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CCC NewsNotes October 15, 2001 Amidst All Our Worries, Remember To Trust God, CCC Meets To Ask, "Where Do We Go Next?", Church Boards Organize All-Member Visitation, Coming Up At CCC, News Notes Deadlines, CCC Staff Amidst All Our Worries, Remember To Trust God Notes From the "Pig Pen" It is hard to sleep at night these days; we have so many worries. We worry about our health, our childrens' futures, our investments, our leaky roofs. As citizens of local, national and global communities, we worry about poverty, hunger, inequality, and now, terrorism and war. As stewards of the church, we all feel responsible for even more. We want the children of the church to have positive experiences, we need to take care of the retreat house, we support the causes of social justice and peace, we build a new church home, we pay light bills and salaries. More things to worry about. But Luke reminds us of Jesus' words: Remember the lilies of the fields. God takes care of these; God will take care of you. In fact, the theme of Luke 12 is do not worry. The phrase is repeated over and over in various ways. Those words of comfort, "fear not," are easily ignored in these troubled times. Our church is going through a remarkable time of growth and building. Because we want the best for the church, as we want the best for our families and our world, we worry because so much can go wrong. If we can remember Luke's story of Jesus saying, "do not worry," and "fear not," we may sleep better having faith that things will work out. All church members are stewards; it is our church and our responsibility. But God gave us lilies outside the pig pen. We can give back our time, talent, treasure and trust. Rebecca Reviere, Board of Stewardship CCC Meets To Ask, "Where Do We Go Next?" At a special congregational meeting on Sun., Oct. 14, Moderator Rick Brush outlined an ambitious agenda of construction, staff changes and fundraising that lie ahead in coming years for CCC. Expanding the church's membership, he said, was essential to accomplishing those goals. "We really want to be a bigger church," he told about 100 members who attended the post-worship meeting. "What do we need to do to make that happen? We need to make growth a priority for everybody." Reports from other church members highlighted the changes that are coming. Dave Ackerman, chair of the Board of Trustees, said that in a couple years, CCC will be obligated to pay $181,000 in annual loan repayments to members and the UCC Cornerstone Fund. The church faces a $30,000 deficit in the current fiscal year. In good financial news, pledges to the Keystones Campaign now number 265, with $2.23 million pledged. Also, member David Bobbitt reported that the Silent Auction fundraiser on Sat., Oct. 13 at Bethesda's Ratner Museum raised more than $8,000 for Keystones. A few months after CCC moves back into its renovated building in the spring of 2002, church members must begin a comprehensive staff review. Linda Carder, the associate minister, and Dale Ostrander, director of programming for older adults, are scheduled to leave CCC in early 2004. At the meeting, members suggested ways to solicit broad participation, including the creation of a task force, small group discussions and a churchwide planning day. "This is the beginning of a journey for all of us," said Brush. Susan DeFord, News Notes editor Church Boards Organize All-Member Visitation The CCC Executive Council, the Board of Deacons, the Board of Outreach & Engagement and the Board for Church Life are sponsoring an all-church membership visitation this fall. The success of this effort depends on the willingness of CCC members to make calls on only five other fellow members. The three of us representing the boards mentioned above will recruit 15 members. Those 15 will enlist another 75. They in turn will visit 375 more. Each member, or team, will make five calls or less. Our goal is to become better acquainted with one another and, in the process, to become a closer, more caring congregation. The events of recent weeks call for us to be together in the Spirit as we await the return to our new building. Please say yes to joining us in this effort to build a more caring community. Together we will accomplish the goal! Call Bud Dennie (301) 460-4379, Ruth Erk (301) 572-2156, or John Potts (301) 879-7894 if you would like more information. Ruth Erk for the Church Boards
PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for the Nov. 1 issue is Thursday, Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. News Notes editor -- Susan DeFord (301) 649-3093, or sjdkjk@erols.com The Rev. Jim Todhunter, senior minister; the Rev. Linda Carder, assoc. minister; John Touchton, director of music; the Rev. Dale Ostrander, director of programming for older adults; Toby Ratcliffe, church school coordinator; Richard Meyer, property administrator; Ruth Avery, office administrator. |