Welcome to the concord umc vital church initiative page
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A little about VCIThe Vital Church Initiative (VCI) is a “process” of renewal for growing healthy, vital, fruitful, missional congregations in the Michigan Area of The UMC. This is a new process to engage our congregations for transformation. The Vital Church Initiative offers our pastors and congregations a better future. The process offers hope to leaders of congregations that have lost their outward focus by preparing them for systemic change that will enable them to once again answer God’s call to reach out to new people with the Good News.
For more information on VCI visit the Michigan Area UMC website. |
purpose of this Website
This website has been established to help members of Concord United Methodist Church stay updated on the progress of the Vital Church Initiative in their church. Information of what has been happening, of leadership meetings, of other milestones made and upcoming and much more will be posted on this website so that you, the members of Concord UMC may stay informed.
oUR CONSULTATIONS, PRESCRIPTIONS AND FIRST TOWN HALL MEETING HAVE BEEN COMPLETED!
oUR NEXT STEP IS TO VOTE FOR OR AGAINST THE PRESCRIPTIONS AT OUR CHARGE CONFERENCE ON MON., NOV. 14 @ 7 PM.
Next Townhall meeting to discuss our prescriptions - wed., nov.9 @ 6:30 pm
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Over the past several months, our church has been participating in the Vital Church Initiative Program (VCI)
VCI is an assisted self examination of our church that has helped to determine our strengths and identify opportunities for improvement. On this page, you will find the summary of the findings and the consultation teams' suggested prescriptions. If the prescriptions are accepted by our church at our Charge Conference on Mon., Nov. 14 @ 7 pm, we will design an action plan and execute it over the course of the next 3 years. Our church is not perfect and our hope is to use the VCI findings to transform our church into a more vital church not only in our community but in God's world. |
Consultation Report
Introduction We the VCI consultation team, thank Rob Hughes, staff, lay leaders and the congregation of the Concord United Methodist Church for the invitation to consul with this Body of Christ. The following observations and prescriptions are the result of this consultation team's study of the following information: a) Concord's self-study documents provided by its leaders, which includes the study "Does Your church Have A Prayer?" A mission Insite demographic report of the area population, the April 7, 2016 'Mystery Guest' report by Faith Perceptions - the result of worship visits from 5 persons from the community - worship videos and the March 19, 2016 Readiness 360 report. b) Interviews with the pastor, staff and ministry leaders c) Input from the consultation workshop. We are confident that God will use this assessment experience and consultation report, to help Concord UMC to more effectively be and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the community and the world. |
Strengths:
1. Facility - The worship and fellowship space is new and attractive. The entrance is clutter free and inviting. The space allows room for growth. There is a colorful children's area that is safe, clean and easy to locate. The consultation team wonders how much more effective the space might be for children and youth ministries. We noted needs around airborne allergens, carpet, paint, and lighting with the possibility of repurposing the chapel and library. The entire building is accessible. The facility is open for both community and church functions. A mystery guest suggested inviting "Concord Schools to do some fundraisers at their church, i.e., car wash, bake sale, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, mini fair, etc. Getting a younger crowd and their families to use church facilities bridges the gap of society stigmas."
The facility could be a tool for strategic partnerships and collaborations with community organizations to become the village's church home.
2. Worship Music and Pre-Service Hospitality - The Mystery Guest identified three quality elements of your worship as attractive to guests. The worship music was described by one guest as "well above average" and an "auditory treat." Another stated that the musicians exhibited a genuineness and passion for their music. The friendliness of the congregation was highlighted by one guest this way, "I felt (like) a welcomed stranger into this parish." Another wrote "I would return." These responses, along with compliments on the website, bulletin and other information available can continue as leverage to the benefit of people new to the congregation.
3. Financial Strength - Concord has paid down the mortgage for the new addition from $600,000 to $300,000 in 15 years. The top five givers make up only 40% of the total income in the church. This is a strength that will allow you to withstand changes that might otherwise be devastating if you were depending on only a few top givers to support the budget.
