Since today was Memorial Day, we had a small group, so we read out the list of topics that had been mentioned in Meeting #2 (April 7), and asked people what they were interested in talking about. The conversation ranged a bit, but mostly focused around the responsibilities of the pastor.
Why have people been leaving the church?
· We need exit interviews! (hard to do when you don’t realize at first that they’ve left)
· Pastor should reach out to absentees immediately
· Competition from the Wenham church
· Some discussion of why individual people left
Status of search for Interim Pastor
· Church has to send in a questionnaire to Wendy Vanderhart at MA UCC. Ours was incomplete.
· Elsie Jacobson and Suzanne Munroe worked on that to get it complete and submitted.
· Clarified once again the difference between the small “selection committee” which will accept one of only 2-3 options for an intentional interim who will serve 1-2 years, and the later more elaborate search process for a settled pastor.
What do we expect of a pastor (beyond preaching, visiting, sacraments)?
· Be a leader
· Go to all the meetings to keep a finger on the pulse of the church
· Represent our church in appropriate community action efforts
o Tara was active in ECCO (Essex County Community Organization) is a member of MA Communities Action Network and PICO National Network, the largest faith based organizing network in the U.S. Right now, we are working on criminal justice reform, building congregational Sanctuary networks to support undocumented immigrants facing detention, and fighting for economic justice for all.
o Alan had a prison ministry
o Fred involved in Disaster Response
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