two upcoming congregational meetings

I want to call your attention to two upcoming congregational meetings, and encourage everyone to attend. In a Presbyterian Church, congregational meetings are called by the Session when the authorization of active congregation members is for an action, or when important information regarding the life of the congregation needs to be shared.

In the case of the first meeting, set for Sunday, December 8, 2024, immediately after worship. The authorization the Session is seeking is to approve my (the pastor’s) terms of call and contract for 2025. In other words, the Session is proposing an amount for my salary, housing allowance, insurance/pension apportionment, self-employment tax support, education, and gas mileage reimbursement, for 2025. Session is also proposing my vacation and study leave schedule. It is the responsibility of the congregation to authorize these things.

The second meeting, scheduled for Sunday, January 12, 2025, includes two items:

the election of a Nominating Committee (comprising one seated elder, who serves as chairperson; one non-seated elder; one deacon; and two congregation members at-large) whose task is to nominate candidates to the congregation to serve as Ruling Elders and Deacons, to be elected at a May congregational meeting;

and a report, in this case from me (the pastor) about plans for the church’s life and ministry in 2025.

In regard to the second item at the January 12, 2025, congregational meeting, one thing I will do is lay out a plan for reviving our ministry teams. At MBPPC, our various worship, educational, service, and administrative tasks are planned for and led by teams of congregation members. Since the pandemic, most of these teams have not regrouped.

I have chosen not to emphasize reviving these teams yet, feeling that our first order of business has been simply to rebuild the basic church functions coming out of the pandemic. In part, this decision has been based on the fact that it has taken some time for MBPPC to return to the pre-pandemic level of worship attendance and service projects. It has also been based on, for example, the significant drop-off in participation by childcare and families.

2025 feels, to me, to be the right time to focus on a more deliberate and energetic effort to rebuild our ministry teams. I will share details at the January 12, 2025, congregational meeting. For now, please keep in your prayers the ministry teams we will focus on reviving:

Worship

Children and Families

Congregational Fellowship

Finance/Stewardship

Property and Maintenance

In Christ,

Lee