On Saturday, August 11, 2012, will be our
church planning retreat looking ahead for at
least the rest of the calendar year. I hope that
everyone on the Administrative Council and
its extended committees will make every effort
to be present. Of course anyone that is
interested is welcome to come and participate.

Also, I want to announce a specific
role that I have asked Shelley McComis, our
lay leader to do in the coming months. Our
current structure is still relatively new and
many of us are still feeling our way into the
new structure and trying to understand everyone’s
role. This has been a challenge even
for me since I was not here when the change
was made. However, I do have an interpretation
of it and am trying to communicate that
in various ways to the people involved. Shelley
and I have had several conversations
about it and I believe we are in agreement in
our understanding. So, I’ve asked Shelley to
be my helper and spokesman in trying to be
sure we can get everyone on the same page.

We are beginning with the leadership
that is currently in place and want to help cast
a vision for the future. I’ll do some of that
at the planning retreat but there is way too
much detail in the various ministry areas to
cover everything. So over the coming
weeks and possibly months, Shelley may
be calling on some of our leadership people
to visit about your roles and responsibilities
and ways that we can move together
into a better future. So, if you get a
call from Shelley and she wants to talk to
you about your role, please understand that
she is an extension of my ministry in these
areas. It’s all about team work so we need
to be more intentional about being sure all
of our team is on the same page. Thanks
for your understanding and help.

Finally, I want to thank everyone
who participated in the recent worship surveys.
I wish I could say that there was a
consensus about what to do going forward.
What I do want you to know is that we are
making plans to “reinvent” the second service
and to do it differently. To that end
we are looking for vocalist and or instrumentalist
who would like to be a part of
the praise team. One thing that is clear is
that we need some fresh voices singing so
if you are interested or have any suggestions,
please let me know.

Meanwhile, I
would be glad to visit with anyone
in person or in small groups to talk
about the possibilities for the future. I
am committed to trying some new
things for a while to see if we can revive
this service. We need your support
and prayers for it.

See you Sunday in the place
where God is present!

Yours in Christ,
Bro. David