New Plan for Congregation Input
The Transition Team met Thursday afternoon. We reviewed the results of the Congregational Vitality Survey, which if you haven't seen yet, you can do so HERE. We then moved on to our plans to receive the input from the congregation that is needed to complete the Ministry Site Profile. Initially, and as reported in the September issue of G@T, we were planning an Historical Reflection event for Sunday, October 10 after the 10:00 am worship.
It was the desire of the Team to move more expeditiously with gathering the necessary congregational input, so we have revised our plan to shift the focus from the History theme to a more general one that will seek responses to the following questions in the context of six in-person small group and two Zoom meetings :
- What has Grace meant for you personally? What brought you here, and what keeps you here?
- What do you see are Grace’s strengths, and what are areas where Grace needs to grow or change?
- As Grace looks to the future, what should be our mission priorities?
- Anything else that’s on your mind that you’d like to share with the group?
The following information will be included in the October issue of Grace and Truth:
Transition Team Plans Small Group Meetings
Reported by Pastor Mark
The Transition Team at Grace has been given the task of seeking and gathering the congregation's input as it plans to complete the Ministry Site Profile (MSP), the document that will describe Grace to potential pastoral candidates. The Team had earlier scheduled an event on Sunday, October 10, that would focus on the congregation's history, as reported in the October issue of Grace and Truth.
The Transition Team has changed their plans slightly in order to streamline the process for gathering the congregation's input, with the goal of completing the Ministry Site Profile by the end of November. This will pave the way for the eventual appointment of the Call Committee in early 2022.
During early October, the Transition Team will host six Small Group Meetings, four in-person, and two virtual via Zoom . The purpose of these meetings is for members to share their thoughts and feelings about St. John’s, and your hopes for future ministry at St. John’s. You are encouraged to choose the meeting time and format that best fits your schedule and plan to attend that meeting.
There is no need to pre-register for the in-person meetings (scheduled for the Dining Room) -- just come to the meeting at one of the days and times listed below. However, if you plan to attend one of the Zoom meeting options, you will need to register so that we can email you the link to join.
In-Person Meetings
- Wednesday, October 6, 6:00 pm
- Saturday, October 9, 5:00 pm (following 4:00 pm worship)
- Sunday, October 10, 9:00 am (following 8:45 am worship)
- Sunday, October 10, 11:15 am (following 10:00 am worship)
Zoom Meetings
- Tuesday, October 12, 10:00 am
- Thursday, October 14, 7:00 pm
If you are unable to attend any of these meetings, a member of the Transition Team will be available to contact you by phone to receive your input. To request a one-on-one interview with a member of the Transition Team, or to register for one of the Zoom meetings, contact the church office at 419-332-1558 or gracefremont@yahoo.com
Remember, your input is crucial in helping the Transition Team create an accurate and comprehensive description of the ministry of Grace in the Ministry Site Profile and will help in the selection of your next pastor.
Additional plans by Transition Team
The plans for in-person and Zoom meetings and one-to-one phone calls to receive congregational input detailed above include one additional activity -- a survey. There are three items in the Ministry Site Profile that ask for specific choices among a number of listed possibilities:
- Top Five Ministry Tasks The five most critical tasks required in this position
- Those completing the Profile choose from a list of 40 ministry tasks, such as Administration, Teaching, Preaching/Worship, Pastoral Care and Visitation, to name a few.
- Gifts for Ministry The five gifts essential in this position
- Some examples from the 25 gifts in this list:
- Help people develop their spiritual life.
- Deal effectively with conflict.
- Help others develop their leadership abilities and skills for ministry.
- Some examples from the 25 gifts in this list:
- Gifts for Ministry The five gifts very helpful in this position
- The same list of 25 gifts are offered
I have found that the best way for the Transition Team to complete these items in the profile is to simply put them into a survey to the congregation, and then choose those items which receive the highest number of votes to list in the Profile. So we will do this - after the In-Person and Zoom meetings and the personal phone calls have been completed, we will distribute (both via email and hard copy) and ask members to complete and submit (online) or return hard-copy surveys to the survey box or church office. We will also include in this survey the items listed above that were asked during the meetings and interviews, so that those who were unable to have their voices heard in one of the above mentioned ways, they would be able to offer their input on this survey.
