InterFaith Council Board Meeting, Thursday, March 8, 2007

Present: Dale Pauls, Laura Lopez, George Bussey, Ann Sadowsky, Jack Penfield, Ron Evans, ReBecca Sala, Pam Simons, Emily Korzenik, Johann Wong, Mark Lingle

Opening Devotional: ReBecca Sala—Opened with a wonderful prayer by Joyce Rupp entitled Create in Me a Clean Heart

President’s Opening Remarks

1. Thank you to Laura for bringing the wonderful spread of food.

2. In a spot that is okay, especially with regard to program, but we need to keep working to help move the IFC along. We need to pick up what we can, and executive staff would be great.

3. Item # 5 in Jan. 18 meeting, George noted that we do not refer to Cindy’s “compensation” as “salary” but refer to it as “fees”. Cindy’s name was also spelled wrong; it should be Schroer.

Minutes of Jan. 18 Meeting

Motion made by Ann and seconded by George to accept the minutes as amended. Approved.

Treasurer’s Report

1. Johann wanted to talk in part about the VS Fund, and we did deal with much of that earlier in the meeting.

2. Johann mentioned that he will have a full report at the April meeting. Mainly our costs are well known—Cindy, Don, mailings, etc.

Committee Updates

Membership & Development

Membership met tonight and about 2 weeks ago:

a. We will use programs to get visibility up. Laura will make sure that we have brochures at all events

b. George will work on membership that is three-tiered: Religious, social services, and individuals

c. Dale suggested that more work be done on website to get our visibility up. Our site can also have links to other groups and they would do likewise.

d. George is finished with work at Xerox, and he will try to apply for a “Social Service Leave” (they may not do it with someone on leave already and they may not do it for a “religious” type organization. If approved, he would work for the council for a year and Xerox would pay him.

Virginia Schroeder

Not much to report. We have $910K to spend. We are giving out grants, but the fund is still making money because of interest. Ron suggested that Janet Evans join a group that would talk with Susan Ross to discuss the implementation of the Fund, and the use of the interest of this fund. Dale mentioned that the interest could be used to create a fund to continue the work of VS, while spending down the principle of the original fund. George: Don’t use monies from VS Fund to pay for overhead of the IFC. That is what got the IFC in trouble years ago.

Emily asked how the fund is working. Ann replied that in the last calendar year, we gave out over $127,000.

Laura asked if people can repeat a grant request. Answer: Yes, but only once a year.

InterFaith Understanding/Program

1. Two events coming up:

a. Sunday, April 22, at St. Francis at 5:00 p.m. Mark and Inni are working on the nuts and bolts

b. Thursday, May 17, will be a panel discussion on Changing Perspectives of God in an age of Terrorism. Elizabeth Krentz-Wee (Lutheran Church in New Canaan), Kareem, and a rabbi to be announced. Ron Evans and Gary Brown will be recognized during this assembly.

2.Dale gave an update on working with the Darfur Coalition. Things seem relatively quiet right now, but something may emerge. If nothing does, Dale mentioned that he has a contact with two people who would be able to provide an excellent program. We will either work with Darfur Coalition or do our own thing. Ann wants us to move ahead on this. Congregations are certainly concerned about it.

3. As an idea for a future program, Dale proposed a group called The Faith Club. They are three mothers--Muslim, Christian and Jewish--who publicly discuss their respective faiths together and have published a book called The Faith Club. They recently gave an impressive presentation at Pace University. They would be an amazing program for our area. Dale is talking with UCONN Stamford about possibly co-hosting this.

Nominating/Board Development

1. Dale mentioned that conversations have taken place regarding identifying a President-elect. Dale and George discussed a possibility after looking at the by-laws that Mark be slated as President-elect at the May meeting. The by-laws say that a person can be president for 1 term, but it does not say that one cannot return to president after a time. We, obviously, are looking for other people to fill various leadership positions, so please look for people and talk to Dale about what you think is best.

Brainstorming—Increasing the Visibility of the IFC

Dale: We want to make sure we follow through with strengthening the web and getting the programs up and running.

Laura: Could we do a billboard?

George: My wife’s non-profit group had an ad that was free in the Advocate because a newspaper employee was a part of the group.

