Understanding SUM Together Initiative: 4th Stage. Congregational Workshop Successfully Accomplished

This past Sunday 43 parishioners and four facilitators participated in the Understanding SUM Together Congregational Workshop in Wesley Hall. Thanks to all those involved!

You may recall this event followed three earlier stages. In July, we had the long-form interviews of 19 SUM members. In August, our advisors drew key themes from those interviews. Later in the summer, SUM offered the entire congregation a survey to confirm, modify, or add to those themes. Those 91 survey responses then shaped the process and content for Sunday’s 90-minute workshop. Thank you for the widespread, thoughtful participation in the survey.

Using a formal process, the goal of the workshop was for nine small group discussions to select three areas of opportunity and/or concern for focused attention in the coming year. There were six candidates that represented the areas of greatest concern according to the congregational Survey. The groups evaluated them as to importance to SUM’s greater mission, degree of urgency, and whether this was a

strategic or enabling type activity (or both).

The focal areas getting the most consensus support were:

• Financial Sustainability & Stewardship

• Children, Youth, Young Adults & Young Families

• Organizational Structure & Decision-making

Receiving some support but less than those above were:

• Support for Our Pastor

• Community Connection

• Volunteer Participation

(Note that there are overlaps among all six areas. It is a matter of emphasis, not exclusion.)

The next stage is for the project advisors and SUM’s leadership team to jointly develop a Ministry Blueprint. The blueprint will not be a specific action plan. Rather, it will provide broad guidance to the teams of people who set out to pursue each of the congregation’s top three priorities.

This blueprint is due to be presented to the congregation in late October, with ratification scheduled for Sunday, November 1st.

It will be exciting to see the fruits of all this work. It will combine the rigorous, bottom-up direction from our broad membership, with the focused attention of our church leaders to make it actionable.

Stay tuned!

Your Church Leadership Team and Project Advisors

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