May 2007 Minutes

	Interfaith of Topeka Board Meeting		Date Time Location	May 22, 2007 Topeka/Shawnee Public Library, Marvin auditorium 101C 6:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Committee About 6:45 p.m. Faith sharing About 7:45 p.m. Business Meeting
			Recorder	Jackie Lakin
Interfaith of Topeka Mission		Interfaith of Topeka is comprised of people from a variety of faiths and religious traditions. We bring together individuals who are willing to put aside their prejudices and open their minds and hearts to new possibilities. We are willing to engage in the process of working together to build an active community, strong in its shared values of faith, compassion, human dignity, and mutual respect where the expression of love and peace replaces hate and violence.

Members (present at meeting X; absent at meeting left blank)

		Don Anderson	X	David Beale			Joel Edwards
X		Bill Gitchell		Daljit Jawa		X	Christian Kramer
X		Jackie Lakin		Norbert Lickteig			C.R. Macchi
		Jim Mosher	X	Deepak Parulkar			Jan Price
		Sanford Pomeranz	X	Jerry Quiring		X	Jack Rardin
		Karen Sessel		Ashraf Sufi		X	Phil Wilkes
X		Sallye Winkinson		Joe Hendrixson–Class of 2007		X	Barbara Karnowski
		Vacant Class of 2007		Vacant Class of 2009
Agenda Items					Objectives Key Points Discussed Action or Follow-up
1	Opening Prayer				Action: Barbara Karnowski held opening prayer in preparation for faith sharing.
2	Addition of new business– Bill Gitchell				None
3	Faith Sharing: Barbara Karnowski Family Federation for World Peace and Unification				Key Points Discussed: Family Federation for World Peace and Unification was founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Videotape segment—70 year overview of Rev. Moon’s background in Korea and Presbyterianism. Later in developed concept of World Religion. DVD segment—violence needs to be ended. What will it take? Ambassadors for Peace is a program bringing people together to peacefully resolve problems. Ambassadors come from all walks of life and work throughout the world. They represent common ground on self-evident truths from U.S. Constitution. Principles were presented and service programs were shared. Some IF board members serve as ambassadors. Christian shared his experience. Handout read in part to IF board by Barbara which follows her tradition of reading out loud: Sun Myung Moon—God’s Grief http://www.unification.net/nhtt/nhtt_12.html Barbara described her journey to joining the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. She shared that as a new movement, it came under intense scrutiny leading to misconceptions about being a cult. Readings and prayers in first language is acceptable although Korean is encouraged as a way to read and understand primary documents written in this language. All sacred texts from religions are honored and shared in World Anthology: A Comparative Anthology of Scared Texts.
4	Approve April 24, 2007 Interfaith of Topeka Board Meeting Minutes				Action: Moved and seconded to approve minutes.
5	Treasure’s Report—Phil Wilkes				Action: Received for audit. Balance in Commerce Bank & Trust Company Checking–$1,105.55 SBC Cash Fund–$1,694.75 PAX World Growth fund–$4,214.10 Total financial assets $7.014.40
6	Update on IF board issues— Bill Gitchell				Action: Bill introduced new IF member Joe Hendrixson, Christian faith tradition.
7	Bulletin Board—Don Jacobs				Follow-up: Met last week with Nexlynx who is the IF internet service provider. They are working up a quote for the bulletin board. Don expects to have this information available at the June 26th board meeting.
8	Spirituality Events–All				Key Points Discussed: Possibilities for faith sharing and/or spirituality conference. Needed space for larger groups—will library space suffice? How best to advertise spirituality event? Newspaper, public assess channel, bulletin board, blog? Actual program on public assess (Channel 4 or KTWU). Need a hook to turn on the channel. Coordinate events with other faith traditions
9	Thanksgiving Programming— Jack Rardin				Key Points Discussed: Scott Simpson resigned at Westminster Presbyterian so that church will not be available. Possibly pursue an Evangelical Church Sallye will check on First Congregational Church. Cornerstone Community Church—Christian will ask. Central Congregation—Sherry Triggs is contact—Jackie will call her. And she will check on Calvary Baptist also. “Thankful for Nature’s Bounty” is the theme Possible speakers: Joe Hendrixson; Native American, short presentations from faith traditions represented by the IF board; Cambodian Need to think about organization to support with donations. November 18 is the date for the event. Next meeting: 6 P.M. June 26, 2007 Jackie will bring copies of last year’s program to review for 2007 program ideas.
10	Dialogue: Educational experience about not to fear what caused the founders of Interfaith to draw away from the group—earth based faith traditions raised concerns.–All				Not addressed due to lack of time.
11	Dialogue: Meaning of Spirituality–All				Not addressed due to lack of time.
12	New Business				None
13	Next Meeting Date: June 26 at the Topeka/Shawnee Public Library Faith Sharing Schedule: June: Dr. Sufi, Islam July: Jerry Quiring, Progressive Christianity August: TBA September: Christian Kramer, Healing Mother Earth				Action–Agenda Items for Next Meeting: Review website—Jackie will bring copies or try to hook-up with Wi-fi. Program on public assess (Channel 4 or KTWU). What types of programming? How to design programming to attract viewers? How can other churches and organizations be involved to promote ownership? Key Point Discussed: Faith Sharing as a personal journey versus a more polished presentation. Both aspects have positive points. Some faith traditions do not have a written text or dogma. Presenters are encouraged to share their experiences on what led to their belonging to their faith tradition.
14	Announcements				Follow-up: Phil Wilkes is looking for presenters to cover various aspects of family history research and databases, especially relating to minority ethnic and cultural groups for Family History Research Conference to be held September 22, 2007, Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Topeka, Kansas. Contact: Phil Wilkes at 224-5211 (cell phone)

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