Author: Ward Shope (Ward Shope)

Session Report By Ward Shope There are few elders who scrutinize their own personal finances as closely as they scrutinize the budget of the church. Part of that is simply the nature of group budget-building. But we also realize we are accountable to God and to the whole congregation to steward the resources we have...

By Ward Shope While some of us have well over a thousand “friends” on Facebook, researchers tell us that each of us – even if we’re good at them – can handle only 150 meaningful relationships at one time. Most of us have far less. Since New Life has about 575 members and regular attenders,...

By Ward Shope So what is “the Session” at New Life anyway? If you didn’t grow up Presbyterian, the word “session” is often modified by the previous word – as in “training” session or “counseling” session. Well, counsel is taken at “session meetings.” But simply put, the Session is the group of men called “elders”...