PETERSBURG FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
CONSULTATION REPORT
February 17, 2013
Introduction
We, the Fruitful Congregation Journey (FCJ) consultation team, would like to thank Rev. Mel Camp, staff, lay leadership and congregation of Petersburg First United Methodist Church (FUMC) for the invitation to consult with this body of Christ. The following observations and prescriptions are the result of this team studying the following information: a) Petersburg’s self-study document provided by its leaders, b) completion of the FCJ on-line survey by your members, c) the report from the Mystery Guest Worshippers provided by Faith Perceptions, d) Interviews with the pastor, staff and committee leaders, e) a focus group with members of the congregation, f) a meeting with the Ad. Council, g) a MissionInsite demographic report of the area’s population, and h) input from Saturday’s leadership workshop.
Our prayer is that God will use this assessment experience and consultation report in order to help Petersburg FUMC to more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the community and the world.
Strengths
Petersburg FUMC’s greatest strengths are as follows:
1. FACILITIES AND LOCATION
Although the tornado of 1990 was devastating to Petersburg FUMC at the time, the congregation recognizes that the blessing was a newer and more functional space for the future. The church is highly visible and accessible for a large variety of ministry opportunities. Additionally, Petersburg FUMC is known to be generous with its space and frequently allows outside groups to use its facilities. This clearly demonstrates a spirit of hospitality to the community.
2. WELCOMING AND INCLUSIVE
Petersburg FUMC represents a community of believers who consider themselves “family” and cares for each other as a family should. Whenever a need arises, other members step up and provide generous care. They share a welcoming and friendly attitude to one another but also to those who enter their building as guests. This was affirmed multiple times by mystery worshippers. In a smaller community where many could experience a judgmental attitude by the church, Petersburg FUMC does its best to represent Christ to others with an inclusive heart.
3. NOT ENCUMBERED BY DEBT
While many churches face cutting ministry because of the burden of indebtedness to things such as a mortgage, Petersburg FUMC has demonstrated financial responsibility by positioning itself so that it is debt free. This enables the church to begin a focus towards stewardship and discipleship that will allow for future possibilities especially as they pertain to growth.
4. SHARES THE LOVE OF CHRIST THROUGH MISSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Citizens of Pike County are fortunate to receive assistance from members of Petersburg FUMC in order to assist with their needs. Numerous people serve others while working at Somebody’s Place while many others contribute by way of support during Fifth Sunday Blessings. Pastor Mel and his wife, Lea Ann, have served as wonderful models of hands-on mission while leading yearly mission trips. The work and support of these teams is a source of pride within the congregation. Additional provisions to Kentucky Mountain Mission, Love Packages, Operation Shoebox, individuals in need, and others are given in Christian love.
5. MULTI-GENERATIONAL CONGREGATION
Petersburg FUMC is blessed as a congregation because it has clearly demonstrated a desire to attract and retain persons of all generations. Multiple opportunities exist for a person of any age to connect and grow in their faith through this church. A congregation that maintains a balance of ages is one that can create possibilities for a vital future.
Concerns
Petersburg FUMC’s greatest areas of concern are as follows:
1.LACK OF CLEAR, SHARED VISION
The consultation team was unable to discover a clear vision for the ministry of the church. While some mentioned “open minds, open hearts, open doors,” none of those interviewed were able to express that it is the driving force of the church’s ministries. Complacency and a lack of a clear, shared vision is robbing the congregation of a sense of direction and is prohibiting adequate evaluation, goal-setting, long-range planning and sharing Jesus with the community.
2.LACK OF A DISCIPLESHIP PATH
Petersburg FUMC does not have a straight-forward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. While there are Sunday morning small group ministries (Sunday school) for all ages, there need to be additional opportunities that encourage them to strengthen relationships with Christ and others. No clear path exists to help newcomers or regular attendees in becoming disciples who reproduce new disciples.
3.LACK OF STEWARDSHIP AS A SPIRITUAL DISIPCLINE PRACTICE
While it is commendable that the congregation steps up and meets needs when announced, it lacks a fuller stewardship practice. The team heard that there is no recent memory of a stewardship program being offered at Petersburg FUMC that includes pledging and tithing. This limits the church’s ability to develop an annual budget, which would enable the congregation to plan for future growth and opportunities to fulfill the mission.
4.MISSING CONNECTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
While present ministries, worship style, Sunday School, etc., of Petersburg FUMC meet the relational, emotional, and spiritual needs of many of its members, the church is not as strong in connecting with its ministry guests (worship, VBS, Learn & Grow, etc.). There are multiple opportunities to connect with others outside of the congregation that should be explored, developed, and strengthened, including the church’s website and its connecting materials.
5.NO CLEAR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
There is no intentional system to develop the skills of current and future staff and lay leaders. The church relies on a limited subset of leaders who revolve from one area of responsibility to the next. Without any structured effort to identify and develop new leaders the church will not be positioned for future growth. The lack of a clear, shared vision limits the leadership’s ability to function strategically, including planning, goal setting, and accountability.
Prescriptions
In order to address the above concerns, Petersburg FUMC must implement the following prescriptions:
1.DEVELOP A CLEAR VISION
The congregation understands that the day this consultation report is accepted (should that be the case), this congregation will continue to affirm, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” as its mission statement.
