These minutes are being sent to both the large group mailing list and
the steering committee. Please email any
thoughts/corrections any of you might have.
We want you all to participate as much as possible, given your current
situation. We appreciate your
encouragement and moral support! Carol
A.
Reconciling Hearts Steering Committee:
August 28, 2006
Members Present: Carol Abrahamson, Dennis Constance, Carole Peters, Rose Schmidt, Margo Gordon, Tom Brady, Bob Shelton, Don Raybern, Abby Huckvale, Loanne Martin.
1. After some discussion we chose Reconciling Hearts as the name for our venture, with the idea that it would be sent to the group at large for their opinions.
2. We decided that we need a purpose statement that would include the concepts of
a. education about homosexuality
b. promoting the inclusion of all so that sexual identities won’t matter to us
c. reaching out to all to provide a safe place
d. assessing attitudes in our church
e. establishing that inclusion is our response to God’s Good News; our ministry
Anyone is encouraged to
write a draft statement and send it to Carol Abrahamson
3. We are currently a
part of
We may need further discussion of our affiliation.
4. We named our fall sessions and chose moderators: (We need someone to take notes at events.)
September 24: Risking the Truth: When Children “Come Out” to Their Parents
Carol Abrahamson will moderate the panel of Linda Penny and Diane Stiles
October 8: Variations of Human Sexuality
` Bob Shelton will moderate the session with Dennis Dailey
November 12: Is Homosexuality a Choice? “A Biological Explanation for Human Orientation”
Dennis Constance will moderate the DVD session
5. Rose Schmidt volunteered to organize the meals for the sessions. Margo Gordon, Dennis Constance, Carol Abrahamson, Loanne Martin, and Don Raybern will help with setup and cleanup. Ann Johnson and Linda Penny have volunteered to help with food in any way required.
6. Carol Abrahamson will work on advertising for the sessions. It was suggested that the Q/A’s be used at first as a list of questions that our sessions would hope to answer. Advertising should also refer to the Shelton/Malicky class and to Tom Brady’s Sunday Night Live sessions as potential venues to ask/get questions answered. Publishing a list of books to read might be a good approach. We should advertise in First Edition, PowerPoint, and on the Web Site, as well as special flyers to small groups in the church (see number 10).
7. Carol Abrahamson will work on the signup sheet and promoting signing up for the meal, paying for the meal free will (any extra would go into our fund) and for babysitting by a certain date, but that people can come to the session and not eat. Carol will consult with Tracy Kihm about how the babysitting works.
8. Carole Peters will work on a poster to use for whenever we have a booth in the gathering area to pass out brochures or at the Ministry Fairs to be held on October 22 Downtown and October 29 at West Campus.
9. Carol Abrahamson will work further on the brochure, asking Gordon Penny to write a short testimonial. Rose Schmidt will write another. The brochure would be available at Ministry Fairs and at Information Centers. It can be printed in the church office.
10. Carol Abrahamson will work on a flyer to send to small groups in the church to especially advertise our events.