Annual Report

Transcription

1 Annual Report Eden United Church of Christ Birch Street Hayward, California, Like us on Facebook Follow us on Ministers The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring Senior Minister The Rev. Pepper Swanson Designated Term Associate Minister The Rev. Drew Nettinga Minister-in-Covenant The Rev. Rob Parrish Itinerant Minister Program Staff Dr. Jessie Wenchieh Lo Music Director Corina Vasaure Compañeras/os Ministry Coordinator Andrea Orea Padres Unidos Community Organizer Alicia Oseguera Cherryland Computer Café Coordinator Monica Villanueva Immigration Rights Community Organizer Kemunto Kemy Gekara Lead Childcare Worker Management & Sexton Staff Diana Zankowsky Operations Manager Tania Martínez Office Manager Debi Morris Bookkeeper John Bulette Daytime Sexton Melencio Lim Night Sexton Dawn Coburn Sunday Sexton Jose Luis Martínez Menjivar Saturday Sexton SENIOR MINISTER S REPORT The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring The membership recommitted to Eden s Mission, Vision, and Values and established the following goals at the last Annual Meeting: 1. Introduce different styles of music while retaining our progressive theology 2. Retain and attract new members especially youth, young adults and young families 3. Strengthen mutual understanding of cultures and life experiences among members and residents 4. Steward resources in a way that balances the needs of future generations with the present, and the needs of the congregation, campus, and community Three teams were appointed to pursue the goals. Employee matters were delegated to the Personnel Committee, and diaconal care was delegated to the Congregational Caring Circle. Significant findings and outcomes were: Worship Practices Choir rehearsals have been moved to Sundays and anthems are offered monthly Partnerships with community-based music groups have been successful and will be continued Personal testimonies has been meaningful and will be continued Gospel- and Blue Grass-style services have received broad-based support Bilingual holiday services have drawn the largest attendances Expansion of Eden s music program would require increased staffing and budgeting Outreach and Cultural Learning Guiding principles for Outreach and Cultural Learning were defined The history, purpose and participants in ongoing activities were documented Simple, frequent ways to integrate cultural learning into ongoing activities were identified Outreach and Cross-Cultural experiences were integrated into worship and programs The Sanctuary Church Resolution was prepared and recommended The DTAM for Youth, Young Adults & Young Families was recommended Congregational Life Blue cards were revised and peach visitor cards were created Visitor gift bags were created and distributed A member attendance system and pilot program were conducted The DTAM for Youth, Young Adults & Young Families search was recommended Conversations about establishing an interfaith youth group were held Members were surveyed to clarify interest in Small Groups Personnel & Finance Actions by Council A part-time Operations Manager was hired The cost of expanding the music program was researched and analyzed The Associate Minister s call to full-time ministry has been recommended The DTAM for Youth, YA, and Young Families search was recommended A new investment policy was drafted and changes in financial advisors and managers are underway

2 Page 2 TREASURER S REPORT The Rev. Rob Parrish, Treasurer Eden s financial position remains good. The available cash holdings have seen a slight decline from $1,890,520 as of Apr 30, 2016 to a total of $1,814,619 as of Apr 30, Eden has experienced improvements in our stock market holdings. Contributions from the Eden Area Foundation have held steady. Rental income has decreased a modest amount this past year due to vacancies. Member contributions have not kept up with our five year projections. Efforts to increase the size of the congregation will receive additional focus in the coming months in order to deal with this shortfall. Church Windows continues to provide solid support for the full transparency of all transactions. Rob Parrish The Operating Budget is projected to experience an additional income shortfall of $21,097 over the $93,825 transferred in Jul 2016 in order to cover our ending expense of $676,936. For , Eden is looking at an Operating Budget of $687,302 and a resulting income shortfall of $105,429 (6% of Eden s total cash holdings). A transfer from the Oliver Property Sale Fund will cover the expense for and The Comida