Meeting Minutes of 2/14/11
Recorder: Elinor Redmond
Members Present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Dave Allen, Sue Ross. Guest: Sarah Bloom.
Dave opened with a reading entitled ‘the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee’.
1. Sarah Bloom is a new member of our church who agreed to share her experiences and impressions. Sarah grew up in the Catholic Church and had not attended any church in many years, except for a UCC church on Cranberry Island. She had visited several churches in the Portland area and happened to talk with her neighbor, Ellie Chatto, who suggested Sarah try our church. Sarah appreciated all the information she received on visiting the church, being especially impressed with the history of the church and the statement of faith. She read all of the pamphlets in the welcome envelope thoroughly and saves the bulletin each week. She felt welcome from her first visit. She joined the bell choir. John called as he does with all visitors. As an oboist, she thoroughly appreciates the quality of the music at our church. The only negative she has found is the fact that people chat during the prelude and the postlude. She wants to use that time for prayer and to appreciate the music. Dave asked her what is what like the first time she came. She came alone and went to the coffee hour where people reached out to her – and she reached out to others. She preferred attending services alone as she was evaluating the experience and did not want to be distracted by another (she would not have wanted to have a ‘parish host’). She appreciated the flexibility to learn as she wanted to learn. She recommends that more current members attend the Inquirer’s meetings.
2. SL&W and Welcome Packets: Rick read from the SL&W meeting minutes concerning the ‘vigorous discussion’ held by members. The church staff has the responsibility to determine what information is in the pew racks and what is included in the welcome envelopes. Our group continues to be very interested in having the brochures updated so that they are easier to read (simpler, with bullets instead of long sentences). Sue is making a list of the brochures presently in the envelope.
3. Elinor will represent GG at the 3/3 EG&F meeting.
4. Welcome Brochure: Dave will pass along the wording changes to Bryan.
Update on activities:
5. Welcome Notes: Sue called Darla twice. There have not been any new visitors leaving contact information.
6. Friendship Pad Options: Elinor brought information on a cloth covered pad (~$10) which may hold up better than the vinyl covered version. Also, Staples yielded few options. Elinor brought in a ‘sheet protector’ which seemed too flimsy. Dave is going to continue the search. We want to see samples of the options.
7. Bookmarks: not much to report. Bryan will work on them in March.
8. Signage:
• An individual is very upset at the thought of having any signage in the narthex.
• The A-team has ordered sign.
• Rick and Stan are working on emergency signage.
9. Homework: Each member will review our ‘idea’ materials and bring 1 idea for the group to work on. Dave will e-mail the ‘ideas’.
Next Meeting: Monday, March 21.
Showing posts with label Growth Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Growth Group. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2011
Recorder: Elinor Redmond
Members Present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Dave Allen, Sue Ross and John McCall.
Sue opened with an inspiring reading from ‘Hope for Each Day’.
John passed along a request conveyed by Elsa from EG&F. They want to be up to date on the Growth Group’s activities. Elinor will connect with them – via Elsa – and send minutes.
Update on Activities:
1. Welcome Notes: After our last meeting, Sue stopped in to the Prayer Shawl Group. Darla was not present and the group did not know anything about the notes. They were not meeting again until January. Elinor (5 notes) and Sue (0 notes) have been doing them in the meantime. Darla and her group are now ready to start. Sue will do a written procedure list and talk with Jen about saving records as they return from the Prayer Shawl knitters. We can keep a running total of notes sent.
2. Bookmarks: Dave is working with Bryan on bookmarks to place in the hymnals (and Bibles?). Bryan will draft a design. Production will be by an internet based company. The cost will be approximately $60 for 500 bookmarks. Dave has suggested using a pineapple motif as that is the symbol for welcome and hospitality. The mission and vision will be included as well as standard information about the church. Printing ‘Take me home’ on them would encourage just that.
3. Signage: Our group walked around the building to look at signage after the last meeting. No more progress to date – to be continued.
4. Hospitality Moments:
Possible ideas include:
• Dictionary (literal definition of hospitality/what does it mean to individuals)
• Hospitality stories from the Bible (John will find some stories)
• Bookmarks – use the Sunday when the new Bookmarks appear to discuss hospitality and the pineapple. This would include the tale of our carved pineapple at the front of the church. Norman Clark (son of Minister Win Clark) carved the pineapple. He later went to Bangor Seminary but was diagnosed with cancer before finishing his studies.
• Someone could tell his/her story of being welcomed into the church community. Sarah Bloom may be a possible candidate to tell what it was that made her feel welcomed.
Sue had talked with Sarah about joining our committee. While too busy to join, she would be glad to come to a meeting to share her experience of coming to our church for the first time. Sue will invite her to the February 14th meeting.
5. Revisit ideas on which committee might work: Looking over our ‘idea sheets’ sparked conversation on the following topics:
• When questioned on the Ushers’ meeting, Rick said some were open to our suggestions and others were not. Awareness/progress in the area of keeping the aisle open as people arrive. References to ‘new rules’.
• Outreach to groups which use the building: John awaits a call from the AA contact. Elinor will attend a meeting, offer an invitation to worship and pass out the Welcome brochure.
• Friendship pads: We discussed making better use at the space above the pad itself when the cover is opened. Having a plastic sleeve there to hold nametags and messages is one idea. Many covers are now split and need to be replaced. We need 65-70 pads. Elinor will investigate options and report back at the next meeting.
• Welcome packet: Dave will talk with Jen about placing the new Welcome brochure in the packet in place of the old brochure. Rick will discuss responsibility for the Welcome Packet with SLW. We talked about different points of view of what should be in the packet and why. John advocates for getting as much information in front of people as simply as possible. Several in the group felt the present collection of brochures to be wordy and in need of editing. Perhaps groups would agree to update their own brochures themselves.
6. New Group Members: No luck so far.
7. Homework: Each member will review our ‘idea’ materials and bring (1) idea for the group to work on.
Next meeting: Monday, February 14th.
Recorder: Elinor Redmond
Members Present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Dave Allen, Sue Ross and John McCall.
Sue opened with an inspiring reading from ‘Hope for Each Day’.
John passed along a request conveyed by Elsa from EG&F. They want to be up to date on the Growth Group’s activities. Elinor will connect with them – via Elsa – and send minutes.
Update on Activities:
1. Welcome Notes: After our last meeting, Sue stopped in to the Prayer Shawl Group. Darla was not present and the group did not know anything about the notes. They were not meeting again until January. Elinor (5 notes) and Sue (0 notes) have been doing them in the meantime. Darla and her group are now ready to start. Sue will do a written procedure list and talk with Jen about saving records as they return from the Prayer Shawl knitters. We can keep a running total of notes sent.
2. Bookmarks: Dave is working with Bryan on bookmarks to place in the hymnals (and Bibles?). Bryan will draft a design. Production will be by an internet based company. The cost will be approximately $60 for 500 bookmarks. Dave has suggested using a pineapple motif as that is the symbol for welcome and hospitality. The mission and vision will be included as well as standard information about the church. Printing ‘Take me home’ on them would encourage just that.
3. Signage: Our group walked around the building to look at signage after the last meeting. No more progress to date – to be continued.
4. Hospitality Moments:
Possible ideas include:
• Dictionary (literal definition of hospitality/what does it mean to individuals)
• Hospitality stories from the Bible (John will find some stories)
• Bookmarks – use the Sunday when the new Bookmarks appear to discuss hospitality and the pineapple. This would include the tale of our carved pineapple at the front of the church. Norman Clark (son of Minister Win Clark) carved the pineapple. He later went to Bangor Seminary but was diagnosed with cancer before finishing his studies.
• Someone could tell his/her story of being welcomed into the church community. Sarah Bloom may be a possible candidate to tell what it was that made her feel welcomed.
Sue had talked with Sarah about joining our committee. While too busy to join, she would be glad to come to a meeting to share her experience of coming to our church for the first time. Sue will invite her to the February 14th meeting.
5. Revisit ideas on which committee might work: Looking over our ‘idea sheets’ sparked conversation on the following topics:
• When questioned on the Ushers’ meeting, Rick said some were open to our suggestions and others were not. Awareness/progress in the area of keeping the aisle open as people arrive. References to ‘new rules’.
• Outreach to groups which use the building: John awaits a call from the AA contact. Elinor will attend a meeting, offer an invitation to worship and pass out the Welcome brochure.
• Friendship pads: We discussed making better use at the space above the pad itself when the cover is opened. Having a plastic sleeve there to hold nametags and messages is one idea. Many covers are now split and need to be replaced. We need 65-70 pads. Elinor will investigate options and report back at the next meeting.
• Welcome packet: Dave will talk with Jen about placing the new Welcome brochure in the packet in place of the old brochure. Rick will discuss responsibility for the Welcome Packet with SLW. We talked about different points of view of what should be in the packet and why. John advocates for getting as much information in front of people as simply as possible. Several in the group felt the present collection of brochures to be wordy and in need of editing. Perhaps groups would agree to update their own brochures themselves.
6. New Group Members: No luck so far.
7. Homework: Each member will review our ‘idea’ materials and bring (1) idea for the group to work on.
Next meeting: Monday, February 14th.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 12/6/10
Recorder: Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Dave Allen, Sue Ross and John McCall.
Rick opened the meeting with a heartfelt and inspiring prayer.
Rick commented that the things we do as a group have a ‘shelf life’. That is, they seem exciting and effective for a while and then the effects wear off. He said our group’s task is to keep things fresh and continue to look at what we do. An example is asking people to sit in different seats. People moved around for a while – and had a lot of comments about it – and now seem to be back where they were in the past. Dave said that urging people to move was a means to an end, a way to get people to talk with someone new. John said he thinks people have an increased awareness of who is around them. Many are looking out for new people.
We proceeded with our update:
1. Friendship Sunday:
Was Friendship Sunday a success? John said there were addresses for 3 new couples on the Friendship pads. There were others there who did not sign in with their information. We could have done more ‘publicity’ – the new website will give us the ability to send out notices more easily. We agreed to repeat this ‘feel-good’ event.
2. Verbal invitation to groups using the building:
John has spoken with 2 groups. Al-Anon (meets Saturday mornings in the Community Room) is reluctant unless there is a scheduled open meeting. They would rather hand out fliers or read a provided statement. AA would love to have us come. The rep is checking with others in the group (meets Saturday afternoons @ 1 in the Music Room). John will contact the Alzheimer’s Support Group.
3. Welcome Notes:
Darla has agreed that the Prayer Shawl group will write welcome notes. Elinor worked on a draft of the text. She and Dave will continue that process. The notes will be written on church note-cards, which include a Bible verse on the inside. Jen will supply the PS group with copies of files created from the Friendship pads of the names of new visitors so that they receive them for their gatherings on Tuesdays. After sending the note, the sheet will be marked with a date and the word ‘sent’. Sue will connect with Darla on the details.
4. Bookmark:
Dave has an idea of using a pineapple symbol (hospitality) and the Vision on the bookmark. We will enlist help from Bryan after the holidays.
5. Welcome Brochures:
The new brochures are in the pews and look great. We discussed other materials made available. How much information do newcomers need (is the full welcome packet necessary or overwhelming?)? How many brochures should be in the pew racks? Who has oversight? Rick will discuss with SL&W.
6. Church signage:
We took a stroll around the church, noting existing signage and speculating on what might improve it. We particularly noticed the lack in the Narthex. Dave will continue the ‘inventory’ process.
7. Hospitality Moments:
From last month’s minutes: “We will provide the next hospitality moment in January. An idea is to use quotes from the Bible that reference welcome.”
8. Growth Group Membership:
Each member will talk with 1 person about the Growth Group and the possibility of joining before the next meeting. Sue talked with Sara Bloom, a new member. She would be glad to be a resource to our group. We discussed inviting her to a meeting so that we can hear her perspective and suggestions.
Next meeting: Monday, January 10, 2011
Recorder: Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Dave Allen, Sue Ross and John McCall.
