A question I am often asked is, “what is the Session?” The follow-up is usually, “what do our Elders do?” It often seems that our Session does its work so quietly that most folks are not even aware of its presence. Yet our Elders work very hard as members of the Session called to lead our congregation.
Our most recent meeting reflected the broad expanse of our calling and our work. We spent quite a bit of time discussing a new policy for building use: what outside groups may use our building, under what circumstances, and if we charge the group, how much we should charge. We have lots of requests for our space; more than we can handle, so we need to have a policy.
Did you know, for example, that every week the BEACON program is here teaching English as a second language? Did you know that we host Girl Scout leadership teams? Or that we are the meeting space for Toastmasters? Support groups have used our space in the past, and we currently host a Brazilian Church congregation that worships here twice each week. All this is in addition to the many programs that are run directly by our church.
Our Property Ministry Team is also scheduling a number of large maintenance projects for this year, including repaving the front parking lot, cleaning and painting the cross on the steeple, and painting more interior spaces.
We decided to merge the Fellowship Ministry Team with the Evangelism & Assimilation Ministry Team into a newly named Membership Ministry Team. The new Team, chaired by Spence Curtis and Susan Simmons, will take responsibility for all aspects of membership: welcoming new members, organizing fellowship activities, and working with the Deacons to look after all our members. Membership will also oversee a newly created Task Force that will help us redesign our website this summer.
Over the new few months we will focus on our Early Learning Center, a vital ministry we offer to our community. The demographics in our neighborhood and community are changing and we need to adapt to those changes. We are also working on new ideas for Stewardship; we are still eager to find the financial resources to allow us to restore the position of Associate Pastor.
I plan to share more information about our Session in the months ahead, but if you have questions, just ask me or any of our Elders. We post minutes of Session meetings on the bulletin board across from the church office, along with information about our Deacons. Both groups work faithfully remembering the words of our Lord, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.” Our Elders and our Deacons work with great dedication to bear fruit for all in this Body of Christ.
Grace & peace,
Pastor Skip
