Due to the exigencies of Covid 19, ECM has continued meeting via zoom on Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Shannon—our president sends out the Zoom link and reminders are issued over email and GroupMe.
Blue Hen Bounty (BHB) has continued serving the community during the shutdown with spectacular support from Cana (who has become an honorary member of ECM). Patronage of BHB has continued to increase significantly. We continue to see patrons among staff as well students. This increase has been hoped for and we remain humbled and grateful to serve our community in this fundamental way.
I had a meeting with Sue Houghton from Property regarding the option of installing shelving in the classroom area to accommodate our increased supply and demand. Sue explored options and conferred with Amy. The cabinets were purchased and will be installed shortly. Amy has committed to facilitating the purchase of the grocery cards for BHB. The cards will be split between Food Lion and Acme. Amy will also purchase a few categories of items that are not funded as consistently: namely hygiene products.
The Wesleyan United Methodist Church has made a generous financial contribution to BHB and the Islamic Foundation completed our grocery list. There have been several other acts of kindness and generosity from individuals and groups across the UD campus but no one more so than our St. Thomas’s family which continues to be our most consistent generous supporters of BHB and we remain ever faithful of the ways you continue to help us meet the needs of our community.
We have continued having our monthly events. Our first event in September was ECM’s first annual Un-hayride. We gathered in our Grove, ate hot dogs, s’mores with apple cider and wore face masks. Our second event in October—Game Night in the Fellowship hall which was well attended. Our third outing in November was to Longwood Gardens. This was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by ECMers who could bring one guest each. We held our last event on December 11th. Craft Night was a success. We sent ECMers home with beads and findings to make wire Christmas trees (following a demonstration), we addressed Christmas cards and distributed our ECM t-shirts. Gifts for ECM supporters were assembled and left in the Fellowship Hall. This was our last gathering of the year.
Our focus on explicit spirituality continues to develop. We have been building the conversation about knowing God through prayer. This past meeting, I asked students to share the areas they felt God was showing up in their lives—an extended God moment exploration. This resulted in a thoughtful conversation. This coming meeting will be the last official meeting before break—we are in Finals Week! So please keep our UD students in your prayers. This has been a very difficult time for our students even though they are blessed with parents and homes which appear to be weathering the challenges of the pandemic very well.
University of Religious Leaders Organization (URLO) meetings have continued via Zoom which I attend. Much of the support for BHB has come from attendees to these meetings.
Our ECM t-shirts have been distributed to the students.
With regards,
Denise Burgher
ECM Convening Graduate Advisor