From Pastor Peter
Last Sunday 74 of us gathered at Ilam school for an outdoors service where we did a lot of talking and catching up with people we hadn’t seen for a while, and also did some exploration of Daniel Chapter 6. I’ve heard lots of positive comments – we’re hoping to plan some similar events in coming weeks.
However, I expect that many of you – like me – were holding your breath this morning after hearing the news of the COVID-19 cases in Christchurch. The burning question was – were we going to have to change our plans for the Ilam AGM yet again!
Well, probably that wasn’t the top question on your minds!! It’s inevitable though, isn’t it, that we think immediately of what is going to inconvenience us the most if the rules change – and for me that has to be the planning of our Ilam services each Sunday (which maybe says a lot about the priorities of my life each week J ). The good news (at the time of writing this) is that we remain at Alert Level 2 for now, so we will continue to plan for our Ilam in Groups AGM.
Please plan to join in our AGM this coming Sunday!
It’s generally one of the highlights of each year as we look back and celebrate some of the good news stories from the past year, and then look ahead to our plans for the year to come. This year will look a bit different, however: there won’t be a waffle breakfast, for example, and we’ll be sharing some of the good news stories gradually over the weeks ahead, rather than live on Sunday.
What we WILL be doing this year:
- Voting for a new Governance Team to lead us through the year ahead (you should by now have followed the link to the on-line voting form included in last week’s newsletter and cast your votes for the new team)
- Thanking some people who are stepping back from key roles in the church
- Discussing the plans that Governance are putting forward for 2022 in the form of the draft budget – which you should have seen and perused in detail!
- There may even be a bit of time to start some discussion around the Belonging document – also circulated with last week’s Newsletter
What the AGM will look like
We’re planning to operate with a mixture of small groups and Zoom.
- You will have been invited to join a small group starting at 10.30 – I hope you can make it to be with others! There will be some readings and prayers to start the service/
- Around 11.00 we will then link all the groups together (along with anyone who wasn’t able to get to a group) via Zoom. Rachelle Martin will lead this part of the AGM and help to keep us all engaged together through some of the “business”.
What you need to do
- Make sure that you have read the Annual Report which was sent out 2 weeks ago, along with the draft budget for 2022
- Make sure that you have voted for the new Governance Team members by 10.00 on Sunday morning (online voting link in last week’s Newsletter)
- Plan to attend the small group you have been invited to join
- If you can’t make it to a group, use the Service Sheet (in this Newsletter) at home with your household, then dial into the Zoom meeting at 11.00 (link provided) so that you can join in the large online group.
Hope to see you on Sunday!