Ron: Some of the billboard companies would be willing to do an ad for IFC possibly.

Ron: Finds that bulletin inserts are easy things to reproduce and get the word out about the IFC

Mark: Perhaps we talk with Bridgeport Council of Churches & ARC about a collaborative effort in advertising. Fairfield County Inter-religious Consortium.

George: Stamford Times might allow us to write something up.

New Business

1. Dale is interested in working with Pam to possibly do some grant-writing or see if there is money out there that would allow us hire full-time people to do specific work to move the IFC’s mission forward.

2. Johann knows someone who could help set up a reference library. Laura added that we could possibly ask constituents to donate books if they would like.

3. Mark mentioned that Inter-religious Eco-Justice Network was interested in working with the IFC to help congregations do energy audits. They also wanted a substantial contribution to underwrite the work that they do, which we cannot provide. Mark will contact IEJN to see if there is any possibility for collaboration.

4. Rebecca commented that she would like to move the idea of a lending library or reading room for inter-religious books.

5. George added that you could do a virtual lending library. We could have a catalog of weblinks on our website.

Closing Meditation

Closed with silence and Dale added a prayer.

INTERFAITH COUNCIL OF SOUTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT, INC.
NOTES FROM THE ASSEMBLY MEETING

Thursday, May 19, 2005

The meeting was opened by President Mark Lingle about 15 minutes late because of the Bike Race being conducted on Bedford Street, making it difficult for assembly members to make it to the meeting.

A treasurer’s report given by George Einar Bussey was accepted.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the InterFaith Council Board as follows:

            President: Mark Lingle (term ends in 2006)
            President-Elect: Dale Pauls
            Vice President: Johann Wong (term ends in 2006)
            Secretary: Ann Sadowsky
            Treasurer: George Einar Bussey (term ends in 2006)

             Board Class of 2006
                        Ron Evans
                        Emily Korzenik
                        Noreen McLaughlin
                        Mary Marple Thies
                        Jack Penfield
                        George Einar Bussey

            Board Class of 2007
                        Dale Pauls
                        Kareem Adeeb
                        Pamma Singh Gulati
                        Johann Wong
                        Rebecca Moen
                        Mark Lingle

             Board Class of 2008
                        Inni Kaur Dhingra
                        Dan Klipper
                        Ann Sadowsky
                        Lot Therrio

A motion was made and seconded to change the name of the InterFaith Council to InterFaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut. During the acceptance of the new by-laws, somehow the Southwestern Connecticut was dropped from the name of the organization. It is important to keep that part of the name in order to distinguish ourselves from other interfaith organizations. The motion was approved.

A motion was made and seconded to change the accountant from Dylewsky Goldberg and Brenner, LLC, to Donald W. Richardson, CPA. Scott Brenner of the former firm had been the accountant for the Council of Churches and Synagogues and had decided that he was not interested in continuing. The motion was approved.

Secretary Ann Sadowsky gave a brief summary of the January 20 meeting, but due to some problems had been unable to provide everyone with a full copy of the minutes from that assembly. The most important decision of the meeting had been the acceptance of the dues structure. Those minutes will be posted on the website. www.interfaithcouncil.org and will be available at the fall assembly.

Approval of the January 20 minutes was tabled until the fall assembly.

Following this business meeting, the Sikhs gave a presentation of their beliefs and history entitled “Sikhism: A Young Monotheistic Religion.” The Sikhs are the fifth largest religious community in the world, and come generally from the Punjab. It is a young religion, having been founded only about 500 years ago. Today it has a following of over 2 million people worldwide. Sikh teachings are enshrined in the Sikh Holy Book, Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Respectfully submitted, Ann K. Sadowsky, Secretary

INTERFAITH COUNCIL OF SOUTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT, INC.

NOTES FROM THE ASSEMBLY MEETING

Thursday, January 20, 2005

The meeting began with an excellent panel discussion on the blurring lines between church and state. Panelists were Martin Margulies, Professor of Constitutional Law at Quinnapiac University Law School; Diane Farrell, first selectwoman of Westport; the Reverend Blaine Edele, pastor of Union Memorial Church; and the Reverend Richard Schuster, executive director of St. Luke’s LifeWorks. The panelists generally agreed on the importance of separation between church and state, but all talked about the blurry line between them. The panel discussion was followed by a meeting of the assembly, which passed the following resolutons:

RESOLUTION: That the membership structure of the InterFaith Council would be as follows:

· For most votes, a simple majority of those present at an assembly would suffice.

