Your Downtown Church -- Where Everyone is Welcome
Dear Christ Church Family,
It seems as if the days are flying by. The unpacking is not yet all done, and we are still arranging furniture, but we do feel as if we have finally come home to a city that we love and a people whom we adore!
I wanted to let you all know, we are working hard as a staff to organize me and reorganize the daily workings so that each of our staff is working in an area in which they are the experts in, enjoy working, and can most con-tribute to the growth and stability of our church. They are a dedicated group! I am meeting with each subset of committees and ministry areas as quickly as possible, then the Trustees will meet with me, followed by the Trustees and our new Leadership Development Team.
Now, if you blinked in the months of May to July, as often can be the season when we head north to see family or go on vacation to rejuvenate, you may have missed the fact that the church had a charge conference in May and voted to go to a simpler and much more efficient method of leading than the historic method. While still staying in the guidelines of bare basics that a United Methodist Church must have, I am sure that in time, you will see how efficient this board can be, though right now I have heard from several that the board concept is understood only to a degree. Therefore, I ask for your patience as I meet with people and learn the needs of Christ Church so to help tailor the new Leadership Development Team. Then I will have a church meeting di-rectly after second service by late August, so to set it all out in front of you, answer questions, and even tweak things that we may have not thought of afterwards. It will be an on-going process the rest of 2021 though, pay-ing off in future for us all.
For now, I leave you knowing we are working hard to rejuvenate the youth group, have a block bbq party in September and a church-wide outside service and picnic in late October or early November, etc. We will look over old and new areas for missions to blend what your heart and the needs of our community bring to us to tackle together. We will start talking about missions to Cuba and Argentina, with trips to Argentina once they are sufficiently vaccinated. We have a Visions Task Force that is in the midst of learning about ourselves, our community, and where we are being led by God, which will be brought to you this fall. Services have begun at 9:30am (The Gathering) and 11:15am (Traditional Service), with time for Sunday School and Café Connection in the Courtyard in between, so to know each other, talk about life, introduce ourselves to visitors, etc. We also will be having an audit of the finance books, a detailed look at the line items of the budget so to streamline and plan to live within our means of the interest from investments, rents incoming, and donations as quickly as pos-sible, while also inspecting the building and campus from head to toe, so to make practical decisions and be good stewards of our monies. Can you say BUSY!
It is a blessed and good day at Christ Church, so invite your family, friends, and neighbors to visit, aid us with your talents as you can, and always, please, be in prayer, as we listen for God’s voice to lead us into a day of blossoming once more!
I look forward to many a year with you, as a growing family that works to come to consensus and to love on/with each other and our fellow brothers and sisters of St. Pete!
Blessings to you and yours,
Pastor Dawn Worden
