News, Notes, and Reminders
July 3, 2008
Upcoming Opportunities
Sunday, July 6 – Worship presentation: God Bless the Whole World – A provocative and enlightening exploration, in music and commentary, of the American Civil Religion in light of Christianity. Musical selections include “God Bless America,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and “America the Beautiful,” among others.
A meeting to form a Banner Ministry will take place after worship on July 6. See the July-August edition of First Chronicles for an invitation to the session, including a brief scriptural study regarding the use of liturgical and other banners.
Sunday, July 13 – Things change: summer classes for young people (“Surfin’ with the Scriptures” or “A Hop, Skip, and a Jump through the Bible”) and adults (“Beyond Your Backyard”) will be offered, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Things begin at 8:45 a.m., for those who want to enjoy breakfast together, beforehand. Worship, as always, will begin at 10:00. See the July-August edition of First Chronicles, for more information and a syllabus for the adult class!
Other Notables
Pastor Dave Denoon will be out of the office, July 14-27, to accommodate his family’s move from Wilmette to their new home in Evanston-Skokie. If you need Pastoral Care during his time away, please contact the office to be connected with an interim caregiver.
The preacher for July 20 will be Yvette Marie Eber. Yvette earned a Master of Divinity degree in 2006 and a Master of Christian Education degree in 2001, both from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston. She has served as the Director of Christian Education at Northminster Presbyterian Church since 2002 where she administers educational programming, designs and preaches worship, and assists with pastoral care. Yvette is a member of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Skokie, IL and is In Care with the Chicago Metropolitan Association. She and her two daughters live in Skokie.
The preacher for July 27 will be the Rev. Carol Munro Mosley, a UCC minister who is also the director of planned giving for the American Red Cross.
Enjoy your Independence Day!
Best wishes from your staff at the First Congregational Church of Evanston!
Melia Pappas, David Lornson, Deb Shamlin, and Pastor Dave Denoon
Updates (6/25 - 2/2)
Saturday, June 28 – Numerous members hosted our Summer Season Yard Sale. Offering a foretaste of the Rummage Sale slated for Saturday, October 4, 2008, LaRae Ackerson, Joan & Tom Lindsey, Eric Erickson, Sandy Whiteley and others sold enough items to raise $550.
Sunday, June 29, 10:00 a.m. – Sermon: I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired – With a nod to Dr. James Cleveland (1932-1991), who composed the gospel song that gave this sermon its title, Pastor Dave offered a reply to those who doubt the righteousness of God, and spun in a vision for the future of First Congregational Church (“Let God take over here.”). Special Music featured the Megan Bauer, violin, playing a variation on “Morning Has Broken.”
Sunday, June 29, 11:15 a.m. – The Quarterly Congregational Meeting began with an introduction to summer educational programming for adults as well as children, from members of the Education & Formation Team.
Moderator Joe Page next offered some thoughts on our finances, thus far this year, noting that “on the average, things tend to bunch up.” In 2008, this has meant that, between our
- Projected Budget deficit of $40,000,
- Pastoral Housing Fund creation of $80,000,
- Organ Repair of $15,000, and
- anticipated Church House Boiler replacement of around $65,000,
we have adopted something of a $200,000 de facto capital fund campaign! “We know there is no quick fix for this challenge,” Joe said. “This will require long-term plans and solutions. We will be addressing these financial challenges as we address the long-range plan for ministry.”
At 20 minutes to 12, with a promise to end by noon, Pastor Dave Denoon offered his vision of renewal for First Congregational Church. Yes, he said, there is a need for developing a long-range plan; the Transition Team Report of March 2007 noted that it would be necessary to clarify the church’s “vision/values/faith goals” in order to plan for the future. But he also indicated the importance of putting an aggressive maintenance plan in place as well, while we work on discernment and identity for the sake of developing ministries that are true to our community’s needs and to our abilities.
Pastor Dave advised that the first part of a maintenance plan would need to be a strong recruitment campaign. He then described a strategy, of offering curious guests a historic tour of the Sanctuary building on one Sunday, introducing them to members at the Coffee Hour on the next, and having the pastor greet them soon after. Combined with a single-session, new members class, this process could put newcomers in the membership in just a month or two. Pastor Dave said that he thought this process could increase our actual membership by about 20 persons per year and could increase attendance by about 10 to 12 on average per Sunday. He advised that we would probably continue to run a deficit in our budget for another 5 or 6 years, but that with this sort of growth, in that time we may be able to outrun the deficit and even begin paying back the Endowment, for the investment in ourselves.
