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FLAME PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH |
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Volume XLI Number 8 August 2010 www.plymouth.org |
FaNFair Aug. 21 Join your church family and our community of friends outdoors on Saturday, Aug. 21 from 2 to 8 p.m. at Plymouth for FaNFair, a fun-filled opportunity to relax and enjoy the last days of summer in the city. It’s sponsored by Plymouth’s Board of Outreach to strengthen our relationship with the Franklin-Nicollet neighborhood. (FaN in the title represents Franklin and Nicollet.) Plymouth’s grounds will be filled with the enticing aroma of food from the rich variety of local food vendors while local bands entertain the crowd with diverse styles of music. There will also be plenty of entertainment for the kids, from "giant jumpy things" to a hula hoop contest. This is a day of fun for people of all ages. Local neighborhood organizations will also be present with booths providing information about the neighborhoods and how to stay connected. With Plymouth’s strategic goal of "celebrating the arts as sacred," Plymouth members and friends are encouraged to become engaged in this event by volunteering to help FaNFair become a reality for members and neighbors; volunteers are needed to help make FaNFAiR a success. By either participating as a volunteer or attending the event, Plymouth members send a message to the community that we’re present with the neighborhoods and that we’re looking to continue our engagement and care for others. To explore how you might be able to volunteer or participate, contact Katie Dailey at dailey.katie@gmail.com or Spencer Moffatt at sp.moffatt@gmail.com (612/977-1278) and help make a difference in our community. Flame is changing Length limit set for stories You’ve undoubtedly already noticed one change to this publication. The print edition is now printed in one color in order to cut costs. Other major changes include: • Elimination of the mid-month issues in the fall (September-December). There will be 12 issues annually instead of the previous 16. • There will be a 400-word limit on stories in the Flame; longer stories will be returned for editing. The newsletter will focus on events, including ways members can get involved, and substantial developments in the church. Stories that don’t meet those criteria and lengthier features will go on the web with reference to them in the Flame. These changes are being made in order maintain good communications while helping to meet a substantially reduced publications budget. First Service ‘moves’ Plymouth’s First Service will move to a new time (formerly 9 a.m.) when it starts up again on Rally Day, Sept. 12. Every week at 9:50, First Service will move body, mind and spirit, especially engaging the energy, creativity and spiritual lives of young children. First Service will also move our older children from the backseat of worship to front and center. All ages of worshippers are welcome. Move your BODY: Music that makes you want to dance Move your MIND: Short reflections by our ministers on ways to keep your spiritual life growing all week long Move your SPIRIT: Creative rituals that bring meaning to everyday life The service will conclude at 10:20, in time for children to go directly to Church School classes. (The themes in First Service will tie directly to our Church School curriculum.) For adults at 10:30 at Plymouth – • Sanctuary Worship • Parent discussion with snacks in the Fireside Room, led by Jo Holcomb, Director of Children’s Programs Plymouth Congregational Church: progressive, diverse and seeking to embody the radical love and justice of Jesus |
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Compassionate Communication returns Compassionate Communication: The Language Of The Heart returns as a four-Saturday series,Oct. 16 to Nov. 6, 9 a.m. to noon in the Fireside Room. Tuition is $100 for the four meetings. It’s limited to 25 participants. Scholarships are available.
The workshop teacher/trainer, Yvette Erasmus, M.Ed. (pictured), has experience teaching Compassionate Communication at the Aslan Institute, leading preschool children, teachers, parents and prison inmates to a more spiritually centered communication model. She also is a graduate student working to complete a doctorate in psychology.For additional information, go to www.cnvc.org or contact program coordinator Anne Seltz at anneseltz@aol.comTo register, contact Svetlana at the church, 612/871-7400 or register on-line at www.plymouth.org/learning/SE_registration.html. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Religious Exploration and the Spiritual Enrichment Committees.
Several years ago, work began on a thorough process to add directional ("way-finding") signage to our church buildings. The work began with the Board of Membership but expanded to other boards as well. A special "Way-finding Task Force" was appointed when our new education wing was completed. That task force developed a process that involved interviews with all boards, a careful study of the use of our space and analysis of who needs to find their way through our buildings. The task force also looked with great concern at the architectural impact signs will have as well as cost. Since the first of the year, the Building and Grounds Committee has been working to design new directional signage for the interior of Plymouth. Carrying on the work of the Wayfinding Committee, they’ve identified the need for 165 signs throughout the building.Before they make a final decision on sign placement, they ’ll be placing "paper" signs at all the locations that have been identified. These will have the exact wording and will be the exact size of the proposed signs. The "paper" signs will allow time to "live with" the proposal and help determine if any changes need to be made. The final signs will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.Your input is welcome. Contact Karen Hartz in the office at 612/977-1266 or karenh@plymouth.org with any comments. Plymouth can be a difficult place to find your way around, so they want to make sure they get this right.