Rick opened the meeting with a heartfelt and inspiring prayer.
Rick commented that the things we do as a group have a ‘shelf life’. That is, they seem exciting and effective for a while and then the effects wear off. He said our group’s task is to keep things fresh and continue to look at what we do. An example is asking people to sit in different seats. People moved around for a while – and had a lot of comments about it – and now seem to be back where they were in the past. Dave said that urging people to move was a means to an end, a way to get people to talk with someone new. John said he thinks people have an increased awareness of who is around them. Many are looking out for new people.
We proceeded with our update:
1. Friendship Sunday:
Was Friendship Sunday a success? John said there were addresses for 3 new couples on the Friendship pads. There were others there who did not sign in with their information. We could have done more ‘publicity’ – the new website will give us the ability to send out notices more easily. We agreed to repeat this ‘feel-good’ event.
2. Verbal invitation to groups using the building:
John has spoken with 2 groups. Al-Anon (meets Saturday mornings in the Community Room) is reluctant unless there is a scheduled open meeting. They would rather hand out fliers or read a provided statement. AA would love to have us come. The rep is checking with others in the group (meets Saturday afternoons @ 1 in the Music Room). John will contact the Alzheimer’s Support Group.
3. Welcome Notes:
Darla has agreed that the Prayer Shawl group will write welcome notes. Elinor worked on a draft of the text. She and Dave will continue that process. The notes will be written on church note-cards, which include a Bible verse on the inside. Jen will supply the PS group with copies of files created from the Friendship pads of the names of new visitors so that they receive them for their gatherings on Tuesdays. After sending the note, the sheet will be marked with a date and the word ‘sent’. Sue will connect with Darla on the details.
4. Bookmark:
Dave has an idea of using a pineapple symbol (hospitality) and the Vision on the bookmark. We will enlist help from Bryan after the holidays.
5. Welcome Brochures:
The new brochures are in the pews and look great. We discussed other materials made available. How much information do newcomers need (is the full welcome packet necessary or overwhelming?)? How many brochures should be in the pew racks? Who has oversight? Rick will discuss with SL&W.
6. Church signage:
We took a stroll around the church, noting existing signage and speculating on what might improve it. We particularly noticed the lack in the Narthex. Dave will continue the ‘inventory’ process.
7. Hospitality Moments:
From last month’s minutes: “We will provide the next hospitality moment in January. An idea is to use quotes from the Bible that reference welcome.”
8. Growth Group Membership:
Each member will talk with 1 person about the Growth Group and the possibility of joining before the next meeting. Sue talked with Sara Bloom, a new member. She would be glad to be a resource to our group. We discussed inviting her to a meeting so that we can hear her perspective and suggestions.
Next meeting: Monday, January 10, 2011
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 10/4/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall. We send our apologies to Stan for needing to schedule the meeting without him. Every member is important and we look forward to seeing him at the next meeting.
Dave will ask different members to provide the opening for each meeting. He opened the meeting with a prayer.
Dave sent out the following documents before the meeting: Growth Group Ideas (a table listing activities spotlighted at the last meeting), Friendship Sunday Ideas, and 2 versions of the Welcome brochure. We followed the Growth Group Ideas table along with the meeting agenda.
1. Friendship Sunday: John said we have not had a designated ‘Bring a friend to church Sunday’ in 3 years. We need several rounds of notice in the Beacon and a postcard as a tangible reminder for people to take with them from worship. We agreed to go ahead with planning for Sunday, November 21st. Tasks were divided as follows:
• Rick will announce the event during a hospitality moment on Sunday, Nov. 7
• Elinor will create a written invitation (postcard) for people to mail to a friend.
• Elinor will write the Beacon article
• Sue will talk with EF&G about the Growth Group’s hosting the coffee hour.
• John will plan the sermon with a theme around friendship/making people feel welcome. He may include a way for the congregation to actively participate in the service.
• Mandy Shumaker will be giving the children’s story. Dave will ask her to use a friendship theme.
• John will call Robin invite if the Joyful Noise to sing.
• Sue will talk with Elsa about having the Sunday School groups make posters for the church
2. Invitation to Worship in Thanksgiving baskets: Dave will contact missions and he will create the invitation.
3. Article for Beacon on hospitality: Elinor is working on it.
4. Verbal invitation to groups using building: John will contact AA and Al Anon to ask whether there is a time to visit them with the invitation.
5. Handwritten notes for newcomers: These notes would be mailed to first-time guests. They would be identified by their names on the friendship pads. We focused on process. If we have a generic note, does it matter if the address is in different handwriting? We discussed enrolling a group to write the notes. The church would supply paper, stamps and the text for the note. Rick will talk with Darla about whether the Prayer Shawl group would be willing to take on this project.
6. Bookmark: Dave will work on the bookmark. ‘Keep it simple’
7. Ushers: Rick has scheduled a meeting for Sunday, November 7th. Topics include demeanor, posting (where ushers stand), seating particularly welcoming people near newcomers. Rick wants to provide a handout to remind ushers of the points discussed. Sue suggested keeping a copy with the carnations. Also, Rick will e-mail the points to each team on the week of its turn.
8. Welcome Brochure: We looked at the 2 versions of the brochure. We did not have the most recent version from our group and Elsa had based her version on the ‘older’ text provided. We agreed we need to have the Mission segment inside the brochure. John will work on the Open and Affirming text. He wants it to more precisely follow the wording voted upon by the congregation. The group preferred using the more traditional headings (‘worship’, ‘music’, etc.). We decided to keep it simple and not use any photos. The UCC was formed in 1957. Dave will work with Bryan Wiggins to bring together the ideas.
9. Church Signage: Dave is working with the A-Team.
10. Building Tours: Rick will give tours to new people as requested.
11. Hospitality Moments: Dave had prepared a list of ideas for hospitality moments. He will speak on October 17th and ask the congregation what Hospitality means to them. Rick will be providing the moment on Nov. 7th when he announces Friendship Sunday. We hope Stan will agree to appear in December.
Next meeting: Monday, November 8th.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Agenda items for next meeting:
Friendship Sunday
Welcome brochure
Walk down ‘Growth Group Ideas’
Elinor will do the opening
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall. We send our apologies to Stan for needing to schedule the meeting without him. Every member is important and we look forward to seeing him at the next meeting.
Dave will ask different members to provide the opening for each meeting. He opened the meeting with a prayer.
Dave sent out the following documents before the meeting: Growth Group Ideas (a table listing activities spotlighted at the last meeting), Friendship Sunday Ideas, and 2 versions of the Welcome brochure. We followed the Growth Group Ideas table along with the meeting agenda.
1. Friendship Sunday: John said we have not had a designated ‘Bring a friend to church Sunday’ in 3 years. We need several rounds of notice in the Beacon and a postcard as a tangible reminder for people to take with them from worship. We agreed to go ahead with planning for Sunday, November 21st. Tasks were divided as follows:
• Rick will announce the event during a hospitality moment on Sunday, Nov. 7
• Elinor will create a written invitation (postcard) for people to mail to a friend.
• Elinor will write the Beacon article
• Sue will talk with EF&G about the Growth Group’s hosting the coffee hour.
• John will plan the sermon with a theme around friendship/making people feel welcome. He may include a way for the congregation to actively participate in the service.
• Mandy Shumaker will be giving the children’s story. Dave will ask her to use a friendship theme.
• John will call Robin invite if the Joyful Noise to sing.
• Sue will talk with Elsa about having the Sunday School groups make posters for the church
2. Invitation to Worship in Thanksgiving baskets: Dave will contact missions and he will create the invitation.
3. Article for Beacon on hospitality: Elinor is working on it.
4. Verbal invitation to groups using building: John will contact AA and Al Anon to ask whether there is a time to visit them with the invitation.
5. Handwritten notes for newcomers: These notes would be mailed to first-time guests. They would be identified by their names on the friendship pads. We focused on process. If we have a generic note, does it matter if the address is in different handwriting? We discussed enrolling a group to write the notes. The church would supply paper, stamps and the text for the note. Rick will talk with Darla about whether the Prayer Shawl group would be willing to take on this project.
6. Bookmark: Dave will work on the bookmark. ‘Keep it simple’
7. Ushers: Rick has scheduled a meeting for Sunday, November 7th. Topics include demeanor, posting (where ushers stand), seating particularly welcoming people near newcomers. Rick wants to provide a handout to remind ushers of the points discussed. Sue suggested keeping a copy with the carnations. Also, Rick will e-mail the points to each team on the week of its turn.
8. Welcome Brochure: We looked at the 2 versions of the brochure. We did not have the most recent version from our group and Elsa had based her version on the ‘older’ text provided. We agreed we need to have the Mission segment inside the brochure. John will work on the Open and Affirming text. He wants it to more precisely follow the wording voted upon by the congregation. The group preferred using the more traditional headings (‘worship’, ‘music’, etc.). We decided to keep it simple and not use any photos. The UCC was formed in 1957. Dave will work with Bryan Wiggins to bring together the ideas.
9. Church Signage: Dave is working with the A-Team.
10. Building Tours: Rick will give tours to new people as requested.
11. Hospitality Moments: Dave had prepared a list of ideas for hospitality moments. He will speak on October 17th and ask the congregation what Hospitality means to them. Rick will be providing the moment on Nov. 7th when he announces Friendship Sunday. We hope Stan will agree to appear in December.
Next meeting: Monday, November 8th.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Agenda items for next meeting:
Friendship Sunday
Welcome brochure
Walk down ‘Growth Group Ideas’
Elinor will do the opening
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 9/20/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Sue Ross, Dave Allen
Several members checked in at the start of the meeting. We are very sorry that Kendra has moved and will miss her valuable insights.
Review of minutes: We used the minutes of the June meeting to remind us of what we hope to accomplish: 1. growth through more people worshipping and 2. welcoming all who come. The challenge for our small group is to determine how many people can work on each project, to accomplish tasks outside of meetings and to focus on a few things that we think will be of most value.
1. More people worshipping (Question for John - what do we do now to advertise and attract?) Our discussion ranged freely and touched on points made in past discussions.
• Elinor suggested holding church suppers for the community. Dave questioned whether that would be a fundraiser? Most likely it would be an event which would pay for itself. The group felt it would be a lot of effort with an unsure return.
• Put invitations to worship in the Thanksgiving food baskets. Putting invitations in the food pantry baskets was declined by the food pantry team Dave will contact the mission team.
• Elinor will write an article about hospitality for the Beacon. Rick will send her his article from last year. We will solicit the congregation for their ideas on how to draw people to our church.
• Elinor demonstrated the type of talk (invitation to worship) which might be given to groups such as AA that meet at our church. Consensus was that would be a good and easy action to take.
• Rick is offering tours of the building.
• Sue spoke about a family night at another church. It was an event focused on activities/entertainment for children such as a comedian.
• Friends Sunday. This concept generated a lot of enthusiasm and ideas. It is simple and achievable. It could start with a ‘hospitality moment’ during worship. We suggest (these ideas need approval from John) targeting Thanksgiving Sunday (Nov. 21st), as has been done in the past. We will have several notices and announcements. We will generate a written invitation which worshippers can use to invite a friend (or 5). The Sunday School can make posters to hang about the building. ‘Friends’ can be the focus of the service. The Growth Group can sponsor the coffee hour.
2. Making people feel welcome (what we do now): We looked at the list of favorite ideas from other churches which we generated on May 10th:
• Street signs: Rick found we would need to take an example of our suggested sign to the SP City Council and say why we feel we need signage. The group decided that our church has good visibility and signage is not needed at this time.
• We looked at the hand-written welcome note Dave received during his visit to the Falmouth Congregational Church. We could solicit volunteers with good handwriting to pen the notes and mail them to newcomers (or provide in the Narthex). Consensus was to do this
• We looked at the simple bookmark provided by the same church. We could put one in every hymnal as well as offer it to newcomers. It is a simple, tangible way to get our contact information into people’s hands. We should include our new church vision. Consensus was to take this on.
