The Congregational Nominating Committee (CNC) will begin meeting in the next week to assemble of slate of nominees to serve as Ruling Elders, Deacons and Trustees. These nominees will be presented to the congregation for election to office at the Annual Meeting, on Sunday, February 5th following the morning worship service.

The CNC welcomes your suggestions of people you feel are qualified to serve the church as a Ruling Elder and member of Session, the governing board, or as a Deacon or Trustee.  Here are descriptions of those offices from the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (USA):

From the Book of Order G-2.0201
“The ministry of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service, sharing in the redeeming love of Jesus Christ for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lost, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this ministry.”

At MAPC the deacons serve as care partners for older members, many of whom are no longer able to get to church, and carry out other ministries of service and compassion in the congregation.

Here is the Book of Order description of Ruling Elders:

From the Book of Order, G-2.0301
“. . .  congregations should elect persons of wisdom and maturity of faith, having demonstrated skills in leadership and being compassionate in spirit. Ruling elders are so named not because they “lord it over” the congregation (Matt. 20:25), but because they are chosen by the congregation to discern and measure its fidelity to the Word of God, and to strengthen and nurture its faith and life. Ruling elders, together with ministers of the Word and Sacrament, exercise leadership, government, spiritual discernment, and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a congregation as well as the whole church, including ecumenical relationships. When elected by the congregation, they shall serve faithfully as members of the session. When elected as commissioners to higher councils, ruling elders participate and vote with the same authority as ministers of the Word and Sacrament, and they are eligible for any office”

And the responsibilities of Trustees according to the Book of Order G-4.0101:
Trustees “receive, hold, encumber, manage, and transfer property, real or personal, for the congregation. . . all subject to the authority of the session and under the provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)”.

At MAPC members of the board of trustees oversee the endowment, deal with matters of insurance, shoulder the task of maintaining and improving the buildings and grounds, and work with the staff on the annual audits.

If you would like to suggest MAPC members for any of the above three offices, please submit their names to the Rev. Beverly Bartlett, bab@mapc.com, and she will pass those names on to the CNC for their consideration.  You may also submit names to other members of the CNC if you see or speak with them in the next few days:

Session members Bill Welsh (chair) and Laura Macdonald (vice-chair); members at large, elected by the congregation: Susan Anderson, Lyn Baier, Alex Baxter, Timothy Johnson, Francois Silatchom and Elliot Henderson (Alternate); Deacon representative Jennifer Doyle Lennox; and Trustee representative Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols.