As the weather alternates between sunlit days hinting of warmer days and brief snowstorms, we are reminded that the season of Lent is upon us. Just as we trust in the eventual arrival of spring, we await the promise of Easter with anticipation. As we progress along this journey, we celebrate our ability to reconnect with one another and worship joyfully in the sanctuary together. There is no more blue tape, masks are optional, in-person meetings are permissible, and food may now be served!
Church Council met on March 8, 2022. Included in its consent agenda were the following items.
Clergy Reports
In addition to the usual meetings they attend and the faith-filled opportunities they provide, the clergy reported:
• Lenten planning for a new inspiring lawn message, and two major mailings to invite the wider community to the Easter Egg Hunt and Holy Week services;
• Working with Personnel Ministry Team on matters related to current and anticipated openings at church, and exploring with Technology Ministry Team live-streaming infrastructure improvements;
• Baptism in February for Jameson, Cassidy, and Julia Starks, children of Vicky and Greyson Starks;
• Successful Super Service Sunday the weekend of February 12th-13th when approximately 65 members of our church participated in a variety of service projects coordinated by the Faith and Fun Ministry Team;
• Zoom Valentine’s Day Party for seniors in conjunction with Seniors Ministry Team; and,
• End of life visit with the family of Bill Whittemore, and premarital counseling for a young couple marrying in April.
Support Board Reports
At its most recent meeting, the Christian Service Support Board noted that its budget increased to $89,900 for 2022, up from $58,000 in 2021, and that it will also be able to designate recipients of special collections at Easter and Christmas plus a portion of the Pumpkin Patch proceeds. It has been requested by the Stewards Support Board that for accounting purposes it finalize its grant recipients before the end of the fiscal year. The group began exploring how to become more involved in the S. New England Conference’s Green Congregation Challenge.
Faith Formation Support Board discussed at its March meeting how to reengage families with children (pre-K to high school) to reconnect with our 10 am worship service. Daytime and evening programs are well attended by the youth, but not many attend church school or church. This matter will also be discussed with the Deacons. The FFSB has launched many new and different programs for this month and Lent. It will meet on a monthly (versus quarterly) basis going forward.
Spiritual Care Support Board /Deacons will continue to explore how to get folks comfortable returning to church and how to get families and not just their children re-engaged in church activities. It is working with the Technology Ministry Team to improve our live-streaming capabilities and will be planning our 175th Anniversary celebration.
Other updates from the Church Council meeting include the following.
Election of George Corbett to Spiritual Care Support Board/ Deacons for a three-year term.
Capital Campaign Update: With help from Melanie Haddock from Walsh Associates and Jelena Kovrlija, Steven Patrick and Becky Epstein will mail a “State of Affairs” capital campaign update to all members of the congregation later this month. In it, they will clarify the campaign’s goal to “pay off the remaining balance of the loan to Cambridge Trust and return the $1 million drawn from the endowment. Any unrestricted funds raised over and above this goal will support future facility maintenance and improvement needs.” Later in March and April, there will be a follow-up appeal letter to those who have not yet pledged or those who have made and fully paid their gift commitment to “Generation to Generation One in Spirit” to ask for their new or renewed support.
Search Team: Rick and Jill Edens reported that the Church Profile has been posted by Rev. Alex Shea Will, Area Conference Minister for the Southern New England Conference of the UCC and that five ministerial profiles were received the first week. The Search Committee was commissioned by the congregation on March 6th and training for the Search Committee by the conference is beginning. At present, the anticipated schedule is to accept resumes in March/April, conduct interviews in April/May, and present to the congregation a final candidate for consideration in June.
Website: The new church website is now up and running! Minor tweaks are still being made, and updates are anticipated regularly. If you haven’t already taken a look at it, please do so at www.hillschurch.org. The WHCC website team is especially pleased to report that it contains very few stock photos. If you have church pictures that you believe would be appropriate for our website, please submit them to the Church Administrator at office@hillschurch.org.
Parish House Renovation: To allow the nursery school to increase its revenues by expanding its offerings to two-year old children by one or two classrooms on the third floor, renovations would be required in the Parish House primarily to renovate bathrooms on all three levels to accommodate handicapped accessible bathroom codes and to replace the third-floor windows. One estimate for this work has already been received and another is anticipated before too long. Since the scope of the project is more than $50,000 and/or will require bank or endowment borrowing, the project is being referred to the Review Panel as outlined in the May 20, 2021, Project Review Process adopted by Church Council. The Review Panel will be comprised of Rick Edens as Senior Interim Minister, Jack Morgan as Moderator, Andy Wilson as Chair of Stewards, George Pettee as Chair of the Property Maintenance Ministry Teas, and one of the Senior Deacons. This group will meet to consider the current state of the project and to think about how to solicit feedback from the congregation on its advisability and possible timing. The Review Panel will then make its recommendations to Church Council. No work on the project would commence without its approval at a congregational meeting.
Town Zoning Bylaws: The church has been asked by the Friendly Aid Society, which owns all the property to the west of us on Rt 16 before the Route 9 entrance ramp if we would support their rezoning effort to switch from a Single Residence District to General Residence District classification. This change in zoning status is coordinated with an effort by the Unitarian Universalist Church further west on Route 16 to expand the allowed uses on their property, which is already zoned General Residence. These changes would allow both of these properties to rent space to for-profit entities and conceivably, in the future, to be redeveloped into townhouses. Their proposals have the support of the town’s Planning Board. The proposed zoning changes would not change the church’s current zoning, although it would permit us to apply in the future to rezone our parking lot from a Single Residence to a General Residence District if we should desire. Since the Friendly Aid Society has been a good neighbor to us in terms of our overflow parking, Church Council voted to draft a letter in support of Friendly Aid’s rezoning effort and to ask them to keep us appraised of their future plans.
Future Church Council Priorities: Church Council discussed possible new priorities for the upcoming year and decided to focus its efforts upon supporting the Racial Justice Working Group as it formulates its future plans, offering to help the Deacons with the church’s 175th Anniversary Celebration, and working with the Stewards to develop a strategy going forward for the payment of our conference dues.
