Meeting Minutes
Sacred Space Committee, May 12, 2010
Present: Doug Anderson, Mimi Arnspiger, Julie Bryant, Lois Davis, Gale Francione, Kathryn Gutz, Ron Hansen, Janet Leary, Martha Rogers, and Jim Spencer.
Absent: Steve Meeleder, Ian Montgomery, Phil Thomas
Janet opened the meeting with prayer.
Ron motioned that the minutes from the April 14th meeting be approved. Julie seconded; unanimously approved.
Debriefing Brainstorming Session I
Gale asked for feedback from the first session.
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Mimi believed that she heard some anger and fear in several people’s comments as they talked about the way things used to be.
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Martha said that although she heard frustration and tension she thought people appreciated the opportunity for honest dialogue. Martha was really pleased with the turnout. She mentioned that some people didn’t quite understand the directions for the exercise.
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Julie said that she heard good positive comments.
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Ron said that there were 45 people in attendance and that did not include the task force members.
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Jim reported that several people wanted to know why we are doing this.
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Martha reported that there was no feedback from the young adults group-they just wanted to visit and have fun and they support us in whatever we decide.
Julie wondered if we might capture the names of people who attended Session I and send them an email reminder about Session II on May 23rd. Gale suggested that we divide the list and make phone calls. She also suggested that we bring the sign in sheet to the second session to see who attended both sessions.
Guiding Concepts-Review of Draft
The task force spent an hour reviewing and editing the draft. Some changes were made to the original and Gale will have the revised draft ready to present at Session II on May 23rd.
Discussion on Second Brainstorming Session-May 23rd
Gale said she would like to spend just 15 minutes reading over the draft during the session. She said that she would like to break the discussions into 3 different chunks: Nave, Narthex, and Transept. There should be about 30 minutes spent on each chunk. The task force’s role will be to be good listeners and note takers. Each table will try to build consensus on the discussion items.
The schedule for May 23rd will be to have people gather first in the U-shape theater seating to review the Guiding Concepts. The participants will receive the draft of the Guiding Concepts as they arrive and the evening will start with Gale asking people to indicate if there are any areas that they cannot agree with.
Then people will be dismissed with directions to get their food and to sit in tables to eat and to begin the discussions. Individuals will be directed to not sit with spouses or family members. Committee members will sit one to a table to assist with facilitating the conversations. We will spend 20 to 30 minutes on each of three segments: Gathering space, worship space, seating arrangements – as directed by Gale.
The committee members will be responsible for taking notes and guiding the conversations. We will have a “cheat sheet” with idea starters, but we don’t want to have a specific agenda of items that we are trying to cover. We just want to offer areas for consideration if the conversation is not moving along. The key guidance for the suggestions is that they need to support with the Guiding Concepts. Examples of conversation starters:
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Speaker fabric segments completed
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Accessible altar and communion rail
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Adjustment to the wall decorations behind the altar
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Carpeting / flooring changes
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Seating for the congregation and choir
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Baptismal font location
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Use for the space when the organ is removed
We will also want to have copies of the church floor plan at each table to help people visualize or clarify areas that are being discussed. Gale will circulate to answer questions during the discussion period.
We will then gather together again in the U-shape seating to report back on our discussion groups.
A question was raised on how the Master Site Plan that was distributed earlier fits into the current process. Gale recommended that we will set it aside for now because we want to be open and to have no preconceived notions. We want to be open to the ideas generated by the brainstormers. We can review the master site plan again later and see how it fits with the concepts identified by the brainstormers.
Logistics for May 23: Ron will distribute 4 to 5 names from the sign up list from the first meeting to each committee member for reminder calls to encourage attendance at the 5/23 meeting. Calls should be made between 5/17 and 5/19. The message is just a simple statement that we were glad they participated on May 2nd and we want them to continue to be part of the process by attending again on 5/23 from 5 to 8pm. We will indicate that we are counting on them for the supper count unless we hear otherwise from them by 5/21.
Julie will coordinate a message for the bulletin to remind people to participate and to RSVP. Mimi and Lois will accept RSVPs as they did for the first meeting.
Ron will purchase lasagna and bags of salad. Janet will bring garlic bread. The rest of the committee will once again bring desserts.
Doug will follow up with kiosk display and the opportunity for people to submit questions and comments. Julie will follow up with Lisa to capture questions and comments on the Web. We will start with open ended comments for now, and possibly ask for more specific feedback in the future.
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 7:00pm.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:45pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Mimi Arnspiger
Julie Bryant