August 18, 2022
Hello everyone
Today and this week has been just a little quieter than the flurry of activity my first week back from holidays were. This week I have had a bit more time to reflect, pray, meditate and plan for the fall. As some of you may know through the efforts of Lauren Wasylyk our in-house genius for all that is internet related, we are offering a mini worship podcast each Friday. It ties into the themes of the previous Sunday. It is designed for those who are not actively involved in church but are looking for a sense of spirituality and comfort. Lauren and I recorded 4 of them to air during the time of my holidays, so when I came back, I did not want to use those themes for the Sunday morning service. It felt kind of repetitive. That’s one of the reasons I began a series on the Psalms this past Sunday, which will continue for the next three Sundays. I love the Psalms and hope you will come to love them as well.
Work is continuing with our consultant Cathy Stewart on governance within the church. A good working definition of governance is as follows: ‘governance is the art of getting things done in such a way that a congregation is faithful to its calling and vision’. Governance flows from vision; appropriate governance takes whatever form that allows visions to be realized. Governance is shared through a process of collaboration, a system that relies on a willingness to engage conflict, excellent communication skills, interdependence between Minister, Staff, Session, and Lay Leaders. It requires mutual respect. It is about creating vision, making decisions and following through on those decisions. A beautiful analogy of governance is the rudder on a sailboat – it is called a ‘governor’. A governor is not about ‘power over’ but about setting direction to maximize the ship’s ability to capture the power of the wind and use it to move forward. How can we use this image so that the congregation can catch the wind of the Spirit? How can the Session best ‘catch the wind?’ These are the kinds of questions the governance task force is looking at. And the conversations are going well. A report to the session is scheduled for October 12. A congregational meeting will also be held to explore the findings and recommendations.
The rest of this week has been about planning – sermon and service planning for the fall. The worship team is meeting on Thursday August 25 to try to bring it all together. If you have any favourite hymns or songs you would like to sing this fall, please let us know.
That’s about all for now. Please keep myself and all staff in your prayers as we continue to offer leadership to the church and listen to both the spirit of God
God bless