During the Feb 16th meeting of Consistory we:
- Discussed and decided to change the Invitation to the Lord’s Supper in order to make the sacrament truly welcoming especially to guests, and the Baptism Liturgy for Children of Pre-Confirmation Age which respects the awareness of these children regarding the sacrament.
- Discussed the preliminary feasibility study presented by our architect James Kruhly and the Building Vision Group. We voted to approve the vertical separation of the sanctuary with the proposed affordable housing units. This will be brought to the congregation in a special meeting with Mr. Kruhly sometime in the near future.
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Discussed the possibility of accepting a student minister for the Fall.
Tagged as:
Baptism Liturgy,
Lord's Supper
Consistory met on Jan 19th for its regular meeting. One of its first actions was to celebrate the lay leadership of our church by nominating Heather Epstein, Erie Beemsterboer and Pam Gray as guests of honor to the lay recognition dinner of our Regional Synod. Whatever progress we experience as a church family, there are always dedicated individuals behind it. We are grateful for a chance of celebrating this year the work of these particular women.
Among the many committee reports Consistory received that night was also a report from the Finance Committee. It delineated the design of our first Annual Pledge Campaign. Consistory reviewed the written material that will be sent to our active members, as well as the timetable of the campaign. Then it passed the campaign by vote. The Finance Committee emphasized that the campaign was not intended to provide a special measure for dealing with the annual budget deficit. Instead, the Committee hopes that the campaign will serve all our members as an educational tool on congregational giving. In addition, the Committee hopes that the campaign results will provide the church with more predictability as far as its projected income is concerned.
However, Consistory did not just talk about money that night. There was also a report on the coordination of some of our preservation efforts with neighboring Christ Episcopal Church. The combined Coordination Committee has just met for a second time.
Then there was the news of a special Baptism on Sunday, Feb 21st. This is a result of the current new member class and fits well with the baptism-centered liturgy we will employ during Lent.
We began and closed the evening with prayer. In gratitude, we lifted up to God the signs of growing life in our church: The new member class, the successful completion of our men’s shelter week, and the recent increase in our fund-raising for the preservation project. We also brought our concerns before God: The situation in Haiti, the struggles of some of our churches without installed pastor in the Classis of New Brunswick, and the situation of the Western troops in the Middle East. It was a meaningful evening.
Consistory will meet in a special session on Saturday, Jan 23rd, in order to find ways to decrease or eliminate our annual budget deficit. Due to the newsletter deadline, we will have to report on this at another time.
Tagged as:
Consistory
