The Raum Chapel/Rock Hall Church merger team met on Sunday 12/29 at Rock Hall Charge office. All team members were present.
Our Merger team met at the Charge Office for our first of what will be many gatherings.
This first meeting was mostly a chance to dream and share our idea of an ideal merger. Members shared a wide range of desired outcomes. There was great energy for the process and hope for what God was doing in our churches.
Pastor Gary discussed a couple of books which would be used to guide our work. One by Dirk Elliot titled Vital Mergers would be relied upon heavily as the author wrote and worked in the UMC and would be familiar with our structure. The second Better Together also provided good information but mainly from a non-denominational context.
We were given homework to identify the values of our church. These are the values that we presently hold; not ideas we aspire to "one day" but how we actually live right now.
Present tonight were: Denny K., Glenda D., Andrea E., Maria C., Andy G., Debbie B., Dickie P., & Pastor Gary