Annual Meeting

​Yesterday was the Saint David’s annual meeting, my ninth, and the wonderful fact is, I enjoyed it.
 
To prepare, we gathered reports from as many of our ministries as we can. Putting together the booklet of reports is hard work—thanks to Denise for doing that for us! But once again, I am proud of the result. The reports demonstrate just how much we do, and how many people participate in doing it.
 
I also enjoy the opportunity to reflect on what God may be calling us to do in the year ahead. Some years I have had a hard time coming up with new ideas. But this year that was no problem. We have just begun our veterans lunches. Deacon Terry Hurlbut has just begun his ministry with us. We are in the process of starting a prison Bible study and a yoga class. We are planning for our first-ever auction. We are talking about using some of our land for a garden that could become part of our outreach. I don’t know what else the year might bring, but I am thrilled at the level of creativity, energy, and faithfulness among the people of Saint David’s.
 
The meeting itself was good-spirited. Our elections were smooth, and I am thrilled about our 2020 leadership team. The vestry had decided to increase my weekly hours, which increases our expenses, which gave us my first-ever deficit budget. People took that in stride and seemed prepared to step out in faith. The increase may or may not happen—it won’t take effect for several months at the earliest because of my own commitments. But I was gratified at the confidence and hope expressed.
 
In recent years, we have offered a small token of gratitude to a couple of members at each meeting. This year we thanked Susan Amabile and Virginia Ventulett for all they do. Both seemed surprised at the recognition. No one else was because they certainly do a lot!
 
For the first time, we added a children’s program during the meeting, which was also a great success. The children enjoyed themselves, their parents could join the meeting, and I got to take home a little home-made pizza! Thinking about pizza reminds me that, as always, we had outstanding food.
 
Literally annual meeting is a business meeting, and we did the business we needed to do. But I came away inspired by the people of Saint David’s and energized for the new year. How many business meetings do that?!?!