Celebration
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you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.-Isaiah 58:11
This Sunday is Annual Meeting Sunday at St. James, and I’d like to propose that, rather than a day of ‘business,’ Annual Meeting is a time of great celebration and communal ministry. It is a day upon which we look back at the past year and the ministry that God was able to do through us at St. James. It is a day when we all celebrate each other and the parts we have all played in that ministry. And it is a day when we celebrate the future by taking a formal vote to elect those who’ve stepped up to serve on the vestry, by affirming the budget, by fine tuning a bylaw for future leaders, and this year, by hearing about and moving forward in becoming an even more inviting, welcoming and connecting church.
The meeting portion of the morning takes place right in the church after the service, and because we’ve already had info sessions in advance for people’s questions, and have distributed the annual report well in advance so that we’ve all had the chance to read the reports and get our questions answered if needed, the meeting itself will not last long. It is the ceremonial cherry on the top of many months of faithful work among us, and besides, we want to get to our festive potluck brunch celebration, at which we’ll be sharing food made from recipes in the old St. James cookbook that was recently uncovered from the 50’s!
All in all, Annual Meeting can be the most joyful, abundant and spring-fed day of the whole year in any church, and I hope you will all come in that spirit to take part in our meeting this Sunday and to be part of the hopes and dreams for our year ahead. All our members are part of this body - and you are needed in the body at Annual Meeting.
The service and meeting will be streamed as usual if you’d like to watch from home. You will be asked to identify yourself in the chat if you are a member of the church who wants their vote counted online.
