By Sheri Engstrom, Eastridge Covenant Church
I got a lot of funny looks when telling people how excited I was to participate in our annual meeting. I know there are a lot of people who would rather have a root canal than go to an all-day business meeting.
Maybe they imagine sitting in a chair all day listening to budgets and numbers while adhering to some guys rules of order. Maybe they imagine heated arguments, people storming out, and nobody seeing eye to eye. I don’t really know why, but I can tell you it was nothing like that.
In fact, I consider a business meeting quite a beautiful thing. Take The Gathering 2018, which I watched online. There was tension, there were voices wanting to be heard, there were people coming in to positions, people going out. There was ceremony, there was celebration, there was laughter, there was tears. But what was woven through it all was a deep and abounding love for God, for each other, for the least of these. The journey to understand and respect each other and the unified desire to build the kingdom in love and service is beautiful.
The 2019 Annual Meting for the PacNWC did shine through on the rest. We welcomed two new churches that continue our desire for a mosaic community. We prayed forgiveness for the taking of land that was not ours. We heard what our denomination is doing in our region, our country, our world. There was ceremony, there was celebration, there was laughter, and there were tears.
I will admit, we did listen to some budgets and numbers. We did adhere to some guys rules of orders. We also voted on a few things. Our moderator, Rev. Jim Sequeira, made sure we had fun, with a new way to say “yay” or “nay”, with every vote. His humor made the business part a little less “orderly”.
I will be back, God willing. It was a joy to meet new brothers and sisters and to reunite with old ones. PacNWC, you are beautiful! Keep shining for the Kingdom!
[Click Here] for information and resources from the 2019 PacNWC Annual Celebration