'Residents Should be in Sympathy with our Purposes' said Dr. Weaver in a Sermon on 'Accepting A Vision'

Muriel Small worked hard at getting a choir put together for this last Sunday in August and she was successful! In addition to herself, Muriel garnered 11 additional folks and the four-part harmony was beautiful. The faces of Fred Nobbs and JoAnn Brocklehurst are in the back row and partially blocked, as is Barb Weaver's in the front row. They sounded wonderful and we are grateful to Kenmore UMC for sending us some of their best!

Don Weaver, Speaking at Epworth Hall Sunday, Aug. 27th, Calls on all SLI members To Accept the New Challenges of a new SLI
With a history as long as our Silver Lake Institute, it is sometimes very difficult to fully realize that we became an entirely new organization on February 2, 2016, at the State Supreme Court Building in the Warsaw government complex. Before that date, our accountability or lack of it was under the jurisdiction and the responsibility of the Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This is no longer true--we are fully responsible now ourselves and must report annually to NYS that we are indeed fulfilling the requirements of our charter and of our 501-C3 federal tax exemption.
Dr. Weaver referred to the Silver Lake Institute as both a "new institution" and as "a faith community" which is also how the federal tax exemption views it also. As such, we need members "who are in sympathy with our purposes" even if they choose not to fully participate. He said of the current conversations about having the right or opportunity for potential new residents to request a meeting to learn about our community, that he would "take it a step further and say that it should be a requirement" of those proposing to become members of the Silver Lake Institute (through the purchasing or inheriting of property).
Equally important, we are responsible for our community and the people around it. Along with compassion and helpfulness toward our neighbors who may be in need of help or assistance, we need a more effective system when it comes to abiding by our rules and regulations. We live too closely together to be doing our own things without regard to others or to the health and safety of people within our borders. Dr. Weaver recommended that we hire a management company to handle all violations of rules and keep our Board and our neighbors free of this law and order function.
Editor's Note -- We invite Dr. Weaver to submit either a manuscript of his sermon for publication or a summary of it in his own words.