2016-2017Annual Report
of The FCCWS Woman’s Society
President’s Letter
Our challenge for Lent this year has been to practice the words Micah wrote. “Act justly, Love mercy, and Walk humbly with our God.” WS has been on this path since it began in 1947.
WS has followed this course this year by continuing to support 23 organizations from funds generated by our 2 Rummage sales. Rummage in turn brings many people of all ages from the congregation and the community to work together for those in need.
We continue to have our monthly Chapter meetings during the day and the evening. Our evening chapter has grown. Our meetings include a devotional, Christian Education and a monthly Mission Project.
Our service to the congregation continues as we host receptions, the Coffee House following the Annual Meeting and Memorial Service Receptions. It is a time we can reach out and support families who have experienced a loss. This is a very important mission for our group.
We have continued to work with Mike Tilden and the PF Group. Mike compiles a list of names of young people that are willing to help out anyone in WS who needs assistance. It could be helping someone with their computer, help in the garden, raking leaves, cutting grass or running errands. The WS members that have enlisted help have been very pleased with being able to call the young people from PF.
WS now has note cards with our new LOGO on them. Beth Tracy and Sue Klein worked together on this project for us. We are delighted with the results.
WS continues to work on growing as a group. We truly do our best to follow Micah 6:8.
I want to take this opportunity to thank my Board for their guidance and help this year. WS will always be close to my heart and it’s because of all those I have had the privilege to interact with at Chapter Meetings and Board Meetings.
God Bless You!!
Blessings, Cynthia Kos
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Nancy Sutherland
My duties as First Vice President consisted of contacting staff members (church secretary Meg Heinz, our Pastoral Care Minister Meredith Onion, and our Parish Nurse Debbie Stankiewicz) by email on the Monday prior to board and general meetings to find out which members of the congregation were in need of our thoughts, prayers, and cards. Based on the information provided by the staff, I gave the monthly Caring Report at the Board Meetings and started providing a typewritten copy to chapter chairs so they could report to their chapters. I also gave the updated Caring Report at the General Meetings and sent appropriate cards to those on the reports. I also served as chair of Board and General Meetings if the President was not available.
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT:Diana Johnson
The second vice president has the responsibility of Membership Chair,communicating with the Fellowship At Large and Associates groups, organizing the two annual freewill offerings, working on the special budget committee, assisting with the year book/directory, chairing the committee at large and helping the President whenever needed.
With the help of Linda Conlin, I presented at a number of new member orientations to inform them about Woman’s Society and an invitation was extended to join. We were glad to welcome some to the group.
This year the two freewill offerings went to K9s for Warriors and WOCEL. K9s for Warriors provides service dogs to war vets suffering from post-traumatic stress. VOCEL is a Chicago organization helping inner city preschool children receive quality early education.
Efforts continue with communicating to the Fellowship At Large group and to a lesser degree the Associates. I am challenged in effectively keeping those members connected to woman’s Society. As most communication takes places via email, it’s hard to engage them. So, it’s a work in progress to figure out how to better keep them connected!
Secretary: Mary Jenkins
As secretary of Woman’s Society, I have recorded the minutes of each monthly Board meeting and certified the presence of a quorum throughout the year. A copy of these reports was given to the president of our Society and a copy was filed in the Woman’s Society logbook. Attendance at Board meetings was recorded in the minutes. Since the inception of the new By-Laws, minutes are being kept of the General Meetings also.
As secretary, I was also responsible for the securing of annual reports from Board members and having them processed in the church office and to write thank you notes acknowledging monetary gifts for receptions.
Assistant Secretary: Carla Brassil
The 2017-2018Yearbook preparation is on schedule. Membership count to date is as follows:
President and Chapter Members 106
Fellowship At Large (limited active participation) 22
Associates (In-active participation) 19
Total Membership 147
Treasurer: marilyn higdon
It is the duty of the treasurer to keep the financial records of Woman’s Society accurate, up-to-date and in balance. Funds have been deposited and disbursed as budgeted and approved. Monthly reports have been prepared and presented at the Board meetings and the general meetings. Monthly activity has been reviewed by our auditor. The fiscal year ends May 31, 2017, at which time the annual financial report will be prepared and given to the auditor.