The congregation will have a service of prayer and forgiveness, to embrace God’s mandate for making disciples. This will allow the membership to be fully prepared for the Lord’s vision for the future. This will be led by a facilitator provided by the Church Development Team, in consultation with the pastor, by June 15, 2013.
Also, the coach will conduct a visioning workshop for the congregation. The purpose of this workshop is to discern how God is calling the congregation both individually and collectively to reach the surrounding community. This workshop will occur on or before June 30, 2013. Following the visioning workshop, the pastor, in conjunction with the coach and the leadership of the church, will discern a vision, which will guide the ministries of the church. The vision will be adopted by the Ad. Council by August 31, 2013.
Upon adopting the new vision, every ministry in the congregation must demonstrate how it will accomplish the mission and vision. To that end, the leaders will conduct a mission and ministry audit of all existing ministries. Any ministries not able to set goals that focus it on mission-driven outcomes will be given a year to adapt in order to fit the mission and vision or be discontinued. This audit must be completed by July 31, 2014. All new future ministries must demonstrate how they will be aligned to the mission and vision.
2.DEVELOP AN INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP PATH
The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will schedule and present a Discipleship Pathway workshop by October 31, 2013. This workshop will allow church leadership to understand and create a process so that all ages and levels of spiritual maturity will have the opportunity to connect, move, and grow along a discipleship path.
The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will develop a task force to create a clear discipleship path for moving people from where they are on their spiritual journey to becoming a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ by April 30, 2014. This discipleship path will be a lifelong process designed for all ages that includes new believers and disciples maturing in faith. The discipleship path will align with the mission and vision and encourage all persons to:
- connect and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ,
- be transformed through passionate worship, the study of biblical truths, and the principles of the Christian faith,
- connect with other believers for prayer, support, and accountability,
- be involved in service to others for the purpose of the mission, and
- annual recommitment of church membership vows.
Any ministry program that is done in the name of Petersburg FUMC is an opportunity to connect someone or move someone onto the pathway. Therefore, a new team will be formed that will review, explore, and/or create:
- Curriculum and resources for Sunday school classes and small groups;
- Alternative times for classes and fellowship (other than Sundays);
- New small groups;
- Opportunities for continuous short-term (6-,8-,12-week) studies;
- Newcomer connection and follow-up;
- Attendance tracking and follow-up;
- Membership class;
- Exploration of spiritual gifts and passion of all members.
The results of this team’s study will be completed on or before April 15, 2014.
A new discipleship path in its entirety will be adopted and implemented in the life of Petersburg FUMC at all ministry levels (children, youth and adults) no later than August 15, 2014. The staff and leaders will commit to communicating discipleship growth as an expectation of all members and will continually evaluate if programming relates to the discipling process.
3.STEWARDSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
The pastor will contact and enlist the assistance of Kent Millard, the Indiana Conference Director of Generosity and Gratitude on or before August 31, 2013. The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will put a plan together for a program to help the church practice extravagant generosity. This plan will use the Consecration Model to help people embrace the joy and privilege of tithing as a means of helping to grow God’s kingdom. This plan will conclude with a Consecration Sunday experience led by Kent Millard or a person of his choosing, on or before June 30, 2014. By way of pledging, family units will indicate confidentially what they plan to give to God.
4.MAKING CONNECTIONS
The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will form a Connect Team by June 15, 2013. This team of 3-5 people (preferably with marketing and/or communications experience) will identify a target audience, and develop an outward-focused strategy for the church to reach that audience. This strategy will be based on:
1. the church’s vision (resulting from prescription one above),
- primary research (i.e. face-to-face interviews with those in the target audience, etc.), and
3. secondary research (the MissionInsite demographic report).
Subsequently this team will:
1.Conduct an evaluation of all existing communication methods (website, social media, high quality collateral marketing material, etc.) as well as discover new, effective ways to communicate to the target audience. This evaluation will be completed by October 15, 2013.
2.Conduct a connections evaluation of all existing systems and processes
of greeting and following up when connecting with guests and newcomers.
This evaluation will be completed by October 15, 2013.
3.Make recommendations to the Ad. Council regarding the types of ministries necessary to connect to, reach, follow-up with, and minister to the target audience.
4.The Ad. Council will give the authority and responsibility to the pastor, staff, or lay leadership to implement these ministries. Implementation will occur by December 1, 2013.
5.LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will coordinate a leadership development system by November 30, 2013, that includes:
- Training for all Ad. Council positions regarding responsibilities and expectations for their ministry areas;
- Conducting the Accountability Leadership Workshop that will train leaders how to marry responsibility, authority, and accountability, which they will implement in their leadership roles;
- Establishing written guidelines and procedures for Safe Sanctuaries, finances, building usage, and others as deemed necessary; and
- Planning an annual leadership retreat to establish strategies in order to achieve fruitful goals in each ministry area that align to the vision.
Conclusion
We, the consultation team, want to thank you for the opportunity to serve your congregation through this Fruitful Congregation Journey assessment process. Our prayers and hope for your congregation is that God will use this process to help your church become more effective and fruitful. May God give you courage and strength as you move forward.
Ed Fenstermacher, Lead Consultant
Ann Handschu, Coach
Mark Eutsler, Consultant
Tony Johnson, Consultant
Paula Young Mayberry, Consultant
Town Hall Meeting Dates
Sunday, March 7, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 9, 2013, 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, March 18, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
Church Conference Date:
Sunday, April 14, 2013, following worship