Session Highlights for May and June 2020
May Highlights
As the pandemic continues, and the church building remains closed, the work of the church continues. Since March, Session has been meeting every other week to discuss issues and stay updated on the coronavirus developments.
In May, Session approved and established a Task Force of 11 members of the congregation and staff, charged with making recommendations on the reopening of the church and the resumption of church related activities. This Task Force meets weekly to review all the available information, and to formulate recommendations for Session approval, with an update provided at each Session meeting. In addition to reopening the church safely, the Task Force identified two other critical priorities of focus: how to expand and improve use of technology to communicate our mission of bringing Christ to the community and bringing the community to Christ, and to be viewed as a valued community asset.
When Allegheny County moved to the yellow phase in May, the Task Force recommended, and Session approved the continued closure of the church building and determined that all related in-person activities would remain cancelled or moved online. As Pastor Donna shared in her video message to the congregation, this decision was not taken lightly, but done with the physical, emotional and spiritual health of the church as the paramount consideration.
But there was cause for celebration in May! After training sessions by pastor and examination by elders, Session wholeheartedly declared that the following persons were ready to serve as elders and deacons of the Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon, and that they were approved to be ordained and installed on Sunday, June 14, 2020 during a special worship service on Zoom: Elders: Joe Angelelli, Lila deKlaver, Martin Houser, Philip Kerstetter; Deacons: Ed Freel, Janet Kenny Smith, Jenn Lucchino, Jen Pacione, Chris Swab. The work of the church continues and we look forward to working with our new officers.
Thanks to the hard work of our Finance Chair, Don Smith, and the Finance Committee, our church received a loan under the CARES Act to cover some payroll and other allowable expenses for both the church and Wooden Ladder for two months, which will allow the loan to be forgiven.
June Highlights
June was another busy month that began with a recommendation from the Task Force for new safety procedures to be implemented within the church building in accordance with the state and local governments’ yellow and green phase designations. The policy, approved by Session, stipulates:
Face masks must be worn when entering and working in any space on the church premises.
In order to maintain a safe social distance, 6-foot marks will be identified and observed in each office, most critically in the front office.
Staff may remove the mask if they are alone in their office and they lock the door.
Anyone entering the office must wear a mask and the staff person in the office must immediately replace their mask if it has been removed.
A sign will be posted at the side entrance to the church, and also at every office, notifying all visitors and staff of the requirement to wear a mask.
Everyone, including staff, who enters the building will be required to complete the Visitor Information Sheet.
The new procedures were immediately implemented, and the staff reports its appreciation for the new guidelines.
As Allegheny County opened up and cases were on the decline, and the results of a church survey showed that some people were open to meeting for worship or meetings outdoors on the lawn, Session approved the use of outdoor space for the purpose of worship and church- related faith formation activities with the caveat that activities would first be considered by the Task Force. Any outdoor activities would require social distancing and wearing of face masks.
As you recall, last year Session approved becoming a Matthew 25 church which was a new initiative the Presbytery had introduced having three areas of focus: 1) building congregational vitality; 2) dismantling structural racism; and 3) eradicating systemic poverty. Our church invited our mission partners to speak about their organizations during the summer Sunday worship services and we also took up special collections for each. To date, our efforts had been focused on building congregational vitality, but with the death of George Floyd and the other racial injustices, Session immediately responded to the second area, dismantling structural racism and prayerfully took action in adopting these three goals:
commit to becoming an antiracist church in keeping with the teachings of Christ,
partner with a predominantly black church to build trusting relationship, increase understandings and share experiences, and
engage with the community in antiracist work.
In addition, Session approved a Prayer Vigil for Justice that was held on the church lawn on July 18 with attendees practicing social distancing and wearing face masks. Session also approved posting a black lives matter sign on the front lawn with the understanding it would include a scripture verse. A temporary sign was erected for the prayer vigil, and it will be replaced with another sign with a scripture verse as our statement of our faith. If you have not read Pastor Donna’s letter in response to racial injustice, please read it here.
At our June 16 Session meeting, we expressed our deep gratitude and appreciation to the officers whose terms expired at the end of June: Elders Susan Abramowich, Steve Fockler, Marty Houser (filling an unexpired term) and Diana Petruska (who will stay on as Clerk of Session); and Deacons Jonathan Maguire, Sue Turk, Linda Williams and Mary Witul.
For questions, please send an email to cpcbaclerk@gmail.com.
Diana Petruska
Clerk of Session