Acknowledgement Directory

Background

At a time when the church congregation was struggling with its identity, this page was started as a possible way to acknowledge the countless contributions made by members of the congregation, in a way that would affirm all the gifts that our members bring to Christ. The thought was that as in books that register gifts and donations to the church, this page might be a register of how non-monetary gifts can also contribute, and be acknowledged. We are a church that is blessed with many gifts, through the talents and dedication of its many diverse members. It can be difficult for us to appreciate the breadth and depth of these talents, and as an affirming and accepting congregation, we need to give due respect to the dedication of our members.

There are times when our congregation does gather as one, and these talents come together in most synergetic ways. I refer to events such as our ChurchFete, but also to our response in times of trouble, our embracing of calls by both the sacred and secular dimensions of our society to respond to people in need. Such "acceptance and affirmation" is is both our blessing and our obligation, as part of our response to the call of Jesus Christ.

But most of our work is done either as individuals, or in small groups. Our Fete, for example, does not happen without the dedication efforts of a small group of people. Indeed, our church is full of small groups! According to our database, we have 78 different groups active within our church. The vast majority of our congregation are members of at least one of these groups, often several of them. That is a huge amount of engagement with the life of the church!

So how do we get our heads around such a large community? I would like to propose a strategy that would continue to accept and affirm the many and varied things that people in our congregation undertake, often with little acknowledgement or reward, as a way of quantifying that engagement. Here it is:

Proposal

As an example only, and to avoid any embarrassment to anyone else, here is an example:

Note that the page is editable by anyone, thus allowing anonymous postings.

It did not quite get off the ground, and after I resigned as chair of Council, I was not in a position to promote it. Maybe its need to exist might be re-examined by our congregation?

JohnHurst, 21 Nov 2017