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On Saturday 2nd April, the Elders went to Stamfordham to share thoughts on a "discussion day". Fourteen of us attended for the full day, with one more in the morning and two in the afternoon. Our morning session was concerned with the format, content and running of the Elders Meeting and then with the role of Elders and changes that are occurring there. In the afternoon, we thought about "The Marks of a Live Church" and what came to mind under the following headings: -
Energised by Faith
Outward-looking Focus
Seeks to Find out what God Wants
Faces the Cost of Change and Growth
Operates as a Community
Makes Room for All
Does a Few Things and Does them Well.
We concluded our day with some attributes for our church: the best and worst things about us, why categories of people such as teenagers, young families, the elderly and those living alone might want to come to our church and what we could do to attract them or meet their needs. We had a very thoughtful day together and are especially pleased that some "resting" Elders who had been invited joined us for the day and contributed to our discussions. We hope that our day has given us renewed insight into ourselves, how we interact with each other and hopefully grow together as a group and how we care for our fellowship.
On a separate note, the secretary needs to organise the provision of refreshments more efficiently; we did enjoy our lunch at the Bay Horse Inn.
At our monthly meeting on Wednesday 6th April, we reviewed our thoughts on the Elders Meeting and are changing (for a trial six-month period) some aspects of our meetings
Meetings to start at 7.00pm and last two hours only; with provision for an extra ? hour for urgent, important business.
That Kevin will not always be chairman; Elders will chair the meeting from time to time, even when Kevin is not away
There should be only one or two main items for consideration and urgent items of business be at the start of the meeting, after our initial period of worship.
We talked about Pastoral Visitors again and agreed to bring nominations to the next quarterly church meeting.
We reviewed matters arising from the AGM and noted that the Youth Project was proceeding well and that the High School hoped to make an appointment before the end of the summer term.
Fred Milligan, Secretary to the Elders
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