Present: Rev. Anne Roundy, Gene Hunnewell, Maury Landry, Rev. Jeff
Belcher, Beth Haynes

Recorder: Beth Haynes
Reflector: Maury Landry

Anne opened the meeting with a meditation. All present introduced
themselves and checked in.

Minutes:
There were not any minutes from the last meeting so they will be read and
accepted during the next month's meeting.

Budget:
Anne passed out a budget information sheet with a suggested schedule for
working on the 2008 Budget Year. This discussion will also be put off
until more members are present. The Commission spent only 44% of the
budget. Anne will go through the budget and note the areas that need to
be looked at more closely.

Executive Committee Report:
None.

Coordinating Council Report:
At the recent retreat Rev. Bill Imes did an overview of how
congregationalism has impacted the United Church of Christ.. Saturday
morning they talked about who we are as a Coordinating Council. Linda
Kimball stayed for the entire retreat and will give a complete report next
meeting.

Trainings & Workshops:
Two Advent clergy retreats were held this year (2006). One at Old Soul's
Congregational Church, UCC, in Bangor and the other one at Rockcraft. The
feedback from these stated that clergy hoped there were going to be Lenten
retreats also. It was recommended that this commission sponsor both of
these retreats each year. Jeff mentioned that some Associations are now
requiring clergy to have professional development. With this need Anne
proposed to ask Rev. June Boutwell if she would do a workshop on prayer
possibly for Lent (Feb. 8, 2007). Maury offered to help with
contemplative prayer.
The Clergy Spring Retreat will be held at Living Waters Retreat Center on
May 1 & 2, 2007. Jeff and Anne commented on how they felt last year's
retreat went. - excellent. We will ask Rev. David Gaewski what he would
recommend for a speaker. Jeff stated that he wanted someone who would
"feed" him such as Fred Beuchner. Maury suggested Father Dominic Crossan.
Anne added Barbara Brown Taylor. Anne will research on-line to see who
might be available for these dates.

Learning To Listen Gatherings:
Community Life Commission is also planning to continue the Learning To
Listen Gatherings. We should also get feedback on these workshops. Gene
feels that there should also be continuing education on the Marriage
Quality and Equality resolution.

Annual Meeting:
Gene gave an update on the planning sessions for Annual Meeting. The
survey results from last year's Annual Meeting were reviewed. The theme
for this year's meeting will be Congregational Vitality. The
Pre-retreat's theme will be Personal Vitality. The Farmington
Congregational Band will lead music.

Convocation on Church Leadership:
Linda Kimball will give a more complete report next meeting. The
Convocation will be March 23 & 24. John Westerhoff will be the speaker.

Seminary Day:
Portland's Seminary Day will be held March 28, 2007. Anne cannot attend.
We need both a greeter and worship leader. Anne will ask for help with
this.

Vacancies for Commission Positions:
Jeff and Anne will see about filling the Lincoln Association position.

Grant Writing:
Anne said that our commission needs to see what the Conference is doing
about this first. Once this is established we will support them.

Conference Concerns:
David spoke on the Pastoral Excellence Program. Maine's clergy have a
strong desire for both nurturing and quality professional development
programs. Historically the Conference has offered numerous nurturing
opportunities for clergy. Now there is a need for the Spiritual Life
Commission to develop a brochure of upcoming professional development
opportunities for the upcoming year(s). David wanted to brainstorm a
number of possibilities for the next three years and then write a grant for
support of these. It was suggested that maybe the Convocation for Church
Leadership would be a perfect place and time to conduct a survey for ideas
for this professional development. Jeff suggested that maybe chairpersons
for Church & Ministry should also be surveyed.
David asked how the Commission thought the Conference was doing
spiritually. He spoke of the "spiritual place" of the Conference. Where
have we been over the last two years and how will we be in the next two
years. David stated that one of the "megatrends" was that churches are
spending down their endowments. The Conference will be having some serious
discussions on their properties. Funding is either going flat or
dropping. The challenge is how we maintain our spiritual centeredness
with our diminishing financial status. How do we do this? How do we
determine spiritual health? Maybe we need to provide the clergy the
conversational skills to have these discussions with their congregations.
This may also involve a discussion of the financial changes too.

Other:
Maury asked for advice on how to go about setting up a clergy
consultation group in the greater Bangor area. He also offered to help
with being a facilitator with a negotiable fee. David suggested that he
not be a facilitator in the Bangor area but would support his interest in
other areas. Maury will submit his credentials and also will contact the
Conference Office to see about surveying clergy throughout the state to
see where there is a need for this. Anne explained that previously our
commission had applied and received a Brown Grant to be used to support 5
clergy consultation groups. David stated that it would probably be fine
to reapply for another Brown Grant. When doing this the application
should reflect information on how successfully the first grant monies were
used. The Spiritual Life Commission would be responsible for selecting
the facilitator and deciding the monetary support for a new cycle of
clergy consultation groups.

Next meeting: Waterville Congregational Church, UCC
February 3, 2007 at 9:30 a.m.