Lay Leadership/Stewardship joint meeting-8-14-07

Lay Leadership/Stewardship Joint Meeting 8/14/07 6:30 PM

Attended by: Steve M, Jack K, Janis D, Pastor David N, Mollie D,& Carole B

The 2 committees were once again meeting together to plan for “cottage meetings” happening this fall to be used to do spiritual gifts exploration, interests of the congregation for developing ministry, & explore the congregation’s level of commitment to all areas of stewardship.

We have the following list of people willing to host a cottage meeting: Lillian Mink(10), Ginny Jensen(10), Jeane & Dick Breslich(15), Ginny & David Comings(10-15? on a Sat.), Mollie Denman(youth), Pat Sutton, Jenny & Andy Lindstrom, Jan Starner, and Kelly & David Brown. (# of people can have). We will ask people to sign up with people that they don’t know as well, giving us all an opportunity to get to know more of our “family”.

We will have the sign ups available by the last Sunday in August for the following 3 Sundays. We’d like the 1^st of the 2 sessions to happen by Sept 30^th if possible. There will be a form for those signing up to take, fill out and bring with themselves to the 1^st cottage meeting. Some spoke of the need to be very clear what these meetings are all about. Tabulation will occur at the end of the 1^st meetings with results being shared at the 2^nd round of gatherings with info from the gifts exploration. We’d like to have a potluck on Oct 7th with some skits showing some examples of stewardship in action. This would be following worship on that Sunday. We’ll ask for the groups to arrange a 2^nd gathering happening after 10/7 thru 11/7/07. Commitments will be brought & celebrated on 11/11/07.

We will also try to get info in the newsletter, number to call to sign up for a meeting and the description of the process.

The form preferred was the one with about 50 questions on. There will be a facilitator at each cottage meeting that will help people understand what the form is all about, the meaning of the info from it, and how God leads us in ministry as a congregation. A training session will take place prior to the cottage meetings for the facilitators to understand their role. Any interested in helping with this process should contact Carole B.

Regarding Lay Leadership, members of that committee stated they had let Pastor David know where they were on their asking for the 2008 lay leadership. A follow up meeting was not set at the time.

Great Communication!

Today at Epworth UMC we had a meeting of the minds. Great minds from every corner of Epworth UMC ministry gathered to jam about the future of our church.

We discussed our activities and how important our individual passions were in the pursuit of community ministry. Our spiritual gifts are at the heart of everything we do as people. God made us good at many different things and we must seek to utilize ourselves effectively in order to grow a healthy family and community. Plus, if we are passionate about what we are participating in, we can achieve a greater happiness

We also created many lists of ideas to guide us in our decision-making for activities in the future.
Our number one priority in everything we do seemed to be effective follow-through.
This point is so important, because so often a great idea becomes a hollow activity because there is no heart in the drive of participation.

So my question is what drives you? What do you feel needs to be done?
What event or cause will pull you to your feet and lead you to participate?

New Flickr account for everyone to use!

The new Epworth UMC Elgin Flickr account address is epworthumcelgin@yahoo.com.

To get started go to flickr.com, and enter the address epworthumcelgin@yahoo.com.
You will need the password, which you are more than welcome to have...I am slightly hesitant to post it for the world, however. Just contact the church office and they will provide it!

Now you will be signed in and ready to upload your Epworth Photo Moments for all to see!
These photos can and will be used to capture the best visual representation of Epworth UMC. We can use them in our brochures and marketing materials. We can also enjoy each other's memories, which can bring us all closer together in spirit.

I find the easiest way to upload my photos is with a photo CD. I can pop it in my tray and just upload the photos I want. Of course I don't have a USB cord that connects the camera to the CPU...that would make it much easier.

Good luck to you memory capturers. Our visual future is in your lens!