April 19th, 2007 - Council Meeting

I attended the council meeting tonight by invitation. Two council members are reaching the end of their terms and I am one of two nominees currently tapped to fill those vacancies.

The business of the council meeting was recorded by John and I won't dwell on that here. What I found intriguing, as well as what we went over, were other meeting details and dynamics.

The first detail; chocolate was prevalent, Larry brought cookies and there was a small chocolate bar on each agenda as we arrived.

Among the Creator congregation and council members there are many teachers and others in the Education area. The perspective and knowledge of that experience was obvious during the discussion for many of the agenda items, particularly on a consent form that Pastor Mark presented. The form will eventually be used for Creator youth activities.

Susan led the meeting which lasted a little under two hours. The moments where her individual leadership style shone. Particularly when she expressed her concern about people using the resources the council could provide and to communicate their needs as promptly as possible.

Susan also gave a brief summary of a few strengths of outgoing council members. She highlighted Joel's input and work; the way he laid out direct and practical plans for moving council business forward. For David, it was an acknowledgement of his attention and ability to focus council on ministry and outreach. "Their voices will be missed," she continued, "and we will need to find new ways to cultivate what they contributed in council."

Pastor Dayle gave an update on when Bethany's biopsy was due. This was the first of several instances where it was obvious the council was not only intent on moving through the items on the 'business' agenda but that this was regarded as significant ministry concerned with events in congregational life as well.

Pastor Mark updated us on a package the youth were creating to send around the Virginia Tech tragedy. It sounds like this will be tied into a sermon on Sunday. Again, I don't want to get into the business details but Pat's work in her financial presentation showed.

Larry closed us in prayer. His upbeat comments throughout the meeting were appreciated by everyone.