Mount Cross Lutheran Church Service and Missions Committee

 

Minutes of 11/3/2008 Committee Meeting

 

Present: Pastor Erik Goehner, Gordon and Melissa Henry, Pat Gallagher, Bob Boyer, and Mary Goodenough

Absent: none

Our Mission:

Goals of the committee focus on three areas: fostering the spirit of volunteerism among Mount Cross members and friends; reaching out with tangible aid to the least fortunate in our local community and in the global community; encouraging responsible stewardship of God’s creation.

 

1. Began with a prayer from Gordon.  Minutes from 9/8/2008 meeting were reviewed and approved.  Discussed having a liaison to council.

2. Fair Trade Coffee Sale: Sold $171 on Oct. 5th (Thank you Pat!) and $404.35 on Nov. 2nd.  Chocolate prices have risen to $2.50, so we are breaking even.  Decided to wait to raise prices.  Mary volunteered to help staff table in Jan. or Feb.

3.  Blood Drive – Oct. 26th – 16 pints donated.  Gordon will check with Kevin to get date of next drive.  Thank you Kevin for keeping this event going strong.

4. ACS – Relay for Life:  Oct. 11-12 – Sharon Korzan reported that Mt. Cross had 11 walkers, 13 youth participate in the service project, and raised about $1900.  Thank you Sharon for being willing to lead the Mount Cross team.

5. Alternative Christmas Bazaar – Bulletin info has been in the newsletter, the kickoff concert was Nov. 2.  Erik will check with Rachel if she will be on the patio the next two Sundays.  Info packets have not arrived yet, but the box of African crafts is here.  Melissa will handle the sale the first week, and will call on some other people to help both weeks. 

6.  Angel Project – Erik checked with Char and she will not be supporting this project this year.

7.  Kimberly’s Box – (Avery) doesn’t have a project picked, but Erik will do some research for them, possibly connecting with the ACTION plan for Christmas.

8. Tijuana / Spring Break Project – April 17-19 – Otay Mesa is open, and they are checking on Tijuana.  Pat will schedule a meeting for January for interested volunteers.  He will write something up for the next newsletter.  Perhaps the meeting can be during Sunday School, or after the third service, rather than an evening meeting.

9. St. Columba’s Food Pantry:  Committee discussed sharing duties with Charlene so as to involve more people. 

10. Recent Disasters – our response form – This has been put on hold.

11. Community Supported Agriculture – Old news: Erik learned that McGrath Family Farms is beginning a CSA program.  He wondered if the committee would support finding out more about forming a group of subscribers at Mount Cross, perhaps scheduling a meeting to gather interested people.  Groups consist of 10 or 30 subscribers.  He will find out more and let us know. New news:  Melissa checked into costs from Underwood Farms, also.  The group size for Underwood is 20 subscribers.  (Weekly needs for a family of four for $26/week, 3 month commitment.)  We still feel that an informational meeting should be scheduled. 

12. Budget – Erik submitted our budget request for next year, cutting by 50% as was requested by the council, $1500.  As this money almost exclusively is used by the Tijuana build, that may limit our work there to one house, unless we have more fundraising to support it.

13. Flu Shot Clinic – Nov. 9 Gail Baird has taken this project and run with it.  Thank you to Gail for keeping this worthwhile project going.  We have at least 50 people signed up.  Melissa will call and offer support for the day. 

14. CROP Walk – Next year’s walk is scheduled for March 8th.  Our church is not hosting, but we will offer help with crossing guards, as we did last year.

15.  Habitat Work Day:  Gordon updated the committee on the status of the houses in Simi, and reported that Thrivent will be sponsoring another house in the county.  We scheduled another Mount Cross work day for January 24th.

16.  Hickory House Christmas Party – Dec. 18 - Mary will check with HH on the ease of last year – gift cards – and write up something for the December newsletter to encourage people to support this project. 

17. LWR Health Kits – Erik reported that, with the help of a grant from Thrivent, Vibs Clausen purchased the necessary items for 75 health kits.  35 confirmation youth assembled the kits, and they were sent with the 101 quilts from Flinke Handed.

18. Chair and Secretary Position Melissa volunteered to write up minutes and get them to Marilyn.  Gordon volunteered to serve as lead for next meeting and Melissa will write up an agenda.

19.  Next meeting will be held on December 8th, 7:30 pm at Mount Cross.

20.  Closed with a prayer by Pastor Erik.