Alpha - "An in-depth overview of the Christian faith"
MINUTES and ACTIONS ARISING
Attenders: Apologies Eric Angel Conference Chair John Wright Nick Lee Chair of Organizing Committee Dave Atkins Chris Allen Administration Team Head Jill Allan Jenny Moore Registration Team Head Peg O'Connor Stewarding Team Head Harry Baker Hospitality Team Head Chris Slojewski "Lift Jesus Higher" Peter Runia Calvin Christian Reformed Tony Copple Alpha Advisor, and recording secretary (591-3903, tonyc@ncf.ca).Distribution of Minutes: All Ottawa area Alpha leaders, plus:
Eric stated that, as previously indicated, tonight's meeting would concentrate on just two issues: the dinner venue, and the selection of seminars. Since both subjects have been discussed previously, they were covered as "matters arising." No committee reports were taken.
The dinner
Nick Lee and Harry Baker reported on the status of where the Friday night dinner would be held.
The Crowne Plaza hotel cannot serve us for under $28 a head, and we are budgeting $20 (and $5 for break snacks). All other hotels are even more expensive.
Alpha Canada has reminded us that this is not a banquet! We have found a caterer - A.J's of Metcalfe - within our budget.
This leaves us with the choice of finding a nearby hall, or making better use (than previously considered) of the spaces within Dominion-Chalmers.
The number of registrations is a key factor in making that choice. There was a feeling that our numbers may in fact be somewhat less than the 400 - 500 that
have previously been suggested based on the experience of other current conferences.
Although the maximum numbers per fire regulations in the two largest Dominion-Chalmers rooms are 143 and 100, we could use other rooms as well, and we could serve the meal buffet style prior to folk making their way to a variety of approved eating areas (not the sanctuary!) To facilitate such a plan, the caterer needs to be able to set up, and therefore the order of the day would need to be adjusted, ie: move the seminars to the 1:30 pm time slot, and the "Practicalities of Alpha" talk to the 3:15 pm time slot. The caterer would be able to set up the rooms from 3:15 pm. There are several advantages of this plan, including that nobody has to leave the church, and cost savings. We have received approval from Alpha Canada for the schedule changes.
The afternoon would therefore be as follows
The final choice of dinner venue arrangement will follow further research by Nick and Harry.
Seminars
All attenders will be invited to select one seminar when they register on arrival. The
seminars last an hour and will take place on the first afternoon (time will depend on the dinner venue decision).
Eric invited us to brainstorm on the seminars that we felt would be well received, and also if we had a seminar leader in mind.
There was a good discussion which began with the suggestions that have come up in previous discussion, and were honed into shape, so that a short list of six was finally agreed.
The number of seminars will depend on the number of registrations, and we may therefore reduce this down to four closer to the day.
We had been moved by David Crawley's address to the Pastor's and Lay Leader's luncheon, and Eric said that he would invite David to do a seminar on a subject of his choice, but preferably encompassing "After Alpha."
There was plenty of discussion on the subject of "Alpha in non-traditional places" - eg. nursing homes, offices. There
was also discussion about the place of a French language seminar. Peg reminded us that one of our focuses is the Catholic community and we should include a seminar for Catholics, specifically helping them feel very comfortable about how Alpha slots neatly into other Catholic programs. Peg's suggestion was questioned, but in the event it proved an accurate reflection of Alpha Canada's plan for this conference. Attactions of a prison Alpha seminar are that it can also encompass caring for
ex-offenders, and might encourage more volunteers to lead and help with the prison Alpha courses in this region (it is likely that a new
course will start in the Rideau Correctional and Treatment Centre in Merrickville in September and we need volunteers, as we do right now for the OCDC course).
At the end of our discussion the seminar list was as follows: Youth Alpha, Multi-church Alpha, Prison Alpha, Non-church Alpha, After Alpha (+ other material, by David Crawley). This list was to be put to Alpha Canada (Elaine Young) for approval / improvement.
[In the week following the meeting, there was considerable e-mail discussion with Alpha Canada on the choice of Seminars. The result of this further work has resulted in the following seminar short list, which, although it post-dates our meeting, is included here for convenience. Note, depending on the number of registrations, not all these will necessarily be available.
Registration
Jenny Moore recommended a special "dinner-only" price for volunteers who, as a result of their responsibilities, cannot actually come into the sanctuary for the presentations. This was agreed.
Simultaneous translation
Tony Copple reported on the quotations he had received - $2,380 for two translators, plus $1,702 for equipment. If we had 20 users this works out at $200 each. He had also canvassed local francophones who
said that a lack of simultaneous translation would only be problematical in this region if it were advertised but not provided. It was agreed that this was too high a price to pay.
Jenny suggested that we should be aware of linguists among our delegates who might be able to assist people with language difficulties on a one-on-one basis - eg. if a questioner wants to ask a question in French. She will gather in language data as part of pre-registration.
Questions table
Jenny suggested that there may be people with questions not covered in the open sessions
for whom a question table manned by experienced Alpha leaders during coffee breaks might be valuable.
Worship Ministry
Eric said that the names of our two recommended praise music bands have been passed to Elaine at Alpha Canada.
Supporting Churches follow-up
Tony mentioned that it may be time to follow up verbally with the 55 supporting churches, asking them for any progress
on contacts to other churches in their area, and tactfully inquiring whether they plan to send us a donation. Jenny recommended that
all committee members make the contact with their own church on this subject.
ACTION: ...... All committee members, and Tony Copple to organize the remaining contact.
Committee work during the summer
Our next conference planning meeting is not until September. Meantime work cannot cease!
Team head are encouraged to schedule contact and discussion on an individual team basis during the summer.
In addition to the important work that must be done during this time, this will also
help alleviate the problem of volunteers not feeling included or being sure of their functions. The summer is also a great time to re-study the conference handbooks and make sure nothing is forgotten.
Please set your calendars for the next Ottawa Alpha Conference Planning Meeting:
The next meeting agenda will include a report on:
Please check the Ottawa Alpha web site to see if the details of your next Alpha course are correctly displayed.
Finally, while I have your attention, those of you who know Laurie-Ann, my wife and co-Alpha advisor (and recording secretary for the OAPC), will be interested to hear that she is going to Northern Kenya on a mission trip this August. See more at Kenya mission, and / or attend morning service at Glen Cairn United Church, Kanata, at 9:30 on July 29, when she will preach a sermon on mission and describe how this particular trip has come about.
Ottawa Alpha Conference
Alpha Ottawa