Three Things from the Elders

The Elders met on Wednesday evening at 5:30 in the library for their regularly scheduled meeting. Here are the three things you need to know from the Elders:

1. The worship service will be slightly tweaked this coming Sunday. Same for the printed bulletin on Sunday morning. Nothing major, just a few small changes here and there. For starters, we'll be reintroducing the prayer of dedication for the offering. We'll also be introducing a "take home page" in the Sunday Bulletin. To put it together we've shuffled a couple of items in the Bulletin, but hopefully it makes the whole thing more readable for everyone, more usable for our members, and more inviting to our guests and visitors!
   
2. My Installation Service is fast approaching! In fact, several significant announcements on that front: The Rev. Eric Smith (one of my best friends and closest colleagues) has agreed to come in as our guest preacher for the Installation. Eric is a PhD student at the Illiff School of Theology in Denver, the Associate Minister at Plymouth Congregational Church (a large UCC congregation), an ordained Disciples pastor, and a great preacher! I'm thrilled that he'll be with us. We also have a set time for the Installation, so please plan on joining us Sunday October 3 at 4PM in the Sanctuary with a reception to follow (that is the other big news, the menu has been set for the reception and it is going to be delicious!).
   
3. In celebration of the 200+ prayer shawls that our ladies have knitted and given away we are dedicating Sunday September 19 as Prayer Shawl Sunday! Please plan on joining us for worship that morning, and if you have received a prayer shawl then bring it with you! We'll rededicate all of the prayer shawls, celebrate this vibrant ministry in our church, and give God thanks for the holy gift of prayer. And don't forget to bring a gift bag to donate to the ministry, so that your gifts can literally carry the prayers of our congregation to those folks who need them the most.

We're cheating a little bit here, but if I don't number it then it doesn't have to count as a "Fourth Thing" in our "Three Things from the Elders". We want everyone to know that we looking for new Elders! We will have four openings available starting in 2011 and have already started to review names. If you are interested, or if you have somebody in mind who you think fits the role as a spiritual leader in our congregation then let us know!