Each year the leaders of our congregation spend a weekend in retreat to consider the health, needs and direction of the congregation, and to pray and plan for the coming year.  Last Friday afternoon the elders and Darren and I met at the Christian Renewal Center near Silver Falls State Park for this retreat.  We spent the evening hashing out the details of my ministry description as Associate Minister, reflecting on possible themes for the 2015-2016 church year and preparing for the arrival of the deacons the next morning.  

    The deacons, new and old, spent part of Saturday morning together getting to know one another on a more spiritual level while our elders discussed some of the core values of leadership in our congregation.  Then after lunch we all sat down together to discuss how to build a good working relationship as leaders and what values and habits this will require of everyone.  We collaborated to finalize our theme for the year and ended the weekend with prayers of thanksgiving to God for the Keizer church.

   It was a very good weekend!  For me it was refreshing to have open, honest conversation about important issues and questions with spiritually mature men.  Our elders genuinely love our church and want to pursue the growth and good of all of our members.  And to top it off, they work together well.  It is clear in being with them that they respect and appreciate one another, they listen to each other, they tell each other the truth, they both lead and submit themselves to one another.  Our elders really take the call to shepherd God’s people seriously, and I am thankful for that!   We have a lot to be thankful to God for in the Keizer church, let’s remember this!  Love you all,  Howard