Session Adopts Good-To-Great Recommendation
by Dr. Russell Sullivan, Pastor
In May of this year, Session established a task force, called “Good-to-Great,” “which will make recommendations about best practices for church growth, leadership, and engagement of members in the life of the congregation.”
Christmas At Pine Street
The members of the Good-to-Great Task Force include Elder Jay Himes (chair), Sue Black, Craig Kegerise, Bob Wilson, and Anne Guenin and Russell Sullivan as staff liaisons. (Amy Chick served until recently.) The task force has pondered and prayed about how structure and management of ministry can lead
6:00 pm - Family Service 5:20pm – music by all-church orchestra 11:00pm -Traditional Candlelight Service with communion
us to greater vitality and stronger ministry. Reading books by seminal thinkers in the field of church renewal, the task force has been stimulated and challenged to ask important questions: What is the role of the governing body of a congregation (the Session)? How should ministry be managed and organized? Does our organizational structure need to change in order to release the dynamic activity of our members into ministry?
One of those writers who has shaped the thinking of the task force is Dan Hotchkiss who wrote an outstanding book,
See Session on page 2
Focus On Bible Study Begins With Archaeology
by Dr. Russell Sullivan, Pastor
Several weeks ago, I shared with you my vision for the renewal of Bible study at Pine Street. The book we revere as Holy Scripture is rooted in an ancient land and people, and to read and study the Bible requires us to know something about the world out of which it came. The first step in this renewal will be to bring to the congregation an archaeologist who can talk to us about the connections between the Bible and the archaeology of ancient Israel.
See Israel on page 4
Continued from page 1
Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership. Dan says:
Many congregations organize essentially the way they did in 1950, with boards and committees dutifully meeting, taking minutes, passing budgets, adopting or defeating motions. Each committee controls all work in its assigned sphere and has to do the work as well. New ideas require many conversations and approvals; old ideas escape serious evaluation. It is a system well designed to resist change, or — to put it differently — preserve tradition.
Dan also believes there is a connection between church growth and the governance of a congregation. He writes:
In time, I started to suspect that outdated, over-complex and inwardfocused structures might be the cause of decline in congregations. As I watched more systematically, I came to believe that often-mentioned trends like “the decline of the Protestant mainline” might have as much to do with governance as with theology. Growing congregations often are the ones that have reformed their structures for governance and ministry, whether they are liberal or conservative in their theology. Even more strikingly, declining congregations across the theological spectrum often share specific organizational patterns. I think those patterns are one factor in their decline — a factor, unlike social and cultural trends, that a congregation can control.
I think Dan is on to something important, and the task force has acted upon his thinking. We want a structure that fosters growth, empowers people, and equips them as disciples to serve. The first step towards that goal is to re-think the role and size of Session.
The primary role of Session is spiritual leadership which includes envisioning the future, engaging in strategic thought, and holding staff and volunteers accountable for managing the ministry of the church. Sessions that accept the mantle of leadership guide their people in the great issues of the day and set policies and directions that fulfill the vision, mission, and values of the congregation. To achieve those ends requires the Session to be smaller. A smaller Session can think more imaginatively and creatively and stay focused on its priorities.
At the November meeting of Session, the Good-to-Great Task Force recommended that the size of Session be reduced from 18 to 12 ruling elders. Session has empowered the Congregational Nominating Committee to figure out how we do that. The Session has called a meeting of the congregation for Sunday, January 11, following the 11:00am service, to vote on this recommendation.
The work of the task force continues with more thinking about the management of the day-to-day operations of the church and about steps to bring more people into ministry and mission. Keep the members and work of the Good-to-Great Task Force in your prayers as they lead us into greater vitality and new insights!
Session Notes
The 2015 budget was approved.
John Van Allen was elected to a one year term as Treasurer.
The purchase of a processional cross was approved.
The chapel will be open on Wednesdays from 11:00am to 1:00pm with a volunteer staff. More information will be forthcoming.
Join us Sunday, December 14 at 4:00pm for the traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols followed by a festive Christmas family style dinner in Fellowship Hall. Sign up for dinner at the Welcome Center. Cost is $19 for adults, $5 for children ages 3 – 12.
Save The Date!
Saturday, March 28, 2015 Glee for DDB!
The University of Pennsylvania Glee Club will present an amazing, fun & rockin’ concert to benefit Downtown Daily Bread. Food, drink, and much more will take place that evening. So, mark your calendars NOW for an evening you won’t want to miss. Support your favorite soup kitchen while enjoying a celebration of music and song! More details coming soon.
We Never Close
by Elaine Strokoff, Executive Director, DDB
The kitchen at Downtown Daily Bread was in a “state of disrepair” from Monday, September 15 through Wednesday, September 17. The sink and stove were pulled out from the wall, the refrigerator was unplugged, and the shelving units floated from one place to another. The drywall in the DDB kitchen had to be removed due to mold and replaced with moisture resistant board. This was a health issue that could no longer be ignored.
