Stuff from DMH

Hope you are having a great week.  Here is what I’ve been up to:

Vestry Meeting

On Tuesday, our vestry met for the last time with the class of 2012.  We are all looking forward to the outcome of the vestry election on Sunday and we will all sorely miss Logan, Anthony, and Tom as they roll off the team.

Did you know that we have begun posting public minutes from our monthly vestry meetings?  If you log into your CCB account and click on ‘entire church group’ on the right hand side, you will find stuff that is posted for the consumption of everyone in our church–  messages I have emailed, upcoming events, and files.  In the files tab are public vestry minutes–  a great resource for you to know what vestry is discussing and deciding.

On Tuesday we talked about:

• the election of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
• dates for the annual vestry retreat [Jan 11-12, 2013]
• October financials and how we are providing oversight for both an operating budget and a facility budget
• a meeting we had with the Arlington Zoning Administrator and the importance of Restoration being pro-active in its self-policing of parking policy.  That is–  park in our lot or at the Washington-Lee lot and no where else.
• An update from the Long Range Facility Team about our design and its cost.  We have much to be thankful for and we will be giving more information after Thanksgiving.  Things are going very well with Franck and Lohsen.  Restoration will be making another presentation to the Cherrydale Citizens Association on November 28.
• April 7, 2013.  We are aiming for this date as our first service all together at Little Falls Presbyterian.  Things are still murky about exact construction timeline, but this date feels reasonable and allows us to start planning and preparing.  It is the first Sunday after Easter [March 31].
• We voted to give our Christmas Eve offering to the Culmore Clinic in Bailey’s Crossroads.  Hope you will worship with us on Dec 24 at 3:30, 5:30, or 9 and be generous to this great medical ministry.

I am very thankful for this great team of elders who lead and watch over our church.

Planning for this weekend

I have been greatly challenged by our series on healthy relationships.  I love all the discussions I am hearing about in small groups.  I know that the preachers have said that we are not going to tell you what we are talking about each week because we want you to care about ALL of the relationships in our church and not just yours…  But I’m going to tell you about the last 2 Sundays.  I will be preaching about sex, prayer, and conflict.  Specifically in the context of marriage.  We keep middle schoolers and high schoolers in the service for the sermon, so I want you to know that I will be aware of their presence.  But with topics that are so emotionally-charged and attendant with pain, I wanted you to know what to expect and to be able to prepare accordingly.  Feel free to reach out to me with questions or concerns between now and Sunday.

Bake Sale, Advent Decorating, vestry election…

While I have you, don’t forget about the bake sale that the youth are doing to raise money for new toilets.  Bring cash.  They are making delicious delectables.

And if you are interested in helping to decorate the church for Advent, make sure you show up at 6:30pm on Sunday for the conversation.

And don’t forget to vote…

I love this church.

-David