Common Street is a community that is volunteer-governed and mostly volunteer-led. Below please find a list of our current committees and teams. Staff are listed as “ex officio” members of committees and are non-voting members. If you want to get in touch with any of the committee or team leaders, but don’t have their contact info, please send a note to info@commonstreet.org and we will connect you!
Council
The council is the central governing committee, aka the board, of Common Street Spiritual Center. To contact the council, please send an email to council@commonstreet.org
Wei Li; Sam Gloyd; Michael Corthell; Damon Farnum; Laura Hake; Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Finance Committee
The finance committee is responsible for preparing the Spiritual Center’s annual budget, tracking income and expenses throughout the year, reviewing community decisions from a financial perspective, informing other committees and our membership in general about the state of our finances, managing our bank accounts and investments, and handling day to day matters of bookkeeping and bill-paying.
Tien Lum; Wei Li; Linda Gable; Rich Sidney; Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Building Committee
The building committee has oversight of the building and grounds of Common Street Spiritual Center, including routine maintenance and building improvements, artistic projects, and in general designing a positive environment. They sometimes do projects themselves and they sometimes oversee the hiring of outside contractors.
Scott Pressler. co-chair; Vincent Tingley, co-chair; Michelle Languedoc; Leo Ryan; Pete Della Bella (staff, ex officio); Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Membership Committee
The membership committee seeks to grow the community of Common Street Spiritual Center, both quantitatively and qualitatively. They welcome in new members and help them find a sense of belonging and engagement in the community. They reach out to inactive members to welcome them back, and also invite friends of the community to become members. They run an annual membership drive and in general maintain our membership list and membership directory. They also have an eye to promoting a culture of acceptance, mutual support, and collaboration.
Carole Berkowitz; Paula Brown; Ian Mevorach (ex-officio)
Children and Youth Committee
The children and youth committee works closely with our children’s program coordinator, Jennifer Goodman, to plan and implement inclusive, educational, and nurturing programs for children and families, as well as the youth of our community. Working with older youth is a growth edge/aspiration for Common Street Spiritual Center. To connect with the children and youth committee, please email Jennifer Goodman at jennifer@commonstreet.org
Michelle Languedoc, Elisha Kottler
Programs and Events Committee
The programs and events committee is focused on supporting programs and events that are led by members, friends, and partner organizations of Common Street Spiritual Center in fulfillment of our mission and vision. They support leaders in planning, facilitating, and promoting programs and events (including financial aspects), they envision and help to cultivate a robust, balanced, and inclusive range of programs and events, and in general oversee the offerings of the Spiritual Center.
Not currently operating
Community Service Committee
The community service committee is a group of people who engage in community service together and create volunteer opportunities for people beyond the committee. They pay attention to the needs of the community, infuse our community’s values into constructive action for the common good, and partner collaboratively with other groups and organizations.
Not currently operating
Director Advisory Committee
The Director Advisory Committee serves as an advisory group to the director and as support for the director’s leadership. They share hopes, ideas, and dreams. As support for the director, the committee interprets roles, functions, and needs of the director to the congregation. They work to support and maintain open and healthy relationships between the director and members of the community. In doing so they build and support a relational framework in which conflict can be dealt with creatively.
Ben Draper, Gabriel Turetsky, Ian Mevorach
Response Team
The response team of Common Street Spiritual Center is responsible for handling cases of harassment or abuse according to our Safe Community Policy. To report an incident to the response team, please email info@commonstreet.org with “RESPONSE TEAM” as the subject.
David Kiel, Rich Chute, Devik Wyman, Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Open Circle Team
The Open Circle team organizes and plans our weekly Open Circles. They are responsible for the overall thematic vision of the Open Circle, for responding to feedback from participants, for inviting guest speakers, and in general tending to a transformative, enriching, participatory and engaging spiritual experience on Sunday mornings.
Laura Hake; Sam Gloyd; Rich Sidney; Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Community Brunch Team
On the first Sunday of the month, in lieu of our Sunday Circle, we have a community brunch that weaves together good food and informal social time with meaning-making and spiritual sustenance. The whole community is welcome to brunch with us!
Annie Aisenberg; Dana Strayton; Lisa Miller; Michael Miller; Sandy Eilers; Ian Mevorach (ex officio)
Common Good Mini-Pantry Support Team
Everyone is welcome to take what they want and/or to donate to the Mini-Pantry. When the pantry is full, please leave donations in the lobby of the Spiritual Center. While the Mini-Pantry is self-serve, our team of volunteers check it daily to ensure that all products in the pantry are in good condition and unexpired, and that a mix of items are available. The Mini-Pantry is a standing invitation for people in our Natick/Metrowest community to come together and take care of each other in an inclusive, fun, and accepting way.
Suzanne Alcott, chair; Roger Alcott; Laney George; Carrie Nugent; Lisa Miller; Michael Miller; Sandy Eilers; Mikayla Francis; Jill Hourihan and the staff of Metro Pets; Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Vision Process Team
The Spiritual Center community began a visioning process in 2020 meant to clarify and make explicit our collective sense of vision, mission, values, and goals, and to lead to the design of a 3-5 year strategic plan to acheive those goals.
Damon Farnum, Rich Chute, Carole Berkowitz, Ian Mevorach (staff, ex officio)
Common Threads Steering Team
Common Threads is a local, grassroots initiative to repair relationships that have been broken by political division. We aim to humanize each other and find common ground, build a sense of trust, increase mutual care and understanding, and foster cooperation and healthy dialogue.
Anne Continelli, Anne Lafleur, Nate Lord, Ian Mevorach, Scott Pressler, and Patti Sciarra
Green Team
aspirational!
Song Circle
An informal group of Common Street members who meet on the third Friday evening of the month to sign together and curate music that is sung throughout the life of our community.
Devik Wyman, Laura Hake, Liz Spark, Nadine Lucas, Sam Gloyd, Sherri Stepakoff