the LifelineNORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHUNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

f e brua ry 2014

Christmastide Joy: Baptisms and the

Christmas Day Buffet

The Lifeline – February 20142

2014 LEADERSHIP

ChurCh OffiCersChurch Council Chair . . . . . . . Bob MillerChurch Council Vice-chair .Chuck Egner Moderator . . . . . . . . John SeveringhausVice Moderator . . . . . . . .Carolyn MertzClerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joanne EgnerAss’t Clerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Beliveau Ass’t Treasurer . . . . . James HourdequinCollector . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin WitschiAss’t Collector . . . . . . .Sharon CorriganAuditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BOard Of deaCOnsSenior Deacons . . . .Christopher Ashley . . . . . . . . . . . . Rita Severinghaus

Dick Broussard, Hillary White Mary Sachsse

BOard Of TrusTeesChairs . . . . Doug James, Stan Williams

Daniel Van Dorn, Avery Post Gary Brooks

BOard Of MissiOnChair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Doug Britton

Deborah Berryman, Jeff NielsenKathy Grant, Vicky Fish, Heidi Webster

BOard Of ChrisTian eduCaTiOnChair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Beliveau

Harry Higgs, Ann Beams

COMMiTTeesflOwers

Deborah Van Arman Tilda White, Ryan Adams

hOspiTaliTyEvelyn Gick, Anne Egner

Susan McGrew, Stephanie Smith Cynthia Blake, Marty James

invesTMenTMark Beliveau, Carolyn Mertz

MusiCDon Helms, Evelynn Ellis, Marty James

nOMinaTingAnn Waterfall, Shirley Parker

sTewardshipJane Helms, Ann Beams

Barbara Duncan

wOOdwOrTh fundDoug James, Mimi Simpson

Marianne Spalding Jenny Williams, Willemein Miller

OTherAt-Large Church Council . . . . . . . . . . . .Head Usher . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter MertzHistorian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Delegates .Avery Post, Kenneth CracknellAlt Delegates . . . . .Katherine Broussard

NORWICH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHMary Brownlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PastorKathleen Sherlock-Green . . . Choir DirectorJane Chase Helms .Interim Sr . Choir Director Tacy Colaiacomo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organist

Danielle Taylor . . . . Sunday School Coord . Amy Frost . . . . . . . . . . . . . Office ManagerNichole Hastings . . . . . . . . . . . Bookkeeper Dan Goulet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sexton

if yOu wanT TO dOnaTe flOwers fOr wOrship...please contact Tilda White at (802) 649-1654 for help, informa-tion, or to sign up . You may also sign up on the “Flowers” sheet posted at the back of the church .

Warning of the

2013 Annual Meeting of the Norwich Congregational Church, UCC

Notice is hereby given of the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Norwich Con-gregational Church, UCC to be held after worship on Sunday, February 9, 2014 to transact the following business:

• to hold opening Prayer;

• to elect a Moderator and an Assistant Moderator;

• to approve the Minutes of the 2012 Annual Meeting;*

• to discuss and adopt a budget for 2014;

• to hear and act on the reports of the officers and committees; to elect officers, boards, and committees for 2014;

• to discuss a plan for congregational and clergy renewal in 2015;

• to conduct whatever other business may properly be brought before the meeting .

The meeting will be preceded by a potluck lunch; please bring food to share . In case of inclement weather, the Annual Meeting will be held at 7:30pm on Tuesday February 11, 2014 .

* Minutes are printed in the Annual Report.

3The Lifeline – February 2014

Jesus is recorded as having many conversations during his ministry: some with disciples, some with adversaries, some with spectators . Perhaps one of the most striking characteristics of these conversations are the varied and quixotic questions that Jesus poses . One person count-ed up all the questions Jesus asked in the four Gospels, and came up with 173 (Luke wins with 68 ques-tions .) These questions continue to spark our wondering, our answers, our conversations, and responsive questions of our own . This is all fruitful and energizing material for the life of the church .

Over the last two years, I have read a certain book off-and-on again . No, it’s not the Bible – I read Scrip-ture quite regularly! The book is Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann . I have to admit that I get both curious and wary when I read the words “strategic planning .” On the one hand, I like planning, and I like to think strategically . On the other hand, the phrase brings up visions of endless meetings, endless verbiage, and dubious consensus or results .

