Annual Congregational Celebration and Meeting

Transcription

1 Annual Congregational Celebration and Meeting FEBRUARY 20, 2011 Episcopal Church of Reconciliation Corpus Christi, Texas

2 ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING Episcopal Church of Reconciliation February 20, 2011 OPENING PRAYERS (On next page) MEAL Members of Bishop s Committee and of Listening Team sit at different tables and ask members to tell stories and experiences that finish one or more of the following sentences: The thing that drew me to Reconciliation initially was... The reason I stayed at Reconciliation was... I really love the way our church... I wish we could... What I would like to celebrate about Reconciliation today is... CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF OUR CHURCH Celebration of our Ministries (Bishop Committee Liaisons identify themselves and their ministry areas) Celebration of God s Vision for Us (Father Bruce, Kevin Persels, and Richard Blackler will introduce the discernment process and the role of the Listening Team) Celebration of UTO success (Wendy Molina will tell us how much we raised while we were being thankful) Celebration of Prayer Shawl Ministry (Janice Estes and Wendy Molina will share a prayer shawl story or two) Celebration of Financial Resources (Large gift will help us with apportionment) Celebration of Elaine McMillen and Lila Vaughan s birthday, and of all other birthdays this year Celebration of anything else that anyone wants to celebrate CUTTING OF THE CAKE AND OTHER DESSERTS

3 Opening Prayers For the Church Universal Creator God, you have made us not in one mould, but in many: create in us, your family, love so true and deep that we may be a sign of unity and rejoice in our diversity. Amen. For the Diocese of West Texas Eternal Holy Spirit, so assist and inspire the churches and people of this diocese that together we may follow our Lord Jesus Christ into many walks of life, together we may claim our historical heritage as a missionary people, and together we may make known the unchanging good news of his love. Amen. For Reconciliation Quicken, O God, we beseech you all the members of Church of Reconciliation as we discern the next chapter of our life and work together. Grant that we may be alive to the opportunities and responsibilities of this time. Save us from complacency and fear of new ways. Inspire our minds and hearts with a vision of Reconciliation as a center of spirituality and mission, and of a world drawn to you. And finally, stir our wills to pray and to work until your will for us is both revealed and accomplished. This we pray through Him who is both our journey and our journey s end, Jesus Christ. Amen. Thanksgiving for Food May the Blessed One bless the food we are about to share, the life and labor and generosity that brings it to our tables, and the grace that nourishes our souls; for these and all his mercies, God s holy Name be blessed and praised; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

4 Ministries at Episcopal Church of Reconciliation Worship Ministries Bishop s Committee Liaison: TJ Molina Altar Guild - Janie Lopez Flower Guild - Lori Aguirre, Pam Hilliard Music - Jesse Flores Lectors and EMs - Richard Blackler Outreach Bishop s Committee Liaison: TJ Molina Esplanade - Richard Blackler Salvation Army - Richard Blackler UTO - Wendy Molina Children s Ministries Committee Liaison: Kathryn Perley Sunday School Adult Spiritual Formation Bishop s Committee Liaison: Lila Vaughan Friday Bible Study Communications Bishop s Committee Liaison: Cathy Clark, Kevin Persels Bulletin Announcements Street Marquee Website Needed: Congregational s Needed: Facebook Page Evangelism Bishop s Committee Liaison: Fr Bruce Wilson Positive Visibility in the Community Building and Grounds Bishop s Committee Liaison: None Repair and Maintenance Curb appeal General attractiveness Finances Bishop s Committee Liaison: Lucie Harris Budget Bookkeeping and accounting Reports for BC and congregation Pastoral Care Bishop s Committee Liaison: Lila Vaughan Routine care Higher level care Youth Ministries Bishop s Committee Liaison: Who are our youth? Hospitality & Newcomers Bishop s Committee Liaison: Fr Bruce Wilson Refreshments Name Tags Other ideas for hosting guests Other ideas for following up with guests

