THE CHURCH COUNCIL:
CONGREGATIONAL POLITY IN ACTION

The Church Council is an organization composed of the leaders of all the diverse groups, committees and task forces that run the myriad activities of our ever-growing church community. The function of the Council is to inform its members of what is going on in the community at large, to help new leaders acquire leadership skills and to provide opportunities for joint projects. In contrast to the elected Board of Trustees and the Deacons, the Church Council operates as a grass roots operation designed to bring ideas and possibly criticisms or suggestions to the Board and Administration. Its aim is also to promote a sense of intergenerational community to our large church membership.

The Church Council has had a long and varied history in our congregation. At one time, when the congregation was much smaller, the Church Council served to set the agenda and schedule for the community, thus preventing conflicts of scheduling and keeping all groups informed of what was happening over all. Since our growing membership has made this impractical in a group setting, the Council has lately been searching for new mandates and a new statement of purpose. Today, community building is an important aspect of the Council’s aims and purposes.

The new FUN DAY planned for this coming May 17 is an important step towards this community building goal. Fun Day is designed to include all groups and all ages in a day of activities—not just as “consumers” of the events, but also as involved participants in their planning and execution. For many years, the annual Church Fair served the function of such a joint enterprise in which all church members participated to raise money for the church. Fun Day is designed to be a much more modest event, but the purpose of raising a modest amount of money for new pew cushions for the sanctuary should encourage everyone to participate in some way in this communal effort.

So join in, volunteer and share the fun!
 

The Angie Henry Utt
Lecture