Greetings All,
Last week was the Feast of St Matthew, a time to celebrate our Congregation’s namesake. Pastor Eric mentioned it from the Pulpit at a service with in-person worshippers. But of course, the first Celebration is that Pastor Trozzo assumed the mantle as our Pastor on September 1st.
One major event was that we safely (over Zoom) held our postponed June Congregation Meeting. Here are the highlights:
- Tom Cassel summarized the ongoing dealings in selling our interests in the property next door, usually known as the Hassinger property. The Congregation gave Council a 6 month permission to consummate a sale. There has been interest, but no commitments. At this meeting the Congregation voted a 12 month extension of permission for Council to sell the property if favorable terms were found.
- In the February meeting we tabled Council’s recommended changes to St. Matthew’s Constitution to keep us in conformity with the ECLA’s Model Constitution and also a bylaw change to name the February Meeting the Annual meeting. The recommendations were brought back to the table and passed. Many thanks to Pete Boal for the time he has devoted to being sure we did this efficiently and properly.
- We elected your president (me) to a second 3 year term on Council.
The Congregation Meeting was also a time to recognize the departure of some senior leaders and thank them, namely: Pete Boal for his work on the Constitution Committee; Olivia Schwarz who is stepping off Council; our Call Committee (Faith Steinfort, Jen Blanford, Max Frable, Barry Grahn, Charlie Lange, Melissa Lestini); and, Lisa Merrill, Fellowship & Congregation Care Ministry. St. Matthew currently has an open position on Council, for this ministry.
We are reopening for in-person worship. While there is a limit on the number who can attend in-person, we have not yet reached it, so if you are comfortable, sign up and come.
September also kicked off a new worship team – the Virtual Team. This group will now work our new video and audio system. The first worship service was Sept. 27, using YouTube for streaming instead of Zoom. Much better audio and video were reported. Thank you to Tom Cassel for honchoing the purchase and setup of the equipment, and also to Ethan Geehr who is heading the AV team. Members of all ages who are interested, talk to Ethan about training and schedule.
September has been a month of flexibility – as we start Sunday School and Christian Education. Confirmation Class and Adult Forum will kick off in October. Read the various new items posted in this Messenger to help keep you up to date.
Stay safe and healthy, both in body and soul,
John O’Meara.