Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Gathering UCC
The meeting began at 11:00 a.m. Present: Keith Haithcock, Rudy Gruenke, Dave Schwab, Jim Hill, and Stuart Blersch.
Good News:
• Dave reported that over 300 people attended Christmas Eve services at Christ UCC, the most in 10 years.
• Jim has been leading services at Riverview Community, formerly owned by United Church Homes.
• Rudy reported that renovations are complete at Pilgrim Chapel, including a ramp and lift for the handicapped. 80 people attended service the Sunday before Christmas.
• Keith reported that the new parking lot at St. John is done and the new accessible entrance will be done in 2 months. Christmas Eve attendance was 133.
• Stuart reported that Terry Hacker, associate pastor at Truth and Destiny Church, which ministers to the LGBT African-American community, led services at the Gathering last Sunday.
Book for Lent:
• We picked Jane Fisler Hoffman's "Covenant" as our cluster's book for this spring.
• The plan is to invite all RVCC congregations to hold weekly book discussion group meetings the first four weeks of Lent.
• We will conclude with an all-cluster service built around the book on Wednesday, March 24.
• Congregations can schedule their own group meetings or join with another church or two for joint meetings.
• Keith will divide the book into 4 parts, one for each book discussion group meeting.
Next meeting: Wednesday, February 3, at St. John UCC, Bellevue.
Respectfully submitted,
Stuart Blersch, sec'y
