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Super Sunday 2025
It’s gonna be an amazing Sunday for at least a couple of reasons: First, a bunch of us Americans will gather together to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX (aka 59 for non Romans : ) While the Chiefs will be trying to win an unprecedented 3rd consecutive Superbowl, I’m more excited for an entirely different reason – our annual congregational meeting!
This year’s meeting will contain unprecedented good news during the budget presentation. Last year, we approved a budget with a forecast of $3.3 million in receipts. It turns out that as a result of the incredible response to our Hearts Ablaze Initiative, we received more than $5.1 million in tithes and offerings. Amazing! Thanks be to God! We may have turned 75 years old as a church, but we are going to enter a season where we can be newly responsive and flexible to the visions that the Holy Spirit is providing.
This Sunday’s Congregational Meeting is really a family meeting of sorts: it’s for all the sisters and brothers of the Elmhurst CRC community to talk about the business of the church. While we won’t be deciding where we should go on summer vacation (though that sounds amazing right now) or whether or not to adjust our dietary habits (awkward), we will be discussing and deciding some significant matters:
First, we’ll vote on and elect four new Elders and four new Deacons. The family process for this is wonderfully creative at ECRC. Of the eight candidates, the top six vote-getters—all anonymous—will have their names placed in a basket. After a moment of prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, four names will then be drawn from the basket for both Elder and Deacon and are thus chosen to serve. I love this hybrid method of voting, which seeks to honor the will of the family/congregation and the mystery of the Holy Spirit.
Second, we’ll hear short reports from the chairpersons of the Elders, Deacons, and Senior Leadership Team (SLT), as well as from the two pastors. These reports are meant to update the family on the most significant work that our leaders have been involved with over the past year. It’s like sharing an update of how your day went and is an opportunity for all of us to wonder, “How is the family really doing?”
Third, we’ll receive an accounting of our family finances from our treasurer, Bastiaan van den Berg. Bastiaan will highlight some of the good news from 2024, and also present a plan for how the family finances will work in 2025 as we eliminate our remaining debt and begin to stretch into new ministries and opportunities. There is room for questions, clarifications, and feedback on this. Key to this moment’s success is asking whether our shared financial commitments align with the values that we profess to share together.
My prayer in advance is that there will be a good spirit in the room. I do believe that the Holy Spirit does some of its best work in moments like this. While we typically credit the Holy Spirit with moving through inspiration and even improvisation (as a musician, I love this), the Spirit is equally generous through the good gifts of administration and planning.
This will all happen at 11:15 am on Sunday following quickly on the heels of the 10:00 am worship service. You can click HERE to access the materials for the meeting. If you can’t be there in person, a Livestream option will also be available.
Blessings to you on this Super Sunday,
- Pastor Gregg