In the first part of our meeting we considered several items briefly:-
- There is a “Bibles into Schools” initiative to provide bibles for a 30-pupil class in each First School which we agreed to support and that our retiring offering at communion on Christmas Eve would go towards our £250.00 contribution.
- We agreed dates for our autumn training programme “Speaking up for Jesus” and will tackle two topics each session. This will enable us to complete the course by the end of November.
- We agreed that a special meeting be held to consider the future for our Junior Church and youth club and report back.
- We noted that Nativity concerts and plays are being arranged for the week beginning 11th December and that we might arrange to provide coffee/tea for parents and friends.
- A draft Church Calendar for 2007 was circulated. With alterations and additions it will be included in the December edition of SOURCE.
The major part of our meeting was then spent discussing our response to the challenge given us to express in writing our ideas for the future progress and improvement of our church. Among many thoughts and points made were:-
- Our faiths are all at different levels, but we need to exercise our faith continually. As an Eldership our faith has strengthened us to go out into the community but we are taking too long and people’s lifestyles are moving away. We have to interact with a chaotic world.
- People are moving towards communities of faith rather than of institution and hierarchy. While people may have a gap in their lives which they want filled, they will look at us, all of our congregation, at what we do, the way we act, the way we live. If they see us criticising our church, or members, or form of worship to outsiders in the community, they will wonder about our friendliness and tolerance.
- We need to innovate in our worship and to support Kevin in his initiatives. We have to bring freshness and vibrancy to our worship to make it more an engagement with God in spirit. We will seek small groups to take a lead in this.
- We should consider a service once a month for people who don’t come to church; services with special themes as well as radical change in our regular Sunday worship. Music is important in our worship, the main opportunity for participation in worship, to be together in praise of God. We have a small group looking at Celtic music and who could bring a new hymn or song for us all to learn and include in our worship on occasion.
Our Elders Minutes contain greater detail of these and other points which we discussed in an extended meeting; one which we all felt was very positive and uplifting.
Fred Milligan
Secretary, Elders Meeting.
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