Doug and Dave and I met with the three elders this evening. It took about a month to find an evening on which all six of us could meet together at the church office building, but it did finally happen. We were to meet at 5:30pm, and all were in attendance around 5:45pm. We actually talked together for almost three hours. I had a list of questions that I worked off of, and Dave and Doug each had some notes that they referred to. In the final stages of the kitchen renovation, the notes that I made for the meeting were misplaced, but if I get a copy of Dave's or Doug's notes, I'll post them on this site.
Over all, the meeting went well. We discussed and asked about many aspects of the officer election process, and the elders were able to answer many of our questions and they took down a number of suggestions that we had for the process. I was particularly pleased when Dave mentioned his idea and all the elders started taking notes about it. The gist of the idea is this: instead of just telling us where they live, what they do for a living, and how many kids they have, why not go more in depth, so that the congregation can make a personal connection to the nominees? In particular, they should tell us about their, past, their present and their future in regards to their spiritual life. When and how Christ called them to himself, how their faith affects their daily life, and what their vision is for First Presbyterian and how they would work towards this vision as a member of the church leadership.
I think there was a general consensus from all at this meeting that this idea was a real low-hanging fruit of all the suggestions put forward this evening. The chairman of last year's Admin Committee told us that he would pass on our suggestions and concerns to the incoming Chairman of the Admin Committee.
Afterwards, Dave, Doug & I went to Yesterday's for some dinner and an "after-action report." We all thought it went well, and we resolved to keep on speaking up to anyone interested in this, in the hopes that we will be able to facilitate positive change to the process from the bottom up. In particular, I am considering speaking up at the congregational meeting, since from what I've read, that is the one meeting of the year in which the congregation can affect the government of the church as it wishes.
Up to this point, I really feel that the Lord has been in this process, enabling all of those involved to be civil and charitable in all of our interactions with each other, both officers and concerned members of the congregation. May the Lord continue to bless the working out of these issues, and also continue to bless First Presbyterian Church.
