A New Ministry Structure for Our Church
At the most recent Central Conversations, the Rightsizing Workgroup presented their proposal for a new leadership and governance structure that they hope will be more efficient, transparent, adaptable and responsive. To begin, the team proposed replacing the language of committees with teams since it carries a collaborative, action-oriented connotation that better reflects how we want to work together. This new model will have nine teams that are organized into three broad categories that the workgroup describes as the Head (Admin), the Heart (Theology), and the Hands (Ministry), as articulated below.
Nothing Has to Be Permanent
Our youth and their families decided to try something new: meeting after worship on Sunday morning instead of at 5pm.
For four weeks in April, the youth stayed after Sunday morning worship for Table Talk. We did most of the same things we normally do — just at a different time.
It didn't work.
From Counting Heads to Counting on Each Other
Our current leadership structure was designed for a congregation much larger than ours, but the reality is we are a smaller congregation than we used to be and the guidelines and structures that used to effectively guide us have since become obstacles standing in the way of our progress.
Unity in the Pastor Search Team
Unity in the Pastor Search Team - In the spirit of our recent Unity theme, Pastor Search team was asked to share a little about our transformational journey from a group of individuals to a unified group, without losing ourselves in the process!
My Statement of Faith – Rev. Justin Pierson
During the pastor search process, the Pastor Search Team requested that interested candidates submit a cover letter, resume, and statement of faith. Cover letters and resumes are fairly straight forward in any application process, so they did not much time to write.
Two Perspectives of Nostalgia
I spent most of last week in Kansas City, Missouri, for the last gathering of my CBF Fellows cohort (and no I didn't see Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce, so don't ask). Over the past two years, this cohort of young ministers has met several times in various locations to network, attend workshops and ministry seminars, and brainstorm about how to be new(ish) ministers in today’s ever-changing world.
Reflection on Hearth Retreat
If you recall, in 2024, we received a $10,000 grant to help with our ongoing vision work. Although the grant can only be received once, there was an initiative called Hearth that reKindle recipients could apply for. While not a monetary grant, Hearth still gave congregations the opportunity for continued coaching, education, and reflection. This past spring, we applied for and were accepted into this year's Hearth cohort.
Creating New Opportunities: Part 3
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear
For the past two weeks, I began my reflections with this quote from Atomic Habits about how willpower alone isn’t enough for a person to reach their goals. Instead, they will only succeed as much as their systems allow them. I wrote about creating new systems to better help us reach our goals, and how those systems are already addressing our various needs.
Creating New Opportunities: Part 2
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear
I began last week’s post with this quote from Atomic Habits about how willpower alone isn’t enough for a person to reach their goals. Instead, they will only succeed as much as their systems allow them. I wrote about creating new systems to better help us reach our goals, and how those systems are already addressing our various needs.
Creating New Opportunities: Part 1
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear
This quote, from the book Atomic Habits has stuck with me since I initially read it. To put it another way, will power alone isn’t enough for a person to reach their goals. Instead, a person will only succeed as much as their systems let them. So unless you have a system for how to attain your specific goals (a specific diet plan for losing weight for example), you most likely will not find the change you hope for.
A Change in Perspective for Family Ministry: Part 2
Last week, I wrote about how I’ve started to look at family ministry from a different perspective: one where we create more opportunities for parents and children to stay together while participating in our various ministries (you can read it again here). This is an important part of creating a welcoming environment for families with children. But simply creating opportunities is not enough for families to feel included in the life of our congregation. The physical spaces in which we invite families to participate also has to communicate that children belong. So, if we seriously look around our space, does it look like a space where children are encouraged to participate?
A Change in Perspective for Family Ministry: Part I
As a family minister and a parent to a young child, I’ve been thinking about how our church can better serve families in our community. But revitalizing a children’s ministry is a big task, and something that I don’t have all the solutions for. Believe it or not, pastors don’t have all the answers to life's big questions.