computer cafe, and ChYLI budget have stand-alone funds and are not part of this operating budget. We anticipate that the strategic planning process will continue to provide an investment policy which will allow Eden to maintain the program as outlined in the expenditure plan for for several years to come. We will continue to carefully evaluate our financial position through the coming year in order to maintain a solid financial footing that supports the growth that we at Eden are all looking forward to. If you have any questions please feel free to speak with me at any time. DESIGNATED TERM ASSOCIATE MINISTER S REPORT The Rev. Pepper Swanson was a year of art and experimentation in our religious education and spiritual life programs. In Sept, we introduced a new and innovative video-based curriculum for both of our Church School classrooms to the rave reviews of both teachers and students. During Advent, we added the construction of a cardboard Nativity play area in Oliver Hall as well as made a life-size Holy Family from fabric scraps as a community art project. In Lent, both adults and children colored large format illustrated posters drawn from the Gospel of Mark as a spiritual practice. We added a daytime Bible study group as a complement to our evening program. Both Bible Study groups focused on the Acts of the Apostles in the fall, and, for a change of pace, studied the Pastor Pepper Revised Common Lectionary texts used for preaching and worship during the Spring. In addition, our long-standing Seekers group took up a very challenging book on race as well as books touching on the pursuit of joy in life and the realities of death. It was also my pleasure to assist with communications, evangelism, fellowship, stewardship, and outreach during the last year. In addition to our quarterly postcards, monthly paper Chimes, weekly bulletin, and weekly e-chimes, I coordinated our Confirmands and their parents, facilitated the work of the Strategic Planning Congregational Life Team and our quarterly Strategic Plan updates to the congregation, improved our seasonal outdoor signage, and kept our West Wing glass case fresh and up to date with each liturgical season. Other highlights included: our first time participation in the Castro Valley Light Parade and the Cherryland Easter Egg Hunt, our Stewardship donut and mug sales during the month of May, and coordinating our childcare needs for the many exciting immigration workshops and bilingual, bicultural Church holiday programs. And, weaving in and out of these varied responsibilities, I was pleased to preach at least monthly during the last year, to assist with Holy Communion, and to help ensure our weekly worship is as meaningful and spiritual as possible. As my time as your Designated Term Associate Minister draws to a close, I give thanks to God for the role Eden Church, its members and many ministers, continue to play in my nurture and education as a new pastor.

3 MODERATOR S REPORT Robert E. Turner This has been a challenging, yet exciting, year for Eden Church. For the past half-century, we - along with the vast majority of UCC churches in the US - have watched our membership numbers fall. A year ago, we decided to tackle this problem head-on. We asked ourselves, What are the attributes of successful UCC churches? What are Eden s strengths and weaknesses? During the past year, we have experimented with different types of services. Not everyone loved them. Change can be hard. But I was encouraged by how many members were prepared to embrace change. At this Annual Meeting, we are asking members for more change; specifically, to authorize a search for a youth, young adult, and young families minister. This was identified as a key area for those churches that are successful. I cannot promise that these changes will bring success. But refusing to change guarantees failure. As I said in my opening line, these are challenging yet exciting times. With God s help, I believe we can succeed. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Russ Newman & Jim Fryer, Co-Chairs The Board of Trustees manages Eden s tenant and rental agreements, property and general liability insurance policies, and the construction, repair and maintenance contracts, on behalf of the Church Council. The Trustees also perform minor repairs, secure the campus after worship and respond to alarm notices. This past year, the Trustees worked on the following projects: Completed Projects: Added chips to the Tot Lot and area behind the Pioneer Chapel Cleaned and replaced refrigerator drip line in west wing kitchen Replaced many lamps and ballasts in various rooms on the campus Advertised the unrented former NCNC offices in a number of ways, but they remain unrented Russ Newman Repaired drywalls and painted Jensen and Fireside rooms, west wing and east wing hallways Completed the Disaster Preparedness Plan Re-landscaped the area around Pioneer Chapel and removed weeds on the side area Pruned trees in front of the Pioneer Chapel and the magnolia tree in front of the sanctuary Snaked sewer line from staff restroom Replaced water line in front of Oliver Hall and replaced the two rhododendrons that had been removed Installed new line to bypass leaking gas line in Tot Lot area Installed two new thermostats, one on each side of the organ loft Replaced two heater units on the second floor and installed two new condenser units outside for these combined systems and replaced blower motors in basement heater units. Trimmed tree line on west side of campus Installed a new toilet in staff restroom Changed sprinklers to drip system in front of Pioneer Chapel and repaired broken heads and Jim Fryer updated programing for irrigation system Assisted with Memorial services and volunteered as sextons for outside music workshop Installed new gutter in the Courtyard Replaced damaged awning on the west wing that was blown down Updated AT&T service to VoIP for our voice lines and added fax machine to Comcast voice line. Monthly communication costs were reduced by about $350 Repaired door closer in Oliver Hall lobby elevator Routine Projects: Cleaned carpets throughout the Church property and polished the Oliver Hall floor Replaced heater filters Hauled choir robes to the cleaners during the summer Completed inspections of two elevators Recycled old electronics Projects Underway Repairing front roof of Pioneer Chapel and west wing restroom floor Bob Turner Page 3

4 Annual Report Page 4 COMPAÑERAS/OS MINISTRY REPORT Corina Vasaure, Compañeras/os Ministry Coordinator Eden Church established the Compañeras/os Ministry in Our ministry plan is grounded in the congregation s Mission, Vision, and Values. Together with community members and friends, we strive to reduce violence by investing in Eden Area youth; contribute to economic development in Cherryland; advocate for immigration policy reform; create and implement cultural integration opportunities for our congregation and community; and promote community and public health partnerships. Significant accomplishments in the past year include: Held Eden Church s HUSD Board of Trustees Candidates Forum. Constructed an All Saints/Dia de los Muertos altar and a Nacimiento in the church narthex Co-hosted, with ESLO groups, Happy Birthday, Jesus, Noche Buena, and Tres Reyes Fiestas Sponsored the fifth Cherryland Youth Leadership Institute (ChYLI) and fundraised for summer 2017 Organized two immigration themed workshops; Know Your Rights legal clinic and Making a Family (Financial + Custody) Plan for Uncertain Times. Participated in the South County Unaccompanied Minors & Migrant Families Collaborative Celebrated the fifth Anniversary of Comida para Cherryland, which serves 200 families monthly and organized backpack and book giveaways. Continued advocacy with Cherryland parents for the successful implementation of Measure L to build new schools in Hayward, including a new elementary school in Cherryland. The Cherryland Computer Café, which opened in Feb 2015 with funding from the Eden Area Foundation. Edith s family Parenting class Wise Guys Summer Reading Two ChYLIs at Yerba Buena Big Smiles for backpacks

5 Page 5 MUSIC REPORT Dr. Jessie Wenchieh Lo, Music Director The music program in , featuring Dr. Jessie Wenchieh Lo as Music Director, offered a variety of musical styles and included many fine musicians. The highlights were as follows: Throughout the year: Eden Choir performed anthems on a monthly basis with two rehearsals (every 2nd and 3rd Sunday of the month at 11:30 am). Charlie Smith cantored most Sundays. Choir also met at 9 am for rehearsals before service started, and they supported congregational singing during service. The number of choir members fluctuated, with peaks during Christmas time and valleys after Easter time. The highlight of the Christmas service included singing Silent Night in multiple languages, with Marie Rodriguez-Takada leading the Spanish version, and Athena Malloy and Jessie Lo leading the Chinese version. Oct: The GAPA Men s Chorus brought a wonderful array of Asian music selections choral music to Eden for World Communion Sunday on Oct 2. Nov/Dec/Jan: Guitarist Dr. Jesse Acker-Johnson s appearances