He then went on to describe what the first year of such a program will look like – namely, our 140th year: 2009.
The kickoff will be his installation, which has been scheduled for Sunday, October 26, 2008, at 2:00 p.m., with a reception to follow in Plymouth Hall at the Church House.
Pastor Dave has discussed with other staff members the possibility of hosting three major events, between November 2008 and November 2009, not necessarily in the order following:
- Music Expo (tentatively titled “Concert for a Cause) that would feature anthems and other pieces otherwise only presented in a morning worship service by our Chancel Choir; a free-will offering would be used to benefit the Benevolence Fund of the church;
- Education Forum, featuring a prominent Christian minister or educator (or a panel), who would offer insights about being Christian in a postmodern (post-denominational?) world; and
- Building Expo, possibly combined with a Downtown Church Walk, with docents introducing visitors to our historic Sanctuary building, and representatives from the various groups that use it and the Church House in the rooms they occupy, offering introductions of themselves and their organizations.
By this time (nearly 11:55 a.m.), the pastor offered a first taste of the Discernment Process in which he will be leading us. Reminding members of the four size categories of churches described by the Alban Institute, he invited those in attendance to indicate which size category of church they most remembered attending as children. The exercise often helps a group to understand what the expectations of the majority might be. By a narrow margin, the majority in attendance had grown up in “Program Driven” churches (average Sunday attendance of 150 to 500).
As it came time to adjourn, Pastor Dave encouraged members to consider what important spiritual life lessons and values they had learned over their years of being in churches, and to return to our next Discernment session, ready to say and discuss them.
Those gathered discussed possible days, times, and locations of the remaining Discernment meetings. Watch for future Discernment sessions after worship on Sundays, July 13, and August 10, 17, and 24. All will be held at the Sanctuary building, each in a different setting.
The subjects of these sessions will be
- July 13*, “Things We’ve Learned Along the Way”
- August 10, “The Eras of Evanston’s First Congregational Church”
- August 17*, “Reality Check: Who Are We Now?”
- August 24, “Building a Sure Identity”
Of course, ideally, everyone (and more) will be able to attend every session, but – if not – there will be other opportunities to contribute: online via blogs and emails, otherwise by telephone or voicemail.
Confirmation Partners sessions scheduled for these dates at 11:30 a.m. will occur at 12:15 p.m. in a cool section of the Church House (to be announced). Confirmation Partners should plan to attend the Worship services and Discernment sessions on these dates, afterward to adjourn for lunch and discussion. Partners sessions will end by 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 1 – The Development & Finance Team met to discuss the repair of the Church House’s heating system and ways to pay for it.
Representatives from American Vintage Heating who were present for the meeting admitted that so much maintenance and repair has been done to the system in the last three years, the system is likely operating at peak efficiency for its age. Chances are, AVH reps said, that simply keeping the boilers in their current good working order would probably serve for the short term to decrease our energy costs significantly. Additionally, during a survey of the Church House for the purpose of creating a bid for replacing the current boiler, AVH found that the attic of the Church House had never been insulated.
So, the Team decided to have some preliminary pressure testing of the Church House steam heat system done, so that any leaks may be repaired, and to have the attic insulated as well. This will make for considerably less expense than a complete boiler replacement.
Money for the pressure testing and repair of the heating system and for the insulation of the Church House attic will be drawn from Building Endowment and Unrestricted Memorials.
Wednesday, July 2 – Pastor Dave Denoon attended a meeting of Evanston clergy at Fisher Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The meeting was led by Alex Wiesendanger of the Community Renewal Society’s Civic Action Network, and addressed the sorts of things that faith communities might do to end practices of predatory lending and to help members and others prevent mortgage foreclosure.
A recent edition of The Chicago Reporter, a CRS publication, revealed that Evanston African-American residents, regardless of income level, are far more likely than residents of European descent to be directed by lending institutions to purchase high-cost mortgage loans.
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 2, 2008