DIOCESAN COFFEE HOUR KICKS OFF

"​This is a great way to meet your peers and possibly find ways of sharing resources and ideas." - Rae Costa

[December 9, 2020, Chronicle]  ​On Wednesday, December 2, 2020, the Diocesan Support team of the Rev. Cn. Sandy Graham, Business Manager Rae Costa, and Executive Assistant Denise Esposito, held the first "Coffee Hour with the Diocesan Support Center" via Zoom.  The Coffee Hours were established to help congregations with the administrative side of church life.  ​

​"After the Annual Meeting trainings went so well, our office thought it would be nice to have more of these types of trainings and have it be informal, no pressure, and a good way for everyone to get to know each other!" said Rae Costa.

Church administrators and wardens are invited to attend these continuing sessions that will address various topics, including reports to be filed, insurance, forms, policies, etc.  These meetings are scheduled for every other Wednesday at 9:00 AM through the end of January, with the next one scheduled for December 16.

​"Our first coffee hour went well.  It was a small group, but an interactive group, and all were happy to see and meet each other," shared Rae. "The first meeting's focus was the 2021 Compensation Review Committee Report that is due into our office by January 15, 2021."    

The next few meetings will be about the other end-of-year/beginning-of-year reports such as, Form HC-5 for 2021, Parochial reports for 2021, Church Officials List and Certificate of Election, church’s Annual Meetings, election of Convention delegates, etc.  The Support Team will also answer questions of all sorts at any time, and is not limited to the topics at hand. 

Rae adds, "We realize that Wednesdays at 9:00 AM may not be convenient for some folks, so we invite wardens and church administrators that can't make it at that time to let us know what would be a good time and we will re-evaluate for February onward."

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Participants share...

I very much enjoyed the coffee hour and found it very informative. Rae came prepared with a whole webinar presentation about how to complete the compensation report with time for Q&A. Canon Sandy assisted with watching the chatroom so folks (like myself) who had no mic/video setup could still participate and get our questions answered. For those of us who are new at this whole church administration business, it was great to learn what was expected of us and our church as a part of the whole Diocese. - Cami Baldovino, All Saints' Episcopal Church, Kapa'a

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I like the idea and find it helpful when church administrators, wardens, and DSC can meet on a regular basis to discuss work related issues and share experiences. -  Charlene Date, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Moili'ili

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Coffee hour is an opportunity to build a network of parish administrators who more often than not, work within a silo.  What was especially helpful was becoming familiar with the resources available through the Diocesan Support Center.  Personally, I appreciated the review of essential forms and the Q&A that stemmed from that discussion. - Amy Kaawaloa, Holy Apostles, Hilo 

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What a wonderful blessing the Coffee Hour has been!  It is providing a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of the Diocese, who to contact and what questions to ask.  It has also been great to meet new faces throughout the Diocese, I am looking forward to the next one! - Jaisy Jardine, St. James' Episcopal Church, Waimea

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