Annual Celebration Preview
This year's Annual Celebration (or Annual Meeting, for the more traditional among us) is going to be held on Sunday morning, January 31 as our Sunday morning worship event! We're taking over the Sunday morning service to intentionally reflect on this past year as a church, and celebrate our unstoppable God who continues to lead us forward into 2021. So make sure you show up, either in the sanctuary or online, because we're livestreaming this worship event just like we would any other Sunday morning service.
Below are some important documents that you will need to review before coming to our Annual Celebration. You'll need to read over the Annual Report, so that you can celebrate with us the great things the Lord has done among us. You'll need to review the budget, so that (if you are a member at Community Church) you can affirm the budget and commit to the three-year financial vision of the church. You should review the two changes we're making to the bylaws. Lastly, you should view the 2021 ballot by which members can affirm our leadership teams, and vote to approve the other aspects of life together being proposed this year.
What a year it has been! You are invited to download and read our 2021 Annual Report, which attempts to capture some of what the Lord has done in our midst. If you are a member, you will be using the ballot to vote to approve this annual report, so please take the time to read through it and prayerfully delight in the Lord's faithfulness and calling on our church family.
Approving a budget involves more than just agreeing that a proposed budget is acceptable; it is making a commitment to fund the budget out of the gracious provision of the Lord in each of our lives. Please take the time to download the budget and review some of its more important characteristics. Recall that we held an open budget meeting back on December 13 so that you could have a month to prayerfully consider this direction and ask any questions that come up. We continue to invite you to ask questions ahead of time as we approach the Annual Celebration on January 31, so don't hesitate to reach out to us at <elders@eastgloucester.org>.
We have two (2) updates we would like to make to our church bylaws. The first relates to the mission of the church: we'd like to add a "fourth E" to our mission statement. You can read more about this change by clicking the link below. The second change is a short addition to allow remote participation in our congregational meetings, based on the current pandemic that prevents many of our membership from attending a meeting in person as the current bylaws require. Clicking below will take you to our current bylaws, and you'll see the new suggestions alongside the existing version so you can compare the two before voting on the changes.
The ballot that we use each year is more than just an official document required as a nonprofit organization. It's a chance to voice our support of our leadership, our budget, and the direction our church is heading. It's also a safe place to voice your concerns about any of the above as well. If you are a member at Community Church, we encourage you to pray over this ballot. Lift up the leaders whose names appear here; pray over the finances of our church so that we may continue to step forward into God's purposes. And take some time to consider writing a note of encouragement to the leadership if you feel that's something the Lord is inviting you to do. Only ballots submitted by members are recorded.
Hey! You made it to the end of this page! Way to go! We look forward to celebrating with you on January 31 during our Sunday morning worship service. See you then!