Hi Church!

It’s the Labor Day long weekend, and that has got work on my mind. Dolly Parton once sang that working 9 to 5 is enough to make you go crazy, but I wanted to highlight three different kinds of good work for which we can be thankful. 

The work of COTC’s Parish Council. As I mentioned in last week’s enews, at our Parish Meeting on the 12th the church membership we'll be voting on two new members to the Parish Council. According to COTC’s bylaws and constitution the PC has the following general responsibilities:

1. Have full and final authority for all matters related to the facility and finances of COTC;

2. Confer with the Rector and Clergy regarding keeping COTC’s ministries in line with COTC’s Core Values, Vision, and Mission;

3. Provide accountability and support for the Rector and Clergy by exercising their gifts of wisdom, discernment, and counsel;

4. and Lead by example through Christian maturity, stewardship, servanthood, and praying and fasting for the life of COTC.

You can read more about the specific responsibilities of the PC, and qualifications for it, in the bylaws and constitution. The council also serves our community by praying, regularly and earnestly, for the life of our community and God’s call upon it. Current Parish Council members are Sarah Funderburk (senior warden), Akim Singthao, Jon Ingle, Ann White, and Karen Walker (clerk). With Ann and Karen coming off Akim will be serving as the PC clerk. John Porter, COTC’s treasurer is at all PC meetings but is not a voting member of the council. I’m really excited about the possibility of Amanda and Brian joining in this good work. If you have any questions about the PC’s work, or would even like to sit in on a meeting feel free to reach out. 

“The work of the people.” That phrase is a translation of the word “liturgy.” It’s a reminder that we gather on Sundays not to watch a performance as consumers but to do the work of God’s people together. When we gather as the church we do so as joyful participants, together lifting the name of Jesus, our king. This Sunday, in place of the sermon, we’ll do a tour of our liturgy to provide some meaning and context to our gathered worship. If you’ve ever wondered about different aspects of our worship, the vestments, the procession, all that crossing of oneself, this will help answer your questions! More than just trivia, knowing about why we do certain things can help add power to our experience of worship. 

Your work. Labor Day isn’t a church holiday. Yet it is a useful reminder that work is part of God’s created order and good to which we are called. In her book, Kingdom Calling, Amy Sherman quotes Lesslie Newbiggin on human labor and the final resurrection. “Every faithful act of service, every honest labor to make the world a better place, which seemed to have been forever lost and forgotten in the rubble of history, will be seen on that day to have contributed to the perfect fellowship of God's kingdom. All who committed their work in faithfulness to God will be by Him raised up to share in the new age, and will find that their labor was not lost, but that it has found its place in the completed kingdom.” With this perspective in mind we’ll take time this Sunday to pray for one another in our various vocations and the good work we are each called to do. 

Joyfully working with alongside you,

Peter+