Hot for Jobs ‘re-firing up’ for fallBy Mary Vujovich
Since December, dozens of Plymouth members and friends have attended events ranging from informal fellowship suppers at Katy ’s Café to spiritual/emotional support discussions to training sessions on LinkedIn and Myers-Briggs personality assessments.Most recently, Jill Konrath, internationally-recognized sales expert and job search motivator, explained to Plymouth members and community guests that the old tried and true job search techniques just don ’t work in this new economic reality. She detailed many of the new techniques from her book Get Back to Work Faster: The Ultimate Job Seeker’s Guide for Professionals. Limited extra copies of the book are still available for $15.00 – contact me (see end of story).On Wednesday, Aug. 18, Hot for Jobs Fellowship members or interested newcomers are invited to our next informal gathering from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. at the Common Roots Caf é at 2558 Lyndale Ave. So. We’re hoping to reconnect, share ideas, brainstorm about our job transitions and have a little fellowship time. Let Greg Davidson know if you plan on attending.Coming in September · Hot for Jobs Fellowship hopes to "re-fire up" our group with a fall kick-off potluck breakfast gathering. (Date, time and location will be announced.) Exciting plans for regular monthly HFJ networking and brainstorming gatherings and for special support efforts such as one-on-one mentoring opportunities with fellow Plymouth members will be shared. · LinkedIn Training (date, time and location to be announced). How can individual Plymouth members and friends help? You can help support and assist members of the Hot for Jobs Fellowship in several key ways: · Share Job Leads: If you know of job openings or hiring plans within your employer, please pass these along to any of the HFJ coordinators below.· Volunteer to become a mentor: HFJ is interested in finding business/organization managers or leaders who are able to share career expertise, industry-specific knowledge, key employer contacts, job search techniques or suggestions on a one-on-one basis to individual HFJ members.· Speak from your expertise: HFJ sponsors events from time-to-time open not only to HFJ members but the greater community on topics crucial to job seekers in the current economy. Please volunteer to speak on topics such as resume-writing, career retraining, interview techniques, networking, compensation negotiating, etc.· Have any other suggestions or ways to help? Let us know.For more information about how to participate in – or how to help – the Hot for Jobs Fellowship group, contact: Mary Vujovich at msv@wans.net (612/741-0984), Pam Anderson at pam.and@comcast.net (962/484-4218) or Greg Davidson at Gldavid1@q.com (612/377-4345).How we respond to panhandling Panhandling: A Community Response will be a presentation Monday, Aug. 23, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, sponsored by Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness in collaboration with St. Stephen’s Human Services. Answers will be sought to such questions as: Why do people panhandle? How can you best respond? How are community organizations impacted by panhandling? There will be a zAmya Theater presentation and interactive dialogue including perspectives from past panhandlers, persons who’ve experienced homelessness, downtown neighborhoods and leaders from faith communities, businesses and law enforcement. Volunteering can begin at our church home By Bonnie Janda Picture a group of four or five friendly Plymouth members sitting around a conference or workroom table, sticking address labels on envelopes or sorting photocopy materials for a mailing. Can you hear the conversation? I’m hearing impressions of a recent movie, a new restaurant, sports victory, fad or fashion, technology gizmo, trip, tragedy or joy. Can you see yourself in that cadre of friendly office volunteers? Plymouth Office Manager Linda Kelley is seeking to expand her current excellent Office Volunteer Corps to meet the growing demand for hands-on help. The need exploded when Plymouth’s addressing machine died. Instead of replacing it, mailings are now being addressed with stick-on labels. You can imagine the number of hand-hours needed to prepare more than 15 mailings each year to 1500 addresses each time. Hence the call for more hands. Please consider joining one of three teams on the Plymouth Office Volunteer Corps. Regular Mailing Team · Apply address labels to mass mailing, including stuffing envelops as needed (e.g., the Flame, stewardship drive, benevolence drives at Christmas and Easter, Easter flower memorials, special communications from ministers, etc.) · Four to six people for three to four hours per mailing · Once or twice a month (Flame mailings scheduled monthly, additional mailings scheduled one or two weeks in advance) · Daytime preferred, but evenings can work depending on volunteer availability · Skills needed: ability to peal and stick labels right-side-up on the lower half of an envelope; maintain the zip code order of the labeled pieces. On-Call Office Task Team · Complete ad hoc office tasks under Linda or another office staff person’s direction (e.g., smaller mailings to special audiences, photocopying bigger projects, sorting or filing) · Number of people and time depends on the task · Schedule arranged with office staff · Daytime · Skills needed: task specific, such as operating the photocopy machine, applying mailing labels, filing in alphabetical order, sorting materials, etc. Relief Receptionist Team · Cover the receptionist desk during daytime hours when the receptionist (Svetlana Vigliaturo) is not available · One person for two to four hours · Regularly on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and other times by request (for vacation or special events) · Daytime · Skills needed: ability to courteously follow protocols for responding to phone calls and off-the-street support requests; patience with multiple, simultaneous demands (phone, door, face-to-face queries) Each of these volunteer roles has special demands and rewards, as Linda Kelley or one of the current volunteers can tell you. To learn more or to join a team, contact Linda Kelley, 612/977-1262, lindak@plymouth.org. New Orleans exhibit subject Waterbourne Witness: Elegies for My New Orleans – an exhibit of 15 paintings and a book by Shelley Holl that’s been on view continuously since the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina – is on display in the Fine Arts Gallery. This month marks the fifth anniversary of the hurricane. The exhibit at Plymouth will run until Sept. 8. Over the course of seven years as a resident of New Orleans and five years as a columnist for the Times-Picayune newspaper, Shelley Holl formed an unbreakable bond with the people and places of South Louisiana. She describes a rich society, where everyone told stories that tied the neighborhood snowball stand, corner bar or barbershop into a complicated web of family, parish and city history. After the levees broke in New Orleans and the city sank beneath the muddy waters of Lake Pontchartrain, she watched as one familiar corner after another appeared in almost unrecognizable form on her television set. When the flood waters receded and the extent of Katrina’s devastation came to light, she realized that the city that lived so vividly in her memory, is, in some neighborhoods, now little more than that: a place that exists in mind and heart alone. Summer Plymouth neighborhood experiences By Spencer Moffatt It’s "Summer In the City" and there are a lot of great things happening in and around the Plymouth neighborhoods – movies in the park, art festivals, farmers markets, Eat Street excursions, historical walks … all walking distance from our doorstep. Plymouth is located in the Stevens Square/Loring Heights neighborhood with the Whittier neighborhood bordering to its south; all are active and promoting lively and healthy communities. Some of us either drive from surrounding suburbs or haven’t been able to spend a few hours experiencing the city vibe in this part of downtown, but have no fear … Summer In the City is here! If any of the following events spark an interest, contact me, seminary-intern Spencer Moffatt, and help put together a Plymouth group who will join in the fun; if you’d like to accompany me, give me a ring. · Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, Aug. 1, Stevens Square Community Organization is hosting Red Hot Art Festival in Stevens Square Park – a showcase for emerging Twin Cities artists. Come and experience phenomenal local art.· Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 7-8 is the Loring Park Art Festival also involving great art. · Tuesday, Aug. 17, Plymouth Church will be cooking a meal put together by John Edgerton and myself and serving it at Simpson Housing Shelter south of Plymouth from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. · Saturday, Aug 21, Plymouth is hosting the FaNFair Neighborhood Festival – a celebration full of music, food and fun (see FaNFair article at top of page). Contact me, Spencer Moffatt at sp.moffatt@gmail.com or 612/977-1278. Annual meeting correction The 2009 Plymouth Church Annual Meeting minutes were amended by the Church Council on July 8, 2010 to include the name of Kathleen Rogers Anderson, who died on Dec. 6, 2008. Due to an oversight, her name was not included on the list of deceased presented to church members at the 2009 annual meeting and the oversight did not come to the attention of the Moderator until after the 2009 minutes were approved in the 2010 meeting. Planned giving tips • Consider transferring the ownership of some of your life insurance to Plymouth. The cash value, when given, plus the annual premium can qualify for a federal income tax deduction. • Consider naming Plymouth as a beneficiary of your life insurance or retirement plan. If you’ve named other beneficiaries, consider naming Plymouth as a secondary beneficiary in case the first beneficiary is deceased at the time of your death. • You may specify that your bank account is "in trust for Plymouth." You retain total control over the account during your life. However, the property passes to Plymouth at your death, without probate.
Calendar ~ August 2010
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Objectives
of Compassionate Communication are to integrate and expand ones
emotional vocabulary, to express personal feelings without blame or
being judgmental, to develop insight into what triggers feelings
with a need to respond, to understand appropriate actions to meet
these needs and to practice methods for calming stress or emotional
pain.
‘Way-finding’
project enters trial stage
Plymouth’s
"Hot for Jobs Fellowship"
organized itself in late 2009 to recognize, assist, nurture and support
persons struggling with actual or feared job layoffs, facing
underemployment or unable to find adequate, fulfilling employment.
Volunteer-led, our goal for this new group was for members to be both
supported in this difficult time of their careers, as well as to be of
service to others similarly situated. 
