February 24, 2006

connecting the Community of Christ Mission Support Ministries community

Redesign News

The Mission Support Ministries Redesign Team met during the week of February 13–16. The charter for the redesign team named the following tasks to be accomplished:

These objectives have been met and the design team recommendations are being reviewed by the World Ministries Coordination Team (WMCT). The WMCT will present recommendations for discussion and review to the World Church Leadership Council (WCLC) on March 15.

Following the WCLC meetings, two key elements of the redesign process will be presented. First, the newly created basic organizational design for Mission Support Ministries will be presented to all staff. Second, key leadership positions for the new structure will be identified. These positions will be posted by March 31 and filled through the usual Human Resource Ministries hiring process. Those people hired into the new positions, along with the WMCT, will form a new team: Mission Support Ministries Implementation Team.

The Mission Support Ministries Implementation Team will be charged with further refinement of organizational details, including finalizing staffing numbers and aligning positions with the new structure. They will also be tasked with drafting job descriptions for new positions.

President David Schaal, the leader of the Redesign Team, shares the following thoughts on this process: “In the midst of the difficult realities that face us, the design team is grateful for two things in particular. We are grateful for the prayerful support of co-workers which was deeply felt and appreciated. We also are grateful for the hope that we have as God continues to bless and lead the church. We are not naive to the difficulties and grief that face us in the months ahead, but neither are we blind to the wonderful opportunities that the church has to bless this world as we pursue our mission. It is through this sense of mission that the design team has done its work.”

The work of the Mission Support Ministries Redesign Team is now complete. We thank the Redesign Team for their deliberations and conscientious work. Team members included: Dave Brown, Stassi Cramm, Ron Harmon, Mike Hoffman, Steve Jones, Jenn Killpack, Kathy Marek, Scott Murphy, Jerry Nieft, John Pinkerton, and David Schaal (team leader). The design team extends deep appreciation to so many co-workers, members, and friends who carried them tenderly in their hearts and prayers during the team process.

Remember…

Lent begins Wednesday, March 1. Easter is Sunday, April 16.

New Resources Available

We Journey with Christ: Lenten and Easter Meditations is a wonderful new guide for your Lenten journey. This book by well-known author Velma Ruch, retired Graceland professor of English, will enhance your personal Lenten journey. Filled with scripture readings, short essays, poems, and prayers, these meditations focus on the Lenten season and distill Ruch’s personal commitment to the study of spirituality. Available through Herald House.

ISBN 0830912274 $14.95

Much to Be Done - See the adventures of inspirational Graceland University students who spent their Winter Term rebuilding a hurricane ravaged home for a church family in Long Beach, Mississippi. This new video clip will be available next Wednesday, March 1, at www.CofChrist.org; click on the video feature button.

Copyright Tasks in Transition

Because of a resignation, Worship Ministries does not have enough staff to answer the large volume of copyright inquiries dealing with music and associated texts. To alleviate some of this burden, whenever possible, sing directly from the hymn books rather than making copies or projecting the texts. If the church owns the copyright (text and/or tune), you have permission to make copies without calling headquarters.

Copyright information can be found on the Legal department’s Web page: www.CofChrist.org/legal/copyright.asp. This page includes a link to CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc.) as a resource for questions and information on securing an event, mission center, or congregation license.

On a trial basis, the World Church Legal staff is willing to handle inquiries from headquarters and field World Church ministers when there are concerns about legal compliance either for printing or projecting a song for worship or including copyrighted songs in newsletters, booklets, etc. produced for a workshop, mission center conference, and so on. These inquiries should be sent to Jennifer Dunsdon with a cc: to Karen Minton (kminton@CofChrist.org ).

Requests from individuals and congregations for Worship Ministries help in getting permission to print, project, or record hymns (lyrics and/or tunes) that are not owned by the church will be directed to the Legal department’s Web page. Any requesters wanting to go beyond this level of support will be told that we do not have the staff to handle their requests.

As is the case with all current headquarters’ tasks and functions, the support of copyright tasks will be addressed in the Mission Support Ministries re-design, so these changes are in effect until the new organization structure is in place.

Herald House Scope of Operations and Support

Earlier in February there was information shared by e-mail regarding Herald House’s scope of operation and support. This is a reminder of that updated information.

During the last few months, the Herald House Board of Trustees has been working through changes in organization and Herald House support.

Resource and Product Support
It has been concluded that as Herald House continues to integrate into World Mission Support Ministries that the focus of Herald House operations is narrowed to the primary products produced or recommended by the World Church.

