Dear Friends,This Sunday we begin a new chapter in the life of our young church as we will begin the process of nominating new officers to potentially serve at Cornerstone. I wanted to give you a heads up on this process as you will hear explanation given from the pulpit and a bulletin insert in the coming weeks.Beginning this Sunday, December 2nd, nominations will be open. During this time, members of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church may nominate any man in the church who has been a member for at least one year. You may nominate someone for office by submitting a nomination form to the church office or by filling out a form on Sunday morning and placing it in the offering plate or handing it to a church officer. Nominations will be open until December 31st.At the beginning of the new year, the Session will then begin to meet with all nominees to determine if they are qualified and called to serve as an officer at Cornerstone. After this initial interview, if a man is qualified and called, the Session will then invite the nominee to participate in an officer training course over the Spring semester. Upon completion of the course, the nominee will be tested and examined by the Session for their readiness to serve. If a man is found to be ready, the Session will then put the candidate before the congregation for election. We anticipate this taking place in late summer or early Fall 2019. A man is elected to office by the congregation by a simple majority vote. There are no set number of elder and deacon positions we are hoping to fill. We simply want all the men that the Lord calls, and sees fit, to serve.I also wanted to remind you that you are nominating a man for office and not specifically as an elder or deacon. The Session will meet with the nominee and at the end of the training will consult with the nominee to determine to which office he may be called to and where his gifts may lead him.This is an exciting, yet humbling time. Please pray for God to raise up men to serve and pray that the Holy Spirit would guard them, protect them and their families, grow them, strengthen them, and give them grace to take up their calling. Pray also for your Session as they interview, train, and examine these men.As you prepare for this time, let me encourage you to listen to some sermons on biblical leadership that were given at Cornerstone some years back. Click here to find those sermons. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17 ESV)See you Sunday!Your friend and pastor,Wilson |
