Hi Church,

I hope this email finds you warm, safe, and dry on this cold and icy day. As we prayed this morning as a staff, among other things, we prayed for those in our neighborhoods and city for whom the cold is more than inconvenience but a matter of life and death; for the homeless and vulnerable. Please join us in praying for these persons and consider contributing to a ministry like Mobile Loaves and Fishes if you can. 

I'm writing this special, early e-news specifically to encourage any COTC women who have not yet signed up for the women’s retreat to do so by this Thursday at noon. Details are below, and you can sign up, whether coming for a portion of the time or the whole retreat, here. This is a wonderful time of connection, prayer, and learning together in Christ. I hope you can make it! 

Also, as was mentioned on Sunday in the service and at the church meeting following worship, we will be bringing financial pledges for 2018 forward in worship this coming Sunday. This is a part of our weekly offering of worship and helps the Parish Council and church leadership to plan well for the year to come. If you consider yourself a part of the COTC community would you please prayerfully consider what the Lord might be calling you to contribute in the year to come? Pledge cards will be available on Sunday and can also be submitted online here. 

Thank you for your tremendous generosity at the end of 2017! As was covered on Sunday, the amount given in the month of December was a significant blessing, and helped us finish the year on strong footing. I and the Parish Council are excited about all that this means for the year ahead. With the ambitious budget we laid out, we still have a ways to go, but we are in a good place. Please join is in thanksgiving to God, and in prayer for vision and provision for the year ahead in the life of COTC. 

At the meeting on Sunday we also voted Katy Schreur and Ann White onto the Parish Council. They will begin in those roles immediately. Please join me again in thanking Shirley Wofford and Paul Van Allen for their service with the council. 

Lastly, we also announced that a “Location Team” for the church has been formed. As our current lease at the Phillips Event Center comes to a close near the end of 2018, this team will be taking the next few months to intentionally and prayerfully reflect upon where we might call home as a church in the next couple of years. Brian Chilton, Cassidy Ingle, Gary Wang, Jeanne Bryan, and Paul Van Allen and myself will be serving on this team, which will make recommendations to the Parish Council. If you have any questions or comments for this team we’ve set up the email address “location@cotcaustin.org”. Thanks for your prayers for this team and the life of COTC! 

In Christ,

Peter+