Concerns:
1. No Unifying Mission and Vision. No ministries or resources alignment. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). Although a vision statement has been developed, we find that is has never been implemented and has been ignored. While the desire seems to exit, there is no clear compelling vision to accomplish an outward focused mission. There is no strategy in place to make new disciples or create leaders in the church. The houses of spiritual gifs do not provide organization to or alignment of ministries. No strategic allocation of resources is present. The urgency of the Great commission, to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), is lost. A shared faith journey is needed to anchor this making of disciples. An interviewee remarked, "we are quietly devoted." Without a clear view of God's call of the faith community, the congregation will be filled with confusion, cross purposes, disagreement and disharmony.
2. Worship Quality - Music in worship is meaningful and communicated with passion. Pastor Rob's messages were described in the interviews as understandable, full of energy, funny and focused. However, the consultation team noticed from the videos that other parts of worship are boring and tedious, lacking quality and inspiration. The announcements and prayer time, in particular, are inwardly focused, lengthy, absent of appeal to newcomers and a younger demographic. Seeker-friendly churches let new people hide. Other churches inadvertently embarrass their visitors. Elements that are inwardly-oriented such as verbally acknowledging birthdays and anniversaries can be a turn-off for guests making them feel as if they have intruded into a "family reunion." Corporate worship is about praising and experiencing God as an expression of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Worship is the main - and often the only - avenue for guests and members to connect with the church. The MissionInsite report reveals that the average age of your community in a one-mile radius is 42. This age demographic is largely missing from your Sunday worship experience. Worship is, by definition, the worship of God. Elements not meeting that goal must be eliminated. No less than excellence is acceptable. If anything in the life of a congregation is worth doing well, it is the worship of our glorious God.
3. Transactional to Relational Missions - The consultation team appreciates the interviewees' stated desire to reach new people, younger families, and to create a presence in the community. Engagement in the Concord Service Project, funeral lunches, and the Open Door Free Store are evidence of the congregation's desire to be in mission. Further evidence is the commitment to Wednesday night Kidz Club and Delta Kardia (youth ministry) to reach children and youth who are not in attendance on Sunday mornings. On the other hand, there are fewer people and resources to be in mission. Some interviewees voice frustration in not knowing how to effectively engage the community. The team found little evidence that the church knows what the community needs; and little evidence that the church is known in the community for more than its building. Your goal for mission is getting "butts in the seats" on Sunday morning - rather than being in relational mission. Ministry with offers the love of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Relational mission transforms us as we engage with all of God's people.
Prescriptions*
To address the above concerns, the people of Concord will begin the implementation of the following prescriptions. Quiet devotion will intentionally become out-loud, gospel living. On going spiritual practices to maximize individual and collective faith maturation may include and are not limited to: regularly offering short-term small group studies, intentionally de-briefing each mission and outreach experience, prayer disciplines and stewardship of all resources (money, time, spiritual gifts, skills, talents, facility) as expressions of faith.
1. Organizational Basics: Mission, Vision, Resource Alignment and Governance. With the adoption of this consultation report, Concord embraces as its own the United Methodist Church mission, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Living into a shared clarity of vision, mission, values, alignment and policy governance shall begin with the process below.
A. The coach, or designee, will lead an experience of worship for spiritual renewal. This worship will focus on becoming fully prepared to follow the Holy One's lead into a faithful and fruitful future. This worship shall be completed to later than March 1, 2017.
B. To prepare the congregation to receive and embrace God's vision, the pastor will preach a 3-4 part sermon series on the function and benefits of living a shared vision, mission and values. This sermon series shall conclude no later than March 1, 2017.
C. Prior to the visioning workshop the pastor will recruit a vision writing team of 3-5 people. This team shall wordsmith a vision statement of 8-10 words based on the concepts from the visioning workshop described below. The Leadership Council will be informed of the vision statement no later than May 1, 2017. The vision shall be rolled out to the congregation before Memorial Day weekend 2017.
D. The coach, or designee, will facilitate a visioning workshop before Palm Sunday 2017. The purpose of this workshop includes identifying shared core values in light of the mission statement, and, at the discretion of the coach, either a re-visit of the 2015 vision statement or create a new vision statement.
E. The coach, or designee, will facilitate a Goal-Setting Workshop for all ministry workers by June 15, 2017. Ministry planners and workers will design goals and action steps to live out their part of the congregation's vision, mission and values. The initial goals shall be implemented no later than Advent 2017.
