A Special Congregational Meeting is called for Sunday, May 5, 2019, to elect Elders and Deacons for the Class of 2022, to elect a Nominating Committee, to amend the WPC Congregational Manual, and for other business purposes. The meeting will take place immediately after the 11:00 AM worship service, which will be shortened to accommodate the meeting.This year’s Nominating Committee, co-chaired by Candace Spence and Will Hochstetler, will present the slate of nominees for new members of the Session, the Board of Deacons, and next year’s Nominating Committee. The new members will assume their duties in mid-June.

The proposed amendment to the Congregational Manual would change the date of the Annual Congregational Meeting from the third to the fourth Sunday in January. Read more . . .

. . . At its February meeting, the Session approved the following motion: That Session propose to the Congregation, in accord with Section XI of the Congregational Manual (2013), an amendment to Section III of the Manual to read: “The Annual Meeting of the Congregation shall be called by the Session and will ordinarily be held on the fourth Sunday of January.” This date change would allow much-needed additional time between the January Session meeting (second Sunday of January) and the Congregational Meeting for the preparation of the financial and other reports that are submitted to the congregation. In recent years, the Stewardship Campaign has extended well into December, delaying Session’s approval of an Operating Budget until its January meeting. Allowing only one week between the Session and the Congregational Meeting has created a difficult and stressful “crunch time” for our Staff and Session Elders—especially those involved with church finances. Adding another week in between the two meetings would go a long way to alleviating this situation.

Therefore, the question presented for congregational vote will be: Shall Section III of the WPC Congregational Manual be amended to read: “The Annual Meeting of the Congregation shall be called by the Session and will ordinarily be held on the fourth Sunday of January”?
Please come to the meeting! Thank you—Nadine Roddy, Stated Clerk of Session 2018-19

Relevant Document Provisions

From the WPC Congregational Manual:

III. Meetings of the Congregation (G-1.0501)

The Annual Meeting of the Congregation shall be called by the Session and will ordinarily be held on the third Sunday of January. At that meeting, the following business may be transacted:

1. Annual Reports
2. Election of Church Nominating Committee
3. Election of Ruling Elders and/or Deacons
4. Election of Trustees
5. Calling a Pastor, co-Pastor or associate Pastor
6. Changing existing pastoral relationships by reviewing and approving (or declining to approve) changes to the terms of the call for the Installed Pastor(s).
7. Receipt of the church’s annual budget for informational purposes.

XI. Amendments to the Congregational Rules

These Rules may be amended by a majority vote of the members present and voting, providing that the proposed changes shall have been distributed at the same time as the call of the meeting at which the changes are voted upon.
From the Book of Order (2017-19):

G-1.0501 Annual and Special Meetings

The congregation shall hold an annual meeting and may hold special meetings as
necessary, for any or all of the purposes appropriate for congregational consideration.
The business to be transacted at special meetings shall be limited to items specifically
listed in the call for the meeting.

All active members of the congregation present at either annual or special meetings
are entitled to vote. Congregations shall provide by rule the quorum necessary to conduct
business.

The local IMPACT (Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together) is a coalition of about 25 churches representing the three primary faith communities here. Westminster has been a participant for IMPACT’s entire 11 years. Indeed, former pastor Jim Baker helped found the group with other pastors. The organization works for local improvement of social justice, addressing systemic problems in our community, going beyond acts of mercy. Over the years, the focus has been on issues of pre-K access in the public schools, expanded bus routes to under-served areas, a dental clinic for those without health insurance, job training programs, drug rehabilitation center for women, housing for homeless and, lately, a better inventory of affordable housing in the city and county. IMPACT can take credit for accomplishing much in these areas.

Westminster has been a steady financial contributor to IMPACT, but our personal participation has waned lately, due to lots of reasons, including frankly some dissatisfaction with IMPACT’s confrontational style with local policy makers. Much of that style has abated,, but IMPACT still understands that forging justice is hard work, and requires persistent advocacy. I remain committed to the organization for its steadfast attention to problems in our community, and for its interfaith/interracial composition.

IMPACT’s yearly calendar involves issue identification in the fall, a period of research on the matter and meetings with local officials, culminating with a Nehemiah Action, at which IMPACT congregations hope to turn out more than 1000 people in support of justice. The name is homage to the prophet Nehemiah who spoke truth to power amid injustice of the time. This year’s action is at MLK Performing Arts Center on April 11, with the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. We’ll be hearing updates on the difficult issues surrounding affordable housing, and pressing for a better governmental response. Join us, and stand up for social justice. Please see me for further information.

Steve Wilson

We hope you were able to participate in the interactive quiz (“How Much Do You Know About How To Solve Global Warming”) offered in this section in the February 14 edition of the church newsletter.
As we seek ways to care for God’s creation, we wanted to focus on plastics for a minute in this edition. The world produces more than 300 million tons of plastic each year and it is estimated that up to 91% of the plastic is not recycled, threatening the environment and poisoning animals. As a community, I’m confident that our recycling record is better, however, there are changes coming to the McIntire Recycling Center starting July 1 and I suspect to residential recycling services as well. Because of the lack of a market for some recycled materials the MRC will no longer accept plastics with a recycling designation of ♻️ 3 to 7. This also includes plastic bags, PVC pipe, and automotive containers.
Effective immediately, even though the McIntyre recycling center will accept these items until July 1, they will be shipped to Raleigh, where they will be placed into a landfill. This is not the best option for this beautiful earth that God has given us.
What can we do?
1) Refrain from buying anything plastic that is not designated in the 1 to 2 ♻️ category.
2) Refrain from using any “one use” product (i.e., straws, plastic utensils, plastic bags, paper plates and cups, etc.)
The Green Team