The treasurer also participates in preparing the year’s budget with the Budget Committee. When necessary, the treasurer also serves on the Special Budget Committee for disbursement of large gifts to Woman’s Society.
Special Events Treasurer: Kate Fleischer
As Special Events Treasurer, I managed the financial component of our fall and spring Rummage Sales. My duties included, but were not limited to: contacting the local police department to engage security officers for the nights of the sale, obtaining the cash advance with which to stock the department cash boxes, collecting, counting and depositing the money taken in at the sale, allocating the money to the respective departments, preparing reports and charts to reflect this information.
Budget: karen hendrick
The Budget Committee consisting of the Past Treasurer as chairperson, the Treasurer, the Missionary Chairman and the Past President meets twice a year after each rummage. The main budget consisting of operating expenses and benevolences most closely related to the United Church of Christ is drawn up after the spring sale. After the fall sale a supplementary benevolence budget is drawn up. These budgets are presented to the Woman’s Society Board for their approval and then recommended to the general membership for their passage.
Throughout the year, the Budget Committee accepts suggestions from church and Woman’s Society members as to where our monies might be most helpful. These organizations are researched as to how their money is spent and how they fit into our Society’s mission before they are automatically added to the list.
Adventures in Reading: ellie roberts
A new approach was tried this year. A list of books recommended by the church staff and others was created with spiritual development in mind. The list was distributed to members at the September Home Meeting. In April, members were asked to sign a list indicating the books from the list they had read. At this writing, that is about to be done! The member doing the most reading has been promised a reward at the May General Meeting.
Christian Education: Karen Wierdak
This year the Christian Education Chair and Assistant Chair chose to continue using the book 30-Second Religion, Editor Russell Re Manning as a basis for this year’s study. We will be learning about the Abrahamic Traditions this year. A schedule was sent to each Christian Education chair so all chapters will learn about the different traditions at the same time. These lessons involve a short description of the tradition followed by discussion.
Devotions: ellie roberts
Devotions were given at each monthly Board Meeting and then supplied to each Chapter Devotion chair for use at their Home Meeting if they so choose. Use of devotions of their own creation or selection was encouraged!
General Meeting Devotions were given by Chapter Devotion chairs or others who expressed interest and willingness. Arranging for these devotions is the task of this chair.
May General Meeting devotions are provided by the Devotions Chair of Woman’s Society and are an amalgam of a devotion dedicated to the concept of service and the installation of the new members of the Board.
Dining room Chairpersons: Ineke Roesslerand linda grissim
The primary work of the Dining Room Committee this year was to prepare either Plymouth Hall or the Seim Room for several events. This year’s first event was the reception in Plymouth Hall after the January Annual Meeting. Like last year, Plymouth Hall was laid out and decorated to have the appearance of a coffee house. In addition to the Annual Meeting Coffee House, it was our responsibility to set up the Seim Room for the New/Old Board Meeting held every May.
An additional responsibility, which will be shared by The Dining Room and Dinner Chairpersons, is the annual kitchen equipment inventory. This involves counting, sorting and analyzing all kitchen items, along with purchasing small supplies that are needed. If larger ones are needed Board approval is necessary and upon that approval needed items will be purchased. This is typically done in October.
The Woman’s Society and each chapter in charge of the general meeting will be responsible for the cleaning of the kitchens before and after General Meetings and before and after rummage. Towels should be washed and returned to the kitchens by the groups that use the kitchens.
In light of less frequent use of the kitchen by the Society and the increased use of the kitchens by other church groups and organizations, the day-to-day maintenance of the kitchens have been transferred to the Church Properties Committee and Brian, our facilities manager.
As always, the Woman’s Society will continue to be responsive to the needs of the church with regard to kitchen related matters.
Dinner Chairman: Abbie Deneen
The monthly Woman's Society General Meetings were held the third Thursday of the month. They were held in September, November, December, March and May.