on Nov 6, on Christmas Eve, and Three Kings Day on Jan 8 brought festive music into the new year. Jesse was a member of the Blue Grass band Roanoke Revival, which brought soulful music to Eden on Mother s Day. Jesse also contributed his talent on electric guitar on Jun 25 for our contemporary service. Jan/May: Pianist Dr. I-Hang Lin s appearances on Jan 15 and May 7 brought the exquisite piano music of Chopin to Eden. Dec/May: The Mount Eden High School Choir performed their winter concert at Eden Church on Dec 8 and gave a preview performance on Dec 4 during our Sunday service. They returned and gave another well-attended concert on May 18 and a preview performance during our May 7 service. Jan/Apr: Jessie Lo brought clarinet music to Eden on two occasions: she performed parts of a Mozart Concerto with Jesse Acker-Johnson on guitar Jan. 8. She also played improvisations during the Maundy Thursday service on Apr 13. Mar: A service with Taize music was offered on Mar 19, featuring Cindy Keune and Jody Harcourt on recorders, Nick Vigil on oboe, Frank Jensen on sackbut, Nicolai Vetrovec on percussion, Jessie Lo on piano, and the Eden choir. The Taize style service was well received with the audience participating in the singing, however, due to the nature of the style (contemplative, repetitive, and without sermon), many recommended that it be held at a different time than Sunday mornings. Apr: Frank Jensen played a beautiful arrangement of Sancta Maria by Mascagni with Jessie Lo on piano Apr 30. May: Roanoke Revival brought soulful and upbeat Blue Grass music to Eden on Mother s Day/Festival of the Christian Home. The group featured Daniel Price on banjo, Sabrina Vasquez as singer, and Jesse Acker-Johnson on rhythm guitar. The performance was very well-received and the group was invited to return for future appearances. Jun: Dawn Coburn sang beautifully for our Pentecost/Confirmation service. Nicolai Vetrovec also played wonderful percussion for hymns on Jun 4. Jun: A contemporary service was held in Oliver Hall on Jun 25, featuring Dawn Coburn as singer, Tara Nobel on drums, and Jesse Acker-Johnson on electric guitar. Jessie Lo Bluegrass Sunday Choir April

6 Page 6 EDUCATIONAL, SPIRITUAL LIFE AND OUTREACH COMMITTEE Suzie Hasselkuss, Co-Chairs The Education, Spiritual Life & Outreach coordinates the many programs and activities that involve one or more of our program areas. This year, ESLO was instrumental in coordinating the Welcome Back/ESLO Recruitment Fair, Advent Decorating Day/Luncheon, Tres Reyes Celebration, Lenten spiritual practices, and annual Easter Egg Hunt. Diaconate Miriam Hutchinson and Carol Roach, Deacons for Worship Sally Kusalo, Deacon for Caring Circle Purchased and prepared the elements and communion table for all Sunday and special communion services. Recruited and trained communion servers, both youth and adults. Purchased, organized, and stored special supplies such as candles for Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, as well as palms for Palm Sunday. Inventoried and removed outdated and unused paraments and arranged for their pick up by another church. Assisted in the celebration of baptisms and the reception of new members. Supported and assisted with special worship services, and decorated the Sanctuary and Pioneer Chapel for special services and liturgical seasons. Coordinated the Caring Circle s outreach to congregation members in need of special care. Supported the work of the Greeting Card and Flower Ministries. Called on individuals and families experiencing major life events. Suzie Hasselkuss welcomes Miriam Hutchinson Fellowship Committee Pat Payne & Jacob Smith, Co-Chairs Fellowship serves food and drinks to welcome members and visitors to offer hospitality to our Church community. It takes many helping hands to provide hospitality. Thanks to our Fellowship Captains for their generous support: Jan Bass, Jacob Smith, Susie Newman and Pat Payne. Our hosts provided healthy snacks during Coffee Hour: Keith Smith, Jan Bass, Linda Joost, Susie Newman, Suzie Hasselkuss, Michael Stuber, Peggy Apperson, Jacob Smith, Pat Payne, Julie Booher, Dianne Dorn, and Marv Beck. During the Fellowship Committee provided a variety of hospitality luncheons and fellowship events: During Sept, Fellowship hosted a Welcome Back Sunday lunch to welcome students, teachers and musicians after summer recess. During Oct, Fellowship coordinated an International Salad Potluck and served ghastly treats for Halloween. During Nov, Fellowship provided a Taco Salad luncheon during Coffee Hour, and served cookies and