Several weeks ago, our women's ministry hosted a Mother's Day Tea.  I meant to mention it last week, but my last-minute forgetting is about the only thing that was not perfect surrounding that event.  Mandy Crotts, Janet Hurd, and a large team organized an afternoon that was universally lauded as elegant, entertaining, and delightful.  72 ladies of all ages (even a couple of pre-K ladies!) turned out for a special afternoon.  I know of several families with three generations who were present together.  Thanks so much to all who made that event such a success.

Please remember our congregational meeting this Sunday, May 16, immediately following the morning worship service.  We will meet to discuss and adopt a budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year that begins July 1.  The officers released a proposed budget two weeks ago and discussed it in several meetings, as well as fielding your questions in person, by phone, and by email.  At the meeting on Sunday, we will have one adjustment to present to you in the format of the budget.  One of the concerns that we heard from several of you was the amount allocated for mortgage payments in the next fiscal year.  Some were concerned that voting for the budget as presented was effectively voting for a mortgage payment default.  While that was not what we were proposing, we also could see how reasonable people could hold that concern.  Thus, to alleviate that angst, we have allocated all the mortgage payments presented previously into the first fiscal quarter.  With this change, we will be asking you to approve a budget for only the first quarter of our fiscal year (July, August, and September).  We will come back to you at the end of the summer with more mortgage workout information, as well as a sense of the market for our 30 or so acres of excess land.  Regarding Sunday's budget, almost all of the other amounts presented previously are shown at 25% of the annual amount, except for a few seasonal expenditures that we knew would occur during this first fiscal quarter.  These re-presented numbers are congruent with the annual spending amounts already presented.  If what I have just written has hopelessly confused you (a very real possibility that is not your fault!), the explanation may be clearer once you have the revised numbers in front of you on Sunday after worship.  We hope the meeting will be relatively brief.  We will have paper ballots for active communicant members to complete.  If for some reason you have to leave early, please complete a ballot before slipping out.

As most of you know by now, one of the personnel adjustments in our budget was reducing the Director of Children's Ministry position from full-time to part-time. Our hope was that Debbie Cain would continue her decade-long good work in this new capacity, but she has deemed it best if she steps down at this time. We will miss Debbie's enthusiasm for the children of our church in the various activities she coordinated, as well as her bonhomie around the church office.  After the congregational meeting on Sunday, there will be a light reception for her in the first floor hallway of the children's wing.  Please plan to stop by to show your appreciation to Debbie for her tenure here.

Finally, as we move through this season as a congregation, let me share a rich excerpt from a recent essay by Hunter Baker for Touchstone Magazine.  After recounting his conversion during his college years and the meaningful involvement he had in an on-campus ministry, he describes the years following.

When I left that group, it was hard for me to find a church. Ruth and I tried a number of places, but I was never satisfied. I couldn't find anything to match what we'd had before at FSU. I looked for the worship experience that would make it worthwhile to attend, but was rarely happy with that. I tried to find a superstar preacher to amaze me with talent and wisdom. But that wasn't enough. I sampled churches, found them wanting, and discarded them.

In other words, I was spiritually immature. You may hear of individuals who are so disenchanted with the church that they practice Christianity on their own as if they are advanced Christians. I think that's the wrong interpretation. A failure to find a church and invest yourself in it is a sign of spiritual immaturity.

Here's what I found. If you go to a church - preferably a Bible-believing one close to where you live so you will be worshipping with your neighbors - and become part of the community, you will discover that church will become delightful to you.

Don't go with a consumer mindset. Don't go thinking that you have to be entertained or amazingly taught or lifted into a higher plane by an ultra-talented worship team. Don't sit back and judge the person teaching Sunday school as though you are Simon Cowell and the teacher is a performer. Pay attention. Look for opportunities to contribute. I am teaching now and have no illusions that I am a great authority on the gospel of John. I am grateful every time the other members of the class help me out.

Just go, week in and week out, and get to know the people in your church. It may take a while, but eventually you will form relationships and the people in your church will become to you what the people in Intervarsity were to me. Then, when you go to church you will be going to a reunion that happens once or twice a week. It will be an occasion for joy.

The secret of the church is not that it is some business to be run or a show designed to catch curious onlookers. The secret of the church is that is a community. It is a place where you belong and where people know you. In other words, it is a lot like the old bar on the television show Cheers. And it helps you to live the Christian life. In the church, you will become aware of what is going on in other people's lives and they will learn about your life. You will pray with each other and minister to needs. Christianity is not meant to be practiced in isolation.

So, stop shopping for a church. Stop sampling. Don't fall for all the hype of a Disneyworld experience with a Christian aura around it. Don't chase after a superstar preacher. You can hear that on your iPod. Feel free to contribute to that ministry. But find a church where you can be part of a community of people who know each other and will help one another live the Christian life, sometimes as helpers and sometimes by being in need and providing an opportunity for others to help.

This Sunday, we will be in Mark 5:1-13 in a sermon I have entitled "Swine Flew."  Read the passage before Sunday morning and you'll understand what I mean.  We also celebrate the Lord's Supper.  Spend some time preparing your heart to hear the Word, sing the Word, read the Word, listen to the preaching of the Word, and touch and taste the Word in the Lord's Supper.  I look forward to seeing you.

Your friend,