In her final sermon here, Beth told a story about how quickly our congregation is adapting to and implementing the internal structure of our ministry plan. (See the following pages for one last word from Beth and a photo from Sunday’s wonderful luncheon celebration.)
She noted that at the most recent meeting of the Congregational Life Leadership Team, the group had already identified three separate ministry teams. This same thing has happened across all four of our new goal areas: our leadership teams have met and identified several specific ministry teams that will help us realize our goals.
To keep us all up to date, and to help us become more familiar with this new internal structure, I will outline our goals below, along with each of the new ministry teams that have formed to support them. The facilitators for each ministry team are in parentheses:
Goal One: Improve Congregational Care and Hospitality
- Hospitality (Vicki Collins)
- Nurture (Georgena Millar and Ned Guardenier)
- Fellowship/Special Events (Sarah Anne Eller and Eloise Murchison)
Goal Two: Deepen Our Engagement with and Service to the Wider Community
- Increase use of the Ohler Spiritual Center (Bob Gambrell)
- Expand our interaction with the college (Diana Sanderson)
- Advocacy and Social Justice (Jamie Dale and Kathy Rouse)
(Note that several specific action teams have already formed out of this larger group: political issues, inclusivity, partnerships/collaboration, environment, health, immigrants and refugees, and poverty/homelessness.)
Goal Three: Enhance Faith Development and Worship and Music Experience
- Adult Education (TBD)
- Children Education (Kristin Williams)
- Worship and Liturgical Arts (Corise Gambrell)
Goal Four: Strengthen the Church for a Sustainable Future
- Administration (Mike Levi)
- Communications (Barbara Griswold)
(Note that several specific action teams have already formed here, too: website and social media, print media, public relations, church directory.)
When we started this work, one of the primary hopes driving our Ministry Plan was that it would help us find a way to invite a broader cross section of the congregation to participate in and support our ministries and programs. I think it’s safe to say that we have done that.
If you haven’t already done so — and so many of you have! — let me encourage you to review these teams, find your place and jump in! This train is heading for our future!