Flower & Altar Team Meeting 12/29/16

Flower and Altar Team

First Parish Congregational Church

Date: September 29, 2016

Present: Cyndi Howard, Reverend Deborah Breault, Mari Warner, Patrice Tripp, Polly Curry, John Ropes, Jo Nancy Gunn – Co-chair

Item	Discussion	Resolution
Welcome to Reverend Deborah Breault, joining us to meet Team members and learn how we work. Schedule Review	Upcoming Facilitators and Assistants were checked: October – Polly/ Marjorie; November – Marjorie/Martha; December – Marjorie/Martha with the support of the whole team.   December 18 – Poinsettia Sunday December 25 - Christmas	John will continue to be a supporter of the Flower and Altar Team, helping when he is in Saco.  He will not be a regular Team member.    We thank John for all his help and look forward to the times he can join us in the future.
Paraments  schedule	Dates and colors were reviewed through February. White paraments for communion Sundays, the first Sunday of each month. The possibility of using blue for advent was suggested, differentiating the advent season from Lent.  We do not have blue at this time and it has been a while since it was considered.  Deborah let us know of the Almay church supply company which is located in Pittsfield, Maine.	Deborah asks that we use white for weddings and funerals as well as for communion.  We will do so with notification.  Monthly Facilitators will need to check the office calendar regularly.   We will talk further about blue paraments.
Bow-making Workshop with Deb Nielson, Leader	Tuesday, October 11, 6:30 pm  Youth Room, downstairs The notice is in the October Messenger	Mari will get in touch with Fred Connolly re a slide notice over the next two Sundays.  Jo Nancy will get a notice to Stefanie Burgess for the Sunday Update for October 9 , and check on supplies of wire and green floral tape.  Team members will bring scissors and wire cutters.
Flower & Altar information card	Several Team cards have been developed.  Ray Lund has pictures that could be used for F&A.  Work on the card/brochure could be a starting point for our Team Awareness Announcement.  Brandi Flanagan could not make this meeting but is interested in working on the card/brochure.	Mari volunteered to work with Brandi on this project.  Target date is November 5, first Saturday. Jo Nancy will let Ray know that they are working on this and will be in touch with him.  She will check to see if he has pictures related to the changing of the paraments, a key activity.
Vitality Team – Team Awareness Announcements	Flower & Altar – December 18     Teams have up to 3 minutes to raise awareness of their work and invite membership. They may have a table display in the atrium on their Sunday. Copies of the announcement schedule were passed out.  Our date is also Poinsettia Sunday.	We will follow up on this after we have our brochure done.  We will consider a pictorial presentation.  December 18 is also Christmas Sunday and will be a FULL service.   Meeting for this to be determined.
Thanksgiving cornucopia	Deb Nielson has done this for many years.  This year she will guide us in building it.  She can meet with us at 1:30, Saturday, November 19.   Needed: large basket; vegetables, such as a variety of potatoes, small pumpkins, a variety of squash. Faux fall leaves are in the Fair closet with Greens material.	Jo Nancy will follow-up on a basket. Members will bring in vegetables, and we will check with Brent Peters.
Gingerbread Fair – Greens Arrangements	The Team had decided not to head up this table this year.  A note was sent to Charlotte Lapham re our decision , with assurance of individual’s support, and some of the things we had learned that helped the process.  We are holding the Bow-making workshop as a fun means of building our skills and preparation for the main workday.	Send copies of the e-mail to and from Charlotte to F&A Team members.
Poinsettias	December 18 is Poinsettia Sunday.  We discussed placing an order with the Morrison Center or at Lowe’s, seeking good plants and stability in delivery.  New order sheets may need to be done.  We are not sure whether or not the Women’s Fellowship will  arrange ordering of the plants for Fair delivery.	We will ask Marjorie if she will investigate ordering plants at Lowe’s.  Polly will find out if the W. F. will have plants ordered for Fair delivery.  Jo Nancy will make up our order sheets, using a (different) color if poinsettias are early ordered for the Fair. November 27 and December 4 may need to be our ordering dates.
Paraments cleaning	The paraments have not been cleaned for some time.  The archival information does not name the cleaners used before.	Jo Nancy will look into the possibility of using a cleaner in Saco or Portland, considering experience as well as cost.
Adjourn		Next meeting to be determined.  Team members will be in touch by e-mail and at Team activities re information learned.