Location: Fellowship hall, Church
The meeting was called to order at 7:06 by Anne Malmquist, Moderator.
Reverend Beth was not in attendance for the first part of the meeting because she was leading an Interfaith Vigil with the UU Church.
Cabinet members in attendance:
Anne Malmquist, Moderator; Nina Gabel-Jorgensen, Clerk;
Natalie Muurisepp, Congregational Engagement; Carol Chaffee, Congregational Engagement; Heather Ciaramitaro, Community Engagement; Dave Hanson, Property and Finance; David Sheibley, Treasurer; Pastor, Beth Stotts
Guests Bill O’Neil, Connie Chandler
October minutes
Minutes approved. Send Diane S. tonight’s minutes so she knows what is happening and if any dates change. Last month’s minutes approved.
Pastor report
Skipped the pastor’s report.
Treasurer’s report
Another good month, YOY from the past two years is still higher than two years ago. Doing a better job keeping to budget. Still not taking out from investments.
Carol Chaffee brought up the memorial fund topic. The Women’s guild made a memorial gift to Anne Chaffee. Carol is unclear as to what the process is and there still seems to be a gap in the acknowledgement process. Was this added to Karissa’s job description? Carol is requesting follow-up regarding that question. She is going on maternity leave. Dave and Karissa to let Jenne know when the gifts come in. Nina suggests a small policy regarding the process. Anne says that the process changes based on who does the giving and who the recipient is. Needs a central place to track the memorial gift. Two notes need to go out when a memorial gift is received - the giver and in whom the gift was given. NRC was not paying attention, they thought they may have double paid us but it wasn’t the case.
Community Engagement Report - Heather Ciaramitaro
• Magic night made about $1300. Good attendance.
• Skipping January and February potluck due to them falling on holidays.
• Pancake Supper in April
• March 13th Julia concert.
• Paint night - March 27th.
• May 2nd potato game night.
• June - Kid’s Art festival.
• Possibility to use Community Center for an event, possibility for Kid’s art. Stephanie has a connection to the Community Center.
• Dave H to help out with pancake breakfast
• Revamp activities based on congregation feedback and participation
Congregational Engagement - Carol Chaffee
• March 22nd, Stewardship Sunday. Newsletter article in March with goals. How to engage the congregation in more giving opportunities, tentatively :hear I am lord. Also discuss how to recruit more team members.
• Nametags. Graphic nametag design sheet. Options for nametag re-design. Looking into new lanyards. Natalie and Carol will work on organizing the existing board.
Perhaps have a designated location for a name tag.
• Youth Alumni emails. Sent an advent greeting. Shooting for a Lent email. Please share any youth whose emails you would like to submit.
• How to engage online worshippers. They are going to speak to Paul about outreach.
• Revamped clipboards for volunteers for readings, greeters, etc.
• Need to find substitutions for RB in the coming Spring/Summer.
Property and Finance - Dave Hanson
• No heat was due to the old furnace. It needs a new circulator. They were able to locate a new one.
• Carol to get Dave Hanson Arthur Sharpe’s phone number for linoleum replacement in kitchen.
• Get painting for ceiling upstairs. We need to find someone willing to get up on a ladder.
• Bruce Maclay will paint outside of the building where it is peeling. He volunteered to help using a step ladder and no higher.
• The thermostat in the Food pantry is all set.
• Snow removal seemed to be ok. Brian (DH nephew) uses snowblower. Need to make sure snow is removed for school and other folks who use the church. The school schedule is similar to regular school regarding cancellation.
• Philip Chaffee has been helping with snow removal. Carol is not sure that the sexton schedule is conducive to the life of the church. Bathrooms are not clean for Sunday. Sexton here MTW. When we have a weekend event - bathrooms aren’t clean. Thrift shop also finds that bathrooms are dirty.
Spiritual Engagement
• Heifer is underway. The goal is $1000. New initiatives.
• The theme for Lent is darkness and things that grow in the dark.
Food Pantry Issues
Please refer to the email chain that Reverend Beth sent to the cabinet regarding protocol concerns around lack of communication around cancelling the thanksgiving distribution. “Wrists were sufficiently slapped” Bill O’Neil said. “It won’t happen again”.
Anne Malmquist - Food Pantry feels like it is its own entity. Bill confirms that it is its own entity and has its own bank account. Discussion regarding tension between the food pantry and church. Acknowledgement that it’s an important mission. Bill asked for examples for issues. One of which is that people have been turned away from volunteering as stated by Reverend Beth. Bill stated that they have enough volunteers. Request to include all volunteers. Push back against using all volunteers as it may be crowded. Anne reiterates whether this is a good space for the food pantry. We need to make the food pantry work better for everybody. Bill lists issues with moving, such as parking and elevator access. Connie suggests that the Food Pantry needs a Board of Directors, including someone in charge of volunteers. RP spoke with the Town Manager. Since it is the town’s food pantry they do need a Board of Directors. The Food Pantry has grown and needs to act accordingly. Bill - happy to leave if they can get 100 people to help them move. Dave H- suggests to maybe add another day to make it a little easier and open for more volunteers. Bill says - open another day would be a full time job.
More than one day a week would be hard to monitor. It’s a big time commitment. Connie - increase hours on Thursday. We are not the only Food pantry but we are the only one that has shopping privileges. Heather - maybe share location. Discussion about extending hours and the amount of time and effort that goes into organizing the Pantry. The town council would oversee the Food Pantry board. Cedar community center may be open to supporting the food pantry. Bill - Nobody knows what happened to the thermostat on the outside wall. RB - need a line of accountability so things like that don’t happen. Continuing talks regarding coordinating with the town council. Talks about expanding Food Pantry to other locations. RB - not the church’s job to do that outreach. Tommy wants to talk about the Food Pantry with Jack about Cedar Street. Nina will follow up on info regarding the twelve food pantries in Brockton. Bill confirmed that Jack refused to attend the discussion.
Signage
Sent staff and Food Pantry leaders information from the Conference. There may be targeting of food pantries by ICE. Need to use the Private Area signage which requires a signed judicial warrant to enter. The conference needs us to be trained in how to deal with ICE. Nina will reach out to contacts to perhaps assist with a rapid response in case ICE does show up.
Reverend Beth took timestamped photos of the signs. We are to lock doors to private areas if ICE shows up.
The next meeting date is Ash Wednesday. February 25th will be the next Cabinet meeting date.
Closing prayer.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.
Next meeting will be February 25th, 2026.
Minutes were approved at the March 18 meeting, as there was no February meeting due to snow.