Thereafter, every ministry area shall operate from current goals and action steps to be aligned with the congregation's vision and mission. And additional resource is Bearing Fruit: Mission with Real Results, (2011), by Lovett H. Weems, Jr. and Tom Berlin.
F. All ministries shall be in alignment no later than February 14, 2018, Ash Wednesday. Ministries not in alignment shall be celebrated and dissolved at that time.
G. The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will determine when addressing healthy communication and conflict management is time.l This may include a message series and a 4 week, all church small group bible study, to be concluded by fall 2017. Resources include, and are not limited to the following: Creating a Healthier Church, by Ronald Richardson; Behavioral Covenants in Congregations: A Handbook for Honoring Differences, by Gil Rendle and The Rule of Christ (Matthew 19) available on the website resources.michiganumc.org/resources/conflict-resolution. An additional resource for workshop facilitation is Naomi Garcia, Associate Director for Discipleship.
H. To establish sustainable effectiveness, the Leadership Council, in consultation with the coach, will explore how best to transition to a policy board governance. Policy governance shepherds the shared vision, mission and values. It does this by establishing boundaries of ministries (such as policy, budgets and timelines), ministry objectives and evaluation. The pastor is responsible for leading the day-to-day activities of accomplishing the strategic plan with the authority of the decision making body. This stream lined organizational structure translates into less time in meetings; and more time in risk-taking, relational discipling.
changing the name of this policy governance board is recommended to re-enforce this new way of operating and actively avoiding the cultural likelihood of reverting to former behaviors of a representative governance.
In consultation with the coach, possible processes to accomplish this transition follow:
I. An all congregation study of Leadership and Organization for Fruitful Congregations by Stephan Ross (2014).
II. No later than January 31, 2018, the coach, or designee, shall facilitate the VCI two-part workshop "Accountability Leadership" and "Policy Board Governance."
iii. Draft a re-structure and a transition plan to policy governance for approval by the district Superintendent and the fall 2017 Church Conference. These plans will be fully consistent with the United Methodist Book of Discipline.
2. Worship Excellence:
A. A worship evaluation team shall be recruited by the pastor and in place no later than January 15, 2107. This team will include the pastor, the worship team chairperson and two others (one of whom shall be under 50 years of age). This team will record each week's worship for two months and view worship videos weekly to evaluate your worship experience. Special attention shall be given to the length, flow and focus of the announcements and corporate prayer. This evaluation will also foster an ongoing thoughtfulness and intentionality about everything worship. Thereafter, quarterly review of weekly worship experiences by the worship team shall become a constant and ongoing vigilance to continually improve the quality of your worship.
B. The Worship Team tasks include enhancing the worship experience toward excellence in all aspects. This can be accomplished by on-going research about creating worship that engages and inspires. The team will visit at least 3 other churches who are effectively doing worship which appeals to persons under the age of 50 by March 1, 2017. The directive coach is a resource for identifying said congregations.
C. The Music Team will evaluate their chosen posture of remaining seated through its portions of worship. This evaluation shall consider the impact of standing to lead the vocals and maintaining eye contact with the worshipping congregants to better engage them.
D. The Pastor, in consultation with the coach, will preach at least one series of messages in 2017 addressing themes of congregational unity, participation in spiritual disciplines, and outwardly-focused relational mission.
E. Worship changes will be supported by an intentional ministry of prayer. The consultation team is confident that the Holy Spirit will do its part.
3. Relational Outreach: Concord is already making attempts in several ways to connect with the community. It is the opportunities within these connections that need to be developed to share the Gospel.
A. A Community Interviews Task Force of 3-4 recruited by the pastor, in consultation with the coach no later than November 15, 2016. this task force shall design 3-4 key questions to understand the needs of the community. Questions shall be asked of community leaders in-person, such as school staff and administrators, business owners, emergency responders. Questions to be asked may include 'where is the greatest need in the community', 'how could our congregation be helpful in meeting this need, we support the (specific) school, first responder, etc.', or 'how can we partner with you/your organization?' The interviews will be completed by Dec. 15, 2016.
B. The pastor will create register opportunities out of the office to get to know the community.
C. In preparation for re-designing current missions and outreach ministries, the pastor will coordinate a Lenten worship design that includes a sermon series during the all-church study of the book, Get Their Name, by Bob Farr, Doug Anderson and Kay Kotan. This coordinated experience will be celebrated on Palm Sunday 2017.
