Dear church friends,

We are excited to share the Summary Statements of Appreciations and Dreams that were developed from the questionnaires and small group meetings that many of you participated in last fall.

Over the past five months, a small group (Danette Harris, John Hawkins, and Tom Kinder) worked on these summary statements.

We now need to know, whether you participated last fall or not, whether you feel we have captured the spirit and the voice of the congregation in these statements.

Getting your response is of utmost importance!  We understand we are asking that you give some time to this, and we are grateful for your help making this the church that we and the Spirit of Christ need it to be in this time and place.

Thank you!
John Hawkins
on behalf of the Future Directions Study Group

If you already have read the background and instructions below and are ready to dive in and respond to the statements, click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G2DKNDL

Please respond to every statement or write a comment about why you are skipping it.

Future Directions Study Group
Summary Statements of Appreciations and Dreams
from the Questionnaire and Small Groups, Fall 2017

BACKGROUND AND INSTRUCTIONS

Background:

How were these statements written?

First, a questionnaire with three questions was formulated and sent out. There were 26 people who responded to the questionnaire. Then, Pastor Tom Kinder met with a total of 28 people in five small gatherings. Tom took careful notes at these events and then typed up the responses from both the questionnaires and the small gatherings, placing the responses into several categories, such as music or worship. Tom brought the information to the Church Council and asked for a group of volunteers to work with him on analyzing the responses. It was then the job of this small committee (which called itself the Future Directions Study Group) to see what stood out in the data and what was important. The group looked at the data, listening, translating and reflecting on what was said. The goal was to hear what was coming through in the responses and to bring that back to the congregation in the form of statements.

So, how did the group do this?

This past winter and spring, the committee met about a half-dozen times. The group first looked at the list of what was appreciated by the respondents, one topic at a time. With much discussion, they searched to find common themes and key ideas in the responses and made a list of those. Then, each member of the committee would take one or two topics and the list of key ideas and craft it into a statement that best reflected what was said in both the questionnaires and small gatherings. At the next meeting, the whole group would then go over the statement to see if it reflected the spirit of what was said in both settings. This process then continued to make a list of not only appreciations but also dreams.

Now we need your help, whether or not you participated last fall. 

By clicking here you will find the series of summary statements that we have drawn out of the comments the congregation made on the questionnaire and in the small gatherings last fall.  They are statements of Appreciation and statements of Dreams.  We are asking you to give your opinion on two questions for each statement:

1. Have we heard the voice of the congregation correctly, or have we captured the spirit of the congregation, or is this the feel of the congregation to you?

2. Is this issue of high or low importance and priority for our congregation?

Your response is crucial because these statements will help us decide where to direct our energy in the months and years ahead.  The Spirit speaks through us as a group, so every perspective is important when we are trying to discern where the church goes from here.

Please be sure to respond by Sunday, June 17^th.  We will consider every viewpoint, and the final product will reflect the predominant voice of the congregation as a whole.

We offer two ways for you to respond.  The preferred way is for you to come to the Parish Hall between now and June 17^th where you will find the statements on the walls and can place color dots to reflect how the statements sound to you.

If you cannot make it to the church, we hope the online survey will be easy for you to use.

Instructions:

There are twenty-two statements that need your response.  Under each one you will find check boxes with the following options:

• Yes, this statement reflects the spirit of our congregation
• No, this statement does not reflect the spirit of our congregation
• High–this statement represents a high importance or priority for the church.
• Low–this statement represents a low importance or priority for the church.
• If the statement feels close but you have a suggestion, please check yes above and make your comment below.  If you responded “No” to the statement, please let us know why.

Please provide both a yes or no answer and a high or low answer.  Please respond to every statement or write a comment about why you are skipping it.

Once again, you will find the statements at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G2DKNDL