Board Meeting Tonight
Last meeting of this Board
New Trustees elected on May 31
Review and approve budget
Other agenda items
Adopting two policies prepared by the Personnel Committee
Employee Evaluations
Conflict Resloution
Discuss a request from the Montessori school that they re-open on June 1
Make plans for the new Board Retreat and Orientation June 6
Two items on the closed session agenda
Final Interim Ministry Appraisal
And an issue concerning our covenant of right relations
Budget
Board approves this evening
Two proposals to present at Town Hall Council
Approved budget will be presented to congregation, May 31 for final vote
Termite Tenting
The church is being fumigated for termites starting tomorrow
Taking advantage of the church being closed
The process takes three days
We will have a security guard at the church throughout the process
Please stay away.
Covenant between Rev. Lissa and myself
Working on since last week
Want to get the language right
I sent her a draft this morning
I will share in more detail once that is finalized
Two guiding principles
Good Endings make good Beginnings
Closing this year, Ending the Interim Minsitry
And taken a pause before the new year begins
Should be the focus from now until the end of June
Informed by not Involved
Rev. Lissa may begin her work of preparing for the Settled Ministry
By receiving minutes,
reviewing documents,
being added to mailing lists
But please don’t invite Lissa to attend meetings or join in discussions
And if you think it is important to involve Lissa before June 30
Please speak to me and let me guide the interaction.
I have begun preparing documentation of my ministry at the church
I will have that ready by the middle of June
And Lissa and I will go over that together
Before I leave at the end of June.
Message
I was off on Sunday
I didn’t attend worship
But I assume it went well
And I thank Shea Winterberger and Treacy Gephart-Seeley
And all the other worship participants
For leading worship
Instead, on Sunday, I did something I had never done before
I went to the downtown LA farmer’s market.
I’ve been to farmer’s markets before, of course
But never this one
Because it’s on Sunday
And most Sundays I’m busy
And lately I’ve been doing all my grocery shopping by delivery
For safety reasons
But I had a friend tell me that he shopped at the farmers market
And he felt safe
And frankly, his description of fresh local produce sounded pretty tempting
And it’s only two blocks walk from my apartment
So I went.
And I had a great time
And I bought a bunch of stuff
Including gooseberries
The reason I bring this up
Is to say how impressed I was by the safety precautions
Mask were required
One entrance, one exit
Limited number of people inside at once
Six foot distancing for the line to get in.
One person shopping at a time at each stall
And also how impressed I was at how quickly
We have invented security procedures
And adapted to them
Two months ago nobody I knew owned a mask
Now everyone has one
How did we all get masks so quickly?
I’m even getting used to wearing a mask, already
It’s not nearly as uncomfortable as it was the first few times.
So what I want to lift up today as spiritual principles
Are our remarkable creativity
And our adaptability
As human creatures
And that we should remember that creativity and adaptability
Are part of our regular toolbox
Not just in response to the COVID-19 epidemic
But throughout every part of our lives
We can change when we need to
We can adapt to new situations
We can find creative solutions to new problems that arise
And there’s a gift in this too
Because in changing we can sometimes encounter new enjoyments
We would have missed previously
Like a farmer’s market two blocks away I had never visited
Like gooseberries
See you tomorrow at 1pm