D. The pastor designee shall contact churches engaged in relational outreach, such as Kalkaska UMC and Sunnyside UMC (Kalamazoo) to learn best practices.
E. Redesign how you engage with those served by the Homecoming Hot Dog Picnic, Open Door Free Store, and Concord Service Project to be relational outreach. The redesign will be launched no later than July 2017. Each redesign shall be evaluated within 14 days of its completion.
F. Thereafter, the first annual launch of new outreach initiatives shall occur no later than May 1, 2018. This will set a cycle of strengthening existing mission and outreach ministries, evaluation within 14 days of completion and launching at least one new initiative each spring and/or summer on an annual basis.
G. The Leadership Council shall plan and implement an all church study of "Toxic Charity" Robert D. Lupton. (Additional resource to use in future training(s) "A Mission Journey": A Handbook for Volunteers by General Board of Global Ministries). The study shall be completed before Advent 2017.
H. A pastor selected Grief Care team of 3-4 people will develop a plan for meeting the grief needs. This Grief Care team may begin with families requesting ministries for services around funeral needs. The plan will include and not be limited to such items as spiritual support (such as prayer, visitation or counseling referrals, etc.), All-Saints Sunday recognition, memorial gifts, and Blue Christmas Worship. This plan will be in place by June 1, 2017. A resource is the funeral follow up of Climax UMC.
Conclusion: We, the consultation team, want to thank you for the opportunity to serve your congregation through this Vital Church Initiative assessment process. Our prayers and hope for your congregation is that God will use this process to help your church become more effective and fruitful. May God give you courage and strength as you move forward.
Naomi Garcia, Lead Consultant
Rod Kalajainen, Coach
Pat Bromberek, Scribe
Lisa Batten, Consultant
*Note: Prescription deadlines my be adjusted in consultation with the assigned VCI Coach.
TIMELINE FOR VCI PRESCRIPTIONS
11/15/16 Create community interviews task force - Pastor
12/15/16 Conduct interviews - Community interviews task force
01/15/17 Create worship evaluation team - Pastor
03/01/17 Worship of spiritual renewal - Coach or designee
03/01/17 Sermon series on function and benefits of living a shared vision mission and values - Pastor
03/01/17 Enhance worship experience
04/09/17 Facilitate visioning workshop
04/09/17 Lenten worship, sermon series, all church study - Pastor
05/01/17 Communicate vision statement to Leadership Council - Visioning Team
05/29/17 Roll out visioning statement to the congregation - Visioning Team
06/01/17 Create a grief care program - Congregation
06/15/17 Facilitate goal setting workshop - Coach or designee
07/31/17 Redesign engagement with current outreach projects - Congregation
11/27/17 Implement initial goals - Congregation
11/27/17 All church study of Toxic Charity - Congregation
11/30/17 Address healthy communication and conflict management - Pastor in consultation with coach
11/30/17 Restructure and transition to policy governance ready for approval - District Superintendent
12/31/17 Sermon series addressing themes for congregational unity, participation in
spiritual disciplines, and outwardly-focused relational mission - Pastor in consultation with coach
01/31/18 Two part workshop "Accountability Leadership" and "Policy Board Governance" - Coach or designee
02/14/18 All ministries aligned or dissolved - Congregation
05/01/18 First annual launch of new outreach initiatives - Congregation
1. Facility - The worship and fellowship space is new and attractive. The entrance is clutter free and inviting. The space allows room for growth. There is a colorful children's area that is safe, clean and easy to locate. The consultation team wonders how much more effective the space might be for children and youth ministries. We noted needs around airborne allergens, carpet, paint, and lighting with the possibility of repurposing the chapel and library. The entire building is accessible. The facility is open for both community and church functions. A mystery guest suggested inviting "Concord Schools to do some fundraisers at their church, i.e., car wash, bake sale, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, mini fair, etc. Getting a younger crowd and their families to use church facilities bridges the gap of society stigmas."
The facility could be a tool for strategic partnerships and collaborations with community organizations to become the village's church home.
