ICYI Minutes
January 7, 2006
Zion UCC, Peru, Illinois
Present: Katie Mellentine, John Kendall, Karen Karczewski, Rev. Kirk Moore, Kyle Tade, Rev. Mike Denton, Rev. Betty Sue Sherrod.
Opening Worship: The group began with worship and communion.
Notes: Jill Calahan has resigned from ICYI due to family committments. Jill represented the Fox Valley Association, so the Association should appoint someone new to represent them to ICYI.
Mid-Winter Retreat: The
retreat is scheduled
for January 20th-22nd at Pilgrim Park in
Princeton, Illinois. Kerri is responsible for registrations, and
has received some registration forms already. As of now, 15
people are scheduled to come. The question was raised about
whether we should have the retreat with 15 participants. There
were 10 youth last last year, according to Mike . The group
agreed that we should go ahead with the retreat. Karen will
contact Pilgrim Park for final arrangements.The Outdoor Ministry
System will also be at Pilgrim Park on Friday night and
Saturday—ICYI will use the DuPree Center, except for meals,
and possibly worship. Karen reviewed the schedule for the
retreat. Karen reviewed the list of potential speakers for the
event. Rev. Mike Solberg--Illinois Conference Angola Trip; Jim
Fitzgerald--Christian Peacemaking Team. Karen will contact Rev.
Solberg and Jim Fitz. There was discussion about other potential
speakers. Olgha Sandman was suggested—Mike Denton willl
contact her. Tracy Heilman has made contact with a national
justice organization in Chicago...Karen will followup with Tracy.
The group agreed that ICYI folks can lead the Opening Session to
introduce the PEACE them. Katie spoke with Wendy Crosiant, and
Wendy agreed to assist ICYI with games and icebreakers on Friday
night.
An interactive exercise for PEACE will be held as well. Wendy was
mentioned as a possible leader for this activity. Mike will bring
a laptop and LCD projector There will be adequate
chaperones—Kirk, Mike, Ron McNeill (Granville) Jim Brown
(tentative), Kerry Waller, and Karen Karczewski. The group agreed
that if there are still youth who want to register for the
retreat, we can waive the $15 late fee, in order to boost
registrations.
Karen reviewed the contract ICYI has with ODM for the use of Pilgrim Park. Karen must provide final registration numbers to ODM on 1/16/06. The budget for the weekend was reviewed.....$75 (per person) will be spent for the site and meals, and $25 (per person) The additional $10 from the registration fee will go to the ICYI scholarship fund.Kirk agreed to bring his ‘bonfire guitar’ for the Saturday night campfire. Kirk will call Tracy to work with her on the activity after dinner on Saturday. Betty Sue said she may attend the retreat for a short time, but she does not want to accept any responsibilities in case she can’t make it. Jim may come as well, but has had family issues recently, and may have to leave suddenly. The Mid-Winter Retreat is a go.
Mix-in-06: This national UCC/Disciples of Christ event is for women, but Kyle mentioned that men and children would also be welcome. Karen received an email from June Boutwell, asking the lllinois Conference to nominate two young women stewards. The deadline for registrations was originally December 31st, but it has now been extended to January 31, 2006. The meeting is in Indianapolis starting June 20, 2006. Karen asked the group if anyone is aware of young women in the Conference who have been nominated. Mix-in-06 will pay the registration and housing fees for the young women stewards. Transportation will be provided by the individual conference or church. Karen asked the group what the best way would be to get information out to churches in the Conference. Young woman stewards must be between 16-20 years old. Katie Mellentine was mentioned as a possible delegate. Amy Lehuta was also mentioned. Kyle suggested that Heather Lorbach might also be interested. Kyle will contact Heather and Amy. The Cololation National Gathering (June 26th-29th) will be in Indianapolis that same week, along with the Great Lakes Regional Youth Event beginning June 29th.
Great Lakes Regional Youth Event: Jane e-mailed Karen asking her if ICYI is planning to sponsor transportation to GLRYE. Jill was in responsible for contacting the bus company, but now she has resigned. The group agreed that we would need 40-50 people attending GLRYE if the bus would be worthwhile. Karen will contact Peoria Charter Coach to get prices for the trip, assuming a pick up point at Pilgrim Park, and one at the Conference Office. Karen will also contact Jane. The group agreed that we would accept ‘interested parties’ for a bus to GLRYE until March 31, 2006, and after that date, make a decision about whether or not to contract with the bus company. Kirk has received one email inquiry to the web site. Information about GLRYE went out to all churches in the Conference, as a mailing from the Conference office. The information is also listed on the Illinois Conference website.
Scholarships: Jane inquired, via email about whether or not ICYI had a scholarship fund for registration and/or transportation fees. Karen replied to Jane that ICYI had researched to see if there were other Conference policies (written) about scholarship adminstration, but there are not any available. Jane created a draft pollicy for ICYI to finalize...as a start to the process. ICYI will discuss scholarship funds at the next event. This will be discussed more at the next meeting.
Illinois Conference Special Meeting--Open Space: Karen advised the group that the next ICYI meeting is scheduled for the same date as the Open Space meeting. Kirk commented that we shouldn’t hold the ICYI meeting—being respective of the Conference’s desire to have as many people as possible present from the Conference. The meeting is February 11th at Jennifer’s Garden in Morris. It could be one of the most important meetings in the last 10 years of the Illinois Conference. Jane asked ICYI to attend the Open Space. Karen asked if the group if they wanted to cancel the meeting, or try to meet at the end of the Open Space meeting for a short time. We woud not have phone conferencing capabilities at Jennifer’s Garden. We will have a short meeting from 3:30 to 4:30 without phone capabilities on February 11th, 2006.
Illinois Conference Annual Meeting: June 8th-10th @ Elmhurst College Katie Mellentine will be preaching on Friday Night’s Youth Worship service. Kyle, Katie, John, and a youth from Kirk’s church will assist Paula Comper in planning the Friday night worship. Kyle is willing to serve as the youth contact person. The Blue Jay’s Roost at EC will be the hangout for the youth attending the meeting. The theme of the meeting is summoned to serve. The Annual Meeting Planning Committee will meet next week—Katie and Karen will represent ICYI at the meeting. A pool party will be on Thursday Night during the Annula Meeting. Kyle will call the local pools. We will hold a dance on Friday night, called a "Roost Boogie". We will need a PA system for the dance. Discussion was held about having lunch with Joe Mills, Conference President, on Thursday. Kyle will contact Joe to see if we can do a Thursday lunch or a Friday breakfast. Karen read the comments about youth programming from the Open Space notes during the Conference Annual Meeting in June 2005. The youth would like to have a room where they can ‘step out to’ during the annual meeting to get questions answered about the activities and discussions. Karen and Katie will take this request to the meeting next Saturday.
Questions: The sermon from John Kendall and Katie Mellentine August 21st service from Granville UCC will be posted on the ICYI website. It is a good intro for churches to discuss the ICYI website. Kir mentioned that he is happy to post any information on the ICYI website....just email him the info. The rough draft ICYI Resolution study guide questions will be on the website.
Future Meeting Dates: Karen asked if the group would like to meet on April 8, 2006, as it is the day before Palm Sunday...the group agreed to meet April 8, 2006. There will also be a brief meeting at the end of the Conference Special Meeting on 2/11/06.
Closing: The mission statement for ICYI was read by Kyle Tate.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45 AM.