When I was originally told that the kitchen would have to be closed for three days for repairs, I just smiled. Silly people, didn’t they know that Downtown Daily Bread never closes? A plan was put into place. Honestly, if one were to see the kitchen torn apart, they would have said without hesitation, “no meals served today.” But, that was never an issue. Pine Street volunteers were asked to make sandwiches for two days’ worth of lunches. An enthusiastic group came together and made 300 bologna and cheese sandwiches. These provided lunches for Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with granny smith apples and graham crackers arrived from Country Meadows Retirement Community. This service is provided weekly by volunteer residents who make bagged lunches for DDB clients to take with them after lunch. It is a community collaboration for which we are very grateful.
As clients entered the building on September 15, 16 and 17, I informed them of the condition of the kitchen and our plan for serving sandwiches instead of the usual hot and hearty meal they’d come to expect. The response was heart warming. Many in the lunch line thanked me for not closing the dining room. Others told me that they knew they could depend on DDB to always be open. Clients said that sandwiches were just fine for a few days and that they were grateful for our “making lemonade out of lemons!”
Trustee Notes
John Van Allen was nominated as Treasurer for 2015.
There were no significant deficiencies on the just completed audit for 2013.
The budgets for 2015 were approved. A small ($396) surplus is projected for the church’s General Fund, however, the budget for DDB projects a significant shortfall. A fund raising effort was discussed.
The lights on the outside of the Boyd building have been repaired.
The Adult Learning Center opened as planned on October 20. Ten students were there for the first evening.
DDB volunteers, although a little unsettled at first, quickly got into the rhythm of serving the
premade lunches. DDB is blessed with a cadre of caring, dedicated, committed volunteers. A total of 309 lunches were served to appreciative DDB clients. Thanks to a creative staff, dedicated volunteers, and a committed group of “sandwich makers,” DDB men and women clients were treated to picnic lunches instead of being turned away. Once again, Downtown Daily Bread lived up to its motto: “We never close!”
Have a wonderful holiday season and go on a picnic!
by George Kunkle
• Brad has purchased three more handicapped signs and now four signs are located on 3rd Street and two signs on Pine Street on Sunday mornings.
• The contractor has finished the repair work on the slate roof and the flashing on the parapet wall over the education wing. A large amount of slate had to be repaired and hopefully all of our leaks are now resolved.
• The contractor will replace the lights in Room 201 in the Boyd Building with modern, energy efficient three tube T8 fixtures. This is the room used as the computer lab by the Adult Learning Center. The current lights are very old and are very energy inefficient; they could not properly illuminate the room and we could no longer obtain replacement parts.
• We will have a new security company, Knight Security, take over the security of the church and Boyd Building beginning December 1.
Israel continued from page 1
I am very pleased to tell you that I have invited Dr. Thomas W. Davis to be our guest lecturer at Pine Street on Saturday, March 7, and Sunday morning, March 8, 2015. On Monday, March 9, he will lecture on the New Testament and archaeology at Messiah College. I am so glad that we are entering into this partnership with Messiah College.
Dr. Davis is a Professor of Archaeology and Biblical Backgrounds at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas. He currently leads the Kourion Urban Space Project, an archaeological investigation of the site of Kourion, Cyprus. Before coming to SWBTS, he directed the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus. Dr. Davis has an extensive history of archaeological excavation in Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt, and in the United States. He is the author of Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology (Oxford, 2004), as well as numerous essays and articles that concern archaeology and biblical studies. Dr. Davis earned his Ph.D. in Oriental Studies—SyroPalestinian Archaeology, at the University of Arizona, under the direction of William G. Dever.
At Pine Street, his series of lectures is entitled Shifting Sands: New Perspectives on Archaeology and the Old Testament
• March 7 - Lecture 1: The Elusive Signature of the Exodus: New Light on an Old Question from the Sinai
• March 7 - Lecture 2: Conquest, Settlement and Kingdom: How a People Became a Kingdom
• March 8 - Lecture 3: The End of the Dream: Assyria, Babylonia and the end of the Kingdoms
• The fourth lecture will take place in the evening on Monday, March 9, at Messiah College.
So save the above dates. Other details will follow soon about times and parking.
Bagels & Belief
Sunday December 7 9:40am in Fellowship Hall Christmas stories w/ Rev. Heather Sigler
News From The Financial Front
by Anne Guenin, Church Administrator
Consecration Sunday Update
It was a great celebration on November 9. Many of you prayerfully considered your estimated giving for 2015 and submitted the Estimate of Giving Card. As a result of this, about 75% of our 2015 revenue goal has been reached. For those who were unable to be present on that day, a letter and card have been mailed to you. Please return the card as soon as possible so that we can enter 2015 with an understanding and expectation of what our giving will be. If you have any questions, please call the church office or email Anne Guenin at aguenin@pinestreet. org.
Your Pledge and the 2014 Budget
As we approach the end of the year, please consider completing your 2014 pledge. If everyone who pledged in 2014 would do this, the Pine Street budget would be balanced. And that would be a great thing! If you have any questions about your giving or your contribution statement, please contact Anne Guenin by calling the church or emailing her at aguenin@pinestreet. org.
Christmas Sing-Along
by Jo Dolbin