5 Worship Ministries Annual Reports LECTORS AND EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS Significant changes - We experienced a number of changes in our lay ministry this past year. John Standley retired from reading at 8 am. Eileen Benton is now reading in his place. Carmen Horn moved to Boerne and her duties were picked up by Wendy Molina. Warren Wright was transferred to Alaska and Sherman Estes consented to read. Louie Davila had not been attending regularly so Kathryn Perley moved from lector to lay reader (which means she is now helping with the Eucharist) and Jeri Morey became a lector to fill Kathryn s position. Sam Ramirez stopped attending Reconciliation and his spot is being filled by Cathy Clark who had previously been helping as our designated substitute. David Martin also dropped from Reconciliation and David Pinyerd has become a lector to read in his position. We still have the same number of readers that we started the year with, which means every lay minister has the opportunity to serve once every three weeks. In 2009 our Common Lectionary changed to the Revised Common Lectionary which is still on a three year rotation of scripture readings. The reason for the change is so that congregants can hear each writer week by week instead of the readings being selected by theme. Consequently in any year the writer of Matthew, Mark, or Luke may be heard from beginning to end. The rest of the New Testament is heard either in large part or in total. One exception is that the Gospel of John is heard each year in the seasons of Advent, Lent and on Passion Sunday and during Holy Week. Accomplishments - Our lay readers continue to serve at the Esplanade Assisted Living facility to provide a prayer service every Sunday afternoon at 2 pm. On the first Sunday of each month Father Bruce will give a Eucharist and Healing service. This ministry is both helpful and meaningful to the residents as many have no other way of attending church and they are quite appreciative. Attendance is normally around 10 residents each Sunday. At the present time the Lay Ministers taking part in this outreach are Kevin Persels, Wendy Molina, Lynne Blackler and Richard Blackler. Plans - In order to improve reading skills we plan to have a lay minister training each year. Our last training took place this past September. Ruth Aipperspach, who is a speech instructor at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, was our trainer. She did a fine job and we are planning to have her back this year also. As an in-reach project our lay ministers plan on serving strawberry shortcake after the 10:30 am service on Pentecost Sunday. Goals - Our goal as readers is to be at the church as scheduled, prepared to do our very best reading so the God s Word is clearly understood. It is important that out reading is done well and read with understanding as this will provide comprehension and insight to our congregants.

6 Hopes - In order to have a successful and meaningful lay minister outreach program it is our hope that every lay minister would choose to either take part in our ministry at the Esplanade or they would have their own personal outreach of some kind in the name of our Lay Ministry. Also that we would schedule a time each year to recognize our Lay Ministers, hand out licenses, and to commission them for the upcoming year. It would also be great to have some kind of annual fellowship and/or retreat. CHOIR AND MUSIC MINISTRY Our choir consists of nine members and Jesse Flores has been our Choir Director for nine years. We have seven vocalists: Christine Skinner, Apache Molina, Jeri Morey, Wendy Molina, Janice Estes, T.J. Molina, and Jesse Flores. We have three musicians: Sherman Estes - Guitar, Jesse Flores Bass, Elaine McMillen Piano, and Wendy Molina bells and flute. As a professional performer, our choir director strives for harmony of our choir s voices, rather than them performing in a unison voice. The harmony of their voices distinguishes our choir from other choirs in the community. The choir tries to add at least one or more new songs to their repertoire each month. They are, however, limited to the musical expertise of our pianist and guitarist as to the complexity of the songs we are able to perform. Mastering a song is not as simple as obtaining sheet music for the song. Often times, the hymnal or music sheets do not come with a chord chart for use by the guitarist and bass player, therefore, it falls on our choir director to write music for these instruments. New music requires extensive practice by our musicians and numerous rehearsals of the entire ensemble to obtain performance perfection sought by our choir. The choir s repertoire includes hymns, songs of praise, gospel, latino and other various songs. The choir director attempts to match songs from the choir s repertoire to the weekly readings, however, this is not always possible. When a reasonable match cannot be accomplished, appropriate uplifting songs are substituted. At the present time, the choir director is in the process of composing song lists for the various services at which the choir will perform during Easter season. FLOWER GUILD Past Changes - Lori currently is picking up the flowers and placing them in the cooler each Saturday. Looking Ahead We hope to continue to deliver the flowers after the service to persons who are unable to get out. The flowers convey to those persons that we are thinking of them and praying for them and that they are not forgotten.

