Mark Taylor

Council of Elders Chair

This has been another year of opportunities for all of us to participate in the life of College Church. Thanks to everyone who has contributed time and money to see our mission move forward. But we can’t help but see this past year through the lens of the coronavirus and the way it has upended so much of our normal activity.

It has been a year and a half since the congregation agreed that we should purchase the Toms-Price building (which we are now calling Crossings). The elders and the pastoral staff and the Capital Campaign Committee are still working on a concrete plan for how the property can best be used for our own ministry purposes. From the outset, we saw this as a strategic purchase for ministry over the next 50 years. Plans are now actively coming together, and we hope to announce specific details soon.

The makeup of the pastoral staff has been quite steady this past year. The biggest change was Diane Jordan’s retirement from her role as director of children’s ministries. Cheryce Berg stepped into those big shoes and is doing a great job in building on the strengths of the past while making plans for the future. Thankfully, Diane agreed to stay on the staff as a halftime director of visitation and care.

Special thanks to Erik Dewar, who has worked hard at creating livestreamed worship services during the period when we were unable to meet together on Sunday mornings.

Thanks to David Dix, Steve Ivester and Bruce Aulie, whose terms on the Council come to an end this year. The Council continually wrestles with complex issues, and these men have helped us guide through rocky shoals.

May God give all of us wisdom and perseverance as we move into the year ahead of us—as a church body and individually.