MINUTES

CAUCE

Date | time 11/8/2016 10:00 AM | Meeting called by Coordinating Committee

Attendance: Julia Manners, Kyle Cannon, Gwen McCann, Dawne Quinn, Georgette Huie, Cindy Cole, Debi Mastroni- Kenyon, Barbara Collins, Tracey Bausum and Rosemary Lamie

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9:30 am
10:00 am / Coffee and chat
Devotions began with Joys and concerns, including prayers for the impending election. Thanksgiving and gratitude for several blessings were all included in our prayers.
Georgette shared an email from the senior pastor at First Presbyterian in Hartford titled “A Healing Gift”. You can find it at . A very meaningful perspective on the election and the role of the church. He cautioned that we ensure our worship is authentic and truthful in ways that resist the entertainment and spectacle too often prevalent in our society. / Gwen
Georgette
10:05 am / Continuing Education-Share what curricula we are currently using:
Kyle Cannon – Spark Rotation in 5 classes of K – 5th gr.
Dawne Q – Spark Rotation Online for K -5th. Spark classroom for 3’s and 4’s. Spark Connect for 6th – 8th and Spark Frolic for toddlers.
Gwen M – Spark and Whirl by Augsburg Press. Multi-age. “Dig In” Online by Group. Everyone loves it! 6 – 8 activities to choose from. Start with one large group and then break into two.
Georgette – Continues to favor Power Express Rotation. She has 2 classes so they do not rotate even though they use the curriculum and activities which G likes because there are many activities to choose from. "It is one of the few children's curricula which have units focusing on the prophets, and biblical themes like 'Acceptance' and 'Respect'. They sometimes refer to secular children's books and videos, and tie in examples from history, art, and science."
Cindy Cole - Uses 4 different curricula. PreK is self-written. Kindergarten is Holy Moly. 1st – 5th is Power Express for the past 10 years. One of their Rotation Stations is “Godly Play”. 6th and 7th is “Reform” and “ancestors’ from Sparkhouse.
Rosemary –Deep Blue Rotation. 3rd grade is a self-written Bible year. “678” is self-written by the Associate Pastor.
Tracey B – “Whole People of God” online with rotation activities. High School is included. K – 6th also has a mission project once a month and a communion lesson.
Barbara C – Come Join the Circle” she does some rotation from Rotation.org. Uses children’s storybooks. See storypath.upsem.edu. She is theme approached.
Cheryl - Rotation.org. Has three workshops: Games, Video and ______. In the months with a 5th Sunday, there is a special program of art, dance science, etc. She has 25 volunteers with 4 core teachers and 1 volunteer per month.
Julia – She has an interactive/contemporary worship on the 2nd Sundays. Otherwise is using Deep Blue Rotation but it is classroom based. 5th – 7th uses Spark Connect. Looking forward to the Stepping Stones workshop on rotation.
Debi M-K – Spark Classroom for K -2nd and 4th & 5th. 3rd grade is separate with first half of the year covering the Bible and Advent. In the Spring, they cover Communion. Their pastor uses “Spill the Beans” from Scotland (see http://www.spillbeans.org.uk ) which is a worship resource based on the Narrative Lectionary. Their 5th Sundays is an all age worship and service Sunday. / All
10:15 am / Approve minutes and reports
·  Minutes of 10/11/16 meeting were approved
·  Registrars report – this is a heavy renewal time. Email reminders are sent.
·  Treasurer’s report – Some renewals came in. current balance is $1707.62.
·  NEAUCE report – May 2 – 4 at Pilgrim Pines in Swanzey NH. “Toward Common Ground – Living Faithfully in a Diverse World Community”. Three different keynotes: Dr. Heidi Hadsell, Pres, Hartford Seminary. Dr. Courtney Goto, Prof. at Boston U School of Theology. Rev. Da Vita McCallister, Ct Associate Conference Minister for Leadership and Vitality. Worship leaders are Matt Emery and Greg Gray (music) both from CT. Registration has remained the same for last 4 years $285 and $250 for AUCE members. More details will be available as the program is confirmed. / Rosemary Tracy G. Georgette
Tracy B. and Georgette
10:25 am / Read our vision statement: CAUCE will foster communities that affirm, equip, support, develop, and advocate for leaders of faith formation / All
10:25 am / Discussion of survey results
·  Compensation Guidelines workgroup (1-2 people)
·  Annual Event/Retreat
·  Web presence/social media-how and who?
1.  First off, Karen was able to introduce the new conference website and highlighted the Faith Formation page (which is accessed from the CTUCC homepage in the Resources drop down). Both are beautifully done and very comprehensive. The FF page is particularly full of wonderful resources including a Peer to Peer section, Community Bulletin Board, etc. The website does not replace our Facebook page because it is more interactive and is a good for reposting to our own church pages.
Karen said she is depending on all of us to help her keep the content fresh.
2.  As a result of Karen’s request for help identifying some potential topics for future Stepping Stones Workshops, the following actions will be taken:
·  Debi will work on a workshop for January “Vitality Through Serving”
·  Tracy B will contact Susan Murtha and John Roberto about a Celebrating Milestones at Home workshop ideally for February in Colchester.
·  Dawne will work on Intergenerational Worship tentatively to be held in Southington in March. She will contact Allison Patton and Jane Rowe.
·  We will also contact Kevin W in Simsbury for a workshop on Prayer and Worship for Youth in late March – early April. Cindy Cole and Karen will work on this one.
·  Karen asked that you email her ASAP so she can give you the info on each workshop.
Tracy suggested that perhaps we can hold round table discussions in our local areas after a Stepping Stoners workshop especially for those who could not attend.
In January, Karen will train leaders for three new Communities of Excellence:
Beginner????, Children’s Ministry and Small Church Formation (less than 125 members or weekly attendance of 10 – 50)
Look at the Growing Together page where there will be monthly shared readings
and colleague “conversation” to enhance and support professional development.
The first reading will be from “God in my Life”. See this and many other “gems”
on this new web based resource! / Karen Z.
11:00 am / Revised CAUCE Coordinating Committee slate
We need to find a way to streamline our procedures so that we are not spending so much time trying to fill “unfilled seats” on the committee. However we do want to be sure that someone is connected to every part of the conference. Many terms are expiring this month. At the very least we will have to reduce the number of representatives but still insure that the information goes out to all colleagues in the state. First and very importantly, Gwen will be going off the committee and Dawne will need a Co-chair. Tracy
g will continue as Registrar. Georgette will continue as treasurer. Rosemary will continue as Scribe and Fairfield West rep along with Debi for Fairfield East and New Haven. Cindy continues through 2017. Julia will do Middlesex with Sue Timony-Hall. Barb Collins will continue with Litchfield North and South and Naugatuck.
Gwen and Dawne…not sure I got it all! / Gwen and Dawne
11: 15am / Closing

Next meeting: December Potluck, Dec. 13th, 11:30 to 1 pm. No agenda. Devotion will be offered by Gwen and Dawne. Bring whatever you would like. There are no assignments or sign ups. It always works! (Although there was a request that Georgette bring her seven layer tex mex dip!)

Addenda: Absent committee members who submitted additional Curriculum info…

Amie Giguere - At UCC Tolland, we use Seasons of the Spirit for age 3 – Grade 6. This is a very user-friendly lectionary-based program. We use The Story (Zondervan) for grade 7. This is a “Bible in One year” kind of (DVD-driven) program we utilize as a pre-confirmation year.

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