2. Worship Music and Pre-Service Hospitality - The Mystery Guest identified three quality elements of your worship as attractive to guests. The worship music was described by one guest as "well above average" and an "auditory treat." Another stated that the musicians exhibited a genuineness and passion for their music. The friendliness of the congregation was highlighted by one guest this way, "I felt (like) a welcomed stranger into this parish." Another wrote "I would return." These responses, along with compliments on the website, bulletin and other information available can continue as leverage to the benefit of people new to the congregation.
3. Financial Strength - Concord has paid down the mortgage for the new addition from $600,000 to $300,000 in 15 years. The top five givers make up only 40% of the total income in the church. This is a strength that will allow you to withstand changes that might otherwise be devastating if you were depending on only a few top givers to support the budget.
Concerns:
1. No Unifying Mission and Vision. No ministries or resources alignment. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). Although a vision statement has been developed, we find that is has never been implemented and has been ignored. While the desire seems to exit, there is no clear compelling vision to accomplish an outward focused mission. There is no strategy in place to make new disciples or create leaders in the church. The houses of spiritual gifs do not provide organization to or alignment of ministries. No strategic allocation of resources is present. The urgency of the Great commission, to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), is lost. A shared faith journey is needed to anchor this making of disciples. An interviewee remarked, "we are quietly devoted." Without a clear view of God's call of the faith community, the congregation will be filled with confusion, cross purposes, disagreement and disharmony.
2. Worship Quality - Music in worship is meaningful and communicated with passion. Pastor Rob's messages were described in the interviews as understandable, full of energy, funny and focused. However, the consultation team noticed from the videos that other parts of worship are boring and tedious, lacking quality and inspiration. The announcements and prayer time, in particular, are inwardly focused, lengthy, absent of appeal to newcomers and a younger demographic. Seeker-friendly churches let new people hide. Other churches inadvertently embarrass their visitors. Elements that are inwardly-oriented such as verbally acknowledging birthdays and anniversaries can be a turn-off for guests making them feel as if they have intruded into a "family reunion." Corporate worship is about praising and experiencing God as an expression of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Worship is the main - and often the only - avenue for guests and members to connect with the church. The MissionInsite report reveals that the average age of your community in a one-mile radius is 42. This age demographic is largely missing from your Sunday worship experience. Worship is, by definition, the worship of God. Elements not meeting that goal must be eliminated. No less than excellence is acceptable. If anything in the life of a congregation is worth doing well, it is the worship of our glorious God.
3. Transactional to Relational Missions - The consultation team appreciates the interviewees' stated desire to reach new people, younger families, and to create a presence in the community. Engagement in the Concord Service Project, funeral lunches, and the Open Door Free Store are evidence of the congregation's desire to be in mission. Further evidence is the commitment to Wednesday night Kidz Club and Delta Kardia (youth ministry) to reach children and youth who are not in attendance on Sunday mornings. On the other hand, there are fewer people and resources to be in mission. Some interviewees voice frustration in not knowing how to effectively engage the community. The team found little evidence that the church knows what the community needs; and little evidence that the church is known in the community for more than its building. Your goal for mission is getting "butts in the seats" on Sunday morning - rather than being in relational mission. Ministry with offers the love of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Relational mission transforms us as we engage with all of God's people.
Prescriptions*
To address the above concerns, the people of Concord will begin the implementation of the following prescriptions. Quiet devotion will intentionally become out-loud, gospel living. On going spiritual practices to maximize individual and collective faith maturation may include and are not limited to: regularly offering short-term small group studies, intentionally de-briefing each mission and outreach experience, prayer disciplines and stewardship of all resources (money, time, spiritual gifts, skills, talents, facility) as expressions of faith.
1. Organizational Basics: Mission, Vision, Resource Alignment and Governance. With the adoption of this consultation report, Concord embraces as its own the United Methodist Church mission, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Living into a shared clarity of vision, mission, values, alignment and policy governance shall begin with the process below.
A. The coach, or designee, will lead an experience of worship for spiritual renewal. This worship will focus on becoming fully prepared to follow the Holy One's lead into a faithful and fruitful future. This worship shall be completed to later than March 1, 2017.
B. To prepare the congregation to receive and embrace God's vision, the pastor will preach a 3-4 part sermon series on the function and benefits of living a shared vision, mission and values. This sermon series shall conclude no later than March 1, 2017.
