The meeting was called to order at 7:05 by Anne Malmquist, Moderator.
Cabinet members in attendance: Anne Malmquist, Moderator; David Sheibley, Treasurer; Diane Sheibley, Clerk; Gordon Brailsford and Ed Buckland, Board of Trustees; Bill O’Neil, Board of Christian Outreach; Terry Reynolds, Board of Christian Education; Barbara Morey, History & Memorials Committee; Jane O’Connell, Women’s Guild & Fellowship
Additional attendees: Connie Chandler, Lynn Pietras
Anne Malmquist opened the meeting with a devotion.
Diane Sheibley took attendance and verified that a quorum was present.
March Minutes
The meeting minutes from the March meeting were presented and reviewed. Dave Sheibley motioned to accept the minutes as written; Anne Malmquist seconded. The minutes were approved.
Pastor’s Report – Anne Malmquist from Rev. Beth’s written report
Anne noted that Lin Schuller’s memorial service was meaningful for the family and everyone in attendance. Rev. Beth had recently been in Nashville and participated in several rallies on gun violence, including a multi generational clergy event. It was very inspiring, and a meaningful cause to be behind.
Treasurer’s Report – David Sheibley
Dave reported that we had an OK month, not stellar. He had to take more money out of investments: $10k for operating funds, and $2,700 to fix the windows from the parsonage fund. He reported that we are on track with last year’s giving, although that’s a little disappointing since we had the 40 for $40k campaign and received pledges for about $20k in additional funds. The recent stewardship campaign has prompted some modest increases for the coming year.
Bridgewater Food Pantry – Bill O’Neil and Jack Melcher’s written report
The report shows the food pantry received $2600 in donations in the first quarter. The Easter sunrise service at Hanson Farm collected $762 for the food pantry. Bill noted that he picked up 25-30 bags of food from the Roche Bros. donation bins today. There has been an uptick in the number of food pantry patrons lately. There are a couple of new volunteers working at the pantry as well.
Historical Church Building Committee – Barbara Morey
They still have not heard anything from the town or Virginia Adams in RI. Barbara is going to ask Gina at the town to set up a meeting with Adams, Gina, Carlton Hunt, and our representatives, here at the church. If Gina doesn’t set it up, Barbara will. We need to know what the holdup is and be able to move past it.
Nominating Committee – Anne Malmquist
Anne announced that the Nominating Committee will be comprised of Connie Chandler, Deb Sorgman, and Denise Molinari. Anne will convene the first meeting. She will also announce in church that if anyone is interested in being an elected team leader, they can contact the committee. Some points to remember: * Elected team leaders do not need to do all the work of the team – they are to keep all the projects and missions organized, and report to Cabinet; * only one team leader from each team need attend cabinet, not all three; * team leader terms are only one year long.
Board of Christian Education – Terry Reynolds
Kids church will continue through May 22. Eric Stotts will be there every week for the little kids. Terry will be there for the older kids, along with various teachers.
History & Memorials Committee
Anne Malmquist noted to the H&M Committee that there have been several gifts in Lin Schuller’s memory, so they might be thinking of how best to honor her.
Board of Trustees – Ed Buckland
The biggest issue at the moment is who will be mowing the lawn this summer. Bruce Maclay did it for many years, but is stepping down from the role. We might have to pay someone to do it, unless anyone knows someone who will volunteer. Please contact the Trustees if you do.
Women’s Guild & Fellowship – Jane O’Connell
May 3 is their annual end-of-year banquet, at Boston Tavern Middleboro. The rummage sale and to-go soups made $2,336. The guild recently voted that they will not be cleaning the church kitchen each month, but rather will do an extensive cleaning every September and March. They will create a list of the guidelines they use, and recommend to others, of what and how to clean it.
Central Closet Thrift Shop – Lynn Pietras and Connie Chandler
The thrift shop opened again on April 19 after being closed for two weeks. They have developed more efficient donation processing procedures, and will not be storing items they can’t use for the rummage sale (too much issue with finding storage space in the church). They are limiting what comes in. For the summer months, they aren’t sure what their schedule will be; it depends on what help they can get, and what they think the traffic will be.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35pm.
