REMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

CONSULTATION REPORT

January 26, 2014

INTRODUCTION

We, the Consultation Team, would like to thank Pastor Mary vanWijk, the staff, the lay leadership and the congregation of Remington United Methodist Church 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: 1) Remington UMC’s self-study document provided by its leaders; 2) FCJ on-line survey; 3) interviews with pastor, 4) interviews with staff and ministry team leaders; 5) a focus group with participants from the congregation; 6) a meeting with the Church Council; 7) a MissionInsite demographic report of the area’s population; 8) Faith Perceptions Mystery Guest Report; 9) and input from Saturday’s leadership workshop.

Our prayer is that God will use this assessment experience and consultation report to help Remington UMC more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the community and the world.

STRENGTHS

Remington United Methodist Church’s greatest strengths are as follows:

1. A FRIENDLY CONGREGATION THAT EXCELS IN MEMEBERSHIP CARE

When the question was asked, “What is the best thing about this church?” The overwhelming answer was “the people.” This was expressed by long-term members of the church as well as newer participants in the life of the church. This was also affirmed in the church’s on-line survey in which ”friendliness” and “membership care” were identified as strengths of the church. One person summed up with the words that “The church has lots of good loving people.”

2. PREACHING OF PASTOR MARY

We have heard from many persons who appreciate the preaching of Pastor Mary and consider her to be an effective communicator of the gospel. Three-fourths of the people who filled out the on-line survey lifted up preaching as one of the major strengths of the congregation.

3. WEEK-DAY MINISTRY WITH CHILDREN

The week-day Carpenter’s Kids program appears to be an excellent program for the community.

The church is also the sponsoring unit for the scouting program that has become a gateway to church attendance for some members of the congregation. These have helped the church to reach out beyond its own constituency and have given the church an intentional focus of ministry with and for children.

4. FACILITIES

The people of Remington UMC have invested major resources in keeping their church building attractive and functional. From the basement remodeling to moving and reconfiguring the church office to remodeling the sanctuary, spaces for worshipping, gathering, meeting, and working are inviting and demonstrate good stewardship.

5. DESIRE TO GROW

The congregation and leaders have a strong desire to grow especially with new people and younger generations. Discussions about discerning community needs, kinds of ministries to meet those needs, as well as where best to deliver new ministries are beginning. Acquisitions of adjacent land for possible future expansion of parking and ministry spaces demonstrate the church’s desire to reach out and develop relationships with the unchurched of Remington.

CONCERNS

Remington UMC’s greatest areas of concern are as follows:

1. UNDERDEVELOPED VISION TO FULFILL THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

The church has identified “Working together to encourage and transform our community as we revive Christ’s Church” as its mission statement. However, the Consultation Team had difficulty finding evidence of how the statement is being used to focus and channel its ministry.Concern, confusion, and conflict, prevail here because the church lacks a compelling shared vision. The team heard comments like “We want to know where we are going and that we are going there together.” A shared unifying vision will be that guidance.

2. INCOMPLETE COMMUNICATION

There is a sense among many persons that there is incomplete communication within and beyond the church. A lack of transparency leads to a sense of distrust. The church also needs to learn and practice healthy ways to communicate in times of conflict. While we heard the desire is to “enjoy the journey together”, the current communication practices have worked to set a tone of unhappiness and distraction. Many of the mystery guest worshippers were confused by the lack of a website, and it was also stated: “I couldn’t figure out how they communicated with each other or with new people.”

3, DEVELOPMENT OF ACCOUNTABLELEADERSHIP

The church’s structure is cumbersome and has an overlap between the Leadership Team and the Administrative Council. Many of the same people serve on both groups. This has developed some distrust about the decision making process. The church needs a clear process to hold staff, paid and unpaid, accountable for moving the church forward based on a shared vision. Without accountability there will always be questions about where the church is headed and why it is headed in that direction.

4. INADEQUATE DISCIPLESHIP PATHWAY

Though many persons are involved in individual and informal discipleship activities, the consultation team found that no one could articulate an integrated and comprehensive discipleship pathway at Remington UMC. As a result it is not clear how a person:

  • connects to Jesus Christ and His church,
  • increases his/her knowledge of the faith,
  • interacts with other believers for support and accountability,
  • engages in active service to others for the purpose of sharing the gospel, and
  • grows to become a spiritual leader in the congregation.

5. INSUFFICIENT SPACE FOR FUTURE GROWTH

While the church has done an excellent job of updating its existing facilities, the uses of those spaces are often at a maximum. During interviews the team heard that there is now insufficient classroom space and the mystery guest worshippers indicated a lack of adequate parking. It will be especially difficult to have a growing, effective children and youth ministry if constrained to only the current facilities. While the church has had the foresight to purchase surrounding properties, there is not currently a plan for how those properties work to further the mission and vision of Remington UMC.

PRESCRIPTIONS

The Consultation Team is confident that the leadership of Remington UMC is capable and equipped to implement these prescriptions. We are also confident that with Christ’s help, the church will be able to discern the next steps and strategies in order to be faithful and fruitful in the future.

