The decisions about the life and ministry of our church are made by its members. There’s no one else ( but God!) who can “tell us what to do” (‘thy will be done). And in our polity, even the question of what God is directing is left up to the democratic discernment of the people.
For this reason, there is at least annually a congregational meeting at which the church reviews its recent and looks forward, votes approval of an budget and the election of officers, and any other business that comes before the body appropriately. Our Constitution and By-laws designate the Annual Meeting will be called by the end of January each year.
When there is cause, with 2 weeks’ notice congregational meetings can be called more often, in between Annual Meetings. For example, with the decisions about work to be done for the Capital Campaign, we can expect to have more frequent congregational meetings.
The Elders have called this year’s Annual Meeting for Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, immediately after the potluck luncheon after worship. (For details on the potluck, please check here. {Everyone is encouraged to bring / share a dish}).
At the meeting, as well as the standard agenda items of receiving reports, passing a budget and elections, there will be 3 resolutions before the congregation:
1) An Affirmation of the Sacred Conversation on Race.
2) A Challenge to Reduce the Church Property’s Carbon Footprint.
3) A Suggested Approach by the Renewal Team for Moving Forward on Work Funded by the Capital Campaign.
Please review the reports and the action items before the meeting; they are available here. We hope as many people as possible — while only members have the right to vote at an Annual or Congregational Meeting, we routinely vote to give any guest “voice without vote.”
Larry W., Moderator, for the Elders
