Important Decisions of the CQM held on 2 June

Warm greetings to you in this season of shadows, when we are called to shine the light of Christ more brightly than ever. I pray that the Lord’s everlasting arms are bearing you up and carrying you in His love and grace. As you are probably aware from other communications, an Extraordinary Circuit Quarterly Meeting was held on Zoom last night, consisting of a far smaller membership than usual as per the directions given by Connexional Executive and the Bishop. We were very conscious of the great responsibility this placed on us as we met. Members of the broader Circuit Quarterly Meeting will receive the full Minute of the Meeting in due course; but in the meantime, please receive the following important information regarding decisions made at the Meeting. 1. Confirmation 2020 Families have been asking about our Confirmation programme which started well before Lockdown. Sadly, the only course of action for us is to postpone this programme indefinitely. We will, however, start again as soon as it is safe and permitted again. Confirmation Services will take place as soon as the programme has been completed; i.e. we will not wait for the end of next year to have the Confirmation Services. 2. Services in our Church Buildings I know many are wondering what will happen now that we are under Level 3 Lockdown Regulations. The Meeting considered the matter at some length. a. Worship Services: In submission to the Synod Directive received last week in which it was stated that after much consultation, “The Cape of Good Hope Synod will not open our churches for services or gatherings from 1 June onwards, nor for the foreseeable future,” our CQM decided that Services will not be allowed in our Wynberg Circuit Church buildings until the Western Cape has passed its peak and is well on our way out of the pandemic. We pray this will be by early summer. Until things have improved dramatically, all worship services will continue to be held online and using the various social media and communication technologies at our disposal. Societies are encouraged to continue being creative and to constantly look for ways to improve our ability to reach ALL our members. b. Funerals: Firstly, subject to the next paragraph, as a CQM we want to stress to our membership that our ministers will perform the funerals of our members. These services will however need to be conducted by one of the younger ministers. All our ministers over 60 years of age have been instructed by myself as Superintendent to remain in Lockdown for their own protection. They will be serving the Circuit and helping the rest of us by fulfiling those ministry roles in the Circuit which do not necessitate face-to-face contact with others. Secondly, in relation to the venue for such funeral services, we had a variety of opinions which were freely and respectfully aired in the CQM. After debate, we came to a point of consensus that Funeral Services will not be allowed in our Wynberg Circuit Church buildings at this point. This decision will be reviewed at key moments as the pandemic unfolds. We were agreed that the greatest consideration guiding us in this decision must be the protection of human lives. Our capacity to meet the health and safety requirements effectively, and to ensure adherence during services, is too limited to allow us in good conscience to proceed with holding services in our buildings. Leaders and ministers shall advise bereaved families that the only alternatives are for services to be held at an undertaker’s chapel, a crematorium chapel or at the graveside. Full church memorial services can of course be held later, after the worst of the pandemic has passed. We shall advise our members that the safest option in terms of cutting the risk of transmission is the graveside service, because it is outdoors. It is also our responsibility to advise the family to discourage the elderly from attending. 3. Budget Revision: The Circuit Treasurer reported that as at the end of May, Societies are in arrears with their contributions to the Circuit (i.e. their “Assessments”) to the tune of R458 025. We had a very open discussion of the difficult local realities of our Societies. This discussion in no way aimed at “naming and shaming” but at sharing with openess and honesty to allow us to encourage one another and assess the reality of our situation. Some great ideas were shared and a constructive conversation was held. Some Societies indicated that they were now in a position to catch up some of that deficit, but even after these contributions are made, we will still have a shortfall of approximately R300 000. The reality of the impact of the pandemic on our finances has necessitated a revision of our Circuit Budget and the major impact of that revision will be:

1. Societies’ monthly assessments were reduced by about 18%.

2. Some line items of expenditure which are not essential to our “operations” were completey cut from the budget.

3. Ministers’ travelling allowances were reduced by a total of 25%.

4. All ministerial furniture allowances and book allowances were removed from the revised budget.

5. Unless things change dramatically, no 13th cheques will be paid this year.

6. The remuneration of our admin, lay and supernumerary staff members will remain unchanged.

There were a number of other matters on our agenda for the Meeting, but the above are the ones which affect us all, and I believe it is important to report this to all our members swiftly. May the LORD watch over you at this time; May the LORD be your shade at your right hand; May the LORD keep you from all harm; May the LORD watch over your life and over your coming and going; both now and forevermore. Amen (from Ps. 121) Yours in Christ our Lord Rev Dave Howard (Superintendent Minister)