More recently, I have read an-other book about congregational life: Discovering the Other: Asset-Based

Approaches for Building Community To-gether, by Cameron Harder . In some ways, this book is less “technical,” and more widely applicable . Building community, after all, is something we can work on every week, with or without an over arching plan .

Somehow, though, as I place these two books side by side, I feel some exciting potential for our church . Both books have methods, but the most important tools they offer are open-ended questions . Reading them makes me ask myself, “What would be a good time for our congregation to enter into an intentional time of discernment?” Lately I have begun to think that the time is ripe . We are not in a crisis, but important issues are in our future . Some of these have to do with financial sustainability; some with the best use of our time and talent; some with our organi-zational structure; some with our mission and identity . We live in a changing culture, and church straddles cultures and generations . How do we speak and listen, within and without our walls?

Each of the books I mentioned above has some great questions to start us thinking . Holy Conversations gives three questions of congrega-tional formation:

Who are we?

What has God called us to do?

Who is our neighbor?

Discovering the Other suggests that a group define a area of interest, then ask these four questions:

What has worked well?

What are your core values in this area?

What are three wishes you have for this area if you were free to hope for the best?

What might you be able to contrib-ute to help one of these wishes come true?

These methods are not problem-solving techniques: they don’t begin with: “We have a problem to fix .” They begin with positive memories and hopes . They are rooted in the Good News that Jesus shared with his friends and follow-ers centuries ago: the Kingdom of Heaven that still draws near and surrounds us and sustains us . A holy conversation begins with the premise that grace has touched and claimed and changed each of us somehow . Discerning the other presumes that the Other has gifts and hopes worth discerning .

On February 9, we will have our annual meeting, which is a chance

Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” – Matthew 20:32

He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” – Mark 8:29

Again he asked, “To what should I compare the Kingdom of God?” – Luke 13:20

“My friends, you have no fish, have you?” - John 21: 5

From the Minister

Continued on Page 6

The Lifeline – February 20144

She does it all—sings in the choir, interviews mem-bers, edits the Lifeline, takes pictures at all major events . She even makes a great Figgy Pudding (immor-talized in verse 2 of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”) for coffee hour . Who is this paragon of constancy? I wanted to find out .

“I came to NCC in 1987, when Mark Pickett was pas-tor,” Linda told me . “I’d come out of an abusive mar-riage and moved up here . I didn’t really know anybody, and I went to church on Christmas Eve . Mark shook my hand as I was leaving, and he made me feel recognized, in a way . I’ve been in the church since then and have edited the newsletter for the past 20 years . “

During the week Linda divides her time between three part-time jobs and a host of interests and activi-ties . For the last six years she’s been in activities director at Kendal, where she works with residents in the Skilled Nursing Unit, pulling together a variety of programs to keep residents happily occupied . Linda ticks off some representative activities . “We sing, cook, read, can, and pickle . We do art . There are three rooms downstairs for day care, and the residents love to spend time with the babies and the toddlers .”

For a glimpse of Linda’s other job, we need go no further than the local Valley Business Journal, the area’s paper devoted to local enterprise . “I’ve had the oppor-tunity to meet all kinds of people in all kinds of oc-cupations—banking, massage, architecture, garage door installation, even dowsing!”

Linda loves to write . The activity suits her basic nature . “Writers are curious, and I often pursue stories through curiosity . Coincidences aren’t coincidental . How did people get to where they are? People’s experi-ences pull them along . I once interviewed a woman loan officer who felt that women in banking can really help other women seeking to start their own busi-nesses .”

When she isn’t writing, editing, and activity-direct-ing, Linda stays busy . She’s part of a Women’s Writ-ers Workshop and participates in the collective that produces Bloodroot, a local literary magazine that now attracts submissions from all over the world . Lately she’s joined a group at the Howe Library that reads and discusses the novels of Nevil Shute . She’s in close touch with her two daughters, one an engineer in Somerville, MA, and the other, a doula, or birth educator, in New Mexico . She’s hoping that her daughter in the west, and her grandchildren, will be able to move closer in the near future .

I asked Linda about her work doing the member pro-files . “Everyone’s life is a significant one . It’s a privilege to do the profiles . The process gives people a chance to review their lives and reflect on what’s important .

“The church is really my family . The members are people I’ve been able to rely on . When I had breast cancer in 2001, members got me to my appointments . They were great . My first appointment, by the way, was on 9/11!”

