The new Constitution and Bylaws as well as the new Operations Manual were approved by church vote on Sunday, June 2. We are now transitioning into the new order. There will be some overlap. For instance, we will have our final Quarterly Business Meeting on Wednesday, July 17 for the purpose of approving the Nominating Committee Report. That report will mostly consist of electing Team Leaders so they can begin the process of enlisting the members of their team for the coming year. We will also elect 3 new Deacons at that time.

The first Bi-Annual Meeting will take place during the Sunday School hour, the first or second Sunday of October. The Church Council will meet soon and make a decision on the date of that meeting. At that time we will hear Finance Reports, as well as reports from various teams about the work they have been doing.

There will be a time of transition and learning as we work into our new structure. Be patient and allow for some flexibility as we move forward. It will take some adjustment, but in the end, we will have a simpler structure with fewer meetings, but hopefully, more ministry being performed.

Howard

Summer is here! May was a month of extremes. Lows in the 40s and highs in the 90s. Rainy cool weather followed by hot and humid weather. Now Memorial Day has come and gone. School is almost out and graduations are on the horizon. All of that tells us that summer is here!

We do not have any active church members who are graduating from High School this year. If you have a relative that you would like us to list in the Sunday Bulletin on June 9th who is graduating from High School, College, Technical School or Graduate School, please get the information to Brenda by Monday, June 3rd.

With summer comes a change in the church schedule. We will not meet on a regular basis on Wednesday evenings this summer. There will be a committee and team meetings that will take place on Wednesdays. The first of those is our Deacons Meeting on Wednesday, June 5th at 6:30 PM. Pay attention to the calendar for other meetings.

Wednesday, June 12 we will have our first of three “Picnics at the Park.” They will all begin at 6 PM. You are encouraged to bring whatever you want to eat. This is not a “covered dish” or a “shared meal.” You eat what you bring. The picnic meal will be followed by whatever fun you want to bring. It can be an activity or a board game or go for a walk or sit and talk. In June we will meet at Dorey Park, in July at Three Lakes Nature Park & Aquarium and in August at Osborne Landing. There will be no decision made about the weather. You will decide for yourself if you want to come based on the weather on the day of the Picnic. We will meet on June 12, July 10th and August 21st.

Finally, I encourage you to dress casually for worship this summer. It is going to be hot and we all need to dress for the weather. Dress modestly, but comfortably for worship. Most likely we will meet in the Fellowship Hall in July and August to save on AC. A decision will be made on that and we will announce it in the July newsletter and on the church website.

Have a great Summer.

Howard

Music is an important part of worship. I want to use this space this month to say some thank you’s to those who assist with the music ministry in our church.

The celebrations of Holy Week and Easter are in the mirror. My wife, Lee, planned the music for the congregational music for the month of April. I appreciate her work. She and I would like to thank Allen for the work he did in preparation for our special services. It takes practice to play the piano and organ and we do not want to take his gifts for granted. We also want to express appreciation to the individuals who sang in the Easter Choir, as well as Steve Brown for narrating and David Coddington for his solo. The choir gave hours of their time in preparation to sing on Easter Sunday. Then there were the trio (Doris Wollett, Allen King and Lee Germany) and soloists (Wayne Conner, Joy Minozzi, Lynne Lilley) who sang for our special services. The handbell choir also rang for services. All of that does not happen without preparation, commitment and desire to give of oneself. Thank you to all who played such an important part in making all of the special services so meaningful. I also want to thank Claire and the children’s workers for the efforts on Palm Sunday.

Different congregational members are responsible for both picking the hymns we sing and enlisting any special music that might be meaningful. Lynne Lilley has been coordinating these volunteers. Cora Hackenburg did it for the month of March and Betty Johnson has chosen the music we will sing in the month of May. I appreciate those who serve in this way.

We have many gifted people in our congregation. If you are willing to lend your talents, please let me, Lynne, Allen or Lee know of your interest and availability. We do try to coordinate the theme of the services, so knowing ahead of time what you are interested in doing and the theme of the musical piece is helpful.

Howard

A big thank you goes out to all who helped make March Maintenance Montrose a huge success. Our church had over 30 people present making sure that our responsibilities were being taken care of. Thank you to those who greeted guests who came by our table, those who handed out food tickets and those who greeted our guests in the church building. There were also a good number of people who were walking around engaging in positive conversation. I also want to thank those who worked ahead of time to make the outside of our building and grounds look fresh and clean.

It is always a pleasure to work with both the Henrico and Richmond City Police Departments. They pulled together several different organizations and businesses to make the event a huge success. Rosa Coleman and I went with them on Monday before the block party to invite our neighbors to come and we both enjoyed the interaction with both our neighbors and the officers. We are fortunate to have a relationship with both departments in that when they want to do something in our neighborhood, our church is the first partner that comes to mind.

On another note, the Quarterly Business Meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 24 at 6:15 pm. This is a change from the usual 3rd Wednesday, because of Holy Week and not having any activities on Wednesday, April 17. The report of the 21st Century Team will be presented and voted on at that meeting. We will have had a discussion at the past Quarterly Business Meeting and then three discussion opportunities were held in the month of March. Please come and let your vote count. If you cannot attend, you may cast an absentee ballot by calling or coming by the church office.

Speaking of Holy Week, pay attention to the information on the right-hand side of this page which will give you the dates and times for all Holy Week Services. I hope you make plans to attend these special services.

Howard

There are two very important conversations taking place in the life of our church. Both of those have been on going in two different groups. Both groups have reported out information in the past couple of weeks with the intention of having some discussion sessions. The two topics relate to our governing struc- ture and the aging building.

The 21st Century Carlisle Team that has been working on a new governing structure is nearing the completion of their work. They have set three discussions (question and answer) sessions for the month of March. The first is on Wednesday, March 20th following dinner and the other two are after church on Sunday March 24th and March 31st.

The Trustees are working on dates for discussion of the report that was handed out on Sunday, February 17th regarding the plumbing, electrical, heat and air systems in our building. When those dates and time are finalized they will be announced. If you were not in church on the 17th and did not get a report, you can call the church office and we will get one to you. Because the report is lengthy and detailed, we would prefer to email it if you have access to email. If you do not have email, we will mail a copy or you can come by the church office and pick one up.

These are important discussions that are taking place and both teams want the church to have a voice as we move forward. Pray for God’s leadership as we make these important decisions.

Howard