Council Happenings December 2009

The word goodbye comes from the phrase “God be with you” – and that’s the spirit in which we will be saying goodbye to Pastor Susan Rippert and Parish Nurse Lois Coldewey as they leave us. Each of them has been with us for three years, and they have grown to be important and deeply loved members of our church family. We have learned from them, prayed with them, and grown with them. And when beloved family members leave for other opportunities and new challenges, there is always a time of celebrating and a time of mourning. We celebrate their ministry among us, we are profoundly grateful for the gifts that they have shared with us – and yes, we will miss them. Lois Coldewey leaves us at the end of January after three years of helping us to see the connections between body and spirit, and teaching us to care for the bodies that God has blessed us with. She has done a great deal to increase our understanding of wellness and its role in our lives. Pastor Susan came as a six-month interim and stayed for three years – preaching, teaching, administering the sacraments, advocating for social ministry and justice, building friendships, praying with and for us, and helping to carry us through a difficult period in the life of the congregation. If Lois and Pastor Susan have especially touched your life in their three years with us, I hope you’ll take this time of parting to let them know. And as someone whose life has been touched by them, I want to say on behalf of the Church Council and the entire congregation: Thank you – and God be with you.

Endings and beginnings always seem to coincide. A great deal is beginning right now: We’re beginning a new church year, with a new budget, a new Council, new commitments, and new decisions to be made. Remember, the church isn’t the building; the church is YOU. Without you, there are no priorities, no ministries, no decisions, no commitments. Without you, the Word isn’t spread, God’s work isn’t done, and the Church ceases to exist. Would you like God’s work to be done for another year at Our Saviour’s? Well, of course you would! Then you need – really, you do – you need to attend the wonderful, action-packed, spirit-filled, rousing Annual Meeting! Okay, sometimes it’s not so rousing – but it is important! It’s where we decide, as the church, how we’ll use our resources for the following year, and who we will entrust with leadership roles. It’s where we hear the reports of those who have been entrusted with these roles in the past year, and where we hear how our resources have been used. These are the dollars you gave to the church; you need to know how they were spent. These are the people you voted into leadership positions; you need to know how they represented you. Come, be the church. Attend the Annual Meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 21. We can’t promise a rollicking good time (though you never know!), but we can promise that the decisions made at that meeting will ensure that God’s work continues at Our Saviour’s.

Finally, one more request: A week or two before the Annual Meeting, pick up a copy of the Annual Report in the narthex, and read through it. If you have any questions or comments, please come and be heard on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 9:00 or 10:30 a.m., or on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m. We want your input – because you are the church!

In December, Council approved the administrative report; endowment disbursements; changes to the Constitution; and contingency, Ministry & Special Gifts, and BMIF spending proposals. We also discussed the Finance report, the proposed 2010 budget, crypt sales, the Nominating Committee’s progress, a new missionary support proposal, and the report from the Faith, Family, and Sexuality group. It was a busy month! For full minutes of all Council meetings, please see Jim Valentine.

Respectfully submitted,

Betty Birner

Council President