Member profile

Linda Himadi

interviewing the interviewer: Turning the Tables on linda himadi

By Stephanie Smith

5The Lifeline – February 2014

Present: Bob Miller (Chair), Chuck Egner (Vice Chair), Hillary White (Deacons), Heidi Webster (Mission), Doug James (Trustees), Stan Williams (Trustees), Mary Brownlow (Pastor), Joanne Egner (Clerk)

Council members reflected on the past year and shared their most memorable moments as a Church member .

Opening prayer led by Mary Brownlow .

The minutes of the December 4, 2013 Church Council Meeting were unanimously approved . (H . Web-ster moved; C . Egner 2nd)

pastor’s report: Mary reported that in addition

to the memorial services reported at the last meeting there was a third memorial service in December for Pauline Yasinski . Christmas services went well . Jane Helms and the Senior Choir deserve praise for the wonderful music during the month .

Mary has been meeting with the Confirmation Class . The class did a great job helping with the Listen dinner in December . Mary will be taking a few days off at the end of January .

The office is preparing the An-nual Report and a question about the necessity of the Collector’s Report was raised . The Collector’s Report is prepared by the book-keeper and contains information that is presented elsewhere in the Annual Report . The information that has historically been reported is not something the Collector has knowledge of .

Chuck Egner moved that we eliminate the Collector’s Report

from the Annual Report . Stan Wil-liams seconded . The motion was unanimously approved .

Mary also reported that reduced demand for numbered pledge envelopes has created some book-keeping issues because the numbers associated with people aren’t consis-tent from year to year . The Council agreed that we should ask people to write their name on the outside of their numbered envelopes if they are not enclosing a check .

Mary also reported that she is making plans for her sabbatical in 2015 in preparation for the Lilly Grant application . We may be eligi-ble for up to $50,000 split between the Congregation ($15,000) and the Pastor ($35,000) . Mary is exploring options having something to do with music . She will talk about the Lilly Grant process and plans at the upcoming Annual Meeting .

deacons: Hillary reported that the Dea-

cons have been working on a new pastoral evaluation process . Mary and Chipper spent time research-ing what other churches are doing . The new process will incorporate a self- evaluation by the Pastor and a combination of narrative and numerical ratings .

Hillary also reported that this past year has been a difficult one for the Deacons with a lot of losses .

Christian ed: No report . Christian Ed has not

met since the last Church Council meeting .

Mission: Heidi reported that the Mission

Board has not met since the last Church Council meeting . Mary reported that Carol Loveland has

volunteered to coordinate the Listen community dinners for the Church .

Trustees: Doug reported that it has been

a bit of a bumpy year with staff turnover including Office Manager, Bookkeeper and Treasurer . Until recently, the Trustees did not have up-to-date financial information . The preliminary numbers for 2013 show a deficit . Some of the deficit was due to higher expenses, but there was also a significant gap between amounts pledged and what was actually collected . 2014 has more pledge units than 2013 but the total amount pledged is down . The pledge total for 2014 is $189,000 versus $204,000 in 2013 . Pledges for 2014 also fell short of the $215,000 goal .

Doug circulated a 2014 proposed budget that was balanced and made up the shortfall in pledges with the following:

• Parsonage interest ($14,220)

• Rent increases (rental fees haven’t changed since 2007)

• Cost reductions

• New fund raising ($5,000)

Chuck Egner moved that the Church Council accept the 2014 proposed budget as presented by the Board of Trustees . Mary Brown-low seconded . The motion was unanimously approved .

Stan reported that the Trustees were concerned about the pledge environment and recommends the Council establish an ad hoc work-ing group to look at the trends and long term strategies for the future .

Church Council Minutes – January 15, 2014

Continued on Page 6

The Lifeline – February 20146

What Lies Within Us: The 2013 NCC Annual MeetingEmerson famously wrote, “What lies behind you and what lies in

front of you pales in comparison to what lies within you .” As I think back on the beautiful and meaningful things that have occurred at the Norwich Congregational Church in 2013, and look forward to the won-derful surprises that lay ahead of us in 2014, I am drawn to Emerson’s notion that the greatest measure of our life as a congregation lies now within each of us, both as individuals and as a community of faith .

In the 1940s and 1950s, a group of social scientists wanted to un-derstand how to release the creativity of factory workers for increased production as well as for improvement of the workers’ lives . At a pajama factory in Warren, Virginia, the scientists found that a com-munity of people is more likely to open itself to creativity and change if individuals and the group as a whole are involved in making decisions about how they structure their work and environment . The scientists also found that the workers were happier and the social fabric stronger when participation in decision-making was fostered . Of course, we New Englanders have long known that the participatory, Town Meet-ing form of government is the greatest laboratory and catalyst for the fundamental democratic principle of government of the people, by the people, and for the people .

