Members enjoyed a potluck dinner before the annual meeting held Sunday, Jan. 18. The congregation elected new officers and board members and approved a 2015 budget that allocated 16 percent for outreach and 17 percent for worship and education.
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We held an old-fashioned roll call meeting Saturday, Jan. 17, as part of our ongoing bicentennial celebration. In the past, the church annual meeting was an all-day affair that started with attendance. As the roll was called, each person stood to testify, pray, read a scripture, or request a hymn. Absent members sent letters. Once the roll call was completed, the congregation shared dinner and then met for the afternoon business meeting. We acknowledged our ancestors’ superior stamina and held our reenactment the day before the 2015 annual meeting. We started with lunch – and ended with the roll call that took an hour and a half to complete. Other concessions to the 21st century: Snowbirds sent email messages, not letters, and we read from the church directory, not its aging, heavy roll book.  Join us for the monthly events culminating with our Open House and Banquet, Sept. 20, 2015.
Jan. 17 – Noon - Roll Call & Hymn sing Feb. 18 – 7 p.m. Ash Wednesday service March 7 – Afternoon recital in memory of Rev. David Hess. March 15 – 2 p.m. The Henrietta Historical Society visits for presentation on Elizabeth McFarlane Memorial Class. April 18 – Choral Festival May 10 - During Sunday worship, Mama Emile, the story of the late Emily Keyes's life as a missionary in Africa will be presented in a readers' theater using her own words from her poems and formal and informal letters home from the field. June 14 – Sunday School Picnic at Martin Road Park following worship July (Date TBD) – Ice Cream Social with neighbor churches August – Creation of Time Capsule (photos, stories, etc.) Sept. 20 – Open House/banquet celebration. The Bicentennial calendar of events has been posted on the Bicentennial Page. Keep watching for updates! You can also enjoy our history unfold on the Our History page.  An old-fashioned roll call meeting will be held at noon Saturday, Jan. 17 at the church. The afternoon will begin with a lunch of subs, homemade soups, and brownies, with the roll call to follow. A roll call really is a fellowship event that improves with attendance, so please come.
In our church's past, the annual church meeting was a daylong event that started with a roll call meeting. (Dinner followed and then the actual business meeting.) The roll call meeting was meant to call all members together and give them an opportunity to encourage and exhort their fellow believers. The clerks's roll was called, and as each person's name was read, that person would stand. They could pray, testify, read a passage of scripture, or request the singing of a hymn. Absent members would send their greetings by letter to be as present as possible. We will read from the church directory, so please be present when your name is called. Share a song, a prayer, a verse, or a testimony with the congregation. (Remember how much we loved singing hymns that Sunday Rev. Bill Reynolds let us select them?) Dear snowbirds, please send us greetings to be read aloud. We miss you and would love to hear a warm word from you. (Wind chill factor is minus 20 as I write.) Just drop us a lines by return email. Hopefully, the roll call will unite our hearts and prepare us for the annual meeting the next day, Sunday, January 18. Thank you for marking your calendars! We so look forward to seeing you. |
