Dear Friends,

Last Sunday, our Church Council met following the worship service to discuss whether or not we wanted to move to simplified structure. There were concerns raised after the agenda was sent out and the Council took the time to discuss these concerns. At present, there are thirty people on Church Council. There were thirteen present. This is one of the reasons many believe this move is the right one, especially given that we have found having four Lunch & Learns to explore solutions far more effective than formal Council meetings. After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made and seconded to move to simplified structure. The vote was unanimous although it was noted that there were at least two no votes from members not present. Here is what the Discipline says about quorum and voting:

Quorum - The members present and voting at any duly announced meeting shall constitute a quorum.

The twelve member Council in 2025 will take the place of Church Council, Finance, Trustees, and SPRC. There will be a separate Nominations & Leadership Development committee that will likely meet four to six times a year. If you are interested in serving on this Committee let me know. You cannot serve on Nominations if you have a spouse on Church Council. We still have numerous ministry committees such as Hospitality, Discipleship, Children’s Ministry, Food Ministries, and Special Events. The Church Council will meet at least every month. With the exceptive of the Lay Delegate, Lay Leader, and retiring Lay Leader, each position will rotate every three years.

Friends, I work for our church but I also work for your next pastor. None of us are particularly excited about change. I wish COVID had never happened and we were still worshiping 155. I wish we had not had 47 deaths and ten couples retire and move away in the past six years. But change happens and if we do not adjust when it is right to adjust, your next pastor comes in handicapped by the decisions we put off. I would rather leave them in a better position than the position I inherited when I got here. For those of you who know Rev. Jim Cross, ask him about it. He followed me at Ashdown and he is still there!

With that aside, what God has been able to do here this past year is amazing. We have twice the number of people in Sunday school and Bible study than we did when I arrived in 2018. Our Food Ministries have strengthened our bonds with our neighbors. We are rebuilding our Children’s Ministries. We have also changed the way we do things because people have come forward to volunteer rather than wait to be asked. Our choir has grown and we have more people leading worship. We have reestablished the Thornton Lecture Series and are already working on something for 2025.

You have stepped forward to teach, to serve, to cook, to usher, to sing, to ring, to read, to pray, to organize, to visit, and to lead. When we sat down to work on Core Values, you were stunningly unanimous in how you viewed our church and what God was asking of us. Mission was your unanimous vote for our number one value.

Have a wonderful week!

Grace and peace,

Beth