This year’s Annual Meeting of the Norwich Congregational Church is scheduled for February 9, 2014 . I encourage each of you to attend, even if you have never been before or if you have been absent for a few years . We will take a look at what lies behind us in 2013, and we will glance forward at what lies ahead of us in 2014 . And, as we gather together as a community of faith, we will have open to us the power that lies within us, through our presence, participation, and connec-tion to God .

Bob Miller Chair, NCC Church Council

nominating: Mary reported that the Nominating Committee does not have a full slate

of candidates . There are 64 positions that need to be filled . Some boards and committees are full while others are very lean . The Council agreed that this was an opportunity to rethink the current structure and how we tap into opportunities for people to do what they want .

next Meeting: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 7:00 PM

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM . Respectfully submitted,

Joanne Egner, Clerk

to share a meal, review the events and records of 2013, and plan for our future together . I hope that you will be able to attend . Before and after that meeting, I hope that you will reflect, with others, on the questions above, and come up with more of your own . I look forward to conversations and discernment .

Mary

P .S . In my last Lifeline article, I mentioned that I was considering applying for a Lilly Grant for Clergy Renewal as preparation for my 3-month 2015 sabbatical . As I work on the grant application, I will be keeping the congregation updated about my reflections on the applica-tion’s question: “What makes your heart sing?” My current answer is that “Singing (or music) makes my heart sing,” so I am looking into opportunities for learning that involve music . It is my hope that the congregation will also find ways to develop our already wonderful and deep ministry of music . Next month, I will write in more detail about my ideas…which need to be better formed in 2014 for 2015 than is completely comfortable for me! “Planning” and “Strategy” indeed!

from the Minister Continued

Church Council Minutes Continued

Sunday School News!february 2014

2014 brought us back into the Sunday School room with a month long project in Janu-ary that focused on the idea of Jesus as a ‘light’ of the world . We read applicable Bible passages and created hand-held lamps of several different sizes and shapes . We ended the unit by reading about how different cultures in the world have ‘prayed’ during the winter solstice to welcome the light back .

Spring will have us moving into a unit on Daily life in the Time of Jesus . We will learn about different daily objects and routines from that time period as we move toward a Chil-dren’s Sunday celebration of Pentecost .

January’s star of the month was Eamon Beliveau – thanks Eamon! Keep an eye out for our next star!

As always, volunteers and guests are welcome to attend!

Danielle Taylor, Sunday School CoordinatorDanielletaylor10@gmail.com

802-649-1909

January/February 2014 Mission OfferingThe upper valley haven’s food shelf

The Haven’s Food Shelf provides a week’s supply of healthy groceries once a month (including meat, dairy and produce), and unlimited access to bread and produce to anyone in need . They offer a Healthy Eating Program which addresses food shelf visitors’ needs for inexpensive and healthy eating options . It is designed to serve everyone who comes through the doors of the Haven . The program consists of developing healthy and budget-con-scious recipes, on-site food preparation using ingredients found at the Food Shelf, and food sampling for clients with hand-outs of the corresponding recipes .

Mission Offering donations can be made by using the yellow Mission envelopes in the pews .

listen dinnersThe Church continues

its longtime participation in the Listen Commu-nity Dinners in 2014 . Carol Loveland is coordinating our bi-monthly commitment to prepare and serve a meal at the Listen Community Dinner Hall in White River Junction . Please contact her if you are interested in help-ing out .

The Lifeline – February 20148

The Black Finger

I have just seen a beautiful thing Slim and still,Against a gold, gold sky, A straight cypress, Sensitive, Exquisite,A black fingerPointing upwards.Why, beautiful, still finger are you

black?And why are you pointing upwards?

Angeline W. Grimke (1880-1958)American Negro Poetry

(New York: Hill and Wang, 1963)

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PAIDNorwich, VTPermit No . 1

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Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 8:30 to 12:30Email: . . . . . . . . . . . .nccucc2@myfairpoint .netWebsite: . . . . . www .norwichcongregational .orgPastor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev . Mary Brownlow

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lifelineCoordinator / Editor / Photographer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linda HimadiDesigner: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Douglas LufkinSend articles to: . . . .nccucc2@myfairpoint .net

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