You may not know it, but Incarnation passed another milestone this week. This past Monday, the Servant Team, which has led Incarnation for the last 18 months (from before we started worshipping together on Sundays), had its last meeting. What is a Servant Team, you ask? And what happens next? And what is a cryptowarden? Read on.
What is a Servant Team?
The Servant Team is the group of people who came alongside Liz and the staff team (Amy, Beth, Josie and Morgan) to plan Incarnation’s launch and who met monthly to help think through all the things Incarnation had to think through—music, kids, space, budget, outreach, and the list goes on. Until Incarnation becomes an official congregation, we won’t yet have a vestry, but the Servant Team has acted something like a proto-vestry. Servant Team members were: Liz and Simon Gray, Morgan and Ashley Reed, Amy and Trent Rowe, Josie Ortega, Beth DeRiggi, Leigh McAfee, Jill and Jamie Floyd, Eric Owen, David Griffin, and me (Megan Westmoreland). Leigh and I have been acting as proto- or ”crypto-” wardens.
Why isn’t the Servant Team meeting anymore? What happens now?
As we take steps and plan to become an official “Congregation”—hopefully by November—we are changing the Servant Team to a Transition Team. The Transition Team will be a little more like a vestry, and staff (besides Liz) and staff spouses will not be a part of the Transition Team. Once Incarnation is a Congregation officially, we’ll have a real vestry (with real wardens). But until then, the Transition Team will continue to work and meet monthly to make sure everything is in place for us to become a Congregation. We’ll review bylaws, finalize finance and personnel policies, agree on the next budget, and oversee budget expenditures. The Transition Team is Liz Gray, David Griffin, Eric Owen, Jill and Jamie Floyd, with Leigh McAfee and me continuing on as cryptowardens.
So what did the Servant Team do in its last meeting?
To start the meeting, Liz led us in compline, and we thought about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives, as I Corinthians 12 describes. We prayed for our community to exercise these gifts. And then we talked about the transition from the Servant Team to the Transition Team and thanked those Servant Team members who were not continuing on with the Transition Team for their work and commitment to the Servant Team for the past 18 months. We’re so grateful for all the ways they will continue to serve our community.
We discussed some of the possible gaps in the Transition Team, especially our need for someone to act as a treasurer, and someone to go to for occasional legal advice. Please join us in praying for God to provide folks to fill any gaps.
We got a finance update (healthy!), and began to plan for our first parish meeting on March 3. We finished the meeting by looking back with thankfulness on the past few months and closed with the second half of compline.
When can I learn more?
Put March 3 on your calendar! That is the date of our first parish meeting, when after the service, we will head downstairs for potluck and the meeting combined! You’ll hear highlights from the past few months, and what we’re looking forward to, get an update on our budget and finances, and be able to ask all your questions. You are also always welcome to ask me, Leigh or Liz questions about our meetings and what the Transition Team is up to.
Thankful for our community, see you on Sunday!
Megan Westmoreland
(Cryptowarden and leader of the Personnel microteam)