Spiritual Life and Professional Development Committee

Annual Report 2003-2004

After over a year of inactivity, the committee has met four times since October 2003. Six persons on the committee have been active in attending meetings. We are working at getting two clergy clusters started after Easter: one for clergy interested in church and worship renewal; a second for female clergy. Registration materials will be available soon.

It was decided that the committee will not sponsor individual continuing education seminars, since so many quality programs are already available nearby.

A second interest has been spiritual growth. After much soul-searching, it was decided that the most constructive project we could undertake on behalf of the entire Association was to provide, on a regular basis, a "hands-on" spiritual experience at each Association meeting. The nature of the spiritual workshop will vary, but we will undertake to make available a quality and interesting opportunity to lift up one's spirit unto the Lord each time we gather as the Body of Christ that is the Metro Association.

Finally, a long-term goal of the committee has been articulated: to help design and provide practical resources to the Association on Sabbath and Sabbatical, that can be used by:

• individual Christians in our congregations
• local churches, as they consider planning a "Sabbath year" of rest from their usual busy activities
• pastors, both as they plan Sabbath time in their regular week's schedule, and as they seek to gain support for the provision of paid sabbatical periods away from their ministries for the purpose of rest and spiritual renewal.

Respectfully submitted,
Noel Vanek, Chair