Sunday Notes

Well, we finished reviewing election, atonement, and God's calling in Sunday School today. I think it was a really good class, and I'm pretty sure they understand things better now. Next week we'll move on to the next step (regeneration/conversion/adoption/justification).

After the service, we had our annual general meeting. Because we're an elder-led church, we don't have to vote on everything, so our AGM is very, very short. Basically, we affirm the current elders and deacons (we would also affirm new ones, but there weren't any this year), and then we all have the annual report (with reports from the various ministries in it) so we can read it and ask questions later if anything isn't clear.

There is some confusion about what being elder-led means; I've had people think that the elders are dictators. This is simply not true. They do make the major decisions, but they always listen to and consider what people have to say, both in terms of getting input before making decisions, and concerns about the decisions they make. We are called in Scripture to submit to the elders, but this doesn't mean blind obedience. Also, the elders aren't power seekers, nor are they prone to lord their authority over us; they love the congregation, serve them, and seek their good.

This week's hymn is one we sang this morning.