Kris Nordstrom

Weekly Report #3

10-03-06

This report was an observation of the stewardship committee making final plans for the stewardship drive beginning next Sunday.

I arrived in the fellowship hall of the First UMC at about 6:20 P.M. and took a seat at the round table covered with stacks of binders and papers. Three very tired ladies sat at the table along with Pastor Kaye. The meeting was going to begin soon and Francis S. was making sure all her ducks were in a row.

After a short prayer, the meeting was in full swing. Pastor Kaye introduced me and gave a brief explaination as to why I was there. Everyone was very accomodating and then they got down to business. Francis began by reading the minutes for the last meeting and they were approved without ammendment. Then came the task of finalizing the huge stewardship drive slated to begin next Sunday. The drive is going to be done in circuit rider fashion. Meaning that the area is divided into geographical subdivisions and a "bishop" is assigned to each area. Each "bishop" is given a leather saddle bag filled with pledge cards, copies of the 2007 budget, and a list of names addresses and phone numbers of those in their district. The bishop is responsable for getting the bag to the first person on the list. After that, each person is tasked with passing the bag on to the next listed person and then notifying the bishop of a successful pass off. The last person returns the saddle bag to the bishop, who in turn takes it to the church where the pledge cards will be tallied and compared to the budget.

In the unfortunate event that the pledges fall short of the budget, the pledge cards will be thrown out and a new circuit will begin. We all pray that does not happen.

At the end of the meeting there was another prayer and they adjourned.

THis practicum taught me the importance of proper planning and the cooperation of various committees etc. The fact that it is imperative to surround yourself with proactive people was also a lesson learned.