· For issues deemed more divisive, when a roll-call vote was called for, only those persons present who were members or registered delegates of a member congregation or other group could vote.

• Voting membership would be determined as follows:

• Individual memberships are encouraged and each individual member who had paid dues of $100 would have one vote;

• Small groups or congregations of 5 to 99 members would pay dues of least $200 and would have two registered delegates. For each additional $100 which was paid, that congregation or group would have an additional registered delegate up to 10 delegates.

• Large groups or congregations of 100 to 1,000 members would pay dues of at least $300 and have three registered delegates. For each additional $100 which was paid, that congregation or group would have an additional registered delegate up to 20 delegates.

• Very large groups or congregations of more than 1,000 members would pay dues of $400 and have four registered delegates. For each additional $100 which was paid that congregation or group would have an additional registered delegate up to 30 delegates.

* All dues would be based on the individual membership fee which would be set annually by recommendation of the Board and approval of the Assembly.

· A provision for exceptions was made so that fees may be waived or reduced based on ability to pay upon vote of the InterFaith Council Finance Committee, and approval of the Board.

· The individual membership fee for students and senior citizens would be 25% of the basic membership fee.

RESOLUTION: That the dues would be paid for a calendar year, based on notifications mailed at the end of the preceding year.

Respectfully submitted, Ann K. Sadowsky, Secretary

Minutes of Delegates Meetings

Assembly Meeting of October 21, 2004

Following a call to prayer by Dr. Kareem Adeeb, President and Imam of the American Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies, and the passing of dates to break the fast with something light, the members of the Institute said their evening prayers while those of other faiths watched respectfully.

A wonderful dinner followed, prepared by the members of the American Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies, and was shared by all. There was much lively discussion at the tables, which were each shared by members of a number of congregations.

As we ate, Dr. Kareem Adeeb spoke on the Islamic religion.
The attitudes of Islam-surrender, submission and obedience with sincerity to God-lead Muslims to achieve inner peace and serenity.
Followers of the Islamic faith believe in these articles of faith.
1)The uniqueness of God. There can be no image of him because he is perfect in every way.
2)Angels who are created of light. Angels have no freedom of choice; they can do no wrong. They obey God and can be thought of as the civil servants of God.
3)Five revelations-the Scrolls of Abraham, the Psalms of David, the Torah of Moses, the Gospel of Jesus, and the Qur'an of Mohammed, who is the last of the prophets.
4)All prophets-Jewish and Christian and Mohammed-were chosen by God to deliver messages to mankind at different times.
5)The resurrection of the dead, which is based on accountability, judgment, reward and punishment.
6)Divine destiny. This is not predestination. God manages the world and knows what will happen, but he does not interfere in the affairs of man.

Angels record your deeds. The one on your right shoulder records the good deeds and the one on your left shoulder records the bad ones. These are weighed on Judgment Day. If the good deeds outweigh the bad, you go to heaven. Otherwise, you go to hell, but it may be for a short period of time, depending on the deeds you have performed and the weight in your favor. If you say something bad or hurt someone, some of your good deeds are given to that person. If you do not have enough good deeds, some of that person's bad deeds may be credited to your account.

The five pillars of Islam are
Witnessing that God is one and Mohammed is the last of his prophets.
Prayer, which is your link to God. There is no intermediary.
Purification of money, which means that 2.5% of your savings must be given to the poor.
Fasting during Ramadan which is done out of obedience to God.
Making a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime if you can afford it.

Muslims fast during Ramadan out of obedience to God. It is a way to thank God for food and water. If you always have something, you are not so thankful for it. During Ramadan, Muslims also strive to achieve piety by studying scripture and controlling anger. Fasting also helps to strengthen the resistance to desire.

Muslims believe that man is 3-dimensional: material, spiritual and intellectual.

