In addition to celebrating Pentecost this Sunday and the many exciting REVEALS we’ll be making in conjunction with the “birthday of the church,” we have two important items that we want to make sure you know about.
First, the UFMCC Governing Board announced last week that it had “asked for and received the resignation of the Interim Moderator” effective last Friday, May 31. This week the remaining Governing Board announced, among other things, that voting for our next Moderator at the General Conference Business Meeting will be limited to only three rounds. We had hoped that unlimited rounds, or at least a much larger number of rounds, would be offered to increase the likelihood that we elect one of the three candidates with a 51% or greater majority in both the Clergy and Lay House. As we near the General Conference, please offer up your prayers for the UFMCC Governing Board and Rev. Rachelle Brown, former Interim Moderator; for discussions and decisions regarding the voting process; for all the candidates for Moderator and Governing Board and the delegates who will, hopefully, elect them; and for true healing and reconciliation to begin while we gather in Orlando. If you would like more information or if you have thoughts and ideas to share, please send an email to laydelegates@mccaustin.com.
Second, OneHeart school, which has been renting our original sanctuary space from us for the past three years, has announced that they will be ending their lease on June 30. They have been extremely happy with their time here, but they believe that moving farther north is necessary for them to attract more students. Our Board of Directors wants to hear your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about the future use of the space before we make decisions about our next steps. Additionally, we want to share with you some of the details that we think are relevant to our decision making—some which you may already know and some which you may not. Our Board Meetings are always open to church members and guests, but we are offering a special invitation to all interested people to attend our June meeting on Thursday, June 13, at 6:30 p.m. in Cowan Hall. This discussion will be placed at the beginning of our agenda so that you do not have to stay for the entire meeting if you don’t want to.
Let me finish by saying one more time what a great Pentecost celebration we have planned for this Sunday. I’ll be wrapping up my sabbatical sermon series with “Creating Church,” our full choir will be singing at 11:00, you’ll find out that after 10 long years your wait is finally over, there will be a world premier of a short film, and it’s possible there will be an announcement about Broadway that will eclipse Sunday night’s Tony awards. You don’t want to miss it!
Always in Hope,