• Rick plans to meet again with the ushers, focusing on friendly demeanor and providing an usher at the entrance near the pulpit. Sue said she ushered at the spot and was met with enthusiasm. Dave offered to work with Rick on the agenda/message to the ushers.
• Church welcome documents: Sue and Elinor met over the summer. The group is very happy with the progress she made on a new welcome bulletin. We should include the new church vision on the pamphlet. Dave will forward the vision wording to the group. We had a few suggestions such as including more specifics about Mission Outreach (Dave will draft a summary). Dave will ask Dana or Brian Wiggins to look over the document for graphic advice. Susan will send Dave an electronic copy of the wording once she has made changes resulting from our discussion. We foresee its being offered to visitors by being placed in pew racks, etc. We will find out what approval is needed.
Next meeting: possibly October 4 or 6. Dave will do an e-mail to find out the best date.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Elinor Redmond, Sue Ross, Dave Allen
Several members checked in at the start of the meeting. We are very sorry that Kendra has moved and will miss her valuable insights.
Review of minutes: We used the minutes of the June meeting to remind us of what we hope to accomplish: 1. growth through more people worshipping and 2. welcoming all who come. The challenge for our small group is to determine how many people can work on each project, to accomplish tasks outside of meetings and to focus on a few things that we think will be of most value.
1. More people worshipping (Question for John - what do we do now to advertise and attract?) Our discussion ranged freely and touched on points made in past discussions.
• Elinor suggested holding church suppers for the community. Dave questioned whether that would be a fundraiser? Most likely it would be an event which would pay for itself. The group felt it would be a lot of effort with an unsure return.
• Put invitations to worship in the Thanksgiving food baskets. Putting invitations in the food pantry baskets was declined by the food pantry team Dave will contact the mission team.
• Elinor will write an article about hospitality for the Beacon. Rick will send her his article from last year. We will solicit the congregation for their ideas on how to draw people to our church.
• Elinor demonstrated the type of talk (invitation to worship) which might be given to groups such as AA that meet at our church. Consensus was that would be a good and easy action to take.
• Rick is offering tours of the building.
• Sue spoke about a family night at another church. It was an event focused on activities/entertainment for children such as a comedian.
• Friends Sunday. This concept generated a lot of enthusiasm and ideas. It is simple and achievable. It could start with a ‘hospitality moment’ during worship. We suggest (these ideas need approval from John) targeting Thanksgiving Sunday (Nov. 21st), as has been done in the past. We will have several notices and announcements. We will generate a written invitation which worshippers can use to invite a friend (or 5). The Sunday School can make posters to hang about the building. ‘Friends’ can be the focus of the service. The Growth Group can sponsor the coffee hour.
2. Making people feel welcome (what we do now): We looked at the list of favorite ideas from other churches which we generated on May 10th:
• Street signs: Rick found we would need to take an example of our suggested sign to the SP City Council and say why we feel we need signage. The group decided that our church has good visibility and signage is not needed at this time.
• We looked at the hand-written welcome note Dave received during his visit to the Falmouth Congregational Church. We could solicit volunteers with good handwriting to pen the notes and mail them to newcomers (or provide in the Narthex). Consensus was to do this
• We looked at the simple bookmark provided by the same church. We could put one in every hymnal as well as offer it to newcomers. It is a simple, tangible way to get our contact information into people’s hands. We should include our new church vision. Consensus was to take this on.
• Rick plans to meet again with the ushers, focusing on friendly demeanor and providing an usher at the entrance near the pulpit. Sue said she ushered at the spot and was met with enthusiasm. Dave offered to work with Rick on the agenda/message to the ushers.
• Church welcome documents: Sue and Elinor met over the summer. The group is very happy with the progress she made on a new welcome bulletin. We should include the new church vision on the pamphlet. Dave will forward the vision wording to the group. We had a few suggestions such as including more specifics about Mission Outreach (Dave will draft a summary). Dave will ask Dana or Brian Wiggins to look over the document for graphic advice. Susan will send Dave an electronic copy of the wording once she has made changes resulting from our discussion. We foresee its being offered to visitors by being placed in pew racks, etc. We will find out what approval is needed.
Next meeting: possibly October 4 or 6. Dave will do an e-mail to find out the best date.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 6/14/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall.
Elinor opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m. with a prayer.
Revisit the purpose of the group and validate whether we should continue: Our discussion was free-ranging on this topic. I am including observations. Group consensus is to continue.
• John is grateful there is a Growth Group. It helps to charge up the congregation. New people comment on the welcome they find here.
• Kendra says the group has an important role going forward. She sees more new faces in church and thinks the hospitality tips are helpful.
• Stan notices a lot of people at services he does not know.
• John says some return, some do not. Most Sundays there is someone who is visiting for the first time. Part of our draw is we are open and affirming and intentional about direction.
We discussed whether newcomers attend coffee hour.
• Sue stated we have exhausted hospitality tips.
• Elinor wants us to have a higher profile: report in the annual report and (John suggested) doing an article for the Beacon around Labor Day.
To the question, What is our purpose?
• Stan said ‘to increase welcoming and fellowship of the church’. He found a nearly complete purpose in the March 2009 minutes: To provide a structure and a process to warmly welcome newcomers to our church and to encourage the building of meaningful relationships so that newcomers feel they belong and can participate in our church community. The minutes state we felt we were close. It was not mentioned in subsequent meetings.
John described the pattern of attendance among young church-goers. They might come every week for 6 weeks and then stay away for several months. Nothing is ‘wrong’, they are just making other choices of what to do with their time.
To the question, What is the measure of our success?
• Elinor mentioned John’s reaction, as he has his finger on the pulse of the congregation.
• Stan talked about looking around as you enter the church. Are the ushers happy (smiling)? Are the members happy?
We agreed to focus on both the welcome to people who have found their way to us and to pursue activities that bring people in the door. John said that fewer outside groups use the church building than in the past (the cub scouts and mom & dad’s clubs no longer meet).
We discussed how we function as a group. Next year we want to do more work between meetings. One or two people will handle a project. The agenda will be reports on the project list. We will use e-mail to give one another information ahead of a meeting so that meeting time is saved.
Facilitator: Dave has been doing an excellent job for a few years. He graciously agreed to continue for first half of the program year rather than rotating the responsibility.
Top Priorities:
• Review printed materials to have an overview and to see what materials should be updated. The office has time to work on this task in the summer. Elinor and Sue will look at materials in the pew racks, welcome packets and reading racks. They will look for overlap and report back to the group.
• Kendra is interested in working on events to bring more people in the front door of the church. Friend Sunday, special events.
• Rick will investigate what it the rules and regulations are concerning signage in South Portland so that we know what we have to do to place signs directing people to the church.
• We want to expand on our in-house hospitality.
Everyone will review the lists and resources we already have and come prepared to set an agenda for the year in September.
Next meeting: September 13, 2010
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall.
Elinor opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m. with a prayer.
Revisit the purpose of the group and validate whether we should continue: Our discussion was free-ranging on this topic. I am including observations. Group consensus is to continue.
• John is grateful there is a Growth Group. It helps to charge up the congregation. New people comment on the welcome they find here.
• Kendra says the group has an important role going forward. She sees more new faces in church and thinks the hospitality tips are helpful.
• Stan notices a lot of people at services he does not know.
• John says some return, some do not. Most Sundays there is someone who is visiting for the first time. Part of our draw is we are open and affirming and intentional about direction.
We discussed whether newcomers attend coffee hour.
• Sue stated we have exhausted hospitality tips.
• Elinor wants us to have a higher profile: report in the annual report and (John suggested) doing an article for the Beacon around Labor Day.
To the question, What is our purpose?
• Stan said ‘to increase welcoming and fellowship of the church’. He found a nearly complete purpose in the March 2009 minutes: To provide a structure and a process to warmly welcome newcomers to our church and to encourage the building of meaningful relationships so that newcomers feel they belong and can participate in our church community. The minutes state we felt we were close. It was not mentioned in subsequent meetings.
John described the pattern of attendance among young church-goers. They might come every week for 6 weeks and then stay away for several months. Nothing is ‘wrong’, they are just making other choices of what to do with their time.
To the question, What is the measure of our success?
• Elinor mentioned John’s reaction, as he has his finger on the pulse of the congregation.
• Stan talked about looking around as you enter the church. Are the ushers happy (smiling)? Are the members happy?
We agreed to focus on both the welcome to people who have found their way to us and to pursue activities that bring people in the door. John said that fewer outside groups use the church building than in the past (the cub scouts and mom & dad’s clubs no longer meet).
We discussed how we function as a group. Next year we want to do more work between meetings. One or two people will handle a project. The agenda will be reports on the project list. We will use e-mail to give one another information ahead of a meeting so that meeting time is saved.
Facilitator: Dave has been doing an excellent job for a few years. He graciously agreed to continue for first half of the program year rather than rotating the responsibility.
Top Priorities:
• Review printed materials to have an overview and to see what materials should be updated. The office has time to work on this task in the summer. Elinor and Sue will look at materials in the pew racks, welcome packets and reading racks. They will look for overlap and report back to the group.
• Kendra is interested in working on events to bring more people in the front door of the church. Friend Sunday, special events.
• Rick will investigate what it the rules and regulations are concerning signage in South Portland so that we know what we have to do to place signs directing people to the church.
• We want to expand on our in-house hospitality.
Everyone will review the lists and resources we already have and come prepared to set an agenda for the year in September.
Next meeting: September 13, 2010
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 5/10/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall.
John opened the meeting at 5:45 p.m. with a prayer.
Visits to Other Churches:
The meeting was devoted to each member reporting on their visit(s) to other area churches. The goal was to isolate ‘top ideas’ that would be useful for our church to adopt. Text in italics designate possible ‘top ideas’.
Rick Angell visited the First Congregational Church in Gorham: Rich began by saying that everything they do – we do and much much more. The church did not seem to put much into welcoming visitors. He happened to meet the Associate Pastor who introduced him to the Pastor (who was not preaching). No ushers or greeters. Two people spoke with him during the passing of the peace. He observed that this church gives a lot of bean suppers and speculates that is where they have their fellowship time.
Sue visited Thornton Heights Methodist Church: The only piece of paper in the pews besides the hymnal and the bible was an offering envelope. Three parking spots by the door were marked for ‘Visitor’. There were 2 street signs pointing direction to the church. Stationery greeters stood at the door and handed out bulletins. The bulletins asked visitors to sign a book on a podium. No ushering to seats. The Baptism had a separate bulletin and the Pastor referred to the child during the sermon. The Pastor invited all to attend the coffee hour at the end of the service. The Pastor did not stay at the door. Sue did not know where to find the coffee hour. She was greeted by 2 people during the passing of the peace.
Stan visited 3 churches (!! way to go, Stan!!):
Stevens Avenue Congregation Church: Smallest he visited and he had to hunt for it. Parking was awkward although there was an unmarked lot behind the church. There was a greeter/usher. The minister had an accent and was hard to understand. He was very welcoming and spoke from the floor. 30 people attended service. 6 women were in the choir and sat in the congregation. The church is self-described as a ‘rural church in a city setting’. No nametags. Did not see the minister after the service. Announcements were made by the greeter who called on people. There was a card in the pew rack for follow up by the minister. Coffee was downstairs after the service.
State Street Congregational Church: Greeted outside by lady minister. 2 ushers and 2 greeters. Many people wore nametages and kept them on into coffee hour (there was a basket to collect them at coffee hour). It is a small congregation and before the service the minister personally greeted each individual. She was there during the coffee hour. The choir joined in the passing of the peace. Stan spoke with a couple at coffee hour who described a visit to FCCUCC where no-one spoke to them during coffee hour. He mentioned the importance of keeping the circle open so the next person can step in. Information provided in the pews included: Bookmark (who we are), Visitor card and an ‘About’ brochure.
