Quorums, New Members and the Law of Unintended Consequences
It seems like an age ago but a couple of years back we had a discussion at our Church Meetings which seemed to go on forever (the discussion, not the meetings).
Read on...Category: Church Membership
Well-attended Brainstorming Meeting brings hope – but only if ideas are followed up!
by Phil Andrews I was fearing the worst when our much-heralded Brainstorming Meeting on April 6th was about to commence. It had been called to discuss the future and indeed the very survival of our Church, and yet it appeared only five people had felt motivated to attend. And yet, probably no more than fifteen […]
Read on...Save Our Church – a Special Meeting (with light lunch!) – Saturday 6th April 2024 at 10.30 a.m.
by Phil Andrews In meeting after meeting we deliberate over how we can reverse the natural decline in the size of our congregations, and of our membership. I say “natural”, because people leave us for all sorts of reasons – moving home, immobility and (sadly but inevitably) even death. And the simple fact is that […]
Read on...Church Membership
by Rev. Antony W. Ball to all who did receive Him,to those who have yielded Him their allegiance,He gave the right to become children of God… Jn i 12 (NEB) Last Wednesday evening, our Church Meeting asked me to write an article for our newsletter on what it means to be a Church Member – […]
Read on...A Day in the Life of Isleworth Congregational Church
by Phil Andrews Those of us who attend services at Isleworth Congregational regularly tend to take the format pretty much for granted. But what might the passer-by, who routinely walks past our Church building on a Sunday morning or evening, think is going on behind our austere, imposing portals? Or for that matter what would […]
Read on...“Turning the Tanker”
by Donald A.G. Burling My title is borrowed from Phil Andrews’ article in last month’s newsletter. I have never taken the helm of a big ship, but I have had command of a small motor cruiser on the Thames, and even on that there was an appreciable delay between turning the wheel and any change […]
Read on...Turning the Tanker (Part Two) – We Must First Build the Bridge for Others to Cross
by Phil Andrews A visitor to our Church building some months ago tried to explain to us a concept which his own Church had had some success in pursuing. The word he used to describe it was “circles”. The idea was a relatively simple one. We on the inside of the Church are few and […]
Read on...Turning the Tanker (Part One) – Decline Doesn’t Have to Be Inevitable
by Phil Andrews Our January Church Meeting attracted the grand total of four people. Three of them were deacons. Even if my tentative suggestion that we reduce the quorum at Church Meetings from eight to six had been put to a vote and carried, we would still have been inquorate in January. February’s showing was […]
Read on...Church Membership
by Phil Andrews I became a member of Isleworth Congregational Church towards the end of the previous millennium, having reconnected with the Church following a chance encounter with the then Secretary Pat Burch in the spring of 1998. I say “reconnected”, because I had previously been involved with Isleworth Congregational as a teenager back in […]
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