FIFTIETH
ANNUAL MEETING
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES OF
Biltmore
Hotel,
Registration Registration for the meeting took place on the second floor balcony of the hotel at 8:00 A.M. on Saturday, June 26, 2004.
Workshops At 10:00 A.M. the
first Workshops were held: “Congregational Polity”, State Suite C; “Missions
Programming – A Catalyst to Church Growth in State Suite A; and “What Are My
Spiritual Gifts?” in State Suite A;
First Timers Those
attending for the first time attended a luncheon held in the Garden Room where
they were warmly welcomed by the Moderator-Elect, Mrs. Hannah Hall and the
Leadership Team.
Opening At 1:30 P.M. the Moderator, the Professor Dr.
Session the 50th Annual Meeting to
order in the Grand Ballroom.
Constituting The Moderator then called on the Reverend Bill Rafuse of the
Rapid
Prayer River Congregational Church, in
Flag Salute Dr.
Bentley reminded us we have been blessed by living in a nation in which we have
the freedom to gather to worship God according to our personal faiths and
invited the Providence Boy Scout Troop No. 28 to post the colors. The Pledge to the flag was given followed by
the singing of America The
Beautiful. The Moderator thanked the
members of Troop No. 28.
Annual Meeting Minutes 2 June 26-29, 2004
Business The Moderator stated that in order for this body to do
business there
Session must
be a quorum, which consists of representation from 20% of the Churches holding
active membership in the Association. He
called on the Reverend Sandy Freud of New Faith Fellowship, of
04-A-01 Rev. Freud moved the adoption of this report certifying a quorum
Credentials present so that the delegates could conduct the business of the
Report Association. Seconded
VOTED: Adopted
Introduction The Moderator introduced those seated on the dais: Professor Elmer
Of Those Cornwell, Parliamentarian; Mrs. Sherry
Glab, Association/Corporation
Seated On Secretary, Pilgrim Congregational
Church,
The Dais Mrs.
Chairman of The Moderator invited Mr. Jim Hopkins of Riverpoint
Congregational
Host Church
in
Committee Committee to recognize the host
volunteers. Mr. Hopkins welcomed all in attendance to
Annual Meeting
Minutes
3 June
26-29. 2004
Rev. Taylor
The Moderator welcomed and introduced Reverend
Rick Taylor of
Beneficient
Congregational Church. Rev.
Taylor welcomed us to
God. He
reminded us that both of our denominations were hewn from
the same “rock”.
Committee Dr. Don Bentley appointed the following to the Committee of
To Certify three to certify the minutes of this
meeting: Mr. Paul Smith,
The Minutes Congregational Church, Rockland, Maine; Mrs. Patricia White, Congregational Church of Sun City, Sun City, Arizona; and Rev. Cindy Bacon, Heritage Congregational Christian Church, Madison, Wisconsin.
Ratification The minutes of the 2003 Annual Meeting held in
Of 2003 June
28 through July 1, 2003 were distributed to all member churches
Annual and
were certified by Mr. Jim Larson, First Congregational Church,
Meeting
Minutes
04-A-02 There being no objection the
Moderator declared the minutes of the 2003 Annual Meeting, as certified,
approved by general consent.
Correction: Note:
Following this session it was brought to the Secretary’s attention the spelling
of the name of the recipient of the Charles F. Rush Award should have been Dr. Robert Walden. (Exhibit 1)
04-A-03 It was moved and seconded to approve
the agenda. Adopted.
Approval (Exhibit 2)
Of Agenda
Adopt The Moderator stated the Proposed Standing Rules were on Pages 24
Standing and 25 of the Program Booklet.
Rules
04-A-04 There being no objection the
Standing Rules were adopted by general consent.
Annual Meeting Minutes 4 June 26-29, 2004
Rev. Dr. Harry The Moderator introduced a
videotaped message from the Rev. Dr.
