INCORPORATION COMPLETED

The Teaching & Sharing Center is now established as a Michigan non-profit corporation. We are in the process of completing the paperwork seeking a 501(c)(3) IRS designation (which will make your contributions tax deductible). When the IRS issues its ruling, deductibility becomes retroactive to the date of incorporation which was January 1, 2005.

I encourage each of you to become a member of the new corporation even though it involves annual membership dues.

$ 15 Individual
$ 25 Family
$ 40 Church
$ 40 Non-Profit
$ 50 Business
$ 10 Elder (55+)
$ 5 Low Income

I particularly anticipate seeing those of you as members who said not to close the Center, but to do everything possible to keep it going. Incorporation is not a magic bullet. This is a critical moment which will live or die on the response from those who think the Center has been a valuable community asset these past 10 years, and should continue to be so. Encouraging others to become supporting (and voting) members is something which will build a base to secure the future as well.

The Board of Trustees currently consists of:

Mike George
Sarah Gibbons
Rick McKenzie
Joan Nolff
Paul Pretzlaff
Ann Sanders
Kim Winchell

Trustees hold the legal responsibility of decision making for the corporation. While, according to its by-laws, the T&SC can function with the current seven, there are open positions for up to six more trustees on the board. So, if you feel the Holy Spirit calling you to serve there is plenty of room. You would need to be able to attend board meetings (probably quarterly). It would be best if you have email for between meetings communications. But, if not, and you live close enough to regularly check your mailbox at the Center, a copy of emails could be printed for you.

Many basic decisions will need to be made in the next few months by this initial board. I anticipate a likely three tier relational possibility with the Center. The first will remain "the poet’s circle" which will not be considered membership. It will simply be the corporate mailing list, and a basic requirement for library privileges. As the historical connection, being listed in the poet’s circle will remain free, but will carry no official status within the corporation. The next will be the basic paid membership. Members elect the board of trustees and vote on other matters pertinent to the Center at an annual meeting. Members will receive the traditional 10% discount at the Trade Center. Ultimately, I suspect there will be a special designation for those doing more than the basic membership. It would likely carry with it some extra benefits, and could very well be a requirement for the Keyholder program.

Would you like to be a part of this decision making process? Let me know if you would like your name submitted to the board as a trustee candidate. Or, do you have another role you see yourself in here? Ask yourself:

Who did God create you to be?

Can that find expression in conjunction with or through the Teaching & Sharing Center?

T&SC PURPOSE STATEMENT

The purpose stated on the incorporation papers serves as the mission statement for the T&SC during these early stages. It reads as follows:

a touch of william

It is important to repeat that a touch of william is still an individual ministry of mine whose mission statement remains the same:

Get further in touch with their own spiritual reality.

While I was clearing out some newsletters and magazines from the lending library, I ran across this information about the benefits from trees in the National Arbor Day Foundation’s July/August 2004 magazine "Arbor Day."

Windbreaks have a twofold effect on the land. By breaking the force of wind, they help keep precious topsoil in place. They also reduce the drying effect of wind and sun, helping to retain soil moisture that provides row crops or forage for grazing animals. Around the home, windbreaks can reduce energy costs in winter and keep snowdrifts off roads and driveways.

Air pollution can be fought with trees by reducing dust particles in the air, absorbing carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and other harmful chemicals, and by providing fresh oxygen. The U. S. Department of Agriculture reports that one acre of forest land can absorb six tons of carbon dioxide and put out four tons of oxygen each year. In the city, if America's 60 to 200 million empty planting spaces along its streets were planted, trees could absorb another 33 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Cooling is the beneficial effect for which trees are best known, and rightfully so. Again, if streets were planted to full capacity, the USDA reports that $4 billion in energy costs could be saved. Studies have shown that well-placed trees can reduce home cooling costs 8 to 50 percent. In the country, reduced temperatures and higher humidity provided by trees help prevent the drying of crops or woodland fuels that contribute to wildfires.

Phytoremediation is a big word for the service trees provide by absorbing dangerous chemicals from the soil. Trees either safely store the chemicals or metabolize them into less volatile compounds. Conservation trees can buffer streams from excess farm chemicals, reduce the effects of animal waste products, clean up roadside chemical spills, and filter wastewater.

I have also read articles quoting studies which indicate the presence of trees (green spaces in general) in cities has a significant crime reducing effect. Nature’s greenery lowers stress in even urban areas. We are sometimes quick to shrug "what are a few trees here and there." When, actually, they can have quite a big impact in many ways.

This was sent to me with the title "No excuses!"

The next time you feel like God can't use you, just remember . . .

