Notes from Session

CCP SESSION NOTES TO THE CONGREGATION – February 2023

There was much to discuss in our recent Session meeting! John Owen led us in a Session Study based on William Safford’s poem “The Way It Is” and we had a meaningful discussion about the threads that have led us on, both as individuals and as a community of faith. Take a minute to immerse yourself in this poem that is, perhaps, even more relevant now.

As you might imagine, most of our Session meeting was devoted to addressing the recent news from St. Paul’s that they will be needing our space for one of their missions, the Vermont Health Equity Project. This means we will need to vacate our space in 60 days, as per the terms of our MOU. As noted in our communication to the congregation last week, we are in full support of this mission and Session considered what steps we will need to take in the near future and beyond. St. Paul’s recognizes the challenge this move poses for us, and Dean Greta Getlein has offered to meet with us to discuss possible space at St. Paul’s. We will evaluate options in light of considerations related to hearing, storage, set-up/breakdown, hybrid possibilities and the nature of our service.

Our priorities at this time will be to determine whether there is space at St. Paul’s that might work during this transition time, and to pack and move out of our space. This will require considerable work by several teams: Worship Planners, Facilities, Hospitality and perhaps others. Happily, we have a wonderfully functional and interactive Zoom option, so we will be able to continue to have at least one certain way that our Beloved Community can gather in this transition time. As we have noted before, the changes we have experienced in the past have led to good outcome for our Beloved Community and we trust that this will again be true as we continue to follow the thread that leads us on.

Despite this daunting task of another move, CCP continues to be a vibrant community in so many ways. John reminded us that the next Social Issues Forum will begin on Wednesday, February 15 @1:30 and will focus on a series of articles on gun control. Ron Mc Garvey has launched a team of Earth Stewards to keep environmental issues in the forefront of our thinking; for starters, we’ll get a tip from them in each week’s newsletter. We’ll begin Lent with an Ash Wednesday service @ 7 pm on Zoom, led by Kristabeth. Fun news — Amity and her team are putting the final pieces in place for Potlucks 2.0 and we will begin small monthly in-home potlucks in March, continuing through June. Also, take note, plans are afoot for an all-CCP outdoor potluck in mid-summer. You’ll receive more information about all of these events via email and announcements—so this is a great time to read all CCP communications carefully!

So, as we enter another time of change, remember the words of poet William Stafford: “There is a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change… While you hold it, you can’t get lost.” Beloved CCPers, we follow the thread, together.

In peace,
Mary Beth, for Session