First Parish, Brunswick: No signs. Tough parking. Old, historic church. Sunday School in separate building. Very friendly greeter. Smiling ushers. Choir and organist in back balcony. Bell ringers in front. Some members had small nametags with a ribbon on them (color had no significance). The lady minister spoke off the podium. Stan was greeted by several people during coffee hour, including the minister. The building had no interior signage. ‘GuestTag’ with sticky nametag in pew rack. Stan noted the most important thing was the friendliness of the people. He was included in the chat.
Stan notes that Ministers at a couple of the churches I visited walked through the sanctuary before the service started and greeted many, if not all, of those attending. In addition, the Senior Minister attended the Coffee Hour and made it a point to greet my wife and me. Those two personal contacts by the Ministermade us feel very welcome.
Kendra visited Peoples Methodist Church: It was a vacation Sunday and 30 people attended. Not many materials in the pews. There was a prayer concern card in the pew which was collected with the offering. Concerns were read toward the end of the service. The minister sent Kendra a card afterward (notecard with a painting of the church). Brochures were not readily available. No signage. The greeters asked Kendra to sign a guest book which included the question ‘where do you regularly attend church?’.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Kendra also attends a non-denominational church (Family Worship Center) with her family in Dover-Foxcroft. There they spend a long time (10-15 minutes) passing the peace. Newcomers receive a bag with a cookie, bookmark, etc. Not much literature.
Sue remembered at Woodfords Church being matched with appropriate newcomers by the ushers.
Dave visited Falmouth Congregation Church where one enters the church through a social space best described as ‘action central’. The choir was there as well as all coming to church. People were very friendly. He picked up a bright green ‘visitor’s bag’ which was printed with a message thanking (him) for visiting. Inside was a description of the church (brief and colorful), a bookmark, and a hand-written ‘welcome’ note. The church mission was prominent on all church materials. There was a sign-in sheet for visitors on a clipboard in the pew.
New Life: The first 45 minutes were spent singing – most people standing. Electronic projection of hymns. No bulletin. Worked into the service and the sermon. The welcome brochure was simple, with lots of color and included a DVD. There was an evangelistic feeling. He was provided with a good map. The congregation included a lot of young adults. People came and went during the service -- it had an unstructured feeling. The guest card requested extensive information. Full financial status in front of everyone. Immediately after the service there was a chance for newcomers to ‘Connect’ with the Pastor for conversation.
Next meeting we will prioritize the ideas gleaned and see what we can realistically do.
Next meeting: Monday, June 14, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. in the Laity Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, Dave Allen, John McCall.
John opened the meeting at 5:45 p.m. with a prayer.
Visits to Other Churches:
The meeting was devoted to each member reporting on their visit(s) to other area churches. The goal was to isolate ‘top ideas’ that would be useful for our church to adopt. Text in italics designate possible ‘top ideas’.
Rick Angell visited the First Congregational Church in Gorham: Rich began by saying that everything they do – we do and much much more. The church did not seem to put much into welcoming visitors. He happened to meet the Associate Pastor who introduced him to the Pastor (who was not preaching). No ushers or greeters. Two people spoke with him during the passing of the peace. He observed that this church gives a lot of bean suppers and speculates that is where they have their fellowship time.
Sue visited Thornton Heights Methodist Church: The only piece of paper in the pews besides the hymnal and the bible was an offering envelope. Three parking spots by the door were marked for ‘Visitor’. There were 2 street signs pointing direction to the church. Stationery greeters stood at the door and handed out bulletins. The bulletins asked visitors to sign a book on a podium. No ushering to seats. The Baptism had a separate bulletin and the Pastor referred to the child during the sermon. The Pastor invited all to attend the coffee hour at the end of the service. The Pastor did not stay at the door. Sue did not know where to find the coffee hour. She was greeted by 2 people during the passing of the peace.
Stan visited 3 churches (!! way to go, Stan!!):
Stevens Avenue Congregation Church: Smallest he visited and he had to hunt for it. Parking was awkward although there was an unmarked lot behind the church. There was a greeter/usher. The minister had an accent and was hard to understand. He was very welcoming and spoke from the floor. 30 people attended service. 6 women were in the choir and sat in the congregation. The church is self-described as a ‘rural church in a city setting’. No nametags. Did not see the minister after the service. Announcements were made by the greeter who called on people. There was a card in the pew rack for follow up by the minister. Coffee was downstairs after the service.
State Street Congregational Church: Greeted outside by lady minister. 2 ushers and 2 greeters. Many people wore nametages and kept them on into coffee hour (there was a basket to collect them at coffee hour). It is a small congregation and before the service the minister personally greeted each individual. She was there during the coffee hour. The choir joined in the passing of the peace. Stan spoke with a couple at coffee hour who described a visit to FCCUCC where no-one spoke to them during coffee hour. He mentioned the importance of keeping the circle open so the next person can step in. Information provided in the pews included: Bookmark (who we are), Visitor card and an ‘About’ brochure.
First Parish, Brunswick: No signs. Tough parking. Old, historic church. Sunday School in separate building. Very friendly greeter. Smiling ushers. Choir and organist in back balcony. Bell ringers in front. Some members had small nametags with a ribbon on them (color had no significance). The lady minister spoke off the podium. Stan was greeted by several people during coffee hour, including the minister. The building had no interior signage. ‘GuestTag’ with sticky nametag in pew rack. Stan noted the most important thing was the friendliness of the people. He was included in the chat.
Stan notes that Ministers at a couple of the churches I visited walked through the sanctuary before the service started and greeted many, if not all, of those attending. In addition, the Senior Minister attended the Coffee Hour and made it a point to greet my wife and me. Those two personal contacts by the Ministermade us feel very welcome.
Kendra visited Peoples Methodist Church: It was a vacation Sunday and 30 people attended. Not many materials in the pews. There was a prayer concern card in the pew which was collected with the offering. Concerns were read toward the end of the service. The minister sent Kendra a card afterward (notecard with a painting of the church). Brochures were not readily available. No signage. The greeters asked Kendra to sign a guest book which included the question ‘where do you regularly attend church?’.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Kendra also attends a non-denominational church (Family Worship Center) with her family in Dover-Foxcroft. There they spend a long time (10-15 minutes) passing the peace. Newcomers receive a bag with a cookie, bookmark, etc. Not much literature.
Sue remembered at Woodfords Church being matched with appropriate newcomers by the ushers.
Dave visited Falmouth Congregation Church where one enters the church through a social space best described as ‘action central’. The choir was there as well as all coming to church. People were very friendly. He picked up a bright green ‘visitor’s bag’ which was printed with a message thanking (him) for visiting. Inside was a description of the church (brief and colorful), a bookmark, and a hand-written ‘welcome’ note. The church mission was prominent on all church materials. There was a sign-in sheet for visitors on a clipboard in the pew.
New Life: The first 45 minutes were spent singing – most people standing. Electronic projection of hymns. No bulletin. Worked into the service and the sermon. The welcome brochure was simple, with lots of color and included a DVD. There was an evangelistic feeling. He was provided with a good map. The congregation included a lot of young adults. People came and went during the service -- it had an unstructured feeling. The guest card requested extensive information. Full financial status in front of everyone. Immediately after the service there was a chance for newcomers to ‘Connect’ with the Pastor for conversation.
Next meeting we will prioritize the ideas gleaned and see what we can realistically do.
Next meeting: Monday, June 14, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. in the Laity Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 4/12/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, Dave Allen.
Absent: Jim Kupel, John McCall.
Dave opened the meeting at 5:45 p.m. with a prayer.
Usher ‘best practices’ status (Rick):
Rick is convening the ushers for a meeting on Sunday, May 16th at 11:30. All from the Growth Group are welcome to attend. Rick will present the ‘best practices’ at that time. Stan noted that a member of his team tried passing out bulletins at the front door of the Sanctuary. It seemed to go well and she closed the door around 10 when the service started. Dave said that the ushers in the churches he has visited did not escort people to their seats.
Parish Hosts(Rick):
John reported in his e-mail that ‘Nothing to report on Parish Hosts though I continue to make occasional offers.’ Rick has called the 5 people on his lists. None want to be assigned a host at this time. Dave reflected we spent a lot of time and thought on this program that appears to be going nowhere. He suggested we contact those who signed up to BE hosts to let them know what is going on. He will draft a message.
Welcome Cards (Elinor/Kendra):
Kendra sent John a template to use for drafting a postcard size message about our church. Most likely this project is on hold during the Easter season.
Volunteer web sign up (Elinor):
The group has seen the e-mail describing the program drafted by Elinor. She is waiting to be sure Sandy Hansen is comfortable with the entire process before soliciting congregational sign up. Sandy is enthusiastic about the project; just very busy. Elinor will notify Rick a little ahead of sending a church e-mail so that he can give the usher captains a ‘heads up’. Elinor will add a phrase to her message urging people to register on the web-site if they would be willing to greet at some distant future date.
Friendship pads (Dave/all):
Dave pointed out that the present friendship pads are getting worn. Do they present our church in the most useful way for newcomers? Are there always nametags in the back? We suggested having the ushers make sure they are always stocked with nametags. We discussed how many people just write their names and check off ‘church member’, so that more than one page is required for a Sunday morning. Stan pointed out that we will be looking at the products used by the churches we are visiting. We know John has specific uses for the present form of the information requested and look forward to a discussion with him.
Friends’ Sunday (all):
Kendra read the section from the ’52 ideas’ book on Friends Sunday. Printed invitations are suggested. Members could pick an invitation up at church and mail it to their friend, and then follow up with a phone call invitation. Sue talked about having members stand up with their friend during the service (when prompted). Would there be a special service? Possibly have a friends theme for the children’s story and sermon. Have the Joyful Noise sing. For timing, we discussed early October or possibly Thanksgiving Sunday.
Hospitality Moment:
Do we want to continue with hospitality moments? Only if there are new ideas, although we could have a summary of the ideas presented so far. Kendra suggested transitioning to having people share what the church means to them. We would have a prepared, designated person. Kendra would do the recruiting.
Visits to other churches:
During the May meeting, we will be discussing our visits to other churches. We are looking for what works that we are not doing now. Each person should bring their top 3 ideas to the meeting. The process will be for each person to talk about his/her top new idea. Then each person will present idea #2, etc.
Other:
Stan and Marie have prepared special tags for the greeters. They are stored in the credenza with the flowers. Sandy Hansen has been making sure they are used and put away again.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
Next meeting: Monday, May 10, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. in the Laity Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, Dave Allen.
Absent: Jim Kupel, John McCall.
Dave opened the meeting at 5:45 p.m. with a prayer.
Usher ‘best practices’ status (Rick):
Rick is convening the ushers for a meeting on Sunday, May 16th at 11:30. All from the Growth Group are welcome to attend. Rick will present the ‘best practices’ at that time. Stan noted that a member of his team tried passing out bulletins at the front door of the Sanctuary. It seemed to go well and she closed the door around 10 when the service started. Dave said that the ushers in the churches he has visited did not escort people to their seats.
Parish Hosts(Rick):
John reported in his e-mail that ‘Nothing to report on Parish Hosts though I continue to make occasional offers.’ Rick has called the 5 people on his lists. None want to be assigned a host at this time. Dave reflected we spent a lot of time and thought on this program that appears to be going nowhere. He suggested we contact those who signed up to BE hosts to let them know what is going on. He will draft a message.
Welcome Cards (Elinor/Kendra):
Kendra sent John a template to use for drafting a postcard size message about our church. Most likely this project is on hold during the Easter season.
Volunteer web sign up (Elinor):
The group has seen the e-mail describing the program drafted by Elinor. She is waiting to be sure Sandy Hansen is comfortable with the entire process before soliciting congregational sign up. Sandy is enthusiastic about the project; just very busy. Elinor will notify Rick a little ahead of sending a church e-mail so that he can give the usher captains a ‘heads up’. Elinor will add a phrase to her message urging people to register on the web-site if they would be willing to greet at some distant future date.
