Ministry Focus Final Phase

We are finally at our final stage in the process of choosing a ministry focus.


As a quick refresher of this process:

1. Session brainstormed and fleshed out eight ideas for potential focus topics.  Then, over the summer?  I put together a presentation about what these ministries could look like. In September, I gave this presentation to Session, and they voted for their top four ideas.  
2. These four ideas were presented to the congregation.  Four town-hall style meetings were held over two weeks attended by 36 individuals.  An additional 9 individuals read the presentation on their own and got back to me with their thoughts and votes. In total, I heard back from 45 people, exceeding our goal of 42 participants (80% of our 52 members).  Each of the 45 people voted for their favorite topics (two votes for one topic or one vote for two topics).  These votes were then tallied and totaled to give us our top two topics.

There was a clear first place choice in topics: the LGBTQIA+ Community.
The second-place choice was a close call.  Young Adults and Persons with Disabilities went back and forth as the second-place choice.  In the end, Young Adults won the second place slot with two more votes.

• The final step of the process is to hold a Congregational Meeting in order to discuss these two potential ministry focuses, their merits, their drawbacks, what makes people excited, and what makes people hesitant.  An outline of the two potential ministries will be made available, but I will not be walking through the information in the presentation again.  Rather, this time is intended to hear from one another, debate the ideas, and come to as close as a consensus as we can as a community.  Once we feel that we have discussed the ideas adequately, we will take a Congregational Vote. For this to be an authoritative act of the congregation, we will need a minimum of 25 voting members.  While non-members cannot vote, the members of the congregation can vote to give voice to those individuals wishing to participate in the discussion.

I am very excited to be at this step in the process and even more excited to hear what you all have to say this Sunday about these ideas.

Here is one final promise I will make to you all: while we will have chosen our ministry focus for the next few years, we will not try to implement everything that I have listed on the presentation all at once.  We will have to grow this ministry slowly and strategically.  This means tackling easy projects first in order to build momentum.  Part of Session’s work in 2026 will be creating a strategic plan for the committees and congregation to implement slowly.  The journey will be long, but hopefully we will make friends and build relationship along the way that will sustain us.


Blessings,
Pastor Chris