Highlights from Elder Meetings - mid February to mid March

Elder Minutes – Blog Edition

1. Update on Church Expansion. The seller of the property to whom we have sent a Letter of Intent has responded to our letter. We are currently considering the response. Please pray for the Holy Spirit’s leading as we seek to reach a decision on the seller’s response, seek further consultation from Rob Hall of the Covenant, and together discern God’s direction for our church.

2. Office Space Update. The office space we have leased on Main Street will not be available on April 1, as was planned. The occupancy date is likely to be May 1.

3. Gift from Needs. We approved a gift of $1,000 to be given to Pastor Smith from New Orleans (who has visited our church) to contribute to the re-roofing of his church in New Orleans.

4. Performance Reviews. We are currently in the process of conducting reviews of Pastor Lyle (Senior Pastor), Pastor Marty (Executive Pastor), and Robert Messore (Elder Council Chair).

5. Planning Calendar. We approved a Planning Calendar to prepare us for ministry and budget planning for the next fiscal year.

6. Task Forces. Some time ago we formed elder-led task forces to do planning in the following three areas:
• Spiritual Formation
• Leadership Development
• Reorganization of Elder Council
Each of these task forces will submit a plan for its area by June.

7. April 1 Day of Prayer. We approved a proposal for focused prayer ministry for the April 1 Day of Prayer.

8. Worship Arts Director Search. It has become clear that the need of our church warrants a search for a full-time Worship Arts Director or Pastor. After a study of budget impact and priorities, we approved a search for a full time Worship Arts Director/Pastor.

9. Christ Church@Cole. Development of this additional worship venue is well under way. Cheryl Lavornia is assisting Pastor Marty in the administrative aspects of planning, and her husband Dean will lead the Worship Team there. Launch date is April 23.

10. “Living Beyond Myself.” This is the four-week campaign (April 23 to May 14) to launch the “Volunteer Connection” ministry in our church. In preparation we are studying Bill Hybels’ book The Volunteer Revolution. As elders we will be leading Sunday small groups during these weeks as part of the LBM campaign. Watch for an invitation to participate in these small groups!

11. ECC Meetings. Our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church, hosts two Annual Meetings to which our church may send delegates. The first is the meeting of the East Coast Conference in Springfield, MA, on April 29. Up to four delegates may be sent by our church. If representing our church at this meeting is of interest to you, please respond to the elder blog: elders@christchurchec.org. The second is the Annual Meeting of the national denomination in Grand Rapids, MI, June 14–17. Dean and Joy Burgoyne will be our delegates to that meeting, where they will witness the installation of their son, Rev. Howard Burgoyne, as Superintendent of the East Coast Conference .


Faithfully, in Christ

The Christ Church Elders

Important Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Last Sunday, February 26th, the Elders announced the leasing of property on 845 Main St, beginning April 1, 2006 and the preliminary negotiations for the purchase of land in East Greenwich. We indicated that if all went smoothly and we came to an agreement this week we would send out information regarding three informational meetings and a call for a congregational meeting. We also indicated that the earliest the congregational meeting could be held would be March 12, 2006. We continue with the negotiation process and cannot either set dates for the informational meetings or call a congregational meeting.
We would ask that you continue to pray for the smooth move to the office space on Main Street and the negotiations for the land.

Thank you for prayerfully supporting us,

Robert