The vote for elders included a tie, leaving us with six. Nathan Myers was one of those six, but after further reflection, he decided to withdraw. The five remaining elders are Thurman Allen, Angie Ferrell, Amanda McLaughlin, Laura McNeel and Joshua Stoxen. There will be a time of consecration for them during the Sunday gathering on Jan. 8. Thank you to all those who prayerfully participated in this process. May we all be in prayer for what God has in store for our church and for our community in the year ahead!

The following people have agreed to be candidates for eldership and will appear on the ballot for this Sunday’s vote:

• Thurman Allen
• Matt Dawson
• Jeremy Eyre
• Angie Ferrell
• Kenny Havens
• Mandy McLaughlin
• Laura McNeel
• Nathan Myers
• Josh Stoxen

On Sunday, members will each vote for five of these candidates. Please spend some time prayerfully considering those who have decided to put their names forward. Click here to review the role that elders will play in our church.

The vote will take place immediately following the gathering on Sunday. Since Tom and Natasha are not candidates, they will facilitate the voting and the counting of the votes. If you are a member and are unable to attend this Sunday, please vote in absentia by emailing your vote to vcelders@gmail.com before noon on Sunday.

Please join us at 5pm this Sunday, Dec. 18, to sing carols in our neighborhood. A good singing voice is not required! We will meet up on the piazza of St. Elizabeth’s. There will be soup, bread and cookies at the home of Drew Abbott afterwards.

Building on the work that has already been done, we are reforming a team to explore details for the different options proposed for St. Elizabeth’s going forward. The first meeting will be this Thursday, Dec 15, at 7pm in the Speckled Bird. If you are interested in serving on this team, please join us!

We are happy to report that as of this writing, 40 adults have committed to be members of VC. In many ways this feels like a harvest after the long growing season of the Discernment Process, and we are very encouraged. This Sunday, Dec. 11, there will be an official welcoming of members as part of our gathering.

We have also received nominations of 20 different people to serve as elders for our church body. This is a testament to the leadership gifts that are evident among us. Those who have been nominated will be receiving a letter with questions to prayerfully consider as they decide whether to accept their nomination. We are asking nominees to decide by next Tuesday, Dec. 13, and to communicate those decisions to a member of the Discernment Team (Natasha, Laura, Nathan, Josh, or Tom). If more than five people accept, there will be a vote after our gathering on Sunday, Dec. 18 to choose five of the nominees. Names will be made available ahead of time, so that people have the opportunity to prayerfully consider the nominees and vote in absentia if they cannot make it to the Sunday gathering.