A short business meeting followed Dr. Adeeb's speech. The Assembly accepted a finance report which included a statement of the assets of the council, a short description of the liabilities and a presentation of the interim budget as passed by the Board for the present period until the beginning of the new fiscal year on April 1, 2005.
The by-laws which had been handed out at the May Assembly were again discussed briefly. They give a powerful role to the Assembly; the Board executes the will of the Assembly. All important measures, including the budget and the program priorities, must come to the Assembly for a vote. It was noted that the Assembly was voting on program priorities this evening by noting their preferences in future Assembly discussions on the board in the front of the auditorium.

MOTION: THAT THE BY-LAWS OF THE INTERFAITH COUNCIL OF SOUTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT BE APPROVED AS WRITTEN. Passed unanimously.

President Mark Lingle said that he hoped this council will become a moderate and respectful religious voice within the community.

Mark also thanked the members of the American Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies for the wonderful meal, the First Presbyterian Church for allowing us to use their space, and the members of the Board of Directors of the InterFaith Council for their work on behalf of the council.

Ann Sadowsky, Secretary

INTERFAITH COUNCIL ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 2004

The meeting opened with silent and spoken prayers from members of the Assembly.

BUSINESS MEETING
Updates on programs
Gene Waggaman gave an update on three of the programs of the former Council which are currently of interest: the Food Bank, the Virginia Schroeder Fund, and Friendship House.
The Food Bank is doing splendidly under the direction of Kate Lombardo. Gene and the Reverend Blaine Edele from the Food Bank Board of Directors read a statement of joint support.
The Virginia Schroeder Fund, a bequest to be spent within ten years for respite care for caregivers, will be housed at the Fairfield County Community Foundation. It will be available through the InterFaith Council shortly.
Jack Penfield spoke on Friendship House. Friendship House had a number of problems, both in terms of occupancy and in terms of the building itself. Some occupants had too much money to continue to be housed in low- income housing which had a ceiling on payments. Other occupants were single people living in a two-bedroom unit. The building needs new windows, a project begun under the Council and to be completed this year by the new owners. It also needs a sprinkler system. The building is to be sold to a consortium of New Neighborhoods and Mutual Housing. The closing should be completed soon.
The funds raised by the sale will go to the Housing Development Fund and Adopt-a-House, a former Council program, to be used as seed money for projects.
Gene Waggaman noted that there are still some unresolved issues, such as payment for copiers. There is also a bequest coming to the Council once the will has been probated. There will also be some funds left for the InterFaith Council to proceed.

Nomination and Election of a New InterFaith Council Board
Gene Waggaman noted that there was a slate of officers and members for the new InterFaith Council Board which had been passed out at the beginning of the meeting. He asked for nominations from the floor. One person was nominated, Joan Glaser from First Presbyterian Church, Stamford. Since Joan had indicated her willingness to serve previously, the nomination was in order and accepted.
A MOTION WAS MADE THAT THE SLATE, AS AMENDED, BE ACCEPTED BY ALL PRESENT. THE MOTION WAS SECONDED, AND THE SLATE UNANIMOUSLY ACCEPTED. That slate, now the Board of the InterFaith Council is appended to these minutes.

By-Laws
The by-laws were not to be voted on at this assembly, but at one in the fall; however, everyone was to take this draft home and consider it.
Ann Sadowsky took the Assembly through the important parts of the by-law changes. First, she noted that these by-laws give the power back to the Assembly. There is no important act that can be undertaken by the Board itself; the Board executes the will of the Assembly.
Secondly, while both worshipping congregations and individuals who support the mission of the Council are urged and encouraged to come to Assemblies and belong to the Council, only those who have paid their dues will be allowed to vote. The dues will be recommended by the Board at the fall assembly; however the amount of dues will be set by a majority vote of the members.
Thirdly, the assembly will be called to meet at least twice a year. Notice of each meeting shall be given to each voting member by mail or e-mail not less than two weeks prior to the meeting. Once that notice has been given, the members present at the meeting will constitute a quorum.
These are the important changes. The rest of the by-laws are fairly self- explanatory, with description of duties. It does say, however, that the budget must be balanced and that an Executive Director may be employed as funds allow.
Ann asked everyone to read the by-laws and get back to her or to any member of the Board with proposed changes or questions. Ann's e-mail is on the InterFaith website.

