Session Retreat – December 2009

On Saturday Dec 15^th, the Session, including newly elected elders for the class of 2012, held a productive half day retreat.  Planning for the future, the Session started to look at committee structures, Session size and meeting frequency after a review of a report from the Planning and Review committee on a study they completed over the past 6 months.  Look for future updates of possible changes and more study to be completed in the coming months in order to streamline our processes to be more effective in using volunteer time, and best engage our membership.  A second major topic at our retreat was to complete elder committee assignments for 2010.

Keith Pierce for Planning and Review, and the Session

Highlighting our Committees – Property Committee

Each month Session highlights one of our committees & invites members to participate in them.

If you are a person of action, then the Property Committee is the place to be.  A few dedicated men and women see to it that the Sanctuary is heated and the lights are on. The Property Committee takes care of the many details of keeping the Church and its grounds in good shape.  They do what it takes even if it means hours of weeding, power washing the exterior, changing the front sign  or arranging for snow plowing and lawn mowing.  They invite others to participate in projects such as the fall and spring work days.  The Property Committee is always looking for people who like to DO. Elder Ken Brown is the current Chair of the Property committee.  If you would like to serve please contact Ken and he will put you to work! brownack@milwpc.com

This is part of our continuing series of focusing on one of our church committees.

Join Us For Fall Work Day!

The Property Committee will hold a Fall Work Day on October 25th to prepare the church building and grounds for the winter season. There will be outdoor activities to complete and a work list will be posted on the office window. The Work Day will start after service at 11:30 a.m., and will last about 1 ½ hours. Anyone interested in helping with these necessary tasks please show up and we will divide them up. Many hands make light work!

Highlighting Our Committees – Worship and Music

Worship and Music Committee is an active committee that is the heart of our church. The committee provides worship enhancements through the seasons of the year. The committee is responsible for preparing Communion, ordering the flowers at Christmas and Easter and decorating the church. They organize the Thanksgiving potluck and worship service which will be held Sunday evening November 22; they find the guest preachers and select the Lenten Study and Advent devotionals. “Worship is the core of what we are all about and it is a privilege to serve in a way that enhances our worship experience,” says Deacon Eileen Pierce, a member of the Worship and Music Committee. If you think that this may be a place where you would like to serve, please contact Elder Nancy Molstad who is the chair of the Worship and Music Committee.

What does the Membership Committee do?

At the most recent town hall meeting it was brought up that not everyone knows what the various committees do.  Here’s a bit about the membership committee.  From our charter, our objective is: “The membership committee is responsible for growing the membership of our church and maintaining current membership through outreach and evangelism.”

So what does that all mean?  For outreach, we believe that the most effective, efficient and cost effective way to let others know about our church is through our web site.  Because of this, we have totally redesigned the web page.  Most of our visitors who are not personally invited to the church, find us through the web.  We want to make it so that people have no trouble discovering our church and the information about it that will make them want to come and visit.  Also, from the most recent town hall meeting, it was brought up that people in our congregation may not know how to evangelize, so we will be looking into ways to teach our members how to do that in a comfortable way.  Look for more of that in the near future.

Once people have decided that they want to join our congregation, we conduct the inquirers classes with Rev. Fisher.

On the maintaining side of our responsibilities, we want to make sure that members have the ability to make personal connections with other members.  We do this through the picture board and name tags, also by running coffee hour.  The membership committee makes the schedule and with the help of a couple of volunteers ensures that all of the supplies are there each week.  Thank you to all of the families and individuals who host each week.  It would not be possible without you.  Finally we are planning on starting a fellowship calendar for the church with social activities periodically.  If you have suggestions of social activities that you would like to participate in, please let me know.  Some of the things that we’ve discussed so far are game nights, a Christmas party, chili dump and Oscar night.

As always, if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns, please feel free to talk to me or anyone on the membership committee at any time.

Yours in Christ
Jason Weber
Elder Class of 2010
Chair of the Membership Committee

Nominating Committee Request

Your 2009 nominating committee needs your help to identify a slate of candidates for both Elder and Deacon to be presented and elected in a congregational meeting in late October or early November.  Newly elected officers will be installed in early 2010 for 3 year terms.

Please consider recommending active members who have the personal characteristics, skills and interests to be effective Elders or Deacons.  If interested, self referrals are also encouraged.  Questions on the duties or expectations can be addressed to any member of the nominating committee.

To recommend someone please include which office you are recommending the person to fill, and any information that would be helpful for the committee to decide among suggested names.  Submit suggestions by contacting a member of this committee, e-mailing the office with your suggestions, or completing a suggestion form in the narthex and placing it in the box provided.