Herald House will stop accepting special requests for products not published by Herald House. Special orders that have already been communicated to Herald House prior to this change will be completed.

Herald House Canada
Herald House U.S. and Herald House Canada are entering a six-month transitional period as of January 17, 2006, after which Herald House Canada will no longer do business as Herald House Canada. Canada will be serviced directly from the United States.

Reunion and Event Support
Reunion and other event stores will focus on providing the primary resources of the church and may include a mix of additional items with the approval of the Herald House coordinator and the director of Mission Support Ministries.

Book Shop
The Temple Book Shop and historic sites gift shops service church members and the general public. Therefore, these stores may carry a broader selection of appropriate marketable items suitable to their settings that produce net income.

Herald House maintains its long-standing history of resources that support the church’s message, mission, and identity. For questions, contact Steve McCrosson, Herald House coordinator, or ext. 3074.

Thought You’d Like to Know

David Pickering, assistant professor of organ and music theory at Graceland University, will perform in recital on Sunday, February 26, at 3 p.m. in the Temple. The recital is free.

David earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in organ performance and musicology from the University of Kansas and a bachelor’s in organ performance from Brigham Young University. Dr. Pickering’s recital will include the Kansas City premiere of American composer Daniel Gawthrop’s O Jerusalem: A Symphony for Organ, commissioned in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Graceland’s Casavant organ in 2005.

Helpful Hints and Tips to Make Your Life Easier

How to Burn Data CDs

Burning a CD in Windows XP is as easy as it once was copying files to a floppy. Using Windows XP, you can copy files and folders either to a compact disk-recorder (CD-R) or to a compact disk-re-writable (CD-RW).

1. Click on “My Computer.”

2. Insert a writable CD into your CD drive. Note: You may get a window prompting you to select a series of methods to copy data to your CD. For the purposes of this article, click “Cancel.”

3. Click on the “Folders” button to view the folders (or try View | Explorer Bar | Folders).

4. Using the Files Pane (i.e., the right side) of Windows Explorer, locate files that you want to copy to a CD.

5. In the Folders Pane (i.e., the left side), click on the “+” sign next to “My Computer.”

6. Drag files or folders from the right pane to your CD drive. Note that when you do so, you are not physically writing the files to the CD-ROM; you are merely telling the computer what you want on the CD-ROM.

7. Continue dragging files or folders until you are finished with the task. A CD can only hold 650–850MB. If you exceed that amount, Windows will notify you.

8. When you are finished, you can check which files are to be written by clicking on the CD ROM icon in the Folders Pane. At this point you can still change your mind about any of the contents in the folder. Simply select and delete any files or directories you don’t want copied. Note that the original files are not deleted.

9. When you are ready to write the files to the CD, right-click on the CD icon in the Folders Pane and select “Write these files to CD.”

10. The CD Writing Wizard opens and prompts you for a label for the CD. The default is the current date. You can change this to anything up to 16 characters.

11. Click “Next” and the wizard displays a progress bar indicating the status. The writing process can take anywhere from 2–30 minutes. When the process is complete, the CD-ROM will automatically eject. If you did not select the “Close the wizard after the files have been written” check box on the first screen of the CD Writing Wizard, then a final dialog box opens, asking if you’d like to make an additional copy of the same files.

12. You may want to take the CD-ROM to another computer and make sure it works!

Let’s say you forgot a file. Or better yet, let’s say you put a mere 200 MB on the CD, and it’s really bugging you that there’s 500 MB going unused. Simply drag and drop more files into the folder, and they will be added to the waiting list for the next recording session. Windows XP fully supports creating multi-session CDs. Just be aware of the fact that adding a file or folder of the same name replaces the prior version of that file.

You can learn more about this and other Windows XP secrets at the link below:

www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/default.mspx

If you have any questions about these steps or need assistance, please contact the Help Desk at extension 1234.

Community News

If you haven’t had the chance to see the miniature White House at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library, you won’t want to miss it. This breathtaking scale model is 60 feet long and 20 feet wide. The replica took more than 35 years to research, design, and construct. Among the features are tiny working televisions, hand-carved chairs and tables, crystal chandeliers, portraits, and miniature carpets that reproduce the originals stitch by stitch. Open 9–5, Monday–Saturday; 12–5, Sunday. The Truman Museum is located at 500 W. 24 Highway. Call (816) 268-8200 for details.

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