Remington UMC’s prescriptions are as follows:

1. DEVELOP CLEAR, SHARED VALUES AND VISION FOR THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

The congregation understands that the day this consultation report is accepted (should that be the case) this congregation will adopt the United Methodist Church’s mission: “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

The congregation will have a worship service focused on prayer and forgiveness to become focused and unified in mission, and begin to seek unity in the spirit of Jesus Christ. This will help the congregation to be more spiritually prepared for the Lord’s vision for the future. The Prayer Coordinator for FCJ or someone she designates will lead this service by April 30, 2014.

The coach will conduct two coordinated workshops on Core Values and Vision for the congregation by May 30, 2014. The purpose of these workshops is to help the congregation define the values and discern the vision that will guide future decisions and ministries of the church.

Following the Core Values and Visioning workshops, the pastor, in consultation with the coach, will establish a leadership team of five to seven persons who will lead the process to define the values and discern the vision. This vision will be presented to the Administrative Council for discussion and adoption by August 31, 2014 and then presented to the congregation.

Upon adopting the new vision, ministry leaders will demonstrate how each ministry will accomplish the mission and vision. To that end, the leaders will conduct a ministry review to evaluate all ministries for their faithfulness and fruitfulness to the mission and vision. Any ministries that are not faithfulto the mission and vision will be discontinued; any ministry that is faithful but still not fruitful will be modified and re-evaluated for fruitfulness. All continuing ministries will set goals and objectives in alignment with the mission and vision. This ministry review must be completed by September 30, 2015. All new future ministries must demonstrate how they will be aligned to the mission and vision and have a plan for fruitful ministry.

2. ENHANCED COMMUNICATION

The pastor in consultation with the coach, will establish a Communication Evaluation Task Force by May 1, 2014 that will:

  • Conduct the Creating a Culture of Teamwork workshop led by the coach to enable church members and church leaders to sharpen their team skills, to identify and resolve conflict, and to create effective team communication by June 1, 2014
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of current communication within the congregation, as well as the community. It will research and explore healthy communication practices of other churches, and present a plan for recommended changes to the Administrative Council. It will pay particular attention to: 1-e-mail, 2-websites, 3-bulletins/newsletters, 4-pamphlets describing church ministries and outreach, 5-posters and digital information boards, 6-newcomer materials, 7-signage, 8- any unused technologies such as webpage, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and external guest Wi-Fi.
  • The Communication Evaluation Task Force will report their recommendations to Administrative Council on or before November 30, 2014.

3. ADOPT AN ACCOUNTABILITY STRUCTURE AND DEVELOP LEADERS

The coach will lead an Accountability Leadership Workshop for the leaders of the church by September 30, 2014. Following the workshop, a team made up of the pastor, the chair of Trustees, Finance, Administrative Council, Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) and the Lay Leader will evaluate the administrative structure of Remington UMC and will adopt a new structure to enable the church to more effectively and efficiently accomplish its mission and vision. A new structure will be adopted at a called church or charge conference no later than November 30, 2014.

Clear, measurable goals and outcome-based job descriptions will be set for all staff and team leaders by December 15, 2014. The goals must be directly related to the fulfillment of the mission and vision. Staff and ministry team leaders will receive annual evaluations based on accomplishment of their goals. The implementation of the model will be coordinated with the pastor, SPRC and the coach.

The team will then develop a system to help people new to the congregation become connected to the church and mobilized for ministry. The new system will also encourage persons already within the congregation to use their spiritual gifts and talents and to mentor others in making new disciples and developing the next generation of leaders. This plan will be presented to the Administrative Council for adoption by June 1, 2015.

4. DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS

The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will establish a team to develop a Discipleship Pathway. The coach will lead a Discipleship Pathway workshop for this team by April 1, 2015.

A clear discipleship path will be developed for moving people from where they are on their spiritual journey to becoming a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ. The discipleship path will be designed for everyone, whether a non-believer or one who is maturing in their faith. This discipleship path will represent a lifelong process. The Team will discern a faith development plan within a Wesleyan model that encourages all persons:

  • to connect and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ;
  • to be transformed by studying the Bible and the principles of the Christian faith;
  • to connect with other believers for support and accountability; and
  • to be in service to others for the purpose of the mission.

The Discipleship Pathway design will be completed by September 30. 2015.

5. FACILITIES PLAN TO ACCOMMODATE FUTURE GROWTH:

Upon adoption of the vision, the pastor, in conjunction with the coach, will appoint a team of five to seven people by September 30, 2014 to review the current facilities and assets in order to develop a comprehensive facility plan for the future based on the vision. This review will include:

  • the needs of present age-graded ministries;
  • the future usage of the building in light of emerging needs;
  • the amount of parking needed to facilitate future growth;
  • the interior and exterior signage;
  • the ministry space needed for potential new worship services and/or off campus ministries;
  • the future maintenance needs.

This team will report back to the Administrative Council, with recommendations for the implementation of a comprehensive facility plan by May 1, 2015.

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 in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. May God give you courage and strength as you move forward.

Steve Clouse, Lead Consultant; Mark Eutsler; Jack Hartman; Jennifer Hudson

Town Hall Meeting Dates (at the church):

1. February 23, 2014 following worship

2. March 9, 2014 following worship

3. March 13, 2014 7:00 p.m.

Church Conference Date (at the church):

March 16, 2014 (time to be determined)