The following items were discussed at the Annual Session Retreat held on January 17 2015:
· Rev, Jump began the retreat with a discussion of the Book of Order and how it relates to the Session and the congregation of New Hope.
· The Session discussed where we felt New Hope was at this point in time and the direction we should take in the future. Several good issues were identified as being important to the future of our church.
- We are at a point of change as the predominant generation is changing.
- The community around us has changed drastically over time.
- We have lost the middle age group. We are either younger or older, but no one in the middle.
- Our congregation is geographically spread out so that socializing outside of church is difficult.
- We may need to make changes to be more relevant.
- We need to look more at missions to get more involved.
- We are located at a prime geographic location.
- We need to get to know our community better.
- We have lost the liveliness of activity.
· Marilyn Suber , Lizz Savard and Carol Green represented New Hope at a special worship service at 2nd Presbyterian Church in Knoxville on January 4th.
· The Session voted to extend Rev. Jump's contract until the end of May.
· The Outreach Committee is making plans for the 40th Anniversary Celebration. More information will be coming soon.
· The new meeting schedule for the Session was adopted. The Session will meet on the third Sunday of the month after the worship service.
· The Nominating Committee reported that there were only 3 nominees for the 4 Elder positions. The nominees are Peter Savard, Gerai Kocher, and Linda Brandon.
· The Session voted to schedule a Congregational Meeting for February 1st for the purpose of electing Elders for the Class of 2016.
· The remainder of the retreat was spend in a discussion with Dorothy Parks-Piatt, Jacob Geerlings, and Carol Howard Merritt. This discussion revolved around the views and attitudes of the younger generations toward religion and the church and how that effects New Hope.
The next Session meeting will be February 15th at 12:15 PM.
