memorial Day to clear out the Fellowship Hall. Their hard work made the space more ready for our Hogwarts Camp and the lessees, finally organized the growing piles of miscellaneous “stuff” that had landed there, and gave us a leg up on the June 14th rummage sale! Hats off to Gerry Goar, Reese Brewer, Alice Abel Kemp, Wayne Clark, Mary Jo Day, Claudia Barker, Henry, Yvelyne, and Germain McCarthy, Ann Maclaine, Quincy, and two volunteer center draftees.




Parting Thoughts

As my term as President of the Board ends, I want to share a few thoughts about this awesome congregation and our accomplishments in the past year. Last July 4th, newly elected board members met for orientation and goal-setting for the year. We had a very long list of goals, and when we re-visited them a couple of months ago, we discovered that the vast majority of them had been met. Included are the launching of the church ministries team and the gradual and ongoing work to implement a model of shared ministry, creating communications and building usage teams, holding at least two fellowship events each month, creating regular programming for adults, working with the other area churches, and improving our outreach to the larger community.

We achieved these things not by taking all the work on our own shoulders (although those shoulders do ache at times), but also by recruiting, inspiring, and supporting new leaders and more involvement by more people in the congregation. Event highlights include the D’Orlando lecture, the 175th Anniversary Weekend, the Katrina 2 Year Commemoration, the Charles Allen Dinner, the Church Retreat, and the capital campaign cottage meetings. We also had our most successful Christmas Tree sale ever! Many heads, hearts and hands joined to plan, attend, and arrange these events. We now have many team leaders and members who had not been previously involved in these important church ministries.

With so much left to do, it is sometimes hard to stop and take note of all that we are doing, week in and week out, and have done, over the past year. Visitors to the church and volunteer center, when viewing our calendar of activities or reading our bulletin boards, are always amazed to learn that our “official” church membership numbers less than 100 people!



Somehow, we have reached within ourselves and outward to willing helpers to do what we think is important, despite many demands on our time and energy. Social justice work in the community, and compelling discussions among ourselves via the Building a World and Welcoming Congregation programs, are stronger by far than they were pre-Katrina, when we never quite got around to “walking the walk” or consciously reflecting upon our own assumptions. Our RE program is vibrant in spirit, and will continue to grow in numbers. Many young adults are joining us each week, looking for ways to connect and join our community. Our seasoned leaders and members are offering to mentor newer members. We are growing in many, many ways. If we stay on this course, and keep our spirits high, I am convinced we will also grow in numbers, which will open up more new opportunities.

I want to extend special thanks to those who have supported the congregation this year, which includes everyone who is reading this newsletter or blog, everyone who has financially supported the church, and everyone who has volunteered their time and talents for events, teams, worship, RE, adult programming, and the building. Special kudos to our outgoing board members Claudia Barker, Mary Jo Day, and Maggie Mackay, and treasurers Janet Spencer and Michael Tucker. They, along with continuing board members Robert Sullivan, Kathy Hubbell and Cherie LeBlanc had a higher rate of regular attendance at board meetings than any other board I have served on, despite the fact that all had many other church and personal obligations. I also want to thank Rev. Melanie for her tireless and inspiring leadership this year. Her hard work in the trenches as well as in the pulpit contributed immeasurably to our ability, as a congregation, to move forward on so many fronts. Other dedicated leaders, who often worked behind the scenes, include Jyaphia Christos-Rodgers, Gerry Goar, Jeanne Barnard, Mary Holt, Kathleen North, Marcie Brennan, Reese Brewer, Lyn Caliva, Esther Scott, Linda and Chris Reine, and Deanna Vandiver. Our dedicated staff members – Mandisa Jackson, Coleen Murphy, Betsy McGovern, Jane Jensen, Janet Spencer, and Steve Buzick have served, for minimal pay, above and beyond all expectations. To all I offer my heartfelt appreciation.

This ends my third term as President, and I do not plan to serve again in that capacity. Instead, over next few months, I plan to focus my energies on the outreach to alumni as part of the capital campaign and .in the fall, I hope to help with canvass. I will also continue working with the building usage and communications teams, the Conscious Living Covenant Group, and perhaps RE. If I disappear once in a while, rest assured I am only recharging and will re-emerge. This community is my support system, and I intend to stay tightly connected to it.

Love,
Ann