PROGRAM
A panel discussion on the film, "The Passion of Christ," was the inspirational centerpiece of the meeting. The discussants on the panel were:
Dr. Kareem Adeeb of The American Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies
Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz of Sacred Heart University's Center for Christian- Jewish Understanding
The Reverend Ronald T. Evans of First Congregational Church of Darien
Rabbi Emily Faust Korzenik (retired), Fellowship for Jewish Learning
Mother Molly McGreevy of St. Francis Episcopal Church
The Reverend Father Sam Scott, Ecumenical Pastor of the Diocese of Bridgeport

The panel was moderated by Joseph Pankoweski, Esquire.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2004

The meeting was called to order by the Reverend Mark Lingle of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Stamford. After a short opening prayer, there were readings of the Golden Rule from each of 12 different faiths. Six of the 12 faiths had representatives at the meeting; those representatives read the Rule as written in their tradition. After each reading, the assembly responded, "Spirit of Harmony, may we hear." A candle was lit, a chime sounded and silence was kept between readings.

Gene Waggaman, current President of the Council, gave a talk on the current state of the Council. He noted that the "good news" was that the Council was still in existence and that a core group was working to ensure that the Council would continue. All social services previously under the Council’s umbrella have been moved to other organizations and are thriving. The Food Bank has obtained its own 501(c)(3) status.

Still to be done is the sale of Friendship House to a partnership of Mutual Housing and New Neighborhoods, which had been an earlier spin-off of the Council. Some work still needs to be done toward that sale, but the closing should be between mid-February and mid-March.

The Glenbrook Road office is now completely occupied by the Food Bank. The poundage being supplied by the Food Bank to other organizations for distribution to those in need has doubled. Kate Lombardo, the Executive Director of the Food Bank, is doing an excellent job.

An office still exists at Canterbury Green. It is now stuffed with boxes of archival material. If you have some time to spend sorting through this material to determine which needs to be saved, please call a member of the new Council Board.

There is no completed Financial Statement at this time. The Council has about $16,000 in cash at the moment. However, some funds belonging to the Food Bank were inadvertently placed in the Council’s General Fund, and those need to be partitioned out.

The Council has received word that a bequest of approximately $20,000 will be coming to the organization in two-three months. There continues to be negotiations with the Unemployment Compensation Trust regarding a possible refund from them.

Another murky item is the leased equipment. A commitment was made concerning payment over a number of years. Gene felt that a contact has been made with a person who could help us get out of that commitment without spending much money. However, this aspect has yet to be negotiated.

The best piece of news is the Virginia Schroeder bequest. This bequest, which was due in large part to Brenda Stiers, former Council Executive Director, was left to the Council for their disbursement to caregivers who needed respite. The Council has received over 85% of the bequest to date—over $700,000. There have been some meetings with representatives of groups dealing with people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. All have noted the great need for this type of fund. The Council hopes to be able to start the program soon. The money is to be spent within ten years. During that time, the Council should be able to help hundreds of caregivers obtain respite.

At the moment, the Council organization is in the hands of a small Executive Committee of four people. Because continuity is important in the sale of Friendship House, it has been determined that the current Executive Committee will continue until March 15 or whenever Friendship House is sold. Meanwhile, the interim board to be elected tonight will join them in working on the Schroeder fund and will come up with new mission and by-laws and plan new programs. Once the Executive Committee has stepped down, the Interim Board will elect officers from among its members.

The following changes were made in the Interim Board nominees included in the program handed out at the beginning of the meeting: Dale Pauls is from the Stamford Church of Christ, and Noreen McLaughlin from St. Roch’s Roman Catholic Church was added to the list.

The slate for the interim board and executive committee includes:

            Jack Alexander                        Temple Shalom, Norwalk
            George Bussey                        Holy Spirit Roman Catholic
            Hira Singh Chhabra                  Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Found.
            Judy Davis                               1st Presbyterian
            Ron Evans                               1st Congregational, Darien
            Winton Hill                               Bethel A.M.E. Church
            Emily Korzenik                         Fellowship for Jewish Learning
            Mark Lingle                              St. Francis Episcopal, Stamford
            Noreen McLaughlin                   St. Roch’s Roman Catholic Church
            Rebecca Moen                         St. John’s Lutheran
            Dale Pauls                               Stamford Church of Christ
            Dorothy Robinson                     Bethel A.M.E
            Ann Sadowsky                         N. Stamford Congregational
            Ron Sala                                  Unitarian Universalist Society
            Lot Therrio                                Stamford Church of Christ
            Ann Thurber                              St. Mark’s New Canaan
            Mary-Starke Wilson                   1st Presbyterian
            Johann Wong                            Ba’hai Community

Executive Committee:
            Gene Waggaman
            Jack Penfield
            Michael Sandifer

A motion was made to accept the slate of interim board members. It was seconded and voted in unanimously.