C. Prior to the visioning workshop the pastor will recruit a vision writing team of 3-5 people. This team shall wordsmith a vision statement of 8-10 words based on the concepts from the visioning workshop described below. The Leadership Council will be informed of the vision statement no later than May 1, 2017. The vision shall be rolled out to the congregation before Memorial Day weekend 2017.
D. The coach, or designee, will facilitate a visioning workshop before Palm Sunday 2017. The purpose of this workshop includes identifying shared core values in light of the mission statement, and, at the discretion of the coach, either a re-visit of the 2015 vision statement or create a new vision statement.
E. The coach, or designee, will facilitate a Goal-Setting Workshop for all ministry workers by June 15, 2017. Ministry planners and workers will design goals and action steps to live out their part of the congregation's vision, mission and values. The initial goals shall be implemented no later than Advent 2017.
Thereafter, every ministry area shall operate from current goals and action steps to be aligned with the congregation's vision and mission. And additional resource is Bearing Fruit: Mission with Real Results, (2011), by Lovett H. Weems, Jr. and Tom Berlin.
F. All ministries shall be in alignment no later than February 14, 2018, Ash Wednesday. Ministries not in alignment shall be celebrated and dissolved at that time.
G. The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will determine when addressing healthy communication and conflict management is time.l This may include a message series and a 4 week, all church small group bible study, to be concluded by fall 2017. Resources include, and are not limited to the following: Creating a Healthier Church, by Ronald Richardson; Behavioral Covenants in Congregations: A Handbook for Honoring Differences, by Gil Rendle and The Rule of Christ (Matthew 19) available on the website resources.michiganumc.org/resources/conflict-resolution. An additional resource for workshop facilitation is Naomi Garcia, Associate Director for Discipleship.
H. To establish sustainable effectiveness, the Leadership Council, in consultation with the coach, will explore how best to transition to a policy board governance. Policy governance shepherds the shared vision, mission and values. It does this by establishing boundaries of ministries (such as policy, budgets and timelines), ministry objectives and evaluation. The pastor is responsible for leading the day-to-day activities of accomplishing the strategic plan with the authority of the decision making body. This stream lined organizational structure translates into less time in meetings; and more time in risk-taking, relational discipling.
changing the name of this policy governance board is recommended to re-enforce this new way of operating and actively avoiding the cultural likelihood of reverting to former behaviors of a representative governance.
In consultation with the coach, possible processes to accomplish this transition follow:
I. An all congregation study of Leadership and Organization for Fruitful Congregations by Stephan Ross (2014).
II. No later than January 31, 2018, the coach, or designee, shall facilitate the VCI two-part workshop "Accountability Leadership" and "Policy Board Governance."
iii. Draft a re-structure and a transition plan to policy governance for approval by the district Superintendent and the fall 2017 Church Conference. These plans will be fully consistent with the United Methodist Book of Discipline.
2. Worship Excellence:
A. A worship evaluation team shall be recruited by the pastor and in place no later than January 15, 2107. This team will include the pastor, the worship team chairperson and two others (one of whom shall be under 50 years of age). This team will record each week's worship for two months and view worship videos weekly to evaluate your worship experience. Special attention shall be given to the length, flow and focus of the announcements and corporate prayer. This evaluation will also foster an ongoing thoughtfulness and intentionality about everything worship. Thereafter, quarterly review of weekly worship experiences by the worship team shall become a constant and ongoing vigilance to continually improve the quality of your worship.
B. The Worship Team tasks include enhancing the worship experience toward excellence in all aspects. This can be accomplished by on-going research about creating worship that engages and inspires. The team will visit at least 3 other churches who are effectively doing worship which appeals to persons under the age of 50 by March 1, 2017. The directive coach is a resource for identifying said congregations.
C. The Music Team will evaluate their chosen posture of remaining seated through its portions of worship. This evaluation shall consider the impact of standing to lead the vocals and maintaining eye contact with the worshipping congregants to better engage them.
D. The Pastor, in consultation with the coach, will preach at least one series of messages in 2017 addressing themes of congregational unity, participation in spiritual disciplines, and outwardly-focused relational mission.
E. Worship changes will be supported by an intentional ministry of prayer. The consultation team is confident that the Holy Spirit will do its part.
