Thanks to all of you who participated in the congregational conversation after the worship service on May 5. There seemed to be some lively conversation around the tables as we shared a meal together. From those conversations, these ideas emerged as “next things we need to do.”
- Get clear about who we are
- The first step is to create a clear and concise message of who we are as a congregation, what we do and what we value. This clarity should come from continued meaningful conversations with one another, and cannot be discovered by surveys or other quick-fix methods. There are diverse views, beliefs and opinions in the congregation, and they all need to be respected as we seek consensus.
- Accept our size and energy level and adapt
- There were some nods around the circle when we named the need to intentionally accept the current reality that we are a small (one-cell) congregation and that because of age and other factors, we have limited energy for ambitious projects. There is a need to “let go” of unrealistic hopes — including the notion that Christian practice will dominate our culture as it once did, and that PUC will be a large worshiping congregation again.
- Get consistent ministry leadership
- An immediate next step is to secure regular ministry leadership. This will happen in two steps — the first is that Rev Phil Hobbs will provide supply ministry leadership for one year. Second, during that time, the Community of Faith Profile will be finalized and approved and a search process undertaken to seek longer term ministry leadership.
- Host a meal or coffee event for community leaders to talk about our mutual social ministries
- We need to connect better with the community and other organizations that share our goals and values. In order to discover potential partners and collaborators, a next step can be to host a meal or gathering for a facilitated conversation with our “neighbours.” We would invite specific individuals representing specific groups and churches to join us to ask the question “what do we have in common and how can we work together?”
- Reach out personally to people who used to be involved in the congregation
- There are some people who used to be part of the congregation but have for one reason or another pulled away. One next step is to reach out specifically to that group of people, sharing our new “clarified” mission and saying: “We miss you and would like to have you join us again — what would it take for that to happen?”
- Create an information package about the church and make it available to real estate and welcome wagon
- A simple next step that follows clarifying out mission and ministry goals is to communicate it to our community. A specific example would be to respond to the influx of new people to the community by putting together an information package to include with real estate and tourist information, and community welcome packages. This effort would need to be supported by the continued development of our website and Facebook presence.
- Host worship services and communion in elderly care homes
- Some of us felt that we have not cared for our aged and infirm members as well as we should. A next step could be to ramp up our lay visitation and offer to host worship services and communion in residences.
- Stream worship services on our web site for shut-ins and community
- A next step in the development of our web site could be to record or stream our worship services and make them available through our web site. A preliminary step could be to research this idea and see if there is an interest among those we intend to reach out to and if so, to search for leadership to make it happen.
- Include lay members in worship leadership
- A simple next step to reflect shared leadership for the congregation is to include more lay members in worship leadership. This can commence immediately.
- Find someone to lead a small group gathering for “seekers and thinkers”
- For many years, Gerry Bradley led a small group book study for “seekers and thinkers.” As a next step to recapture the value of small group ministry, we agreed we need to look for someone who would be interested in leading a new study group to explore our growing edges of faith.
Congregational Conversation #2
You are invited to join each other again after worship on May 26 for a second congregational conversation. This time, we will focus specifically on our greatest physical asset, our property. The question for our conversation is: “What is the next thing we need to do in order to make the best use of our wonderful property — auditorium, meeting spaces and parking lot / land?”
There are many possible directions we could pursue in order to be better stewards of the building and land. However, we must start somewhere and that is what this discussion will attempt to clarify. I am attaching again the report that was prepared over a year ago that outlines possibilities for the future of our property. Please review this document prior to the meeting. If you want a printed copy, they are available at the church office.
Thank you for your faithfulness and your love for our church family. I hope to see you after worship on the 26th.
– Joe
The Rev. Joseph Ramsay