Friendship pads (Dave/all):
Dave pointed out that the present friendship pads are getting worn. Do they present our church in the most useful way for newcomers? Are there always nametags in the back? We suggested having the ushers make sure they are always stocked with nametags. We discussed how many people just write their names and check off ‘church member’, so that more than one page is required for a Sunday morning. Stan pointed out that we will be looking at the products used by the churches we are visiting. We know John has specific uses for the present form of the information requested and look forward to a discussion with him.
Friends’ Sunday (all):
Kendra read the section from the ’52 ideas’ book on Friends Sunday. Printed invitations are suggested. Members could pick an invitation up at church and mail it to their friend, and then follow up with a phone call invitation. Sue talked about having members stand up with their friend during the service (when prompted). Would there be a special service? Possibly have a friends theme for the children’s story and sermon. Have the Joyful Noise sing. For timing, we discussed early October or possibly Thanksgiving Sunday.
Hospitality Moment:
Do we want to continue with hospitality moments? Only if there are new ideas, although we could have a summary of the ideas presented so far. Kendra suggested transitioning to having people share what the church means to them. We would have a prepared, designated person. Kendra would do the recruiting.
Visits to other churches:
During the May meeting, we will be discussing our visits to other churches. We are looking for what works that we are not doing now. Each person should bring their top 3 ideas to the meeting. The process will be for each person to talk about his/her top new idea. Then each person will present idea #2, etc.
Other:
Stan and Marie have prepared special tags for the greeters. They are stored in the credenza with the flowers. Sandy Hansen has been making sure they are used and put away again.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
Next meeting: Monday, May 10, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. in the Laity Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 3/8/10
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, John McCall, Dave Allen.
Absent: Jim Kupel
Stan opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m.with a prayer.
1. Web volunteer sign up (Elinor) - LotsaHelpingHands is a free web-site which provides a way for volunteers to sign up for activities that fit their desires and calendars. Elinor has created a location for us on that site: FCC Volunteers (http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/621960/). Initially we will pilot sign-up for Greeters at the back church entrance and the office entrance. We plan to have an official designation Greeters can affix to their nametags so that people recognize the purpose of their presence. Elinor will be the coordinator and Dave will be her back up. This will be a pilot program so that we can see if it is something useful for other areas of church life. Elinor will try to provide phone sign-up for those unable to use the web. She may need help if the demand is too great.
Actions: Elinor will contact Sandy Hansen about the project and see if she wants to try scheduling Front Door Greeters in this way.
Elinor will write a descriptive e-mail to circulate among members of the Growth Group to be corrected/added to.
Rich will forward said e-mail to the Usher Captains, with instruction to pass it along to the Ushers on their team either through e-mail or telephone.
Elinor will put the contents of said e-mail in the Beacon.
2. Welcome Cards (Elinor) - Elinor presented the idea of creating a postcard size invitation to worship at our church, welcoming all and giving the times and basic church contact information. The cards would be located by exit doors. The target audience is members of groups using the church (nursery school parents, members of AA, students of yoga, etc.) so they have an easy way to know when worship services occur.
Action: John will send a draft to the group before the next meeting.
Kendra will send John a postcard template.
3. Usher Meeting (Rich) - The next meeting will be Sunday, April 18th. We reviewed Dave’s notes from the last Ushers’ meeting. He will put together a card of ‘best practices’ for ushers. Stan reported on his church visits: he particularly noticed that smiling, very pleasant ushers create a great first impression. John remarked that he sees the cluster of ushers blocking the center aisle as folks enter the sanctuary as imposing. We wondered if splitting the group and standing to the side would help. We discussed the value of having an Usher at the front side door to give out bulletins and seat those who wished to be escorted. We discussed having an usher in the balcony vs. having a small pile of bulletins for congregants. These are good topics for the Ushers’ meeting.
Action: Rich will organize the meeting. He will put together a card of ‘best practices’ for ushers.
4. Status of Parish Hosts (John/Rich) - There has been one great Parish Host/Guest match. All other guests have declined the opportunity when it is offered, either by John or by Rich. Rich has had two very positive telephone conversations with Guest families. Both have been most complimentary about our church yet do not want to have a PH. We speculated that the idea might seem too much of an obligation to newcomers. Kendra reminded the group of discussion at the last meeting of presenting the program differently, in a casual introduction. Sue thought the PH might make the call. John suggested that would feel like too much pressure. An alternative idea is to have 1 or 2 PHs available each Sunday to be matched up with newcomers as needed. John and the ushers would make the connection. Kendra wondered if people who come alone to church are more receptive to the Parish Host relationship.
Action: (I am fuzzy on this. I know we want PHs ‘at the ready’ to try this out). Elinor will set up the web-site for sign-up.
5. Hospitality Moment - Stan will provide the next tip on Sunday, March 28th (Palm Sunday). Dave is keeping track of the topics.
6. Other - Stan asked Dave about the project gathering information about small groups in the church. Dave has been ‘on hold’ as the purpose was to be a resource for the PH program. We do still need to have a comprehensive listing of the small groups in our church.
7. Agenda Items for next meeting:
• Friendship pads (& nametags)
• Update: Web signup, welcome cards, PH program
• Friends Sunday
• Tags – greeters
• Hospitality moment
Next meeting: Monday, April 12, 2010 at 5:30 in the Laity Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross, John McCall, Dave Allen.
Absent: Jim Kupel
Stan opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m.with a prayer.
1. Web volunteer sign up (Elinor) - LotsaHelpingHands is a free web-site which provides a way for volunteers to sign up for activities that fit their desires and calendars. Elinor has created a location for us on that site: FCC Volunteers (http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/621960/). Initially we will pilot sign-up for Greeters at the back church entrance and the office entrance. We plan to have an official designation Greeters can affix to their nametags so that people recognize the purpose of their presence. Elinor will be the coordinator and Dave will be her back up. This will be a pilot program so that we can see if it is something useful for other areas of church life. Elinor will try to provide phone sign-up for those unable to use the web. She may need help if the demand is too great.
Actions: Elinor will contact Sandy Hansen about the project and see if she wants to try scheduling Front Door Greeters in this way.
Elinor will write a descriptive e-mail to circulate among members of the Growth Group to be corrected/added to.
Rich will forward said e-mail to the Usher Captains, with instruction to pass it along to the Ushers on their team either through e-mail or telephone.
Elinor will put the contents of said e-mail in the Beacon.
2. Welcome Cards (Elinor) - Elinor presented the idea of creating a postcard size invitation to worship at our church, welcoming all and giving the times and basic church contact information. The cards would be located by exit doors. The target audience is members of groups using the church (nursery school parents, members of AA, students of yoga, etc.) so they have an easy way to know when worship services occur.
Action: John will send a draft to the group before the next meeting.
Kendra will send John a postcard template.
3. Usher Meeting (Rich) - The next meeting will be Sunday, April 18th. We reviewed Dave’s notes from the last Ushers’ meeting. He will put together a card of ‘best practices’ for ushers. Stan reported on his church visits: he particularly noticed that smiling, very pleasant ushers create a great first impression. John remarked that he sees the cluster of ushers blocking the center aisle as folks enter the sanctuary as imposing. We wondered if splitting the group and standing to the side would help. We discussed the value of having an Usher at the front side door to give out bulletins and seat those who wished to be escorted. We discussed having an usher in the balcony vs. having a small pile of bulletins for congregants. These are good topics for the Ushers’ meeting.
Action: Rich will organize the meeting. He will put together a card of ‘best practices’ for ushers.
4. Status of Parish Hosts (John/Rich) - There has been one great Parish Host/Guest match. All other guests have declined the opportunity when it is offered, either by John or by Rich. Rich has had two very positive telephone conversations with Guest families. Both have been most complimentary about our church yet do not want to have a PH. We speculated that the idea might seem too much of an obligation to newcomers. Kendra reminded the group of discussion at the last meeting of presenting the program differently, in a casual introduction. Sue thought the PH might make the call. John suggested that would feel like too much pressure. An alternative idea is to have 1 or 2 PHs available each Sunday to be matched up with newcomers as needed. John and the ushers would make the connection. Kendra wondered if people who come alone to church are more receptive to the Parish Host relationship.
Action: (I am fuzzy on this. I know we want PHs ‘at the ready’ to try this out). Elinor will set up the web-site for sign-up.
5. Hospitality Moment - Stan will provide the next tip on Sunday, March 28th (Palm Sunday). Dave is keeping track of the topics.
6. Other - Stan asked Dave about the project gathering information about small groups in the church. Dave has been ‘on hold’ as the purpose was to be a resource for the PH program. We do still need to have a comprehensive listing of the small groups in our church.
7. Agenda Items for next meeting:
• Friendship pads (& nametags)
• Update: Web signup, welcome cards, PH program
• Friends Sunday
• Tags – greeters
• Hospitality moment
Next meeting: Monday, April 12, 2010 at 5:30 in the Laity Room.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 11/9/09
Members present: Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, John McCall Absent: Jim Kupel, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross.
John opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m. with a prayer.
I. Parish Host Candidates/Match-Ups
John said that 3 people attended the Inquirer’s Meeting and that 4 people will join the church next Sunday. There is a longer list of people interested who are new to church-going. John identified 3 people who might want a Parish Host at this point:
- a man moving here from Wisconsin. His wife is not here yet.
- a woman who recently lost her job and decided to visit the church she has long driven by.
- a couple moving to the Betsy Ross home.
We identified people from the Parish Host meeting who might be good matches. Several matches have already occurred spontaneously.
Pilot plan for matching up ‘pairs’:
John will have conversations with the guests this week and offer a match. He will contact Rick who will then contact the PH to see if there are interested/available. When he has a ‘yes’, he will contact the guest and tell them to anticipate a call. Kendra will keep a master list of people going through the program. She will send an update whenever we have a new match.
II. Materials for Guests (People new to our church)
Elinor brought copies of the Welcome Packet and a list of documents provided by John. We agreed there is far more information in the packets than is needed when people arrive at church for the first time. Much of that information can be provided by Parish Hosts. We identified 3 essential fliers: welcome, children & families, open & affirming, plus a current copy of The Beacon. We want to have lucite racks in the church containing other fliers so that people can choose their area of interest and so that they are always available to any interested person.
We looked at the current fliers in the pew racks. We suggest eliminating outdated pledge cards and the ‘Meetinghouse Musing’ card. We recommend creating a combined offering envelope with a place to check to designate pledge or Community Crisis offerings. Elsa re-designed the fliers two years ago, adding the graphic ‘branding’ and working on the text. Elinor will meet with her to get her opinion and see if she wants to work on an update. This flier would also be placed in the pews.
Looking at the fliers themselves, we thought moving titles to the top so that they can be read when they are in racks and adding the web address made sense. The ‘Welcome’ folder would be more readable in a bullet format (not so dense with text). as well as removing the phrase ‘A Visitor Packet’. The word ‘guest’ should designate individuals who are new to attending our Church.
We discussed involving the youth in the responsibility of keeping materials current. Care should be taken involving the pew racks as Betty Deschenes enjoys her responsibility of keeping them tidy.
III. Top Action Choices
We went around the room with people offering their top choices for future actions. Kendra will send out a master list and we can add it to the minutes. We will assign responsibility for various tasks in future.
IV. Hospitality Tips
Dave’s foray into announcing a hospitality tip was successful. He had a couple of great conversations during coffee hour with people he had not previously met.
Rick will provide the next tip – he will begin by reviewing Dave’s tip (during coffee hour, talk with someone you have not met before) and then adding his own. Elinor will offer a tip in December.
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, December 14 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, John McCall Absent: Jim Kupel, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross.
John opened the meeting at 5:30 p.m. with a prayer.
I. Parish Host Candidates/Match-Ups
John said that 3 people attended the Inquirer’s Meeting and that 4 people will join the church next Sunday. There is a longer list of people interested who are new to church-going. John identified 3 people who might want a Parish Host at this point:
- a man moving here from Wisconsin. His wife is not here yet.
