New staff
Mid-summer we celebrated the beginning of two ministries. We ordained and installed Timothy Shaw as
assistant minister on June 25. Evan Gear arrived as intern on July 10. They represent a push on our part to
get younger representation on the staff of our church and more broadly in leadership. Ron, Frankie,
Kathryn and I are all over 60 years old. Tim and Evan bring fresh energy and perspective to our ministry,
helping us to minister effectively to the younger ages who must always be the growing edge of the
church.
New officers
A few years ago our Session was looking old as well. Several elders became emeritus (McLaurin, Austin,
Van Puffelen), several moved away (e.g. Fletcher, Marting), and several rotated off and effectively retired
(Dykema, Forester, Brodmann, Gibson, Hale). We lost a total of 11 elders in 10 years. Replacing them in
that same 10-year period meant drawing from the younger ranks of the church (and some not so young!):
Jody Lanier, Frankie Daniell, John Garnett, Tim Barrett, David Gross, Greg Brunson, Will Brodmann,
Marc Biemiller, Wallace Milling, Mike Hazeltine, Steve Jackson, and Roy Thompson. Eleven off, twelve
on. The transition has been smooth and speaks well of our ability t o maintain institutional memory and
continuity while gaining the perspective of the younger families, all by God’s grace.
During the same period of time we have ordained and/or installed 25 new deacons. They have maintained
the ranks of the diaconate while 15 deacons have moved away and nine have become elders, a net loss of
24 deacons in 10 years, yet their numbers at the beginning of 2018 still are at 24. We can be thankful for
our grace-enabled capacity to replenish our leadership with capable and godly young men.
New members
All churches live with the reality of the transient nature of our civilization. As many people as move to
the Savannah area and join us move from Savannah and leave us. The turnover is remarkable. One
challenge an historic congregation like ours faces is maintaining membership as older members depart
this world. Over the past 30 years 259 of our members have died, an average of more than eight per year.
Merely maintaining membership is a challenge. This year was not a great year for adding new members.
Yet our total membership (communing, in and out of town) stands at 740 (plus 169 non-communing for a
total of 909) compared with 529 at the beginning of 1987. Today our largest single demographic is in
their 20’s. The second largest is under nine years old! The third is between 10 and 19. This bodes well for
the future. Here is how our numbers break down:
Under 20
Under 40
Under 60
Over 60
27%
51%
73%
27%
Or we can put it this way:
Under 20
20-39
40-59
60 and over
27%
24%
22%
27%
Our weakest link is in the 30’s cohort, amounting to only 9% of the membership. We can say that we are
both a young congregation as well as being an older congregation. We are balanced, which is a good
thing. The early church was not made up of a single demographic. We know this because the Apostles
expected their epistles to be read in the hearing of the various types of persons present in their
congregations: married people and single (1 Cor 7), young people and old (Titus 2), parents and children
(Eph 6), rich and poor (1 Tim 6), slave and free (1 Cor 7), and Jew and Gentile (Gal 1-3).
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