Gene Waggaman then introduced the evening’s speaker, Brenda Stiers, former Executive Director of the Council of Churches and Synagogues. Brenda’s speech is recorded on the website, www.interfaithcouncil.org.

After thanking the members of the prior Board of the Council for their faithful service, the Reverend Mark Lingle noted that the Interim Board would begin meeting in February, and hoped to bring everyone together again for an assembly in May, 2004.

The evening ended with brief prayers for peace from the various traditions represented and a final blessing from the Unitarians.

Respectfully Submitted
Ann Sadowsky

Minutes from June 12 and July 24, 2003

At the two meetings--June 12, 2003 and July 24,2003--we have gathered 29 people who are interested in working together to re-create the Interfaith Council.

Here are some notes from the July 24 meeting.

Winton Hill presided over the meeting and began with a prayer. He then noted that the group which met on June 12 had left that meeting with a statement of intent to develop a re-organization. We continue with the need to let the community know that something is happening.

Deborah Goldberg was concerned that we not do something confined to Stamford, but remember that the Interfaith Council stretches from Greenwich to Norwalk.

Mark Lingle thought that we should work toward bringing together a larger group to hear our ideas.

Other members brought up questions regarding the status of the Interfaith Council. Does it still retain its 501(c)(3) status as a nonprofit?

Should we now call for new elections? Since there was no annual meeting in May as called for in the by-laws, is the current small Board with four members of the former Board legal?

The current Board continues the process of spinning off the remaining social programs of the Council. The Food Bank has yet to obtain its own 501(c)(3) status, so continues to rely on the Council.

Friendship House is in the process of being sold. There was some debate on where the profit from the sale of Friendship House should go. There had been a number of suggestions, but it appears that all of it will go to Joan Carty to administer as a pre-housing development fund. Winton Hill reiterated his proposal that the profits realized by the sale be split with the majority going back to Friendship House to finance some much-needed repairs and a small portion going to the Interfaith Council so that its work can go on. A number of people agreed with Winton's proposal and suggested that a letter be sent to the current remaining Board saying that Winton's idea was the consensus of this group.

It was decided that someone from this re-organizing body meet with the current Board of the Interfaith Council to determine exactly where we stood in terms of payment of dues, by-laws, new elections and any remaining funds.
Prior to deciding on that path, the group broke into three sub-groups to discuss 1)the vision of this organization (What do you want the Interfaith Council to look like in three years?); 2)a program or programs which will make the Council more visible in the community; and 3)the process by which we begin a re-organization.
After half an hour of discussion, the groups reported as follows:

Vision Group: Here is a draft vision: We envision the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut to be a model of harmony and respect for diverse faith traditions of the world (and southwestern Connecticut). We believe that we are ultimately one human family that serves the community in diverse ways.

Program Group: The program group focused on presenting something really meaningful for Martin Luther King Day, something spectacular to bring the community together. It was suggested that MLK Day be the culmination of a week to a month of various programs or study groups. Some of the ideas were
Singing by choirs and school groups
Stories by those who were active in the civil rights movement

Process Group: The Interfaith Council needs to be visually up and running by fall in order for congregations to put funding into their budgets. We need both continuity and a fresh look. Most important, we need to begin by having a meeting between four of the members of this re-organizing group and the four current Interfaith Council Board members. We need to learn from them and to obtain a better picture of the current status of the Council.

It was suggested that the four people to meet from this organization be: Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, the Reverend Mark Lingle, Ann Sadowsky and Johan Wong. Rabbi Hammerman declined, and it was suggested that the Reverend Ron Evans be asked to join. Ann Sadowsky will coordinate this effort.

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE AT BETHEL AME CHURCH ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Ann Sadowsky, acting secretary.