- a woman who recently lost her job and decided to visit the church she has long driven by.
- a couple moving to the Betsy Ross home.
We identified people from the Parish Host meeting who might be good matches. Several matches have already occurred spontaneously.
Pilot plan for matching up ‘pairs’:
John will have conversations with the guests this week and offer a match. He will contact Rick who will then contact the PH to see if there are interested/available. When he has a ‘yes’, he will contact the guest and tell them to anticipate a call. Kendra will keep a master list of people going through the program. She will send an update whenever we have a new match.
II. Materials for Guests (People new to our church)
Elinor brought copies of the Welcome Packet and a list of documents provided by John. We agreed there is far more information in the packets than is needed when people arrive at church for the first time. Much of that information can be provided by Parish Hosts. We identified 3 essential fliers: welcome, children & families, open & affirming, plus a current copy of The Beacon. We want to have lucite racks in the church containing other fliers so that people can choose their area of interest and so that they are always available to any interested person.
We looked at the current fliers in the pew racks. We suggest eliminating outdated pledge cards and the ‘Meetinghouse Musing’ card. We recommend creating a combined offering envelope with a place to check to designate pledge or Community Crisis offerings. Elsa re-designed the fliers two years ago, adding the graphic ‘branding’ and working on the text. Elinor will meet with her to get her opinion and see if she wants to work on an update. This flier would also be placed in the pews.
Looking at the fliers themselves, we thought moving titles to the top so that they can be read when they are in racks and adding the web address made sense. The ‘Welcome’ folder would be more readable in a bullet format (not so dense with text). as well as removing the phrase ‘A Visitor Packet’. The word ‘guest’ should designate individuals who are new to attending our Church.
We discussed involving the youth in the responsibility of keeping materials current. Care should be taken involving the pew racks as Betty Deschenes enjoys her responsibility of keeping them tidy.
III. Top Action Choices
We went around the room with people offering their top choices for future actions. Kendra will send out a master list and we can add it to the minutes. We will assign responsibility for various tasks in future.
IV. Hospitality Tips
Dave’s foray into announcing a hospitality tip was successful. He had a couple of great conversations during coffee hour with people he had not previously met.
Rick will provide the next tip – he will begin by reviewing Dave’s tip (during coffee hour, talk with someone you have not met before) and then adding his own. Elinor will offer a tip in December.
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, December 14 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of October 19, 2009
Members present: Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, John McCall.
Absent: Jim Kupel, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross.
The meeting opened at 5:40 p.m.
John brought several brochures from other churches.
**indicates future action
I. “The Plan”:
We went over Dave’s master plan, step by step:
1. Brochures: Jim incorporated changes based on the Parish Host meeting.
2. Team/Group summaries: in process – Dave remarked that achieving 80% is a good goal.
3. Materials for PH reference manual: Elinor and John will meet early next week. We discussed the challenge of keeping materials updated and possible use of the web in future.
4. Recruit hosts: 10 people attended the meeting and were enthusiastic. Rick (and Stan) will make more calls.
5. The first meeting was held.
6. Identity of guests to be hosted: our first thought considered new members signed up through the Inquirer’s Meeting. Later we discussed how to identify potential hostees within a few months of their starting to attend our church. They could also be people who did not respond to or declined an invitation to attend an Inquirer’s meeting.
7. Host training: This will consist of a brief (45 minute meeting). The group will spend ½ hour brainstorming ideas and 15 minutes touring the building. John will ‘train’ Rick to do the tour. We will look for a time to get the group back together ASAP. Dave and Rick will target a time.
We discussed how to match people up. It makes sense to look for affinities (children in Sunday school, etc.). The process can take place during a PH meeting.
8. Pilot a few relationships: Dave will e-mail the people who came to the PH meeting.
II. Parish Host Brochure
We discussed the changes Jim made to the brochure. We suggest being consistent in talking about guests (not newcomers). Dave will write ideas for the brochure, including moving the part about being a welcoming presence in the Narthex under expectations. Ushers can be welcomers also.
III. Kendra’s List
Kendra created another version of her master idea list which included symbols to denote the source of each idea. We may already do some of the suggestions. She made a separate list which breaks the ideas into themes for various church groups. Not all tasks are ‘for sure’ choices.
**HOMEWORK FOR THE NEXT MEETING: Identify your own top 5 ideas and bring them to the next meeting. These ideas should have the most impact with the least difficulty.
John suggested having a brief hospitality tip at the beginning of Sunday’s service. We decided it would be provided during the announcement time by a member of our group. Dave will do the announcement on 10/25, Rick on 11/22, Elinor on 12/20. This schedule is tentative. We arbitrarily chose a Sunday late in the month.
IV. Materials
We discussed what materials are available for guests when they first visit. What is in the pew racks? Kendra brought a sample pew card, “For Our Guest” which helped a person navigate the cues of the service and told about the UCC. We looked at the (extensive) welcome packet provided in the Narthex. We will review and talk about guest materials at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, November 9 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Elinor Redmond, Kendra Palmer, John McCall.
Absent: Jim Kupel, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross.
The meeting opened at 5:40 p.m.
John brought several brochures from other churches.
**indicates future action
I. “The Plan”:
We went over Dave’s master plan, step by step:
1. Brochures: Jim incorporated changes based on the Parish Host meeting.
2. Team/Group summaries: in process – Dave remarked that achieving 80% is a good goal.
3. Materials for PH reference manual: Elinor and John will meet early next week. We discussed the challenge of keeping materials updated and possible use of the web in future.
4. Recruit hosts: 10 people attended the meeting and were enthusiastic. Rick (and Stan) will make more calls.
5. The first meeting was held.
6. Identity of guests to be hosted: our first thought considered new members signed up through the Inquirer’s Meeting. Later we discussed how to identify potential hostees within a few months of their starting to attend our church. They could also be people who did not respond to or declined an invitation to attend an Inquirer’s meeting.
7. Host training: This will consist of a brief (45 minute meeting). The group will spend ½ hour brainstorming ideas and 15 minutes touring the building. John will ‘train’ Rick to do the tour. We will look for a time to get the group back together ASAP. Dave and Rick will target a time.
We discussed how to match people up. It makes sense to look for affinities (children in Sunday school, etc.). The process can take place during a PH meeting.
8. Pilot a few relationships: Dave will e-mail the people who came to the PH meeting.
II. Parish Host Brochure
We discussed the changes Jim made to the brochure. We suggest being consistent in talking about guests (not newcomers). Dave will write ideas for the brochure, including moving the part about being a welcoming presence in the Narthex under expectations. Ushers can be welcomers also.
III. Kendra’s List
Kendra created another version of her master idea list which included symbols to denote the source of each idea. We may already do some of the suggestions. She made a separate list which breaks the ideas into themes for various church groups. Not all tasks are ‘for sure’ choices.
**HOMEWORK FOR THE NEXT MEETING: Identify your own top 5 ideas and bring them to the next meeting. These ideas should have the most impact with the least difficulty.
John suggested having a brief hospitality tip at the beginning of Sunday’s service. We decided it would be provided during the announcement time by a member of our group. Dave will do the announcement on 10/25, Rick on 11/22, Elinor on 12/20. This schedule is tentative. We arbitrarily chose a Sunday late in the month.
IV. Materials
We discussed what materials are available for guests when they first visit. What is in the pew racks? Kendra brought a sample pew card, “For Our Guest” which helped a person navigate the cues of the service and told about the UCC. We looked at the (extensive) welcome packet provided in the Narthex. We will review and talk about guest materials at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, November 9 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of 4/30/09
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, , Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond.
Absent: Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross.
Stan opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:30 p.m.
**indicates future action
I. Parish Host Document
Jim had re-worked the Parish Host document, including both our group mission and the comment from the new members’ focus group that ‘buddies’ would be helpful, if not pushed too hard. We discussed the many uses for the document, with variations:
• tool for parish host, staff, growth group
• reference to anybody in the church
• recruiting document
• lets newcomers know about the program
**Dave will be visiting with Growth and Fellowship and will be sure that group knows about the document and the program. Rick and Elinor will share the document with SL&W as well.
We spent a little time on minor edits of the document. Jim will re-work the document and create a version for newcomers so that they have a summary as they are invited to participate.
Next steps include recruiting hosts and creating the tool kit. The host group will need coordination and record keeping. We imagine 12 hosts in the program.
**Stan and Rick will work up a list of potential hosts.
**Elinor will work on the tool kit materials over the summer with the goal of having all documents available electronically for ease in updating.
**Dave will prepare an implementation time line for the next meeting.
II. New Member Process
We discussed where in the process the Parish Host Program would begin for a newcomer. The logical place is at the step; “If the prospect continues to worship” and beginning with the words “John contacts by phone/e-mail”. John/Elsa could make the offer OR a lay person could be in charge of this process from the beginning.
How long would a host stay ‘assigned’ to a newcomer? John told us the rule of thumb for newcomers staying with a church: make 6 friendships in 6 months. Would the host attend the Inquirer’s meeting with the newcomer? Would the host stay involved after the individual becomes a church member?
We will start the program slowly and see where it takes us.
III. Group Information
Dave e-mailed the teams the request for information about the various groups needed to create a booklet of information for everyone in the church. The teams should send the request along to the various groups affiliated with them and replies should go to Dave.
IV. Groups that use the building
John had sent a list of ‘outside’ groups that use the building. He estimates 8-9 would be open to hearing a member speak about the church and invite participants to attend. These include: Al-Anon, AA (when they have an open meeting), Alzheimer’s Work Group, Meetinghouse Yoga and the Mother and Dad’s Club.
**We will consider this as an agenda item in the fall.
V. Homework/Hospitality
We discussed the articles John had passed out. The church may want to plan to grow, but we cannot control what people do. What we can work on is being hospitable. We may be friendly and welcoming and still not hospitable.
**Education on hospitality. Devote 1 or 2 Sundays to hospitality. Jim will bring the sheet used by the Hospital to train volunteers in hospitality.
VI. Group Maintenance
Should we expand the size of the Growth Group? Yes! New members may come from individuals recruited as hosts.
We are looking at Mondays at 5:30 p.m. as a regular meeting time, (possibly the second Monday of the month).
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, June 8 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, , Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond.
Absent: Kendra Palmer, Sue Ross.
Stan opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:30 p.m.
**indicates future action
I. Parish Host Document
Jim had re-worked the Parish Host document, including both our group mission and the comment from the new members’ focus group that ‘buddies’ would be helpful, if not pushed too hard. We discussed the many uses for the document, with variations:
• tool for parish host, staff, growth group
• reference to anybody in the church
• recruiting document
• lets newcomers know about the program
**Dave will be visiting with Growth and Fellowship and will be sure that group knows about the document and the program. Rick and Elinor will share the document with SL&W as well.
We spent a little time on minor edits of the document. Jim will re-work the document and create a version for newcomers so that they have a summary as they are invited to participate.
Next steps include recruiting hosts and creating the tool kit. The host group will need coordination and record keeping. We imagine 12 hosts in the program.
**Stan and Rick will work up a list of potential hosts.
**Elinor will work on the tool kit materials over the summer with the goal of having all documents available electronically for ease in updating.
**Dave will prepare an implementation time line for the next meeting.
II. New Member Process
We discussed where in the process the Parish Host Program would begin for a newcomer. The logical place is at the step; “If the prospect continues to worship” and beginning with the words “John contacts by phone/e-mail”. John/Elsa could make the offer OR a lay person could be in charge of this process from the beginning.
How long would a host stay ‘assigned’ to a newcomer? John told us the rule of thumb for newcomers staying with a church: make 6 friendships in 6 months. Would the host attend the Inquirer’s meeting with the newcomer? Would the host stay involved after the individual becomes a church member?
We will start the program slowly and see where it takes us.
III. Group Information
Dave e-mailed the teams the request for information about the various groups needed to create a booklet of information for everyone in the church. The teams should send the request along to the various groups affiliated with them and replies should go to Dave.