NOAH was a drunk.
ABRAHAM was too old.
ISAAC was a daydreamer.
JACOB was a liar.
LEAH was ugly.
JOSEPH was abused.
MOSES had a stuttering problem.
GIDEON was afraid.
SAMSON had long hair, and was a womanizer!
RAHAB was a prostitute!
JEREMIAH and TIMOTHY were too young.
DAVID had an affair and was a murderer.
ELIJAH was suicidal.
ISAIAH preached naked.
JONAH ran from God.
NAOMI was a widow.
JOB went bankrupt.
JOHN the Baptist ate bugs.
PETER denied Christ.

The Disciples fell asleep while praying.

MARTHA worried about everything.
MARY MAGDALENE was, well, you know . . .
The SAMARITAN WOMAN was divorced . . .
more than once!
ZACCHEUS was too small.
PAUL was too religious.
TIMOTHY had an ulcer . . .

- and -

LAZARUS WAS DEAD!

. . . no more excuses now.  God is waiting to use your full potential.

This prayer was shared with me a few years ago by its writer who now sits on our board of trustees. She has given her permission to share it with you. Written from a modern "Christian environmentalist" perspective, it has, for me, a very traditional Native American feel to it as well . . . 

Most Holy and gracious Creator,

To you be all blessing and honor and praise for all that has been made! You have formed me and placed me within a world filled with beauty, endless variety, and intricate interrelationships. In my life's journey, you have made my path to cross with those who have helped me to see and understand more fully the complex wonders of this Earth and those things that tear at its life-giving fabric. 

You have opened my eyes and my heart to your presence in the wind and the waves and the life forms around me. You have entrusted and blessed me with children and blessed them with a capacity to behold the natural world with curiosity and love. You have lured me into an ever deeper intimacy with the landscape and creatures around me. I thank you for the sacramental moments at dawn and sundown, for fireflies and ladybugs, for mountains and lakes, for hoarfrost on pine needles, for the turn of the seasons and the gifts of each one. 

You have led me to kindred spirits and given me hope that together we might bring a new awareness to our fellow humans of how to rightly honor you and restore our souls, in remembering our place and being worthy of it. Thereby will we consciously, intentionally, rejoin once again the single, sacred community of life, as ordained by you in your infinite creativity, wisdom, and love.

To that end I pledge my life.

Amen. 

I see this as a prayer worthy of each of our pledges. It embodies the spirit of the Teaching & Sharing Center and a touch of william. As we proceed into the future under a corporate umbrella, let us always remember it is still about individuals connecting as unique human beings within and to the circle of life. 

Normally this page has a box with an updated financial situation report in it. I’ve opted not to bother. I can tell you in a nutshell there’s no money right now. The usual winter utilities, plus filing fees for the corporation, and an increase in insurance have drained all the resources. Everything got paid in January. But, as I write, there are $350 worth of utility bills due (gas, electric, telephone) with a single $100 contribution sitting on my desk. We still need to purchase a corporate liability policy ($325), and the filing fee (the reduced one) for the IRS 501c3 paperwork is $150. Usually in this circumstance I’d use some of our personal tithe money to at least cover the utilities, but as many of you know, Donna has been unemployed since October, so those resources are pretty committed already as well. I, of course, have no outside (or inside) income to speak of — I think you should be getting the picture.

I’ve kept things pretty trim these past several months, forgoing basic supply purchases like printer cartridges, expecting that things were going to get even tighter during this transition period. I’m not complaining, I’m just telling it like it is. When I started 10 years ago, I figured I’d give it a year. Then, at the end of the year, I though OK maybe I can go for five years (the end of my State Farm buyout income). So, ten years is pretty miraculous.

Our eleventh year, like every year, is up to God. However, I suspect it will have a great deal to do with your response as well. Becoming a paid member of the corporation is the basic response. Direct contributions beyond the membership is another. Becoming someone who searches (the Internet primarily) for possible grants for the Center is also a way. Becoming involved, introducing others to the T&SC, and encouraging them to become members will broaden our base. Everybody knows the process. There is nothing magical about it. It’s just a choice. The Little Red Hen story has been around for a long time. I listened when people said do not close the Center, it’s a really positive presence. I’ve surrendered my time and resources for 10 years, and will continue with whatever God gives me to work with. How about you?

TH-TH-TH-THAT’S ALL FOLKS

A little of this, a little of that, plus a healthy dose of reality — while it’s not all the news that’s fit to print, I think it’s plenty for right now. I’m going to put this, my wsharing newsletter, and the T&SC brochure/application all into one mailing to consolidate the costs a little.

As always -- God’s peace,

Note to Mini7News online readers.  The brochure/application mentioned is not online.  For an online version of the membership application please click here.