Balloting continues for the next two Sundays as we seek to choose a new, brief form of "Faith Covenant" for occasional use in worship at the First Church. The new form of covenant, comprising our "Faith Covenant" paired with our 2011 "Behavioral Covenant," will be proposed for adoption on a trial basis at the upcoming Annual Meeting. It is expected to replace the 1900 "Ames Covenant," which remains our church's official covenant but has long since fallen into disuse. The traditional Ames Covenant was removed from the church's bylaws a year ago to enable us to find a replacement appropriate for our more diverse and pluralistic church in the 21st century. It reads: "In the love of truth and the spirit of Jesus, we gather for the worship of God and the service of man."
Paper ballots will be available at the welcome table at our May 5 service. You may return your ballot after the service (look for Kathy Crawley at the Welcome Table). If you prefer, you may take it home to study and return no later than the coffee hour following the 11:00 am service on May 12, the final deadline for casting ballots. All FCB members, friends, and youth are invited to participate in this important vote.
Those who cannot physically attend church are invited to contact John Howe at johnbhowe78@gmail.com to get a ballot. Selecting from a list of five forms of faith covenant, you are requested to cast one (and, we trust, only one!) ballot, listing up to three choices in rank order.