Update April 15,2012: The profile is in Review and we expect that it will reach the conference this week!
Update April 2, 2012: The Profile of our church which goes to the Conference is in the very final satges of completion. We expect that our reviewers will see it this week.
Update February 2, 2012: Meet with the committee at Coffee Hour this Sunday, Feb 5 after the church service.
Update January 23, 2012: We are now seeking congregational input through meetings with the congregational and wrotten questionnaires. We had our first congregational meeting on Jan 15 and the next one is scheduled for Feb 5. These mweeting are held in the JE Room at the end of the post-service coffee hour.
The questionnaires are being distributed through News From the First and the Sunday bulletin. We have received many replys. Keep them coming!
Update November 29, 2011: we are working on the Profile of our congregation. We are gathering the opbjective data now like the demographics of our congrgation and the make-up of our committees. Next we will be asking the congrgation the hard questions which are subjective, such as, “What are the biggest challenges facing our church in the next 5 years?”
We will begin to put such questions in the bulletin for your written (or oral feedback to one of us). We are planning two meetings of the congregation directly after coffee hour on Jan. 15 and Feb. 12. Our next committee mtgs are Dec 13 at 6pm, Jan 8 at 11:15am and Feb at 11:15am
October 29, 2011: The search for a new minister has officially begun. We have met with Don Hammond, our interim pastor, and Jill Graham, the Associate Conference Minister, to review our responsibilities and layout the framework on which we proceed. Together we have learned that we represent most of the demographics of the church: every age group from 25 up, working, retired, married, single, divorced, parents with young children, school-age children and adult children, grandparents, members for less than a year and more than 50.
We are now gathering the information about our membership, leadership and committees, budget and community (the objective data) that will become part of our profile.
In January we will begin formally reaching out to the congregation for their input in various ways, probably including small groups, questionnaires, and Coffee Hour discussions. This is the subjective information, coalescing each of our thoughts, into a series of statements that represents us as a congregation.
Please speak with any of us at any time to share your hopes and dreams for our new pastor. We need all of the congregation to help in discerning God’s plan for our church. Our next meeting is on Nov 29.
Deb McMenamy, Chair
Ted Hornick, Recording Secretary
Elaine Gunn
Ann Underwood
Mary Hoeltzel
Lisa Nelson
Anne Hutchinson
Gary Schieneman
Glenn Gilbert