Butman Harry Butman and via a cell phone
call had Dr. Butman “with us” as we watched and listened to Dr. Butman speak to
us. His message was one of historical
value and of hope for the future. After the presentation, and with Dr. Butman
still on the line, we joined in the singing of “Amazing Grace”.
Greetings Dr. Bentley introduced Debbie Smith from
the Governor of
Rev. John E. Holt, of
the
The Moderator read
greetings from the Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President of the
United Church of Christ and from the Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Gammon, Conference
Minister of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, USA.
Welcome Professor Bentley read Article III of
the Articles of Association of the
New
National Association which
states the conditions necessary for a church
Churches to
become a member of the Association. He then
asked Mr.
Mr. Hicks
asked that the representatives from each of the churches to stand as he
recognized them:
Tribe of
The Rev. Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran
Annual
Meeting Minutes 5 June
26-29, 2004
New
Churches Saunders Memorial Congregational
Church
(Cont’d.) The Rev. Harald A.
Smedal
P.O. Box 76
Little Deer Isle, Maine 04650
Community of Faith and Fellowship
The Rev. Lee Ann J. Bunker
610 Ross Corner Road
Waterboro, Maine 04087
Everyone’s Community Church
The Rev. Robert Weiter
12620 Lamplighter Square
Saint Louis, Missouri 63128
Alexis Congregational Church
The Rev. Edward Fairchild
6202 N. Detroit Avenue
Toledo OH
43612
04-A-05 Mr. Hicks moved that
these five churches be received into the National
Association of Congregational Christian
Churches.
VOTED:
Adopted
Welcome The
Moderator welcomed the new churches and requested that the
New members of these churches stop by Credentials
and have their badges
Churches
changed to reflect their new status.
New Clergy Dr.
Bentley asked Revernd Mike Chittum, Chairman of the Division for Ministry to
come forward and welcome the new clergy, which Rev. Chittum did.
Report of The
Moderator introduced Rev. Dr.
The of
the National Association, and invited him to give his report.
Executive Dr.
Richard spoke briefly about the strides made in the National
Secretary Association
this past year. He ended his remarks
with “This is our time. At no other time
in this Association’s history have we been more
Annual Meeting Minutes 6 June 26-29, 2004
Executive poised to answer the needs of local churches
for a sense of fellowship
Secretary and mutual
support. But also at no other time has the need for an
Report adventurous faith in Christ and a commitment
to the continuation of the
(cont’d.)
Congregational Way been more critical”.
He then introduced Rev.
Dr. Donald
Olsen and Rev. John Carter who each in turn responded
with a few
remarks.
Executive
The Moderator quoted portions of
the bylaws relating to the duties of
Committee the
Executive Committee and especially to those dealing with the
Actions ratification
of the actions taken by the Executive Committee between Annual Meetings. He stated that for the first time, at least
in many years, the delegates had a copy of these actions before them so they
would be able to read them before they were voted on at the Tuesday
Session. He then called on Mrs.
Executive Mrs.
Committee has
used as a framework for their deliberations this past year. She then
Report invited
everyone to attend one or more of the Executive Committee’s Seminars to be
presented on Monday.
Moderator Don Bentley called on Mr. Jim Walsh, Treasurer to give us his
report on the financial health of our Association.
Treasurer’s Mr. Walsh reported that the tone of this
year’s report is, in most
Report respects, more optimistic than that
of last year. He stated the prime
notable contributor was the
performance of our investment portfolio.
He noted the asset growth for
the year was up about 16%. Thirty-two
churches, compared to 27
churches a year ago, now participate in the
Congregational Investment Trust
(CIT). The collective interests of the
churches in the CIT have grown by
$1,050,000 this past year. Due to
the receipt of several major
bequests the General Operating Fund
(GOF) realized a net income of
$248,000 from a net loss of nearly
$180,000 the previous
year. While Member Church Giving
increased
by 5.6%, this is an area that
needs to see growth, as 36% of the
churches offered no support to
the GOF. Mr. Walsh thanked Mrs.
report and Mr.
assistance. (Exhibit 3)
Annual Meeting
Minutes
7
June 26-29, 2004
Budget The
Moderator explained to the body how the Budget has been prepared by a Budget
Team for the last four years instead of the Executive Committee as outlined in
the Bylaws of the Association. He then
asked the Parliamentarian, Professor Cornwell, to introduce the solution to
this problem. Mr. Cornwell explained how
we could vote to set aside this bylaw temporarily so that we could act on the
budget.
