Since our combined vision retreat with members of the Suydam Street Reformed Church had to be postponed to June 9th, it seems appropriate to give an update on where we are in the vision process.
A lot has been discussed in recent months, and several of our committees have been involved and taken suggestions from the Vision Team. We had a great delegation of seventeen of us attend the passion play at Suydam Street. In addition, Aurea Vega, Deacon at the Suydam Street Reformed Church, has been employed as our new church secretary and will begin next month.
Yet, in all of this, one thing has remained the same: Neither church has planned any formal steps towards a future partnership. Nor is there any particular model for our coming together in discussion. It may work and it may not work. At the moment, both sides are more in the mode of getting to know each other on various levels. Given this circumstance, it would perhaps be premature at the current stage to engage in more abstract discussions. Even the June retreat will focus primarily on the issues of getting to know each other personally and in terms of our ministries.
Yet, there is more to come, as we are building a base for future discussion. The Christian Education Committee, for example, has invited families from the Suydam Street Reformed Church to join us at the camping trip in Warwick. Once we have more personal relationships established, we will find more direction for our future, and there will be plenty of time to develop a more formal vision. It will be pivotal that this discussion is carried on by as many of us as possible.
Our Vision Team will have its next regular meeting on May 7th at 7:00 p.m. in the Randolph Room. It will be somewhat shorter, as our travelers to Astoria will meet the same night at 8:00 p.m. Please come and give your input at the vision meeting; we are intentional about not having it confined to any particular membership but keep it as an open group.
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