Grace Church Annual Membership Meeting
2nd Sunday after Trinity Sunday, June 25th 2016, after the service at about 12:15
Old Catholic Church, Witte de Withstraat 2, Groningen
Join us on June 25th after the service at 12:15 at the Old Catholic Church, Witte de Withstraat 2, Groningen, as we hear about what’s been going on in the past year, give thanks and celebrate, share the fruits of the recent Mission Action Planning process we have started, and reflect and pray together for Grace Church’s life and growth in the coming year(s). For the Chaplain’s Report, Treasurer’s Report, and other papers, see the Members’ Lounge page, found under the ‘Community’ tab on this site.
Grace Church is committed to spiritual growth, care, outreach and ministry. In all these areas, we need all the Lord’s inspiration, guidance, and motivation. Please pray that we continue to grow, both in number and in spiritual depth and maturity, in faith, love and hope, and wisdom about our vocation as a distinctive international Christian community of Anglican expression, which is part of the universal Body of Christ.
Elections: Our Grace Leadership Team, currently composed of Heather Smit, Hendrik Timmer, Janita Ebeke-Stoffer, Phil Monsbourgh, Dragos Stefanescu, and Josue Almansa (plus the Chaplain), has been working on supporting and developing various areas of ministry and outreach in the past year. Heather and Hendrik, who have made great contributions to our Team, need to step down this year, so at our Annual Meeting, we’ll need to elect 2 new lay members to our 7-person team.
Many of our regular members, who are on the ‘electoral roll’*, are qualified to be on the Leadership Team. But here are some particular qualities we look for:
- Is a baptized Christian, not brand-new to the faith (1 Tim 3:6), and has been a regular member of Grace Church Groningen for at least 6 months
- Is and will continue to be faithful in our worship and church life, and expects to be based in Groningen for at least the coming year (Leadership Team terms are typically 3-years long, but as needed, Team members can step down when they need to.)
- Makes discipleship in Christ (spiritual growth, service and witness) a priority in life
- Has a heart for healthy church growth, and is keen to play a role in facilitating it
- Is committed to collaborative, servant leadership, following Christ’s example
- Being an Anglican Christian is not required, but willingness to work within the broad and pluriform Anglican expression of church is.
Please prayerfully consider whether you, or another Grace member, ought to offer to serve our church in this way. Helping nurture and oversee a church is a noble task! (cf 1 Tim 3:1)
Nominations: Nominees for election and those who nominate them need to be on our electoral roll*. Please send names of those you’d like to nominate, along with your own name and the name of another who has also agreed to nominate the nominee, to the Secretary, Phil Monsbourgh (secretary@gracechurchgroningen.com), copied to the Chaplain, Sam Van Leer (chaplaingracechurchgn@gmail.com).
Sample Nomination Form:
| Nominee (first & last name) for election to Grace Leadership Team | Proposed by (first & last name) | Seconded by (first & last name): |
Please do join us on 25 June, at the Old Catholic Church in Groningen, for both the service and the Annual Meeting, to celebrate the life of Grace Church and to look ahead, to elect 2 Leadership Team members, and to enjoy fellowship!
Yours in Christ, The Revd Sam Van Leer, Chaplain
*An electoral roll member is simply someone who is qualified to elect or stand for a position on the council of our church, known as the ‘Grace Leadership Team’. To be on the electoral roll, a person need be a baptized Christian who is either Anglican, or a member of a church in communion, or has worshiped regularly at Grace Church for at least 6 months. For the current electoral roll list, see the Members’ Area (Lounge) of the Grace Church website: http://gracechurchgroningen.com/members-lounge/