IV. Groups that use the building
John had sent a list of ‘outside’ groups that use the building. He estimates 8-9 would be open to hearing a member speak about the church and invite participants to attend. These include: Al-Anon, AA (when they have an open meeting), Alzheimer’s Work Group, Meetinghouse Yoga and the Mother and Dad’s Club.
**We will consider this as an agenda item in the fall.
V. Homework/Hospitality
We discussed the articles John had passed out. The church may want to plan to grow, but we cannot control what people do. What we can work on is being hospitable. We may be friendly and welcoming and still not hospitable.
**Education on hospitality. Devote 1 or 2 Sundays to hospitality. Jim will bring the sheet used by the Hospital to train volunteers in hospitality.
VI. Group Maintenance
Should we expand the size of the Growth Group? Yes! New members may come from individuals recruited as hosts.
We are looking at Mondays at 5:30 p.m. as a regular meeting time, (possibly the second Monday of the month).
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, June 8 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes of March 23, 2009
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross, Elinor Redmond.
Jim opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m. No minutes were kept at the February meeting due to low attendance.
**indicates future action
I. 1/11 Focus Group
Stan had sent us all copies of his notes from the gathering. We discussed the highlights: new members want what they called a ‘buddy program’. That news confirms the thrust of our Parish Host idea. No real constructive criticism was offered; the group validated what we are doing now (name tags, welcome in the Narthex). Kendra described the experience as positive: the group was willing to talk. They experience our ministers as very accessible, in contrast to other churches they have attended.
**Jim will write up the key points from the discussion group. Richard will pass along Stan’s notes to SL&W; Dave will send them to EF&G via Elsa.
We had a general discussion concerning ‘getting the word out’ about our church and who we are. John noted that the church is almost big enough for interest groups (parenting pot luck, pilgrims and pints: they are great when enough people can attend). The role of the church (ministers) is not to make those things happen but to set things up so that they can happen (enable them). We thought about the many people who come through the church doors for scouts, Mother’s group, food pantry, yoga, 12 step groups etc. and discussed reaching out to individuals involved in these groups. A first step is to provide fliers about the church when the groups meet.
** John will ask Cyndi for a list of the groups, meeting times and contact person.
II. Mission Statement
We feel we are very close. We worked on Elinor’s suggestion from the January minutes:
To provide structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, build relationships so that they are part of our church community, attending services, participating and joining.
Edit:
To provide a structure and a process to warmly welcome newcomers to our church and to encourage the building of meaningful relationships so that newcomers feel they belong and can participate in our church community.
III. Parish Host Program
We looked again at the outline of the Parish Host Program.
**Jim will draft a version to describe the program for someone who is considering being a Parish Host. We want the document to include a sense of celebration if it works.
IV. New Member Process
John provided the group with an outline of the steps he and Elsa take as newcomers attend services and become known to them. Jim considered adding ‘touch points’ so that we can see the impact of other church members on the newcomer’s experience. Step 4 is a natural point to introduce a parish host. We discussed ways members could contribute to the process: being available with Sandy to escort someone to coffee hour, standing at the back of the church at the beginning of service and sitting in a pew with a newcomer (and then being friendly, of course).
Sue suggested direction from the front of the church on passing the friendship pads back across the pew once they are signed so that we can all know the names of the other people in the pew. John will talk with Elsa about consistent language.
Jim suggested that a goal for the congregation is to see (welcoming) as their responsibility.
**John will re-draft the document and invite additions. He said finding a lay person to shepherd along new arrivals – paying attention to detail – would be terrific.
V. Group Information
Stan proposed creating a booklet with information about all the small groups in the church. He made a template with the Growth Group as an example. We agreed such a booklet would be very useful to have. John acknowledged it would be hard to keep it current so it would not be practical to print a number of ‘hard copies’. Rather the group suggested creating a pdf which can be reached through the website and be easily updated.
**Dave will work on collecting the information via e-mail from each group. We will ask for examples of activities.
VI. Other
John passed out articles for people to take home and read.
Kendra will spend more time on her web review of ‘best practices’ in other churches.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, April 30 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
With special thanks to Dave Allen for his leadership at keeping a group on task during a meeting and his skill at keeping track of agenda items.
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross, Elinor Redmond.
Jim opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m. No minutes were kept at the February meeting due to low attendance.
**indicates future action
I. 1/11 Focus Group
Stan had sent us all copies of his notes from the gathering. We discussed the highlights: new members want what they called a ‘buddy program’. That news confirms the thrust of our Parish Host idea. No real constructive criticism was offered; the group validated what we are doing now (name tags, welcome in the Narthex). Kendra described the experience as positive: the group was willing to talk. They experience our ministers as very accessible, in contrast to other churches they have attended.
**Jim will write up the key points from the discussion group. Richard will pass along Stan’s notes to SL&W; Dave will send them to EF&G via Elsa.
We had a general discussion concerning ‘getting the word out’ about our church and who we are. John noted that the church is almost big enough for interest groups (parenting pot luck, pilgrims and pints: they are great when enough people can attend). The role of the church (ministers) is not to make those things happen but to set things up so that they can happen (enable them). We thought about the many people who come through the church doors for scouts, Mother’s group, food pantry, yoga, 12 step groups etc. and discussed reaching out to individuals involved in these groups. A first step is to provide fliers about the church when the groups meet.
** John will ask Cyndi for a list of the groups, meeting times and contact person.
II. Mission Statement
We feel we are very close. We worked on Elinor’s suggestion from the January minutes:
To provide structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, build relationships so that they are part of our church community, attending services, participating and joining.
Edit:
To provide a structure and a process to warmly welcome newcomers to our church and to encourage the building of meaningful relationships so that newcomers feel they belong and can participate in our church community.
III. Parish Host Program
We looked again at the outline of the Parish Host Program.
**Jim will draft a version to describe the program for someone who is considering being a Parish Host. We want the document to include a sense of celebration if it works.
IV. New Member Process
John provided the group with an outline of the steps he and Elsa take as newcomers attend services and become known to them. Jim considered adding ‘touch points’ so that we can see the impact of other church members on the newcomer’s experience. Step 4 is a natural point to introduce a parish host. We discussed ways members could contribute to the process: being available with Sandy to escort someone to coffee hour, standing at the back of the church at the beginning of service and sitting in a pew with a newcomer (and then being friendly, of course).
Sue suggested direction from the front of the church on passing the friendship pads back across the pew once they are signed so that we can all know the names of the other people in the pew. John will talk with Elsa about consistent language.
Jim suggested that a goal for the congregation is to see (welcoming) as their responsibility.
**John will re-draft the document and invite additions. He said finding a lay person to shepherd along new arrivals – paying attention to detail – would be terrific.
V. Group Information
Stan proposed creating a booklet with information about all the small groups in the church. He made a template with the Growth Group as an example. We agreed such a booklet would be very useful to have. John acknowledged it would be hard to keep it current so it would not be practical to print a number of ‘hard copies’. Rather the group suggested creating a pdf which can be reached through the website and be easily updated.
**Dave will work on collecting the information via e-mail from each group. We will ask for examples of activities.
VI. Other
John passed out articles for people to take home and read.
Kendra will spend more time on her web review of ‘best practices’ in other churches.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, April 30 @ 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
With special thanks to Dave Allen for his leadership at keeping a group on task during a meeting and his skill at keeping track of agenda items.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes
1/5/09
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross, Elinor Redmond
Dave opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m. No changes were made to the minutes from 11/24/08.
I. Preparations for the 1/11 Focus Group:
Dave folded, stamped and sent 34 letters. To date 3 people have accepted the invitation. Jim will facilitate and Kendra will attend as an invitee. Stan will take notes. On Saturday Kendra and Jim will call invitees who have not responded if attendance appears to be less than 6. Kendra will be in touch with the Church about responses.
Refreshments: Kendra will make something, Jim will bring cider and (someone) will fetch a carafe of coffee from Wright Pavilion.
We reviewed Jim’s (excellent) discussion guide in detail:
He will point out that Stan is taking notes of what people have to say but not recording their names with their comments. On Dave’s suggestion, #6 (areas needing change) will focus on areas where the church might do a better job of making people feel welcome. The same focus will be placed on #10 (magic wand). The answers to #4 (In the early days, what kept you coming back?) and #10 will be the most useful as well as whether someone is comfortable inviting others to the church.
We hope for a good conversation. This is a self-selected group, a group which chose to come (and continue coming) to our church. We wondered about obtaining anonymous feedback from people who did not respond to the invitation. Also, we wondered about a way to survey people who attended church for a while and then disappeared. That will be a future project.
II. Mission Statement
We started with a statement drafted by Stan (thank you for getting us started!):
‘To seek ways to increase the number of people participating in the life of our Church and from that foundation to seek ways to increase the church membership.’
John: add extravagant welcome.
Elinor: what about building relationships?
We want to be able to measure success (attendance and membership)
‘We seek to extend a warm welcome that will incorporate people into the life of the church (leading to increased attendance, participation and membership).’
From Elinor, other possibilities:
• To extend a warm welcome, building a strong relationship with people coming to our church and to include them in the life of the church so that they will join us in attending services, participating in our community and formalizing their relationship with church membership.
• To provide the structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, incorporate them into church life and lay the groundwork for attendance, participation and membership.
• To provide structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, build relationships with them so that they are part of our church community, attending services, participating and joining.
III. Mentor Program
HOORAY! We agreed on a name: Parish Host. The word host implies knowledge of the church and allows for flexibility in the length of the relationship.
We reviewed Dave’s draft for the Parish Host Program:
2. The host needs to know the physical layout of the church and how to find things out.
3. On Jim’s suggestion, we added ‘be able’ (What would a parish host be able to do).
We added linking people up with something they are interested in. (Determine what the new person’s interest might be)
John said the relationship should be 2 way and should start after a few months’ attendance.
Kendra will research whether the UCC has any guidelines for parish hosts and look into what other churches do.
4. Characteristic: Consistent (outgoing) but not pushy.
5. Success: Eliminate ‘getting them to attend regularly/join’
Know their personal needs in relation to their church experience.
6. Most of these materials are available (the Directory includes the phone list and the membership list)
Kendra queried how to track people. How will we find out about people who stop attending? We will need a focus group for the hosts.
Add #7: Following up with parish hosts.
Dave will supply us with an updated version.
Jim: Future agenda item = re-visit our current welcome and invitation process from the aspect of having a host in place. There may be other things to implement over time. Should attendance at small groups be passed along to the office?
John requested help in phoning people who have received an invitation to next Monday’s Inquirer’s meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Next Meeting: Monday, February 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
1/5/09
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Stan Jordan, Sue Ross, Elinor Redmond
Dave opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m. No changes were made to the minutes from 11/24/08.
I. Preparations for the 1/11 Focus Group:
Dave folded, stamped and sent 34 letters. To date 3 people have accepted the invitation. Jim will facilitate and Kendra will attend as an invitee. Stan will take notes. On Saturday Kendra and Jim will call invitees who have not responded if attendance appears to be less than 6. Kendra will be in touch with the Church about responses.
Refreshments: Kendra will make something, Jim will bring cider and (someone) will fetch a carafe of coffee from Wright Pavilion.
We reviewed Jim’s (excellent) discussion guide in detail:
He will point out that Stan is taking notes of what people have to say but not recording their names with their comments. On Dave’s suggestion, #6 (areas needing change) will focus on areas where the church might do a better job of making people feel welcome. The same focus will be placed on #10 (magic wand). The answers to #4 (In the early days, what kept you coming back?) and #10 will be the most useful as well as whether someone is comfortable inviting others to the church.
We hope for a good conversation. This is a self-selected group, a group which chose to come (and continue coming) to our church. We wondered about obtaining anonymous feedback from people who did not respond to the invitation. Also, we wondered about a way to survey people who attended church for a while and then disappeared. That will be a future project.