3. Relational Outreach: Concord is already making attempts in several ways to connect with the community. It is the opportunities within these connections that need to be developed to share the Gospel.
A. A Community Interviews Task Force of 3-4 recruited by the pastor, in consultation with the coach no later than November 15, 2016. this task force shall design 3-4 key questions to understand the needs of the community. Questions shall be asked of community leaders in-person, such as school staff and administrators, business owners, emergency responders. Questions to be asked may include 'where is the greatest need in the community', 'how could our congregation be helpful in meeting this need, we support the (specific) school, first responder, etc.', or 'how can we partner with you/your organization?' The interviews will be completed by Dec. 15, 2016.
B. The pastor will create register opportunities out of the office to get to know the community.
C. In preparation for re-designing current missions and outreach ministries, the pastor will coordinate a Lenten worship design that includes a sermon series during the all-church study of the book, Get Their Name, by Bob Farr, Doug Anderson and Kay Kotan. This coordinated experience will be celebrated on Palm Sunday 2017.
D. The pastor designee shall contact churches engaged in relational outreach, such as Kalkaska UMC and Sunnyside UMC (Kalamazoo) to learn best practices.
E. Redesign how you engage with those served by the Homecoming Hot Dog Picnic, Open Door Free Store, and Concord Service Project to be relational outreach. The redesign will be launched no later than July 2017. Each redesign shall be evaluated within 14 days of its completion.
F. Thereafter, the first annual launch of new outreach initiatives shall occur no later than May 1, 2018. This will set a cycle of strengthening existing mission and outreach ministries, evaluation within 14 days of completion and launching at least one new initiative each spring and/or summer on an annual basis.
G. The Leadership Council shall plan and implement an all church study of "Toxic Charity" Robert D. Lupton. (Additional resource to use in future training(s) "A Mission Journey": A Handbook for Volunteers by General Board of Global Ministries). The study shall be completed before Advent 2017.
H. A pastor selected Grief Care team of 3-4 people will develop a plan for meeting the grief needs. This Grief Care team may begin with families requesting ministries for services around funeral needs. The plan will include and not be limited to such items as spiritual support (such as prayer, visitation or counseling referrals, etc.), All-Saints Sunday recognition, memorial gifts, and Blue Christmas Worship. This plan will be in place by June 1, 2017. A resource is the funeral follow up of Climax UMC.
Conclusion: We, the consultation team, want to thank you for the opportunity to serve your congregation through this Vital Church Initiative assessment process. Our prayers and hope for your congregation is that God will use this process to help your church become more effective and fruitful. May God give you courage and strength as you move forward.
Naomi Garcia, Lead Consultant
Rod Kalajainen, Coach
Pat Bromberek, Scribe
Lisa Batten, Consultant
*Note: Prescription deadlines my be adjusted in consultation with the assigned VCI Coach.
TIMELINE FOR VCI PRESCRIPTIONS
11/15/16 Create community interviews task force - Pastor
12/15/16 Conduct interviews - Community interviews task force
01/15/17 Create worship evaluation team - Pastor
03/01/17 Worship of spiritual renewal - Coach or designee
03/01/17 Sermon series on function and benefits of living a shared vision mission and values - Pastor
03/01/17 Enhance worship experience
04/09/17 Facilitate visioning workshop
04/09/17 Lenten worship, sermon series, all church study - Pastor
05/01/17 Communicate vision statement to Leadership Council - Visioning Team
05/29/17 Roll out visioning statement to the congregation - Visioning Team
06/01/17 Create a grief care program - Congregation
06/15/17 Facilitate goal setting workshop - Coach or designee
07/31/17 Redesign engagement with current outreach projects - Congregation
11/27/17 Implement initial goals - Congregation
11/27/17 All church study of Toxic Charity - Congregation
11/30/17 Address healthy communication and conflict management - Pastor in consultation with coach
11/30/17 Restructure and transition to policy governance ready for approval - District Superintendent
12/31/17 Sermon series addressing themes for congregational unity, participation in
spiritual disciplines, and outwardly-focused relational mission - Pastor in consultation with coach
01/31/18 Two part workshop "Accountability Leadership" and "Policy Board Governance" - Coach or designee
02/14/18 All ministries aligned or dissolved - Congregation
05/01/18 First annual launch of new outreach initiatives - Congregation