From the Pastor's Desk

November 2009

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS…

                                                                    WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Last month we wrapped up the Discovery Series on what our identity and vision are for our church as we move into its future.  In that session, we began by addressing questions based on the input of the last three sessions regarding what focus of ministry we want and feel called to embrace, and laid them out according to the following format:

What are we ALREADY doing?

• 2nd Hour study
• Guest ministers
• Laypersons participating in leading worship
• Including children more in worship service
• Community Drug Awareness programs
• Visioning and discovery work
• Visitation discussion
• Bylaws revisions
• Children's pre-school playgroup 

What can we START doing now?

• Adult study
• Community dinners
• Journal column and community education
• Evangelism and outreach
• Ecumenical events
• Spiritual disciplines
• Sponsoring kids' clubs and parenting groups
• Communication regarding visitation
• Interfaith experiences

 What should we WAIT to do until our next permanent pastor arrives?

• Adult mission
• Alternative worship services
• Membership classes
• Sister church relationship
• Cottage dinners
• Stephen's Ministries training

 We then identified what seemed to be a group of overarching mandates. Naming them our “Critical Points of Attention,” we unpack them as they are relevant to our Core Values. It should be noted that these are not outlined according to those values, but as general points needing significant attention. As resources moving forward they overlap in their correlation to those values. They were put forth as follows:

FIVE CRITICAL POINTS OF ATTENTION (What we need to do ― where we want to be.)

COMMUNICATION ― internal and external:

Assist in lay pastoral care/support, membership follow-up, expanded visibility in the community, reaching out to those with specific needs.

ADULT SPIRITUAL FORMATION ― more  opportunities for spiritual study and practice:

Impacts spiritual growth, worship service, personal commitment (involvement).

OUTREACH/EVANGELISM ― growing the church,  become more visible:

• Draws others in who need what we have as a supportive faith community;
• Responds to outreach, mission, and involvement values.

 SERVING the MARGINALIZED ― creating and/or actively supporting humanitarian programs:

• Offer assistance to various groups out of sense of mission and outreach;
• Being community, inside and out;
• Increasing our active, hands-on involvement.

 LAY MINISTRY DEVELOPMENT ― stressing the vital nature of collaborative team ministry:

• Addresses ALL Core Values, and calls all church members to “step up” into a new understanding of ownership of the church's identity and future success, with the pastor as leadership facilitator, developer and trainer.

 Where we go from here will begin with creating a Long-Term Planning and Strategy Team.  Whether appointed by the Church Council or nominated and voted upon by the congregation, this group will be called upon to devise an ongoing strategy for implementing your goals, as they have been laid out here. It must take into account time, financial and human resources, and practicality…as well as, again, prayerful discernment regarding what to implement, how, and when.

All of this is to say, we have our work cut out for us.  But it's good work; it's powerful work; and more than this, it's God's work.  These decisions and identifiers did not come merely from enjoyable and interesting conversation. They came from a process that involved our brains and our hearts, our discussion and thoughtful prayer, over the things we felt God, and not only ourselves, was calling out as a part of our future. It is your collective job now to embrace this future and let it inform you about who should help lead you into it.

And that will be the job of your  Search Committee.

Our next, and final, congregational discussion will take place on Sunday, November 15th immediately after the worship service.  I expect this will be met with significant interest, as we will be honing in on what spiritual strengths, ministry skills and experience, and personality traits you envision having in your next settled minister. As with all these sessions, this one will play an instructing role in the task of the search committee. It’s your chance to inform them of your collective hopes for your next pastor. 

DON'T MISS IT !  See you Sunday .…

Dialogue Session II Results

Dialogue Session III Results

Dialogue Session V Announcement and Open House Invitation
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