cocoa for the Castro Valley Light Parade volunteers. Fellowship provided sandwiches, fruit salad and chocolate chip cookies to over 50 volunteers during the Advent Decorating Luncheon. Anne Duey organized a FESCO luncheon to benefit FESCO. After the Candlelight Christmas Eve service, our members provided delicious homemade cookies and we provided cider and cocoa. During Feb, Fellowship organized a soup potluck to provide comfort food for our members. On Stewardship Sunday, Fellowship served pizza for kids of all ages to celebrate our Stewardship Campaign. On Easter Sunday, Fellowship served deviled eggs and yummy treats for Coffee Hour. During Bravo Sunday, Fellowship honored teachers, musicians and graduates with sandwiches, fruit, and cake. Carol Roach Sally Kusalo Pat Payne

7 Page 57 Education and Spiritual Life Team Dianne Dorn & Theressa Collier Dianne Dorn Theressa Collier Spirit-in-Action Life Team 2017 Confirmation Class This year, we have had an active and successful Church School program. Most Sundays we were able to offer two classes, K-6th and 7-12th graders. Teams of two teachers worked with each classroom using one of our two new video-based curricula from Sparkhouse, the Christian Education arm of Augsburg Fortress. The K-6th classes started the year in the Norberg Room but found a new home in one of the offices vacated by the NCNC. The 7-12th graders met in the Fireside Room. In addition to Church School, Confirmation was offered for students in the 8th grade and above. Seven Confirmands enrolled and participated in a full year of special instruction and in all facets of Church life from worship, fellowship, evangelism, stewardship, and service. One highlight for the Confirmation class was a weekend trip to Pacific Grove and Monterey to participate in a Blue Theology Retreat involving a beach cleanup, a visit to the Monterey Aquarium, a whale-watching hike, and talking with two experienced ocean naturalists. Confirmation concluded in late May and a beautiful Confirmation Service was conducted on Sunday, Jun 4. All seven Confirmands participated in worship and six of the seven were confirmed and accepted into membership. Children also benefited from special art activities during Advent and Lent. During Advent, a cardboard nativity play area was constructed in Oliver Hall. The area included animal masks, Christmas books, and a place to sit and read. In addition, a 7- foot tall Mary, Joseph, and Jesus figure was made of panel wood and fabric scraps applied during each Sunday in Advent. During Lent, large format coloring posters illustrating key Gospel of Mark passages were colored by children in both Church School and our Comida para Cherryland program. The posters were framed and hung for Palm Sunday and have graced the walls of Oliver Hall since Easter. Our bright and clean nursery for infants to pre-k children was staffed each Sunday by Angelina Collier and Kemy Gekara for almost all of the year. In early Jun, Angelina began a new position, Kemy was promoted to lead childcare worker, and Yosselin Penado became our youth childcare worker. In addition to our activities for children and youth, three small adult education groups met regularly. Our Evening Bible Study met biweekly on Monday nights in the Community Room for fellowship, prayer, and to read the Acts of the Apostles in the Fall and the Revised Common Lectionary lections in the Spring. For the first time in several years, a Daytime Bible Study was initiated and met biweekly on Monday mornings for fellowship and to read the same Bible passages as the evening group. On Sunday, Feb 26, our 2017 Confirmands planned and conducted a Pancake Brunch fundraiser to raise awareness of homelessness in our community. The Confirmands planned the menu, went grocery shopping, prepared pancake and all the fixings. They also prepared a presentation to inform everyone about the root causes of homelessness and to ask for donations to help homeless families in our community. They raised $1,021. They later decided to donate all the funds to FESCO, which offers transitional housing and services to people in our community. For more information about FESCO, see the FESCO report. For more information on 2017 Spirit in Action activities, see the Compañeras report. Pancake Fundraiser

