The Amalgamation Working Committee met on November 5th and finalized the Vision Proposal for discussion on November 25th and Motion to be voted on at congregational meetings on December 9th. The Vision Proposal is now available to all congregational members. Please plan to attend the Town Hall Meeting on November 25th and on December 9th to vote on the Motion included in the materials which are now available by email or handout.
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The Amalgamation Working Committee met on October 22 and reworked the Vision Proposal. Delegates worked hard and each of the congregational teams made major contributions to the report.
Our next meeting is November 5 at Faith Lutheran at which time the Vision Proposal will be finalized and distributed to the congregations in advance of the Town Hall meetings which will take place on Sunday, November 25. The vote of intent to continue toward amalgamation will take place on December 9 in each congregation. Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement during this time of discernment and commitment. On October 4, the Amalgamation Working Committee met with the consultants at St. John’s. We were delighted to have Bishop Michael Pryse as our guest, who, as always, gives wise and informed counsel. At this meeting the consultants provided us with a draft proposal for amalgamation based on the findings from our May and June meetings plus our September 16th meeting. All of the issues, concerns and questions from September 16th were discussed as we went through the draft document. The result? Hold tight! The Committee will receive a second draft for our next meeting on October 22nd which will contain a more streamlined plan. We will have an initial amalgamation plan and procedure for our congregations to consider at the Town Hall meetings on Sunday, November 25th.
Amalgamation Committee Meetings:
Thursday, October 4 - St. John’s, 7 pm Monday, October 22 - Transfiguration, 7 pm Monday, November 5 - Faith, 7 pm Other important dates: November 18 - distribute resolution and other materials to congregations by this date November 25 - Town Hall meetings at all congregations December 9 - vote on amalgamation at all congregations We have talked a lot about amalgamation over the past six months. Thanks for joining the conversation. Every input is important and is being heard!
The Amalgamation Working Group feels that we are now at a stage when we need to spell out what the mission of an amalgamated church will look like. Will we focus on family and youth, millennial, elderly or newcomers? Will we have a community garden or a community kitchen and expand our food ministries? Will we ... well, there are a thousand things we could do, but we can't do them all. So, this coming Sunday, September 16 is the time to start talking about how we want to be "In Mission for Others" in a new, exciting way. And we need to hear your fresh ideas. We need to see your vision and feel your passion. We are looking forward to our conversation at St John's on Sunday September 16th after service and hope to see many of our younger members as well. Lunch at 01:00 pm - please bring your own, and we will start visioning together at 01:30 pm. Between May 26 and June 10 members of Faith, Grace, St. John’s, and Transfiguration congregations gathered to share their hopes and ideas for the future. There was a very high level of participation in this Bible study-based amalgamation exploration process in each of the 4 congregations. Inspired by the picture of the early church as described in Acts 2:41-47, people took the opportunity to think about the future of Lutheran ministry and mission in Hamilton. Our facilitators Janet Marshall and Ron Ewart collected the feedback and new ideas received at these group discussions and wrote up the attached summary. Today, the Amalgamation Working Group shares the summary with you as it represents your voice in the amalgamation process. Please take some time to read the attached. You might recognise your own input! We also invite “feedback on the feedback.” Please let us know, preferably in writing, which of the new ideas you like in particular or if someone else’s comment resonates with you. Please submit your feedback to any of your congregational delegates by August 15. All feedback will be submitted to Janet and Ron who will then present it to us at a meeting scheduled for Sunday, September 16 at 1:30 pm at St. John’s. If you have any questions, please speak with a delegate or your pastor. Thank you for being part of the discussions in May and June and for your feedback on this summary. What you have to say is very important for the amalgamation process. While there were groups discussing each of the 6 ministry categories, the most interest was in categories of (a) forming and sustaining community within the church, (b) outreach and social justice, and (c) evangelism: inviting, welcoming and including people into the church. Worship, fellowship and pastoral care, and teaching and learning garnered the least interest for different reasons. • For worship, there was a sense was that both what was happening now was meeting the needs of your current members well. People are satisfied. This being said, there was strong recognition that you need to diversify worship and music if you are to grow. • People generally feel that you are doing pastoral care well. • For teaching and learning, there is a sense that this mostly happens in worship. Others see that learning happens in all activities. So, there is a sense that this ministry doesn’t have a lot of definition and is an area of potential development. For details please read the document bellow.
A big thank you to all those who came out to the amalgamation discussion meetings at all four congregations! It was record attendance at every meeting in every congregation! The Amalgamation Working Committee (AWC) met with the consultants on June 11th and received feedback from the People of God Discussions (these are the ones you participated in) and the Joint Council Retreat. We expect a report from our consultants in early July that will give us some idea of common threads which could then become the vision and ministry of the new amalgamated congregation.
We will be planning some social activities over the summer and fall and perhaps some shared worship services over the summer. Members of the AWC will also be visiting other churches in the summer (other than Lutheran) to explore other forms of worship. All members are invited to do the same when they are on vacation and report back on what they liked about the worship they attended and what might fit with our amalgamation. The AWC will meet again on Monday, July 16th (7pm) at Transfiguration and then again on Sunday, September 16th (1pm) at St. John’s to discuss the report. Alternate members of AWC are invited to both meetings. The joined council meeting held at Faith on Saturday, June 2, 2018 discussed SWOT (Strengths weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of each congregation and the future amalgamated congregation. You may find the discussion guide here.)
At the May 7th meeting, four congregational members joined Pastor Chun for prayer during the meeting proceedings. At this meeting, the Amalgamation Working Committee discussed the handout “Best Hopes, Ideas, concerns for the Future” which is a compilation of all the comments gathered from the May 6th event and organized topically. This document was created by Janet Marshall and Ron Ewart, our facilitators who were present at the service on May 6th and led the discussions afterwards. You will find this document posted on the amalgamation bulletin board at your church. You will also find a list of all the meetings scheduled at the four congregations being held between May 26 - June 10. Please plan to attend one of these very important meetings so that your voice can be heacrd. If you cannot attend a meeting time scheduled with your congregation, you are more than welcome to attend a meeting at another congregation. The Amalgamation Working Committee meets again on Monday, June 11th at Faith at 7 pm. People of God Discussion: CONSIDERING OUR FUTURE Where is God calling us? (Each session will be approximately 90 minutes. Attend at your own church or come along to another. Your choice.)
All sessions will be facilitated by our consultants Janet Marshall and Ron Ewart. The results will be published for all to read. (you may find the material for the discussion below)
The Amalgamation Working Committee was very excited about the Launch Event on May 6th! The service was well organized, the sermon creative and encouraging, the music inspiring and the sanctuary beautifully decorated with the four banners from our joint anniversary celebration in 2015. Each congregation received a candle with the amalgamation logo on it to use in their worship services over the next months. There were 175 enthusiastic members from the four congregations in attendance. Following a light lunch and fellowship, over 100 people stayed for the first round of amalgamation discussions. Thank you to everyone who helped plan and organize the event and to all those working behind the scenes.
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Our JourneyHere you can find all the congregational communication update from the amalgamation working committee (previous task group). If you have any question or comment please use the contact form by clicking the "contact" tag on the top right of this page. Archives
June 2019
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