Dr.
Bentley thanked the Parliamentarian and called on Rev.
04-A-06 Rev.
VOTED: Adopted
Recess At
3:10 the Moderator called for a recess, the meeting to reconvene at 3:30 for
the Keynote Address.
Keynote Dr.
Bentley reconvened the meeting, in the Grand Ballroom,
Address at
3:30 P.M. and presented to the assembly The Rev. Dr. D. Elizabeth Mauro as the
Keynote speaker. His introduction of her was as one who had gone before him as
a scientist before becoming a minister.
Dr.
Mauro had for her theme “The Local Church” using the scripture of Romans 12:5
(the theme for this conference). Her
message was “The local church is the doorway to the divine”.
She
began by saying “I love churches” and throughout her talk she told of
experiences in churches; the one she grew up in, the one in which she ministers
and one she visited in Italy. She told
of the pressure the church is under in this contemporary world to live up to
peoples’ expectations. Dr. Mauro then
examined the passage of scripture found in Matthew 25:31-46. “In Matthew’s view the Kingdom of Satan,
those things against God’s ruling power, was tangibly expressed by the dominant
religious leaders of Matthew’s day and also the two ruling Herods. The Kingdom of Heaven not only described God’s
power as dominant but also connoted the particular community within the world
that put itself in service to God’s revealed will. In other words, the Kingdom of God was given
to the covenanted community. Today, it is the local church which has been entrusted
with God’s revealed will”.
Annual Meeting Minutes 8 June
26-29, 2004
Keynote Rev.
Mauro then addressed five areas of current church pressure and
Address advice
which all have a root in marketing the church as we try to be
(cont’d.) faithful
stewards of the Kingdom of God. 1)
People join churches where there are others like themselves; 2) People don’t
want to be recognized when they start going to a church; 3) Denominationalism
is dead. 4) You must grab people’s attention in the audio-visual medium they
are used to in the rest of their lives; and 5) The church must deliver a
mountain top experience 100% of the time.
In her conclusion Dr.
Mauro said “In this time of enormous pressure on
the church to grow and
deliver, you hold the gift God has given us,
which is the Kingdom of
God that is here; and you have in your hands
the stewardship God needs us
to carry out which is the Kingdom yet to
come. It is a sacred charge and
one that is to be embraced, honored
and
celebrated! Amen”. (Exhibit 4)
Workshops At
4:00 P.M. the following workshops were held:
Ministering to Ministers in State Suite A; “Revitalization – Step Two”
in State Suite C; “Stephen Ministries” in State Suite C; and “Using Rotation
Model Curriculums 101” in Salon 7.
Dinner At
5:30 P.M. dinner was served in the Grand Ballroom.
Workshops From
6:45 to 7:45 P.M. the following workshops were held: “Professional Ministry as
a Second Career”, “Starting An After-School Program in Your Church”, “Using Rotation Model Curriculums 102” and
“When Your Town Loses People”.
Saturday Evening, June 26,
2004
Congregational In the Grand Ballroom, at
8:00 P.M. the Moderator introduced
Lecture Rev.
Rev.
Schimpf’s lecture was entitled “A Tribute to Dr. John F. C. Green – Pastor”.
With the visuals provided by a power point presentation, he traced the life of
this man who was the only minister he had known until he himself became a
minister.