8 E-vangelismTeam Athena Guy Malloy & Keith Smith, Co-Chairs The E-Team has been busy in the past year reaching out to the community in several different venues and events, as well as continuing to take steps to sharpen our mission strategy of inviting people to Eden. We began and ended our fiscal year by making our presence known at several Eden Area events: staffing a booth at Castro Valley Pride in Jul and greeting Gay Prom attendees in Hayward in Jun. In between those events, we had a presence in the Ashland-Cherryland Family Fest Oct 15, the Castro Valley Light Parade Nov 6, the Cherryland Easter Egg Hunt in Cherryland Apr 7, the Rowell Ranch Rodeo Parade May 13, as well as in many interfaith community events. At each of those events, we share our Church s proud 22- year history of being Open and Affirming/gay friendly, and provide postcards listing upcoming Eden events for all to attend. We ve realized that not only must we show up at these events with free giveaways, to get the word out about Eden we must also have follow-up events that will grab visitors attention and give them a reason to come by and come back. From our Christmas services to the Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men s Choir, the Mt. Eden High School Choir and Blue Grass Sunday, there were events to bring people into the church. For the newcomers who visit Eden during Sunday services, E-team members reach out to them the day of and also in later weeks by whatever contact information they leave with us when they visit. We have many people coming to Church to visit, and we continue to focus our follow-up strategy in order to bring those visitors back on a regular basis. We continue to reach out to Church members whom we haven t seen recently, and let them know that we re thinking about them. In that vein, we started to take attendance of who comes to service in the last few months to establish a baseline of how often our regular members attend, in addition to our continued appeal for newcomers to provide us their contact information. We continue to be creative about representing the church and all that it stands for. Our goal is for everyone at Church to realize that we re ALL the E-team, and that we must all do our part to attract and retain members. Athena Malloy Keith Smith Page 58 Stewardship Committee Dianne Dorn, Chair It was my privilege to act as Stewardship Chair this year with the guidance of Pastor Pepper and serving with Marylinn Wheatly-Powers and Michael Stuber, our Associate Treasurer. Eden s 2016 Strategic Plan calls on the congregation and friends to envision a life for our church beyond today s reality and to reach to the next generation of young church leaders. This was a sobering thought for me personally. My generation are the ones who will enable Eden Church to continue through my pledge and consideration for a Designated Term Associate Minister for Youth, Young Adults, and Young Families at the cost of $96,000 per year. It was the decision of the Stewardship Committee to be direct and real with the congregation about the need for this Dianne Dorn position and to envision a bright future for Eden Church. We had three powerful Witnessing Stewards speak during worship about the importance of congregational support for a new minister as part of our Stewardship campaign in May: Julie Booher, Jacob Smith, and Marylinn Wheatley-Powers. We also celebrated Stewardship month with donuts and coffee mug sales at coffee hour on May 7, 14, and 21. It was a delicious reminder of our future at Eden Church. As part of our Stewardship campaign, 13 Church leaders (members of Council and Trustees) were also asked to share their vision for the future with other like-minded members of the congregation and to ask them to give generously when it came time to prepare their annual pledge. In addition to our annual pledge campaign, Stewardship also organized two special offerings to benefit our wider church programs of Neighbors in Need, which raised $1,077, and One Great Hour of Sharing, which raised $910.

9 Family Emergency Shelter Coalition Pam Reuling, Representative The Family Emergency Shelter Coalition (FESCO) celebrated its 31st year of service in Eden Church has been a long-time supporter, and is one of 22 organizations, which are mainly churches, currently comprising the Coalition. We continued the hosting of a Thanksgiving luncheon, began last year, in place of the traditional Christmas luncheon. Our members and their guests all agreed this theme was much more aligned with FESCO s goals and purpose of Giving Thanks. The Confirmation Class chose FESCO as the designee for their Fat Tuesday Pancake Brunch (see p. 7). This year s Shelter Shuffle was much more organized and orderly with ample food and supplies but, alas, was not as well attended as last year. Initially, FESCO only made $45,000 just two-thirds of last year s total of $65,000 but