The Congregational Meeting and Our Shared Future
This Sunday at our congregational meeting, I plan to talk about the future of the church. This article is a preview of one topic I will address.
St. Andrew’s, like the majority of churches, has had declining attendance for a few decades. Before I took this call, I knew that unless we put an energy-intensive effort into revitalizing, we could expect the decline to continue until hard decisions about staffing would have to be made. The 2035 Team has been the spearhead of that intensive effort to revitalize starting with the new Vision, Mission and Values and the (soon to be finished) Five Year Strategic Plan. While this work has been going on in the background, I started to see small signs that revitalization had begun:
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We had a strong outcome of our 2025 stewardship campaign.
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Our worship service has shown a gradual increase in attendance.
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We received seven new members in 2024.
Now, with a little wind in our sails, it is time to turn our attention to the next critical area of concern: St. Andrew’s needs a Session of nine members in order to run the essential committees. We currently fall short of that number. Without an adequate number of active Elders, 1) we will not be able to accomplish the projects outlined in the Five-Year Strategic Plan; 2) we will not be able to provide the programs needed to engage new members; and 3) we will not be able to perform the basic administrative tasks of a 100+ member community.
Not everyone is in a position to be an Elder at this time in their lives. There are some basic demands of the job that one should consider before volunteering. First, being an Elder requires a time commitment. It is a minimum of a three-year term and involves chairing a committee as well as attending Session. Second, being an Elder requires a willingness to work cooperatively with others, listening respectfully and with an open mind to other’s perspectives. Finally, being an Elder, particularly at this time, requires resilience and energy.
And yet, for those who are able to answer the call, a significant benefit awaits. To those who serve, the transformative power of a faith community is revealed in new depths. When approached faithfully and humbly, serving on Session brings about a new level of spiritual maturity and insight.
I would encourage every member of our church to consider this question prayerfully. If you can’t serve on Session (and many can’t), maybe you are called to serve on a committee, or take up a single task. We are all ministers of this church and it is through the actions that we take that we find our particular callings.
I will explore our potential future(s) with everyone in more detail on Sunday.
Until then, I wish you God’s peace!
Pastor Jen
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