Bruce Woodcock, liaison from The Episcopal Church Center.

David Crean, our writer.

July 11, morning.

We had a general discussion regarding the proposals from the Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church and asked Louie Crew to convey our concerns to the Commission (see attached letter, dated July 23).

July 11, noon.

We visited 3 Cathedral Square, a housing project for the for elderly and handicapped persons with very low income.

3:30 We began work with our writer, Dr. David Crean.

5:30 Dinner at Stowe, Vt.

July 12

9:00 We debriefed regarding 3 Cathedral Square.

We noted:

• They are committed to quality service.
• They have realistic expectations.
• They acknowledged a nudge from the Holy Spirit in the form of a report from General Convention.
• They began with a new piece of property.
• They had an outstanding leader with a vision for the project, still with them after 17 years.
• "She is an inspired point person," noted one commissioner.
• They are also preparing for transition and a backup for the point person, aware that no person is in place forever.

  The arrival or departure of a leader is a direct factor in the success patterns of every ministry in our diocese. -- Bishop Salmon

• They had an ideal location in the heart of the community.
• They built a structure designed to provide start-up space for new projects as well as to give the best in housing for the residents.
• They left themselves room to conceptualize.
• They built good networks (local, regional, national).
• They were willing to grow at a reasonable pace. They time new projects and develop them when they were best prepared to do them well.
• They know how to market the programs, with videos, public service announcements..

  They keep good records of the dollar value of volunteers' services.
  They make extensive use of in-kind contributions.

• They are creative and effective in the use of all their resources.
• All share a sense of mission.
• They focus less on teaching persons that they ought to help their neighbors. They assume that people already want to do that. Instead, they serve as a catalyst for the good will already there. They find effective channel the good will, for as little or as much that the neighbor has time to give.
• They engage the local resources, at all levels, both in government and in the private sector.
• They maintain a personal touch: "Even the director knows my name!" exclaimed one elderly person who invited us to visit her apartment.
• They keep a thorough inventory of the talent of volunteers in the community.

We had a long discussion of our advocacy role. Bruce Garner thinks that we need to educate persons to the shifts in government policies and to the obligation to go for federal dollars which are available for community projects. "It is important for the people to know what the politicians are up to."

We noted the dollar value to some losses of funding: Residents of 3 Cathedral Square pay only $175 a month to live there; yet the cost of one occupancy is $800. Title 8.8 pays $500 and 3 Cathedral Square pays the rest. $500 is the amount we would be out if the government decides not to pay its share. We need to educate our church, regardless of individual political affiliations, how very important it is not to destroy good projects by withdrawing this vital government support.

12:30 Lunch

1:30 David Crean led us step-by-step through our outline for our Blue Book report, focusing especially on Section 3. See the minutes of our March meeting in Charleston.

5:30-7:00 We had dinner on our own.

7:00-10:00 We viewed The Color of Fear, followed by debriefing.

July 13: morning.

We did more debriefing for The Color of Fear.

David Crean led us as we completed a step-by-step review of our outline for our Blue Book report:. He will get a draft to us well in advance of our next meeting in Memphis, November 21-23, 1996.

Gentlepersons:

Our Commission asked me to share our response to your draft for structural changes, which we discussed at length at our meeting in Burlington, Vermont, July 11-13:

We feel positive about the shift of many responsibilities to Executive Council, freeing up the Presiding Bishop for more pastoral activities.

We feel that the proposals to restructure committees and commissions do not, as worded, carefully secure space for a prophetic voice, historically the role of many of the bodies. We would like to see you guarantee a place for scouting at the cutting edge of the issues of our time, a base for leadership regarding these issues. There is no attention here to the need for restructured bodies to speak as the conscience of the church.

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