Moderator’s Views
The first series of Ashley lectures is just now behind us, and it all appeared to go off without a hitch. Howard Carl and his committee made it look easy, which I know from experience it isn’t. While I am a terrible judge of attendance, it looked to me like a good crowd each day. Thanks to one and all.
The vegetable garden continues to be a stupendously successful undertaking. Every time I’m at church, it seems that someone is out there weeding, watering, or otherwise tending the crops. I know many of us have enjoyed some of the end products, and it is particularly gratifying to see that some of the bounty has gone to IAM as well. Milton Stewart has become our “farmer in residence” and he always seems to have help in the “back forty”. Great job, everyone!
Another new venture has begun – members of FCC served dinner at the Hendersonville Rescue Mission on July 9. We’ll be doing this on the second Saturday of each month, and there are already a number of folks signed up to help. Pat and I are looking forward to our turn – it won’t be a burden since the work isn’t all that difficult, and with a number of people participating no one needs to serve with any great frequency. So, feel free to sign up – it’s one more way in which we can give back to the community in a visible manner. Thanks to the Mission and Service people – especially the Fagerlins and Roy Harris – for getting this show on the road.
Among the more popular events at FCC are Fellowship Suppers. We owe Carl Schoendorfer a huge round of applause for his work in organizing these events. I know that this is an area where a little assistance would be a lot of help – if just a few members would agree to work along with Carl on this task, it would spread the effort out and make it less of a chore. Ideally, if a dozen or so people would be willing to pitch in, no one would have to come up with more than one program a year. Please speak directly to Carl about this. We all enjoy the suppers, but they don’t “just happen.”
Work on a new Pictorial Directory is progressing very well. Jackie Green, Lorraine Cochrane, and Pat Argue are really moving this project along, but it’s quite a complex process. As one who has been dragooned into taking some of the pictures, cropping and fussing with the many pictures of activities available, and mocking up a layout, I can attest to the fact that they have been busy and that the final product will be excellent.
Speaking of photos, we are setting up an archive of church-related photos that will ultimately reside on one of the computers in the church office. This will give us a central repository for pictures so that they’re available to all. In addition, a small group of us (right now it’s just Carl Schoendorfer and myself, a couple of additions would be welcome) will take on the chore of making sure that someone gets photos of future church events. We’ve all been bitten in the past by having a noteworthy event take place only to discover that no one brought a camera – hopefully that won’t happen again.
I was very happy when Pat and I attended a City Council meeting recently in support of Mainstay’s continued existence at its present location to see perhaps a dozen other FCC members there as well. Richard, Mark Fagerlin, and Jim Jolly spoke during the hearing. Next, and much more problematic, will be doing whatever we can to get Henderson County to reverse its de-funding of Pisgah Legal Services. Since the inner workings of the County Commissioners can be a bit arcane, at this writing I don’t know what forum will be appropriate for voicing our concerns, but you’ll be kept informed and I hope that we will again make our views known.
As you might gather from several of the preceding paragraphs, in my view it is truly wonderful to see our church members getting out into the community to perform acts of service or to advocate for a socially responsible position. In the final analysis, our success and spiritual health lie not only within the four walls of the sanctuary on a Sunday morning but behind the counter at a mission, pressing our officials for just solutions to problems, “adopting” a Faith Link family, and, yes, raising produce that can be used by folks who otherwise might not have access to it. As we move more deeply into such efforts, we can only grow stronger.
Ed Argue, Moderator
