August 2, 2011--Meeting Notes

OPENING AND ATTENDANCE A meeting of the Congregational Development Commission was called to order at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 by Casey Shobe. Betsy Fornal attended the meeting along with Commission members: Jim Burgess, Carol Drought, Jackie Kirby, David Lucey and Catherine Thenault. The meeting began with a prayer. Bethany Anne Putnam of All Saints’Memorial, and the Rev’d Joyce Penfield, Ken Taylor, and Arthur Thomas of St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s, Providence were guests.

GRANT PROPOSALS
WELCOME TABLE BREAKFAST—ALL SAINT’S MEMORIAL & ST. MARTIN’S, PROVIDENCE—The proposal requests $36,000 to support a monthly breakfast program for the homeless of Providence. Casey recounted that he had approached Episcopal Charities on behalf of the proposers to see whether Episcopal Charities would provide funding. Peggy Amatore, Executive Director of Episcopal Charities, responded in writing to the Rev’d David Ames and CDC member Jim Burgess of All Saint’s Memorial and the Rev’d Clare Fischer-Davies saying that Episcopal Charities was interested in hearing from them regarding their proposal and would probably provide funding. Bethany Anne Putnam provided an update on the progress of the Welcome Table Breakfast project. The group requested $16,000 from the Dexter Foundation through the Mayor’s office for improvements to the kitchen at All Saints’ Memorial in order for it to meet Board of Health standards. Funding was denied. Bethany said that a more realistic estimate of costs would be $20-25,000 including a fire suppression unit. So far St. Martin’s has committed $2,000 ($1,000 from the Rector’s Discretionary Fund and $1,000 from the Outreach Committee) and All Saints’ has committed $1,000. She also said that there was some momentum from the All Saints’ vestry on kitchen improvements. Casey said that the renovation of the kitchen by All Saints’ would demonstrate a good faith investment from the entire All Saints’ community. Bethany asked if the Commission could table or postpone a decision in consideration of the situation with the kitchen. Casey stressed the importance of building a leadership team for the sake of continuity. Bethany said that the project could provide an inner-city experience for other parishes in the Diocese. Motion: To table consideration of the Welcome Table Breakfast request until such time as capital improvement needs have been satisfied and we have heard back from the proposers on their consultation with Episcopal Charities. Lucey/Kirby. Jim Burgess recused himself. Four in favor. None opposed. Motion passes.

BIENVENIDO—A LATINO OUTREACH PROJECT—ST. PETER’S & ST. ANDREW’S, PROVIDENCE—The proposal requests $12,000. On behalf of St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s, Casey approached Episcopal Charities who suggested that St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s should approach the Hispanic Ministry Committee first. The Rev’d Joyce Penfield stressed that the Rev’d Mercedes Julian, Hispanic Missioner for the Diocese, had been central in the planning of this project and was a source of ideas for outreach to the community. Joyce envisioned a partnership with Ascension, Cranston. Joyce had also made a connection with City Camp and unfortunately the director resigned and it has not been possible to reconnect. Jim asked about setting priorities and involvement by members of the congregation. St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s already uses bilingual hymns and has a food pantry and soup kitchen. Ken Taylor said that in order to pursue the project they need to step outside the congregation itself because their people don’t have the skill set necessary. The goal is to have a Spanish language service. They had not considered applying to Episcopal Charities because the goal is not to offer English as a Second Language courses. The goal is to establish a social service delivery system to build a Hispanic congregation. Betsy said it was important that the project have the blessing and intentional support of the Hispanic Ministry Committee. Jim suggested that lay members of the Hispanic Ministry Committee assist St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s rather than the missioners who have a tendency to act unilaterally and take on too much themselves. Joyce observed that Mercedes sees her job as planting churches and she is very enthusiastic about that task. The next meeting of the Hispanic Ministry Committee is September 20. Motion: To table consideration of the St. Peter’s & St. Andrew’s grant proposal until we hear from the Hispanic Ministry Committee and the Bishop in order to meet the strategic objectives of the Diocese concerning Hispanic ministry . Shobe/Lucey. All in favor.

ASCENSION, CRANSTON—The Rev’d Michael Coburn and the Rev’d Mercedes Julian presented their proposal and fielded questions from the Commission at their July 16 meeting. Motion: To approve the request by Church of the Ascension, Cranston according to their proposal. Lucey/Burgess. All in favor.

ST. PETER’S BY-THE-SEA—The proposal to fund a Coordinator of Children’s and Youth Ministry was presented to the Commission by the Rev’d Casey Shobe at the July 16 meeting. Motion: To approve the request by St. Peter’s by-the-Sea according to its proposal. Burgess/Kirby. The vote will be by email. Results of the email vote: Casey Shobe recused himself. Burgess, Carpenter, Drought, Gardner, Kirby, Lloyd, Lucey, Thenault in favor. None opposed. Motion passes.

NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 6, at 5 pm. The meeting adjourned with a prayer at 6:45 p.m.