Attendees: Ron Wendt (CC Chair), Sharon Ramos (CC Secretary), Janet Wildeboor (Health), Lyndall Foulds (Lay Leader, Lay Member to AC), Dick Mathias (Lay Member to AC), Jim Clarke (Pastor), Alan Jacobsen (SPRC), Gayle Meyers (UMW, At Large), Curt Stock (Youth), Donna Stock (Worship), Lisa Burns (Preschool), Paula Ewing (Young Adult), Bruce Keough (Missions), Willa Link (Membership Secretary) 

Opening Prayer:   Pastor Jim 

Signposts of Renewal-Diversity:  Pastor Jim      Have you ever experienced a person, group of people, event that was alien to you at the time but ultimately transformed your life?  Those present shared an experience in their lives.

Minutes:   January minutes approved.

Statement of Inclusion:   Pastor Jim   An example of a Statement of Inclusion was passed out and Jim asked for a discussion of process first before “wordsmithing”.  There was no objection offered by those present to the concept of a Statement of Inclusion for our church.  What should the process be of getting a statement circulated so that the entire congregation has input?  It was decided that approval of the Church Council will need to take place first and then it will be presented to the congregation.

This will be done by taking the current statement to all the committees for their discussion and input.  Changes will be incorporated and approved by the Church Council.  The statement will then be presented to the congregation via church bulletin and the Epistle.  A meeting will be scheduled for open discussion.  A final draft will then be presented at Church Council for final approval.

This will be done by taking the current statement to all the committees for their discussion and input.  Changes will be incorporated and approved by the Church Council.  The Statement of Inclusion will go into the Epistle in April and in the Sunday Bulletin twice.  A meeting open to the congregation will be scheduled for discussion.  The hope is that by the May Church Council meeting we will have received all inputs necessary to vote on a final revision.

District Training:  Pastor Jim for Pastor Paula.  District training will take place in Olympia on April 19^th for all church officers, to include chairs of all major committees.    Worship, SPRC, Children’s Committee, UMW, UMM, Education, etc.  Save the date.  Pastor Paula will have more information regarding topics next month.

Round Table: 

Bruce Keough:  The last Saturday of April will be the Rebuilding Together project to take place at a home in Tacoma.  Food bank contributions are dwindling.  Food Bank donations will be emphasized more in the coming weeks.   The second Sunday of the month will hopefully be devoted to the Food Bank contributions.  An eBay listing for an automatic defibrillator was seen.   Do we want to invest in a defibrillator for the church?

Willa Link:   Willa is the new Membership Secretary.  She will be working on reconciling all lists of members of the church.

Donna Stock:  Easter Sunday is on March 23^rd.  We will have 8, 9:30, and 11:00 services.  Sign up sheet for volunteers coming.  Lent evening services to continue on Sunday evening from 8:15 to 9:00 through March 9^th.  “Good Search” contributes about one penny to a specific charity picked by the person using this search engine.  Please consider using this search engine.

Curt Stock:   Confirmation classes will not be offered this year as the class of three is too small.  The ongoing mission project, AIDS caregiver kits, will be completed on March 9 at 6:30 pm when the kits are assembled.  The goal is 100 kits with funding for 47 received so far.  March 14-16 is the Summit Retreat at Indianola.  After many years of service, Helen Burnett will be stepping down from the Breakfast Club and the Wednesday night youth lead bible study.  We also need new youth to step up to lead this group as the current youth leaders are graduating.  Sandwich making is on March 9^th.  Pentecost will be two separate services this year in the Sanctuary.

Alan Jacobsen:  New custodian started in January.  His name is Jess Jamie.

Paula Ewing:   Snowshoeing this weekend for the young adults.  Valentines cards created for congregational care and others.  There will be coffee tasting at the end of March.  There is a Conference Young Adult planning meeting here on May 10^th.  The young adults would like to divide the group so that the college crowd has its own group

Lisa Burns:   Preschool.  There has been a change in pastoral leadership of the preschool to Pastor Jim.  Recruiting season has started.  Members from the Preschool Council just participated in two preschool fairs.  There was an open house this past week.  All children in three year old class have made commitments to go to the four old class.  We are in good shape for fall student levels.  The enrollment sign has been put up again.  The assistant teacher, Jenni Yager, is leaving.  Her last day is on 02/15.  There has been only one applicant for an assistant teacher so far. Responsibility for cleaning the bathrooms and preschool rooms after class will remain with the assistant teacher.  It does not make sense to bring in the janitor for 30 minutes a day.  There are ongoing discussions about preschool staffing.

Gayle Meyers:  Atlantic Street Center presented a Certificate of Thanks to our UMW.   There will be a reading book club starting up in the evening.  No further evening meetings for UMW.   The second Thursday of the month morning UMW meeting continues successfully.   There will be a regular Craft Night which will start on Friday, March 14^th.  In April the craft night will be on Saturday to determine which night would be best in the future.

Dick:    Saturday, February 23^rd, ‘Rip’ Van Winkle, UM Pacific NW Conference Prison Ministry Chaplain to the Monroe State Prison will speak at the UMM meeting at 8:30 am.    FCUMC will try another weekend retreat/expedition for men.  Watch for more to come on this.  Matt Locket will speak at the General Conference in Texas.

Ron Wendt for Greening:   Wetland days on February 28, 29^th and March 1-2.    Funds for this are coming from donations.  There will be a speaker on safe toys in the evening  March 6^th.

Janet Wildeboor: The Health Ministry Committee will sponsor a “Grief and Loss” workshop in May.  It will take place on a Saturday.  The date is TBD.  CPR is still free at the Fire Station and Janet suggests that this may be a good time to get updated.

Pastor Jim:   There will be a potluck on March 29^th.   The most recent new members’ class went well.  Hopefully there will be five people joining on February 24^th.

Adult Council:   Since there are not enough youth for a confirmation class this year, Jim is going to offer a Reconfirmation Class as a Spring Study for those of the congregation who want to have their faith reconfirmed.  It is beginning on Sunday afternoon, March 9^th, from 1-2:30 and will run for six weeks.  An article will be placed in the Epistle.  Let Jim know if you are interested.

Lastly there is a task force being formed to plan for events to celebrate the 40^th birthday of the FCUMC in October.  Anyone can participate.  Speak to Gayle Meyers.

Closing Prayer:  Pastor Jim

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon Ramos