Congregational Meeting — How will we say “Yes”?
This past Sunday, we held our annual congregational meeting. I am very grateful for all those who were able to attend. Our annual meeting is very important in the life of our congregation. For those who were not able to come and for those who did and would appreciate a summary, I would like to go over the high points. We finished the election of our Church Council for 2107. John McAleer and Richard Schumann will be joining our President, Judy Formalarie, and Vice-President, Todd Rothermel, along with Janet Hornich, Jeff Livingston, Rebecca Melick, Bob Durham, and Emma Mikitiuk to make up our council. The budget for 2017 was passed. It was noted that we ended last year strongly, however, we still fell short of meeting expenses by $3,000. In addition, we noted a trend of decrease giving. This trend is reflected in our budget for 2017. Most notably, this led to a decrease in our giving to the Synod from 12% to 10%. The Bulletin of Reports (always a good read) was presented and approved. It was noted that the biggest event of last year was Feed My Starving Children, where we packaged 108,000 meals for children around the world. A presentation was given about the position of Director of Youth and Family Ministries. We have a potential candidate, who will be meeting with various groups within the congregation. This position will require an additional financial commitment from our congregation. There was also a presentation of potential church renovations. Permission was given to explore crown molding and frieze along with refurbishing the paneling on the choir loft. Finally, the Church Council was officially installed and the meeting was concluded with prayer.
This brings me to the main point of my message this month. I told a joke at the end of the meeting. A pastor tells his congregation that he had good news and bad news. The good news is that they had more than enough money to do everything they envision. The bad news is that the money is in their pockets. For me, the challenge before our congregation is this. After a year of significant loss of key members through death and moves, we have a challenge before us. Those people constitute a loss in both giving and volunteers. This is either a setback or an opportunity. We need people to say “Yes.” Here is the challenge. If we are to have a Vacation Bible School, we need people to take on leadership roles. If we are to continue Family Promise, we need people to volunteer. If we want to reclaim our narrative of generous giving to the Synod, we need people to give. If we want a Director of Youth and Family Ministry, we need people to go the extra mile. If we want to make renovations to the church, we will need additional support. The truth is that all these things are within our grasp. My prayer is that we are moved by God to say “Yes.” I believe this can be a great year for us at Zion.
Peace,
Pastor Summer
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