11/14/21 Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting

Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting will take place on November 14. We will be: 1) Electing four new Council Members for a 3-year term. 2) Approving the 2022 Church Budget.

Just as we did last year, with the threat of COVID-19 and in order to practice social distancing, we will be conducting our Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, November 8 in a different manner. According to our Church Bylaws, proxies and absentee ballots are not permissible for this meeting so we have decided to be a little creative in order to meet safely to conduct the business of the congregation. We have decided that we will still have our Congregational Meeting on November 14, but NOT during the Sunday School hour and NOT in Fellowship Hall.

Instead, our meeting will take place at both the Early and Late Services that day during the worship service. At the designated time during the service, we will take 5-10 minutes to complete the voting process to elect new council members and to approve a budget for 2022. In order to make this happen, you have a little homework on your part to complete before the meeting. You have a list of the eight Council nominees as part of this bulletin (electing four), and you will receive the nominees again, as well as the budget as part of the November Messenger, as in years past. However, to vote on the budget, is a little more of a challenge since we will not be able to handle discussions as part of the congregational meeting. Along with the budget you will receive a sheet explaining the basic changes to next year’s budget compared to this year’s budget. If you have any questions or comments, you are asked to contact Diane Richardson, our church treasurer, and she will go over your budget questions, before the Congregational Meeting. Since the budget has already gone through the Support Committee and the Church Council, and next year’s proposed budget is slightly different from this year’s, we will be voting to approve the church budget with a simple yes or no answer as part of the meeting. In the unlikely event, that there happens to be a tie in the voting process for new council members, we will have a tie breaker vote the following Sunday on November 21. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this time of COVID-19. Our goal is to take care of the business of the congregation in an efficient and safe manner. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Pastor Fischer.