Dear Church,
When I’m describing how our church works to new visitors, over coffee or a beer, I often talk about Congregational Meetings. No really! I don’t always get into the nuances of figuring out budgets, electing moderators and the like, but I try to make it very clear: congregational meetings are a big deal!
We don’t have a bishop or a pope in our tradition, to come in and tell us how things are going to be. Instead, we believe we can best hear God’s voice by gathering together, by hearing from each person (in voice or in vote) and making the important decisions of the church. There’s something very mundane about it: a hundred or two regular people, prayerfully gathering after a worship service, listening to some presentations and casting some votes. And there’s something remarkable about it: a reminder that God’s power doesn’t just show up with the pomp of popes or the ringing echoes of trumpets, but also with ordinary folks sharing ordinary truths. And trying to figure it out together.
Sunday’s meeting is an important one: our Annual Meeting, where we gather at the beginning of the year to take a look at what’s come before, and what might lay ahead. We’ll vote on our budget, and we’ll elect a new member to the Moderator team. We’ll here other important updates about our lives together, and about the future of the church. There are hard questions to answer about how to bring a balanced budget in these challenging times. There are important words to share about dreaming for the future of our congregation. And hopefully, we’ll listen together for the how the Spirit is leading us, in 2023 and beyond!
I hope you’ll join me at the Annual Meeting. Everyone is invited to join us for the meeting and for conversation, though only members can vote. You can come in person to worship on Sunday and stay for the annual meeting, or you can join us by Zoom. Contact the office for the link. We’ll need to wrap up this meeting a bit sooner than last year, largely to make room for our United Methodist friends coming in for their worship service, but we are hopeful they’ll be plenty of time to hear everyone’s voice, have prayerful discernment, and make Spirit-led decisions.
Take care,
Davi
