Annual Meeting Letter to the Congregation outlining the discerment process

October 20, 2011

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

Our Church will hold the 80^th Annual Meeting on Sunday October 30^th after worship.

The council will host a light lunch before the meeting begins.

This is a very important meeting; please make every effort to attend. We will have a discussion on the future of Our Church lead by Pr. _______. Has expertise in leading congregations through conversations about future ministry and redevelopment. This conversation is lead by your thoughts and your ideas for the future of Our Church. Please remember to mail back the postcard mailed to you last week with your ideas for future ministry because Pr. _______ will use the ideas from the postcards to begin his conversation.

The conversation continues on Sunday, November 20^th after church. Pr. _________ of TAG consulting will pick right up where the Oct. 30^th discussion ends. Pr. _______ will take the ideas the congregation talked about on Oct. 30^th and look at each one a little closer. He will ask us to find where Jesus is in each option and also look at each option alongside our TAG survey results – which you will receive a copy of before hand so you can look it over. This too is a very important conversation and place mark it on your calendar and plan on attending.

After the Nov. 20^th conversation the Council will meet and take all the information gathered from the two conversation and bring a motion for the future of Our Church that the congregation will vote on at a special congregational meeting on Sunday Dec. 4^th after worship. Mark this date on your calendar as well!

Important dates:

Sunday, October 30^th: Annual Meeting and conversation lead by _________

Sunday, November 20^th: Congregation conversation lead by ____________

Sunday, December 4^th: Special Congregational Meeting to vote on a motion for the future of Our Church

Your attendance at all 3 meetings/conversations is STRONGLY encouraged. Make every effort to attend. This process of discernment will give all of us an opportunity to share ideas and feelings. It will give us an opportunity to all go through a process together so that the motion brought to the congregation on Dec. 4^th is not a surprise to anyone. This process will keep us centered in prayer and our thoughts focused on God’s mission. The council looks forward to seeing every member of the congregation at these three very important conversations and meetings!