Annual Meeting Minutes 9 June
26-29, 2004
Congregational The church was the
Evangelischen Kirche, or the German Evangelical
Lecture Protestant arm of American
Congregationalism, in Western
(cont’d.) Pennsylvania. Rev. Schimf
introduced John Green by quoting John l:6-8, a passage also read at Dr. Green’s
funeral in 1969: “There came a man who
was sent from God; his name was John. He
came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men
might believe. He himself was not the
light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
He then shared some short
vignettes from Dr. Green’s sermon so we
could “know” him better. He also quoted from a newsletter in which
Dr. Green had written “We do
not need peace - we need conviction,
dedicated Christian
conviction. We are not a Church of
organization;
we are a free Church of people
dedicated to freedom.” Rev. Schimpf
shared with us pictures of some
of his family when he was growing up in
this church, and concluded with
“John F. C. Green has run the good
race, kept the faith and
captured the prize. He is part of that
great
company of witnesses who watch
to see how we will run our course.
May we run so as to win the
prize to the glory of Jesus Christ. (Exhibit
5)
Host Program At 9:00 P.M., in the Grand
Ballroom the Host Committee
presented a group called “Folks Together” who provided an
evening of entertainment, music, songs and comedy.
Reception The Division for Ministry held a
reception on the balcony.
Sunday Morning, June 27,
2004
Breakfast At 7:00 A.M. The Missionary Society hosted a breakfast in the
Events Grand Ballroom
and the Congregational Church Development Commission had a meeting.
At 7:30
The Institute for Congregational Studies met.
Church The Sunday
morning worship service was held at the Beneficient
Service Congregation
(UCC) Church. Clergy of the
Congregational Churches of Southern New England participated and special music
was provided by a bell choir under the direction of Mrs.
Annual Meeting Minutes 10 June
26-29, 2004
Lunch At 11:30 lunch
was served in the Grand Ballroom, the Clergy Spouse Luncheon was in Salon 5,
the Fraternal Delegate Luncheon in Salon 6 and the Women in Ministry Luncheon
in State Suite B.
Sunday Afternoon, June 27,
2004
Workshops The following
workshops were held at 12:30: Parish
Nursing, Pilgrim Singers, Using Rotation Model Curriculums 103 and Youth
Leaders Roundtable.
Business Following group
singing Moderator
Session meeting to
order at 1:00 P.M. at which time he called on
Morning Dr. Bentley
announced the offering taken at the worship service
Offering totaled
$2,812.50.
Elections The
Moderator explained the election process and called upon Rev. Dr.
Report of Moderator-Elect:
The Rev.
Richard Adair
Nominating Minister
of The Congregational Church of Sun City
Committee Sun
City, Arizona
Secretary:
Mrs.
Sherry Glab
Pilgrim
Congregational Church
Pomona,
California
Annual Meeting Minutes 11 June 26-29,
2004
Treasurer:
Mr.
James H. Walsh
First
Congregational Church
Wauwatosa.
Wisconsin
Historian:
Rev.
Dr. Lloyd M. Hall, Jr.
Minister
– Plymouth Congregational Church
Lansing,
Michigan
Executive Committee – Four Year Term:
Mr.
Colonial
Church of Edina
Edina,
Minnesota
Mrs.
First Congregational Church
Anchorage,
Alaska
Rev. Wendy G. Van Tassell
First
Congregational Church of Spencer, Iowa
Spencer,
Iowa
Credentials –Three Year Term:
James
A. Larson
First
Congregational Church
Peterson,
Iowa
04-A-07 Rev. Peay moved the nominees be
elected to their respective positions.
The
Moderator proceeded to ask for nominations from the floor for each office,
hearing no further nominations, he declared each nominee elected effective at
the close of this Annual Meeting.
Annual Meeting Minutes 12
June 26-29, 2004
Dr. Don Bentley called on Rev. Alice Murphy, Chairman of the
Nominations and Appointments Subcommittee of the Executive Committee to give
her report
Financial
Rev. Murphy named the following appointees to the Financial Service
Services
Committee for a five year term:
Mr.
Harold Frentz
Oneonta
Congregational Church
South
Pasadena, California