The coordination of the Annual Meeting coffee has been moved from the Dinner Chairman to the Evening Chapter. The Evening Chapter decorated Plymouth hall and served baked goods and coffee after the annual meeting. Each chapter donated 2 items and the evening chapter also had many people make things, so there were extras. In the future either the two per chapter or the evening chapter should donate, so there won’t be too much. It was a lovely morning. China was used.
The responsibility of the kitchen inventory has become a shared responsibility of the Dinner Chairwomen and the Dining Room Chairwomen. The inventory was conducted by a group in October and the new numbers were updated on a flash drive.
The new board members and old board members will gather in the Seim Room for the annual New Board/Old Board Salad Luncheon in May. Salad and dessert will be brought by outgoing and incoming board members.
Missionary Service: Kate Fleischer
The Missionary Service Committee worked on the following projects in 2016 to 2017. In September we reviewed the projects planned for the year. In October we purchased baby clothes and blankets for Community Nurse’s Secret Santa Project. In November, we made a monetary donation to Buddy’s Place to provide craft materials used in family counseling sessions. In December, chapters assembled eighty stockings for Chicago’s Night Ministry. In February, we donated funds to Operation Gratitude, which helped to send care packages to soldiers. In March, new books were donated to Aunt Mary’s Storybook/Companions. In April we donated paper products to Constance Morris House. In May, our final project was to cut out and assemble shoe patterns for Sole Hope. In addition, funds were reinvested in Kiva and we continued to sponsor our two children through Common Hope. Many thanks to our committee members and to all our Society women for their support.
Reception Committee :
Members:
Co-Chairs – Kathi Harbecke, Harriet VerGowe
Committee Members – Kathy Fauth, Pamm Zomcheck
Chapter Representatives – Dawn Peterson, Pamm Zomcheck, Sally McNeily, Ruth Longman, Kathy Fauth
The Reception Committee provided Memorial Receptions for the following people:
Albert C. Upstrom July 12, 2016
Dr. Paul E. StifflerAugust 6, 2016
William EmshoffSeptember 3, 2016
Max BoydSeptember 17, 2016
Jerry D. ShayDecember 3, 2016 (Reception held at La Grange Country Club)
Martha M. KirchherrFebruary 4, 2017
Charles SiskFebruary 11, 2017
Sarah KralovecMarch 4, 2017
Ednamae CampbellMarch 26, 2017
A huge thank you goes to Rochelle Heinz for designing and decorating Plymouth Hall. Rochelle’s touch brings in family memories and makes Plymouth Hall a much warmer place for the reception.
Another huge thank you to Woman’s Society members and friends who provided cookies, brownies, cheese and crackers, veggie trays, fruit trays and to those who poured, served, and helped with set-up and clean-up. These receptions could not happen without all the assistance from so many people.
Another huge thank you also goes to Felipe Hernandez for their help with the rooms set-ups, making coffee, tea, lemonade and clean-up.
The families greatly appreciate our providing this opportunity for them to spend time with other family members and friends.
THANK YOU ALL!
Program Committee: jeannette lloyd
The committee arranged for the following programs for the General Meetings held for the program year 2016-2017:
September Summer Dreams Piano Duet by Kathy Chrisitan
November Mission Presentation by Reclaim 13/Cherish House
December A Cappella Musical Group by Sonata Problem
March Nancy Drew Presentation by Susan Becker
May Butterfly Garden Presentation at Plymouth Place by Lori Harris
We welcome suggestions for programs and hope you enjoyed the offerings this year.
Rummage: Erin Molek, Teri lane, Erin Molek & Harriet Vergowe
Rummage continues to bring in amazing totals. The Spring 2016 sale grossed $31,561.05 and the Fall sale $32,246.00.
Publicity: Beth Tracy
Main responsibilities of this position include:
- Updating Bulletin Board in Education Building with current information from Woman’s Society
- Working with Church Office to ensure marketing of our Spring and Fall Rummage sales
- Alerting members of the General Meeting programs via posters and announcements in bulletin and Gatherings
- Working with printer or other vendors to order special items using WS logo (i.e. Stationary)
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