Microsoft word - elder update may 2012.doc

Dear Partner and Friends of the International Chapel of Vienna,
We have committed to providing more transparency in what we do as elders and to
inform you as partners and friends of the issues that lye before us. One of the ways
that we can accomplish this is to provide you with monthly updates. We are hoping
that you find these informative as we work together to serve you.
We have met three times in the time since we were ordained to serve the body. Here
is a summary of our discussions:
Chapel Vision
Please pray for us as we continue to meet, discuss, and seek God’ will in defining the
Vision for the Chapel. We are truly seeking where God would have the Chapel fit
into the bigger picture here in Vienna and how we can as a body can be more
effective as a church in winning souls for his kingdom.
Elder Assignment to our various Ministries
As servant leaders, are goal is to open up the lines of communications from the elder
team to our ministry leaders and from our ministry leaders back to the elder board.
To accomplish this goal, we have assigned an elder to each ministry. The role of the
elder is not to micro-manage but to support and to encourage. If you haven’t been
contacted yet as a ministry leader, you will! Here is the list with ministries and elder
assigned to that ministry:
Ministry Ministry
A ministry team leaders meeting is in the planning. Chapel’s Second All Night of Prayer
We are so thankful that God has sent us Ruth and Israel Sembajwe! Ruth has taken
over our Prayer Ministry and has set it on a very solid footing. This second “Night of
Prayer” was attended by 14 people. Four left at midnight due to their involvement in
the Bike for Bulgaria fund raiser and had 80km of biking early Saturday morning. We
praise God that so many were willing to pray through the night for our church, our
ministries, our congregation, and for the City of Vienna. The prayer night was closed
off with communion being served. Hope that more can attend the next All Night of
Prayer which is scheduled for 25 May 2012 at Novum. Reminder: The Chapel
Prayer Meeting is held every Thursday at 19:00 at Novum. See Ruth for more details.
Robert and Elizabeth Darowski
We were notified on Sunday May 6th by Robert and Elizabeth that they are leaving the
Chapel. Robert and Elizabeth have been very actively involved at the Chapel over the
past 5 years by using their gifts and talents to serve the body. We respect their
decision but do so with a very sad heart. After a lying on of hands by the elder team
and prayer, we sent them out in the name of the Father. We wish them all the best in
what ever God has for them next.
Interim / Part Time Pastor
We have begun the search for an Interim / Part time Pastor. Our feelers are out and
we will inform you of any potential candidates. We are committed to involving the
congregation in the process of making the final selection. More as our search
proceeds.
Chapel Finances
A huge praise to a very successful Women’s Retreat. The retreat costs were
completely covered! About 70 women attended, 8,435.65 Euro was collected and
8,399.00 Euro were spent closing off the event with 166.65 Euro in the plus. You
can’t do a better job in covering your costs then that.
As presented at the Congregation Meeting, we have closed off the first four months of
2012 in the plus. Below is a graph of the monthly General Fund numbers, Giving vs.
Expenses per moth.
Note: If we subtract out the income and expenses from the Women’s Retreat in April, our income would have been 4,651.34 Euro and our expenses would have been 5,647.06 Euro for a net loss in April of -995.72 Here are the facts and figures: For those who could not attend the Chapel’s Yearly Business Meeting, here is a link
to all of the facts and figures that were presented to 2011 and the first four months of
2012. http://www.viennachapel.org/media/Elders/Chapel2011Finances.pdf

Deacons
The search will begin for a new Deacon to replace Phil who became an Elder. You
will be receiving more information shortly and will be asked to select potential
candidates from a list of male Chapel partners. This list will be sent out be the Chapel
office shortly. Please pray for the process, the candidates, and that God may make it
clear who should be chosen.
Pastoral Care
We have been discussing how better to meet the personal needs of our congregation.
How can we as a elder and we as a congregation do a better job at identifying need?
What can we do to keep needs from falling through the cracks? How can we better
encourage those around us? A card, flowers, a visit, financial help, etc. Discussions
are still in progress and we will announce as soon as possible what we have come up
with.
I hope that you find this to be informative and that it conveys our commitment to
more transparency.
Peter Reckmann
Chairman
Elder Board

Source: http://www.viennachapel.org/media/Elders/Elder%20Update%20May%202012.pdf