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So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
-Acts 1:23-26
In one of the most intriguing passages in the Bible, we see how the original disciples chose someone to fill the vacancy left by Judas' departure. It says in Acts, "Then they cast lots . . ." After having two nominations, Joseph and Matthias, they pray for guidance and then they roll the dice! That is not exactly how we do it in the Presbyterian Church when it comes to choosing elders. We are guided by our Presbyterian
Book of Order and the bylaws of Johns Creek Presbyterian Church. It is a process that reflects the Presbyterian adage to do things "decently and in order."
This Sunday at noon, we are holding a Congregational Meeting using the zoom platform. This is our first time to try this. I hope you received an email reminder last week with the link for you to register for this meeting. Another will go out this week. We do need you to register beforehand. When you do that, you will then receive an invitation to the meeting itself. You need to the do this prior to the meeting this Sunday. Also, we need a quorum of 10% of our active membership or at least 67 members to attend in order to do what we need to do. There is a link below that you can click to sign up.
In keeping with the Book of Order and our bylaws, we will be electing the Elder Nominating Committee which consists of representatives from each of our Ministry Teams, two elders from our Session, and a youth. As clerk of session, Pat Pearson is designated the chair of the committee, and I am an ex-officio member. The names of those who will be voted on are listed below. The other business we will vote on is a recommendation to change our bylaws to allow a congregational meeting using video conferencing in unusual circumstances, such as this pandemic.
Voting will take place electronically and will appear on the screen for you to vote. In order to vote electronically, each church member will need to register and vote individually and have access to a screen. However, we will have a way to count the votes of others who may also be watching the screen, should that be needed. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me (grayn@jcpcusa.org) or Pat Pearson (vppearson@apearson.com). See you Sunday!
Caring: David Lee
Connecting: Johnny Melin
Education: Lisa Elliott
Youth: Elena Araoz
Mission: Honey Cunningham
Stewardship: Mac Jordan
Worship: Sharon Shuler
Session: Rick Zahnow
Clerk of Session and Committee Chair: Pat Pearson
Ex-officio: Gray Norsworthy
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