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In February, the Elders continued to discuss Worship and looked in detail at the use of electronic equipment; projectors and screens, and music systems, identifying the following main points:-
- The equipment must be used smoothly and professionally
- It is very useful to have a person dedicated to managing and running the equipment during the service. A lot depends on that person’s expertise.
- It creates a service which is attractive for young people. All youth work now assumes some visual content.
- Lots of wires and pieces of equipment scattered about would be very intrusive.
- Singing to words on the overhead projector, with organ accompaniment, is beneficial and gets people’s heads up, improving their singing.
- Hymns can be downloaded from the Internet; words, music and audio.
- It is possible to insert clips from camcorders etc. into a Powerpoint set-up.
- Costs were considered, estimates ranged from £1,500 to £2,500.
The Elders concluded that we, the whole congregation, need a clear idea of what we want the equipment to do and confirm that we have the expertise to operate it. We will ask the Managers to investigate hardware and prices.
For Witness, Kevin circulated notes from a conference he had attended recently. The conference reported that in many churches 20% of the members do everything; 80% do nothing. In two successful, growing churches the time of each minister (independently arrived at) was spent:-
- 50% The word of God prayer, Bible study, sermon preparation, worship etc.
- 25% The community outside the formal church community development, evangelism, schools etc.
- 20% Recreation, family, free time.
- 5% Church maintenance church pastoral work, committees, administration, socials, fayres etc.
The Elders discussed Kevin’s notes. They agreed to meet on Saturday 2nd April for a discussion and decision day. All resting Elders will also be invited.
The Elders are concerned at the lack of nominations for eldership and agreed to accept the offer of Willie MacFarlane to extend his active eldership for a further, seventh year (requiring a suspension of our Constitution).
The Elders shared Ann Birch’s concern about the small number of young people attending Junior Church and their inconsistent attendance.
We also noted concerns over Sunday transport for members with zimmer frames or wheelchairs users, relating to helping passengers, insurance and church liability. We still want to help our members to come to church if they possibly can.
We welcomed the information leaflets and thanked Willie for his hard work.
We considered a request for funding a High School Youth Advisor. This followed on from the Outreach Worker report commissioned and received by the Churches Together. The funding would assist the school to bring its outreach youth staffing up to an appropriate standard to enable implementation of the report’s recommendations. £2,000 is being sought from each church (£1,000 per annum for 2 years). The Elders discussed whether or not we should be funding a secular project but agreed to support the proposal at the AGM.
The full minute of the Elders Meeting of 2nd February 2005 is in the Elders drawer at the church door. There was no Elders Meeting in March.
The draft minutes of the Church Annual General Meeting of 2nd March 2005 are available in the vestibule.
Fred Milligan.
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