as the money continued to trickle in, by Jun, the total was $55,000. As Eden exceeded its goal last year, we raised it to $4,000 this year and we exceeded that by $450 this year for a total of $4,450. This past year the Eden Area Foundation provided FESCO with a $30,000 grant in support of Banyan House, FESCO s 8-family transitional housing facility, located in Cherryland. Pam Reuling Page 9 MEMORIAL COMMITTEE Michael Stuber, Associate Treasurer The Memorial Funds are managed by the Church Council, recorded by the church bookkeeper, and acknowledged by the Associate Treasurer. During the past year financial contributions were received in memory of Barbara Lateer, Nate Blake, and Rebecca Wiebe. Aggregate funds in the amount of $6,545 were distributed from the Lois Rustica, Sue Fry, Barbara Lateer, Mary Cumming, Dan Apperson, and Ted Wallis Memorial Funds. A total of $1,033 was distributed from the Lateer Campership Fund. Persons wishing to make a gift to the church in memory of a loved one are invited to write Memorial Fund in the memo section of the check or in a note enclosed with the gift. Donors are welcome to contact the Associate Treasurer or Senior Minister to discuss giving opportunities. PLANNED GIVING COMMITTEE REPORT The Rev. Rob Parrish, Chair Michael Stuber The Planned Giving Committee was chartered by Eden Church and the Eden Area Foundation in 2011 for the purpose of developing and maintaining a program of stewardship that invites and coordinates financial contributions from members and friends for the long-term financial health and future ministry of the Church and the Foundation. During this past fiscal year, we held a Planned Giving seminar on Aug 21, led by the Executive Director from Chapel of the Chimes in Hayward. The seminar addressed the topic of burial prearrangements. Plans are in process for another seminar this fall. These seminars are offered free of charge to members and friends. The events are offered for educational and theological reasons, and are not sales events. No one will be asked to purchase any products or services from our guest or her firm. The Oliver bequest, an example of planned giving through estate planning, continues to provide significant financial support to our church and other local non-profit organizations. The last remaining Oliver property, held in the Oliver LLC with the Church and the Hayward Historical Society as co-beneficiaries, is the site of the original salt plant and ponds at Eden Landing. In , the Oliver LCC entered into a purchase and sale agreement with a buyer for the property; however, early this year the buyer backed out. The Trustee s broker has since found another buyer and entered into a new purchase and sale agreement. It is hoped that the sale will close by Dec 30, For more information about Eden s planned giving policy and program, or how to make a planned gift to the Church, the Foundation, or both, please speak with any of the current members of the committee or our Senior Minister. The current Planned Giving Committee members include: Michael Stuber, Stephanie Cartwright, Herb Graw, Bob Turner, the Rev. Dr. Arlene Nehring, and the Rev. Rob Parrish.

10 Annual Report Page 10 MEMBERSHIP REPORT Miriam Hutchinson & Carol Roach, Deacons Baptism Rosa Marie Ángel González, Apr 9, 2017 Emiliano Santos González, Apr 9, 2017 New Members Confirmation of Faith Narayah Aloo, Jun 4, 2017 Quinn Malloy, Jun 4, 2017 Marie Rodríguez-Takada, Jun 4, 2017 Lauren Smith-Bove, Jun 4, 2017 Nicolai Vetrovec, Jun 4, 2017 Isabel Walth, Jun 4, 2017 Reaffirmation of Faith Linda Joost, Dec 18, 2016 Julie Booher, Oct 23, 2016 Rene Coleman, Apr 9, 2017 TJ Wilkinson, Apr 9, 2017 Amy Rios-Richardson, Jun 25, 2017 Rachel Rios-Richardson, 25, 2017 Bernie Concepcion, Jun 25, 2017 Kim Shuss, Jun 25, 2017 Carlos Londoño, Jun 25, 2017 New Jubilee Members Baptism of Rosa Gonzalez Baptism of Emiliano Gonzalez Linda and Jerry Joost Confirmands and their Families Julie Booher Nate Blake TJ Wilkinson and Rene Coleman Rebecca Wiebe Lillian and Fred Timm, Jun 25, 2017 Necrology C. Nathan Blake, Feb 14, 2017 Rebecca Wiebe, May 28, 2017 Resignations & Transfers of Membership Scott Carey, Apr 5, 2017 Carol Price, Apr 5, 2017 Transferred to Associate Membership The Rev. Drew Nettinga, Jun 25, 2017 Jacqueline Blake, Jun 25, 2017 Jessica Payne Béjar, Jun 25, 2017 Mateo Alejandro Cuellar Espinel, Jun 25, 2017 Transferred to Inactive Membership Claudia López, Jun 25, 2017 Cristine López, Jun 25, 2017 Holly Bowers Guier, Jun 25, 2017 Max Leung, Jun 25, 2017 Paul Prosseda, Jun 25, 2017 Shannon Page, Jun 25, 2017