II. Mission Statement
We started with a statement drafted by Stan (thank you for getting us started!):
‘To seek ways to increase the number of people participating in the life of our Church and from that foundation to seek ways to increase the church membership.’
John: add extravagant welcome.
Elinor: what about building relationships?
We want to be able to measure success (attendance and membership)
‘We seek to extend a warm welcome that will incorporate people into the life of the church (leading to increased attendance, participation and membership).’
From Elinor, other possibilities:
• To extend a warm welcome, building a strong relationship with people coming to our church and to include them in the life of the church so that they will join us in attending services, participating in our community and formalizing their relationship with church membership.
• To provide the structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, incorporate them into church life and lay the groundwork for attendance, participation and membership.
• To provide structure to warmly welcome newcomers to our church, build relationships with them so that they are part of our church community, attending services, participating and joining.
III. Mentor Program
HOORAY! We agreed on a name: Parish Host. The word host implies knowledge of the church and allows for flexibility in the length of the relationship.
We reviewed Dave’s draft for the Parish Host Program:
2. The host needs to know the physical layout of the church and how to find things out.
3. On Jim’s suggestion, we added ‘be able’ (What would a parish host be able to do).
We added linking people up with something they are interested in. (Determine what the new person’s interest might be)
John said the relationship should be 2 way and should start after a few months’ attendance.
Kendra will research whether the UCC has any guidelines for parish hosts and look into what other churches do.
4. Characteristic: Consistent (outgoing) but not pushy.
5. Success: Eliminate ‘getting them to attend regularly/join’
Know their personal needs in relation to their church experience.
6. Most of these materials are available (the Directory includes the phone list and the membership list)
Kendra queried how to track people. How will we find out about people who stop attending? We will need a focus group for the hosts.
Add #7: Following up with parish hosts.
Dave will supply us with an updated version.
Jim: Future agenda item = re-visit our current welcome and invitation process from the aspect of having a host in place. There may be other things to implement over time. Should attendance at small groups be passed along to the office?
John requested help in phoning people who have received an invitation to next Monday’s Inquirer’s meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Next Meeting: Monday, February 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Growth Group
Meeting Minutes 11/24/08
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Jerry Onos, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond
John opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m.
I. John reported that 16 ‘prospects’ have been worshipping regularly with us. From what they say, we seem to be developing a brand identity: welcoming, diverse, forward thinking and mission minded. Ours is the only church that fits that description in the South Portland, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth area.
II. Structure: Dave prepared the agenda and facilitated the meeting. The group agreed that the job of taking the minutes would rotate among the group members. Dave will facilitate the next few meetings and prepare the agenda. We agreed that the 6:30 p.m. meeting time works.
III. New member focus groups: Jim will facilitate a group after church on Sunday, January 11, 2009. We will invite the 30-35 adults who joined the church most recently. Kendra will draft the letter of invitation and work with our new Church Secretary, Jen Dealaman, to mail them on December 28th. The letters will be signed by Dave. Either Dave or Stan will attend the event to take notes. Kendra will write a small announcement of the event for the Beacon and it will be listed in the bulletin.
Jim passed around a protocol for focus groups. Kendra commented that having a structure shows the importance of the questions to us as a church.
We focused on possible questions (Jim is looking for 12 questions):
• Prior church experience and current experience
• From ‘successful tendencies’: add good sermons to music, social justice, high energy
• We want insight into what the experience of coming to our church as a new person was for each of them. What could we have done better?
• Articulate the characteristics of this church
• When you think of Sunday morning here, what words come to mind? (gives a perspective on how you are perceived)
• How have you connected with the life of the church beyond Sunday morning?
• Would a mentor have been valuable?
• (Magic wand) If you could change one thing, what would it be?
IV. Power of Invitation and Welcome: We discussed several points from this handout.
John focused on ‘Making your entire church a welcoming community’ – we really need a large team, a group far bigger than the number of people sitting around the table. Kendra said we need to involve all church groups in extravagant welcome, reaching out to new members. Are groups represented? For example, do the people we help through Community Crisis Ministries become part of our congregation? Jerry wants to recruit member for the Growth Group through the existing Teams (Council, Mission, SLW, Administration, Education). He will go to the Mission meeting on December 4th to discuss our work and invite them to come to a growth meeting.
Rick’s Beacon article was a great way to let the congregation know that the Growth Group exists and what our purpose is. How could the mission of other church groups tie in with extravagant welcome? Our group will formally adopt a mission statement of our own. We will discuss it at the next meeting as well as ‘hospitality basics’.
V. Other Business: It would be great to have a person or 2 in the Narthex after church to escort newcomers to coffee hour. John said the use of the word ‘mentor’ is confusing and misleading. We need to use a different name.
Next Meeting: Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Members present: Jim Kupel, John McCall, Rick Angell, Dave Allen, Kendra Palmer, Jerry Onos, Stan Jordan, Elinor Redmond
John opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:30 p.m.
I. John reported that 16 ‘prospects’ have been worshipping regularly with us. From what they say, we seem to be developing a brand identity: welcoming, diverse, forward thinking and mission minded. Ours is the only church that fits that description in the South Portland, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth area.
II. Structure: Dave prepared the agenda and facilitated the meeting. The group agreed that the job of taking the minutes would rotate among the group members. Dave will facilitate the next few meetings and prepare the agenda. We agreed that the 6:30 p.m. meeting time works.
III. New member focus groups: Jim will facilitate a group after church on Sunday, January 11, 2009. We will invite the 30-35 adults who joined the church most recently. Kendra will draft the letter of invitation and work with our new Church Secretary, Jen Dealaman, to mail them on December 28th. The letters will be signed by Dave. Either Dave or Stan will attend the event to take notes. Kendra will write a small announcement of the event for the Beacon and it will be listed in the bulletin.
Jim passed around a protocol for focus groups. Kendra commented that having a structure shows the importance of the questions to us as a church.
We focused on possible questions (Jim is looking for 12 questions):
• Prior church experience and current experience
• From ‘successful tendencies’: add good sermons to music, social justice, high energy
• We want insight into what the experience of coming to our church as a new person was for each of them. What could we have done better?
• Articulate the characteristics of this church
• When you think of Sunday morning here, what words come to mind? (gives a perspective on how you are perceived)
• How have you connected with the life of the church beyond Sunday morning?
• Would a mentor have been valuable?
• (Magic wand) If you could change one thing, what would it be?
IV. Power of Invitation and Welcome: We discussed several points from this handout.
John focused on ‘Making your entire church a welcoming community’ – we really need a large team, a group far bigger than the number of people sitting around the table. Kendra said we need to involve all church groups in extravagant welcome, reaching out to new members. Are groups represented? For example, do the people we help through Community Crisis Ministries become part of our congregation? Jerry wants to recruit member for the Growth Group through the existing Teams (Council, Mission, SLW, Administration, Education). He will go to the Mission meeting on December 4th to discuss our work and invite them to come to a growth meeting.
Rick’s Beacon article was a great way to let the congregation know that the Growth Group exists and what our purpose is. How could the mission of other church groups tie in with extravagant welcome? Our group will formally adopt a mission statement of our own. We will discuss it at the next meeting as well as ‘hospitality basics’.
V. Other Business: It would be great to have a person or 2 in the Narthex after church to escort newcomers to coffee hour. John said the use of the word ‘mentor’ is confusing and misleading. We need to use a different name.
Next Meeting: Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Elinor Redmond
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Growth Group
September 16, 2008
Began with conversation between Volunteer Participation Group and Growth Group.
New Members
*Can someone talk to new members about their experience arriving at FCC UCC?
Did they fill out forms? How are they involved now?
*Recruit folks to call????
*Cross reference groups involved and form for a new member list.
*Can we create an outline to introduce institutionally so that greeters (and others in the narthex) can be included in this extravagant welcome when they volunteer?
Rough Sketches of Mentor Program
Goal: to increase familiarity in church
What a Mentor should have: Personal knowledge of church (do we teach this?) so that they can introduce new people to the life of the church (through Inquirers Meetings, Tours and perhaps Inquirers Meeting Part 2 to address questions).
*What’s the difference between Inquirers Meeting and Mentor?
Length of relationship: One year (or less) relationship keeping aware of personal need.
* How do we connect new people with mentors? Are they assigned? If so, how?
Are mentors gathered from a pool? And how is that pool established? Do we need to train them with the tenets we believe to be important for this relationship?
Next Agenda
Figuring and finalizing mentor process
Focus group with new members
Next Meeting
Monday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Began with conversation between Volunteer Participation Group and Growth Group.
New Members
*Can someone talk to new members about their experience arriving at FCC UCC?
Did they fill out forms? How are they involved now?
*Recruit folks to call????
*Cross reference groups involved and form for a new member list.
*Can we create an outline to introduce institutionally so that greeters (and others in the narthex) can be included in this extravagant welcome when they volunteer?
Rough Sketches of Mentor Program
Goal: to increase familiarity in church
What a Mentor should have: Personal knowledge of church (do we teach this?) so that they can introduce new people to the life of the church (through Inquirers Meetings, Tours and perhaps Inquirers Meeting Part 2 to address questions).
*What’s the difference between Inquirers Meeting and Mentor?
Length of relationship: One year (or less) relationship keeping aware of personal need.
* How do we connect new people with mentors? Are they assigned? If so, how?
Are mentors gathered from a pool? And how is that pool established? Do we need to train them with the tenets we believe to be important for this relationship?
Next Agenda
Figuring and finalizing mentor process
Focus group with new members
Next Meeting
Monday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Growth Group
August 19, 2008
In attendance: Jerry Andres, Jerry Onos, John McCall, Rick Angell, Kendra Palmer
Next Meeting, Potentially Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 7pm, combined with group working on volunteerism and the participation opportunities forms
Some wonderful ideas came out of this meeting for working toward providing a more extravagant welcome at church:
Action Items
*Developing a group of Mentors for new church members
*Incorporating more multimedia over time to meet the needs of the upcoming generations in church
*We did review the Successful church practices on pg 5 of The Power of Invitation and Welcome
**we came to the consensus that we do meet the majority of these requirements but determined the extravagant welcome is a theme that is infused in all of the recommendations and that is something that we will enhance at church.
*Side Note: There was mention of other congregations that have pick up orchestras that perform occasionally comprised of musicians from the congregation
*Offering tours after church with informational info about the church to those interested
*Equipping existing groups in church to work on providing a more extravagant welcome
(Perhaps it will be a church theme and/or each group may consider this theme as they are planning events throughout the year)
*Church to obtain more publicity in terms of local news sources, the 3 local papers, enhancing visibility on search engines, potentially tv or radio, maybe advertising in yellow pages under Congregational churches as well.
*Develop a marketing plan utilizing marketing plan guidelines next time
In attendance: Jerry Andres, Jerry Onos, John McCall, Rick Angell, Kendra Palmer
Next Meeting, Potentially Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 7pm, combined with group working on volunteerism and the participation opportunities forms
Some wonderful ideas came out of this meeting for working toward providing a more extravagant welcome at church:
Action Items
*Developing a group of Mentors for new church members
*Incorporating more multimedia over time to meet the needs of the upcoming generations in church
*We did review the Successful church practices on pg 5 of The Power of Invitation and Welcome
**we came to the consensus that we do meet the majority of these requirements but determined the extravagant welcome is a theme that is infused in all of the recommendations and that is something that we will enhance at church.
*Side Note: There was mention of other congregations that have pick up orchestras that perform occasionally comprised of musicians from the congregation
*Offering tours after church with informational info about the church to those interested
*Equipping existing groups in church to work on providing a more extravagant welcome
(Perhaps it will be a church theme and/or each group may consider this theme as they are planning events throughout the year)
*Church to obtain more publicity in terms of local news sources, the 3 local papers, enhancing visibility on search engines, potentially tv or radio, maybe advertising in yellow pages under Congregational churches as well.
*Develop a marketing plan utilizing marketing plan guidelines next time
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