CCP SESSION NOTES TO THE CONGREGATION – April 2023

Planning and preparing for our move into the Fellowship Room at St. Paul’s continued to take center stage at this month’s Session meeting.
Session and the Worship Planners held several hands-on meetings, making decisions about what furniture, equipment and supplies will be essential in our new space—and carefully allocating space in the “ cribbery” storage space so there will be room for these essentials. As you likely noticed, this past Sunday there was an opportunity for CCP members to take items of interest from our “redistribute” table. We’ve worked to find good homes for supplies that are no longer needed, contacting other churches, ReSource and schools.
Beyond the physical work required by the move, we considered the emotional impact of this transition—and were delighted that Kristabeth created a ritual of transition for the last Sunday in our space to allow us to share our hopes about what we will carry with us as we move into the new space.
Additionally, we have been considering what hybrid worship might look like in this new/old space, as Covid numbers diminish and we might be able to gather a bit more freely around the table. What tweaks might we make? How do we balance appropriate cautions and opportunities to return to our circle? How do we continue to include our Zoom participants in a very real way? Session planned three more hands-on moving days for May, as well as a dry run of the physical/ AV set up. We are looking forward to our first in-person Sunday in this new gathering space on May 21! You will hear more about this via email as the date draws nigh.
On another note, we have held two Sunday potlucks in homes—and they have been well attended and greatly enjoyed! The new model of changing groups rather than fixed parish groups is fun and is giving us a chance to spend time with folks we may not have seen for a while. Our next potluck will be May 7 and we will have our last spring potluck the first Sunday in June. Early alert—we will have an all CCP potluck picnic at Oakledge Park the last Sunday in July–July 30. Mark your calendars now!
Lots going on, so be sure to watch for our weekly newsletter on Thursdays to stay current.
And remember, we’ll be on Zoom for the next few weeks as we make the move and prepare for gathering in our new space on May