7 ALTAR GUILD HISTORY Church of Reconciliation began with meeting in a building on Holly Road. All necessary items for worship were packed into a trailer as the worship services were portable. Each week, the men of the Church would have to break down the assembly and then set it up by opening a trailer which contained the altar items. This was the first altar that was used by the Church of Reconciliation. Altar Guild members would get the Altar ready for Holy Eucharist and after worship they would disassemble everything and repack the trailer until the following Sunday. When we came to this present site, 4518 Saratoga, we had members who donated the dressings and new vessels for the altar. One of our member s husband handcrafted our present altar. Most of the items inside our Sanctuary have been handcrafted by members. Many Reconciliation members have donated their time and talent to crafting additional items, as well as donations for items. Through their donations, additions to our sanctuary have been made as needed. During the history of the Church of Reconciliation, Altar Guild members have ministered the church s sacraments, Baptism, Marriage, Memorial Service (funerals), Confirmations and the Bishop s Visitations. It is very rewarding to assist in preparing our sanctuary for these occasions and in making sure that our Vicar is prepared for the event. We have had as many as two Altar Guild Teams (which have included men) for each Holy Eucharist service. The Altar Guild members provide training and we have books for prospective Altar Guild members to read and learn more about the Altar Guild. Occasionally, workdays are called to ready the Altar for special celebrations and for the worship of specific seasons. LOOKING AHEAD We are hopeful that the Altar Guild ministry will grow to include at least two teams for the 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist. The best result would be to add a family team and a Junior Altar Guild. The family teams will be serving as a whole while at the same time teaching and guiding their children to learn this ministry. This is a ministry that is done before and after the Holy Eucharist, thus giving you time to worship together. It is our hope that each church member will consider helping us begin a new altar ministry that is geared towards family worship and offering their time and talent to God.

8 Outreach Ministries ESPLANADE RETIREMENT HOME The report on our ministry to Esplanade is a mission of the Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers. It is included in the Lector and Eucharistic Minister Report in the Worship Ministries above. SALVATION ARMY CANTEEN The mission to the homeless through the Salvation Army Canteen has been suspended for the time being. The Salvation Army has changed their vision of this ministry and it is not what the lay leadership at Reconciliation feel called to do for now. UNITED THANK OFFERING As a church, we have implemented the United Thank Offering, starting January 24 th, We have collected $ to date. These funds will be presented at offertory during Council I will accept my appointment as the Diocesan UTO Coordinator at council and my term begins February 19 th I will have the duty of promoting Thankfulness throughout our Diocese and am excited about bringing you information about what UTO does with all that change ($$). I am also very grateful that our church will become the UTO headquarters of the Diocese of West Texas I also will be accepting an appointment as board member to the Commission on Women s Ministries, also known as the ECW. This will help foster the growth of our Women of the Church Ministry. We will begin celebrating the Women of the Church this Spring with the kick-off of the Mother-daughter-Sister-Friend gathering. We are in preparation of this event currently and will have a date soon. Wendy Molina MISSION DISCERNMENT One of the great spiritual realities is that reaching out with the hospitality and compassion of Christ to others is what gives life to God s people. Our mission and outreach efforts are not as focused or as strong as we need for them to be for our own sake as well as for the sake of God s world around us. We take mission and outreach very seriously - seriously enough to spend some time over the next few months listening, praying, thinking, and planning strategically. Participants in various outreach ministries at Reconciliation are coordinating with the Bishop s Committee to canvass the congregation and the larger community to help the Bishop s Committee discern what God is calling Reconciliation to be the Church to the world around us, particularly to the immediate and the larger surrounding community. Before throwing our energy and resources into a specific mission or outreach effort, we will all be invited to volunteer in the process of listening to the leaders and members of our larger community. We will listen for the needs, concerns, and hopes of our neighboring area until we have a more clear sense of what we are called to do and be.

9 Hospitality and Newcomers Ministries WELCOMING AND INCORPORATING Everyone is host at Reconciliation. Any guests God sends through our doors are ours to greet, to introduce around, and to make welcome. Many of our members realize this and are very effective with our guests. As we know from experience, however, everyone s responsibility sometimes ends up being no one s responsibility. We all have different hats to wear, different tasks, different relationships to catch up on, and different needs. So sometimes... everyone s responsibility ends up being no one s responsibility. Since there is no designated team or leader for this ministry at the present time, Fr Bruce is volunteering to be the team leader and will be inviting people who share my enthusiasm for extending Christian hospitality to our guests. Benedictine spirituality considers hospitality as serving Christ himself in the people who come to visit. I like that image. My list of things to do for hospitality include: 1. Developing a Hospitality/Greeter Team. 2. Taking a tour of our church with the Hospitality/Greeter Team as if we were passersby or first time guests. 3. Identifying the obstacles that may diminish our hospitality. That includes evaluating everything from the curb appeal, to the use of name tags, to the user-friendliness of the bulletin, to the quality of the coffee. This list of obstacles along with a plan for addressing them will be presented to the Bishop s Committee. 4. Paying a return visit to guests, or making an appropriate contact to extend our hospitality to their door, to see how their experience went, and to invite them to return again. 5. Developing orientation events to welcome returning guests deeper into the life and work of the congregation. 6. Tracking guests until they are integrated into the life and work of the congregation. This would include keeping track of everything from contacts made, to people they meet, to orientations attended, to membership classes or meetings attended, to getting their information recorded in the roster/directory, to Confirmation or Reception, to ministries they join. Everything from the date that they first walk through the door to the time they become fully integrated members of the congregation. 7. Communicating newcomer information to other groups, guilds, and committees so that they can extend a welcome to newcomers.

10 Evangelism Ministries INVITING Evangelism, Episcopalian style, includes three tasks - inviting, welcoming, and incorporating. Related to evangelism is church growth, which includes four conditions - being built for growth, being staffed for growth, being organized for growth, and having a growth attitude. A growth attitude is a commitment to grow, not just an institution called the church but the Kingdom of God, and not just as a church but as individuals. It includes a passion for touching and blessing the lives of others in the larger community and in the world. At Church of Reconciliation, some of these things come naturally and some are obstacles for us to overcome. Since there is no designated team or leader for this ministry at the present time, I am volunteering to be the team leader and will be inviting people who share my enthusiasm for evangelism. Archbishop William Temple said the church is the only organization that exists for the sake of those who do not belong to it. I like that description. There is no report for 2010 since there was no official Evangelism ministry, but my list of things to do for evangelism in 2011 include: 1. Developing an Evangelism Team. 2. Identifying the things that we can do to invite the unchurched. This includes everything from creating positive visibility in the larger community, to the use of the marquee, to mission and outreach efforts that show the community that we care. At the top leadership level, it includes discerning some clarity about what God is calling us to do and be at this time in and with our community. The groundwork will be laid for this through the new Listening Team that Richard Blackler has organized and presented to the Bishop s Committee. 3. Identifying the things that we can do to welcome the unchurched when they come through the doors. This list will come through the Hospitality Ministry, which will present a plan to the Bishop s Committee. 4. Identify the things we can do to incorporate newcomers. Most of this work will also be led by the Hospitality/Greeter Team, which will present a plan to the Bishop s Committee. 5. Calling, encouraging, and challenging the whole congregation to be committed to their own inward growth and to the growth of the Kingdom of God. Respectfully submitted, Fr Bruce Wilson+

11 Financial Management Ministry INCOME AND EXPENSE REPORT FOR 2010 BUDGET FOR 2011 [INSERT LUCIE S FINANCIAL REPORTS]

12 Communications Annual Meeting Report Communication is the critical sharing of information, ideas, and feelings that keeps everyone connected in the life and work of the church. A good communication ministry includes a flow of communication inward, outward, vertically, and laterally within and beyond the church organization. At Reconciliation, we have multiple informal means of communication, but now is the time for us to be intentional and focused in the way we communicate. As ministry teams, outreach opportunities, and the general level of activity grows, so does the need for reliable means of communication. That is why we are working with Father Bruce on the communications systems of our congregation. We are especially aware of the responsibility we have as a church to be electronically connected to each other and the larger community. There is no report for 2010, except to say that much of the groundwork has already been laid for electronic communications, for oral and written communication on Sundays, for bulletin board postings, and for keeping important records and data. Our list for 2011 includes: 1. Developing a weekly or bi-weekly to the congregation 2. Developing a Facebook page for Reconciliation 3. Redeveloping our website with new pages 4. Maintaining the marquee with current information 5. Yearly updates of our directory Our hope is to provide timely, meaningful information that will allow each parish member to feel connected to the church family.