Dear Beloved of God,
Your Session held a working retreat on Saturday, March 19, led by our guest Dr. Dru Kemp. This was a day to help the Session members connect with each other and begin thinking about the church's future. No official actions were taken. As part of the retreat, we took time to express our feelings and thoughts about the difficult events of the past year. We received a grant from Mid-Kentucky Presbytery to cover the cost of the retreat.
Dr. Kemp is the Deacon in Residence with the Episcopal Diocese of Louisville and a clinical social worker in private practice. She led us in conversations about family and congregational systems, hopes and concerns, and reconciliation.
Family systems psychotherapy focuses on the family as an emotional unit. People are influenced by their families, but each person's reactivity to stress and anxiety affects their entire family. Congregations work the same way. To understand how a congregation works, one considers the congregation as an organism and each member a cell of the organism. Every time a person enters or leaves the system, the whole system changes.
Understanding systems theory helps us understand ourselves and how we function as a church. The Session will explore these concepts as we discern ways to help the congregation heal.
The Session held its regular stated meeting the following day. Our primary business was review of the annual report and election of corporation officers.
Individual committee and group reports were submitted to the church office. The Session reviewed these excluding two that had not been sent in. Edits were discussed. Erin and Peggy will work on a final version of the annual report for the Session to approve before it is saved as a pdf file and shared with the congregation. The annual congregational meeting will be on May 1st. Plans for the meeting will be made after the Session hears new recommendations from the Re-Opening Task Force.
The Session voted to recommend the following elders as new officers of the corporation:
President: Lucy Steilberg
Vice-President: Claudia Foulkes
Treasurer: Jack Marcum
Secretary: Polly Cushman
Directors: Doug Yeager, Marsha Berry, Harrie Buecker
Other business covered in this meeting:
- Approved a request from Amy Linfield to be taken off the roll. She and her husband now live in Colorado Springs.
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Discussed need to elect members to the Nominating Committee so that the congregation can elect them at the May 1st congregational meeting. Tabled until April meeting.
- Need to move the April committee and Session meetings because of Holy Week. Peggy will send out new dates.
Peace,
Peggy
CORRECTION: I misspoke about my study leave in worship last Sunday. I will be gone Monday, March 28 – Monday, April 4. Rev. Nancy Troy will be preaching on April 3.
