Road To Revitilization

Today our congregation made a decision to take another step down the road toward the revitalization of the CE building. As we were told, this is not a commitment to a precise set of blueprints or to an exact amount of money. Other steps and future decisions still lie ahead. But it was a big step.

What I found striking was not just the Eleison but the careful process that got us here. The biggest rounds of applause at the meeting were reserved for the long list of folks that did the “in the trenches” committee work. Cam Johnston thanked the committees involved for their hundreds of hours of work. Chair Graham Kneen read out the names of the many volunteers. What this said to me is that administration matters. How many great ideas have floundered on poor administration. Not the case here.

Louis Weeks in a recent Christian Century article, stresses the importance of the administrative side of a church operation. “How meetings are run, how new leaders are apprenticed, how the books are kept, how communication is structured, how events and programs are implemented and evaluated - all of this is crucial to congregational life, but rarely understood as ministry.”

So today we worshipped, shared sandwiches and coffee, and then weighed the reports and recommendations before us. All of this, and perhaps especially the professional and sensitive administration was a profound statement about our community and our ministry.

Peter


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