During the Annual General Meeting, and also from hearing comments here and there, there seems to be this impression that the Discernment Committee is operating in secrecy and trying to turn the church upside down with all kinds of changes. Therefore, at our last meeting, it was decided that we should tell the congregation what we have been up to.

One of the committee members was kind enough to write up a rough draft of the presentation we will be making. I am not too sure I agree entirely with the direction taken in the draft. I have written some of my comments below the draft, but I think we should also cover the following:

• A recap of why the committee was formed
• The reason(s) why we looked at the marks of discipleship
• An explanation as to why we need a vision/mission statement

The main reason to speak to the congregation is to re-assure them that we are not out to turn their world upside down. After all, we are all members of the church which means that we like it here. We are not going to turn the church into something we would not want to be associated with. But I think that there are things that can be done better - to give us a clearer understanding of what the church is about.

God Bless You!