Spirit, Week 2
Our numbers for Spirit this week were a bit better than our first session last week. I had a few more for the session that I am leading which is a discussion of the content in the book Healthy Churches Faithful Pastors. We finished Chapter One, which is an enumeration and explanation of 10 Principles for a Vibrant Church Community. If you'd like to join us, you can get caught up real quick with a summary of the Ten Principles that you can read HERE. We will continue this course by examining specific expectations that congregations have of pastors, and that pastors have of congregations.
Visits to shut-ins
Grace has faithful visitors to the congregation's shut-ins, and some of those visits have continued throughout the pandemic. I will be accompanying Jan H. to one of the Grace members that she has visited regularly. It will give me a chance to meet this member and bring Holy Communion. Jan was telling me about her time at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and her senior year roommate who became a pastor. Her father was also a pastor who was in a wheelchair -- which brought back some childhood memories for me -- this pastor preached at my church in Hendricks, Minnesota. It was in our old church, which would have been pre-1963.
Vaccine required for Youth Gathering
The Youth Gathering has issued an update regarding vaccinations for Covid-19 and attendance at the Gathering. Vaccinations, or a negative test within 72 hours of the beginning of the Gathering are going to be required for those attending the Gathering. You can read more about this HERE.
Funeral for Jim Auen
Maureen conducted the funeral for Jim Auen on Wednesday afternoon at 4pm. It was well attended. Jim and Sarah's three children all spoke, and Tom provided special music with a solo rendition of Borning Cry. Keep Sarah and all of Jim's family in your prayers.
Thankoffering Set for this Weekend
The annual Thankoffering Sunday will happen this weekend, with Grace women participating in portions of the service. The sanctuary was made ready by draping completed quilts over the pews, providing a colorful mosaic of the women's handiwork over the past year. Monday will be "Packing day," when Grace women will pack the quilts and other projects (health kits, maternity kits, school kits) into boxes ready for shipment by Lutheran World Relief.
Beds for Kids, a God's Work Our Hands Project
"God's Work Our Hands" is an annual day of service that many congregations in the ELCA particiapte in. This year, my 2013 interim, St. Peter Blackberry and St. Luke's Curtice, a two-point parish in the North Central Conference up North and west of Oak Harbor, did a very impressive project with a "Let's Build Beds" day of building beds for kids in the parking at St. Peter. You can see and read more on the St. Peter/St. Luke's project HERE.
Lift Board
The LIFT Board will meet Sunday at 12:30 at St. John's. I attended the Executive Team meeting on Sunday, and Maureen will represent Grace at the board meeting, as I will be out of town (see below). At the Exec meeting, Pastor Paul announced that Trinity has voted to begin the process that will eventually close the congregation. This process takes several months to complete, so there is nothing specific that needs to happen now, but does signal some eventual changes for LIFT.
Trip to Minnesota
I will be departing at 5pm today (Friday) for a trip to my hometown of Hendricks, Minnesota, to attend the 50th anniversary dinner of my high school class. I plan to travel to the Madison area tonight, and finish the trip tomorrow, and will return Sunday, completing the trip in the post midnight hours of Monday morning. I've been told that half my class will be attending, and two teachers from our school years. There were 24 in my graduating class. The school buildings still stand, you can see them HERE.
Latest Osterholm Podcast
Dr. Michael Osterholm, founder and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, continues to deliver solid scientific analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic in his weekly podcasts. In this episode, posted on September 16 and entitled "A Whole New Ball Game, Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the various mitigation strategies that are being used across the world to fight the Delta variant, President Biden's new vaccine mandate, outbreaks in children and schools, and the potential for a third or "booster" dose. You can listen to or download this episode HERE.
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