Our congregation will meet Sunday November 12, 2023 at 9:20am in the Sanctuary for our
Annual meeting, gathering prayer, conversation, and discussion. Join us as we hear stories of the impact of our year in ministry, elect our Council leaders, review our finances, and pray over our current Ministry Plan for August, 2023 - July, 2024.
In addition, this year we will consider the Welcome Statement developed out of our Deepening our Welcome process as a description of who we are as a congregation. This Statement has been written and rewritten based on the congregation's feedback, encouragement and concern:
We Welcome You to Christ Lutheran Church! We are a community of people sharing God’s love through Christ and growing together in faith.
We celebrate all the ways we are made in the image of God, seeking to see God in everyone. We honor and respect each person’s age, ethnicity, family composition, gender identity, gender expression, life history, mental well-being, physical ability, relationship status, sexual orientation, skin color, and socioeconomic standing. Together, we strive to
love and serve our neighbor and all creation, including working toward racial and social justice. We would love to walk with you on this creative adventure* of faith, grace, and love.
* The first sermon
ever preached at Christ Lutheran was titled “A Call to Creative Adventure.”
In order to make the Welcome Statement an official document of our congregation, our Council is proposing to establish a Bylaw and two Continuing Resolutions which clarify the Statement and how it intersects our ministries. (Note: the formal language of resolutions uses "Whereas" clauses to explain the context and rationale, and "Resolved" clauses to denote the action being taken.) Our Council unanimously supports the proposed Statement and recommends passing the proposed amendments.
We will also consider a Bylaw revision to clarify the term of office for our Youth Representative to Council. The Council recommends revising Bylaw C12.02.03 to add the bold text:
C12.02.03. A youth or young adult at-large representative will be elected each year to
serve a one-year term beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31.
Finally, please note that this year, as a continuing evolution of our switch to a fiscal year for our Ministry Plan, we will meet again in May, 2024 to approve our
Ministry Plan for August, 2024 through July, 2025.
The links above are collected here, along with other documents that may be helpful to understand the above proposed changes to the Bylaws and Constitution:
Printed copies of these helpful documents are available in the Gathering Space. Questions on content or process can be addressed to Pastor Tim or Ellen Swayne, Council President.
See you November 13!
