Dear Sisters and Brothers at Christ Church,
This Sunday we will gather for the 153rd annual meeting of Christ Episcopal Church. We have much to celebrate! Our church is full of people, we’ve eked out a balanced budget, our children’s and youth programs are full of rascals, small group ministry is thriving, Adult Spiritual Formation is very active, the Social Justice Ministry has touched a nerve with our homeless ministry, and the choir sounds beautiful. I could go on and on. If only we had a Parish Administrator! The only downside to the annual meeting is that it bumps right up against the NFC Football Championship, pitting the San Francisco 49ers against the Philadelphia Eagles. Apparently some people around here like the ‘niners.
During our meeting we’ll review the past year and preview the next year, including church finances, our Welcoming Ministry and Social Justice Ministry. We will also elect folks to four vestry positions. The candidates are Claire Brown, Molly Stouffer, Julie Denny and K.C. Conway/Jeff Elder. That’s five names, because K.C. and Jeff are a couple and they’ve asked to share a position. We are open to nominations from the floor, in which case we’ll pass out paper ballots. We’ll also elect five delegates for the Diocesan convention. This year those delegates will also vote on the next bishop. Our practice has been to elect five delegates and five alternates, with the alternates “automatically” becoming the following year’s delegates. In 2022 we had only three alternates, John Brennan, David Boone and Dan Sykes, who will become delegates for 2023. That means we need to elect two more delegates and five alternates. We will take nominations from the floor. We’ll also bid farewell to our outgoing vestry members: Janet Kornegay, Mike Melendez, Babs Kenney and Pat Quant who have served our community so well.
Please join us to celebrate, to vote, and then to cheer on the 49ers.
Peace,
Stephen