Governance Board Meeting Minutes
Important Update
Originally posted on the November 1, 2022 Newsletter
After much discussion and careful discernment, the Governance Board made the difficult decision that effective January 1, 2023 and until further notice, we will hold one worship service at 10:00 am instead of continuing two services. Nursery, Children and Youth programming will continue to be offered during this service. For this one service, staff and volunteers will continue to choose and perform music that complements the scripture lessons and sermons while enhancing the worship experience for us all. We intend for this change to be temporary and return to two worship services when the time is right. The Governance Board will closely monitor the impacts of a single worship service and determine early in 2023 what criteria they will use to decide when it is time to return to two worship services.
In order to make this decision, the Governance Board read several articles on the topic, reviewed attendance numbers for the past few years and sought input from the staff. We developed a list of pros and cons for having only one service to help guide our discussion. Some of the reasons that led to the decision included low attendance numbers at both services and the desire to bring our congregation together not only to worship together, but to get to know one another better. A single worship service also reduces the number of volunteers required to make sure everything runs smoothly on Sunday morning.
The Governance Board members know that this decision may not be the best for each individual church member or attendee, but we believe it is the right decision right now for our church and congregation as a whole. Any questions regarding this decision should be directed to a Governance Board member. We thank you all in advance for your understanding and support.
Kelly Goward, Chair - kjgoward@yahoo.com
Karen Ambs, Vice Chair – karenambsmusic@gmail.com
Dan DeZwaan, Past Chair – mrdmusic@att.net
Doug Barry – douglas-barry@comcast.net
Sue Kremkow
Marie McDonald
Shaun Skibinski
Karen Strickland
To find out more information on this committee or relevant leaders, please email info@gumonline.org.