119 Years Old and Still Going Strong

The church of which I am a member - Bethany Presbyterian (PCUSA) - is 119 years old this year! We started back in 1888 and are still going strong. Tonight was our annual Congregational Meeting, which is actually kind of a fancy name for a party. Our Congregational Meeting is held at the end of January, about the time Bethany began 119 years ago. The meeting was lots of fun, and if you've ever seen an episode of the "Gilmore Girls" that included a Stars Hollow town meeting, then you have a bit of an idea of what our Congregational Meeting was like! In fact, Meagan and I are going to buy Pastor Dan a gavel to use at future meetings, and next year we're definately bringing food.

The meeting was held in the sanctuary (only place big enough for almost the entire congregation) and the meeting was interspered with singing, times of prayer, remembrances for loved ones who returned to Jesus in 2006, testimonies of praise and thanksgiving from various people, skits from the youth group, and a few "business items", such as budget stuff and a congregational vote on the salaries and compensations for ordained staff. And every year a person or couple is recognized for their outstanding service in our church. This year it's Dianne Ross, our Director of Children's Ministries. She was crowned the "Queen of VBS", as she's been in charge of VBS for the past 25 years! We closed with singing "Happy Birthday" to Bethany, followed by a yummy dinner and birthday cake for dessert.

This evening was just an amazing evening of celebration as a community of faith. Looking back over the evening, our time together could be used as a model for what the Body of Christ is meant to look like every day: we prayed together; we remembered and recalled God's faithfulness together; we sang praises to God together; we rejoiced and celebrated together; we laughed and cried together; we shared a meal together....all in the course of a few hours!

I am so very blessed.