Rockville First United Methodist Church

CONSULTATION REPORT
August 28, 2014
INTRODUCTION:We, the Consultation Team, would like to thank Pastor Dave Marty, the staff, the lay leadership and the congregation of Rockville First United Methodist Church for the invitation to consult with this body of Christ.

The following observations and Ministry Action Plan are the result of this team studying the following information: 1) Rockville First UMC’s self-study document provided by its leaders; 2) Fruitful Congregation Journey (FCJ) on-line survey; 3) interview with pastor; 4) interviews with staff and ministry team leaders; 5) a focus group with participants from the congregation; 6) a meeting with the Administrative Council; 7) a MissionInsite demographic report of the area’s population; 8) Faith Perceptions Mystery Guest Report; 9) and input from Wednesday’s leadership workshop.

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

STRENGTHS

1. FRIENDLY AND COMPASSIONATE CONGREGATION

Both regular attenders and newcomers identified Rockville First UMC as a friendly and compassionate congregation. This was overwhelmingly affirmed in the on-line survey, the self-study done by the leadership of the church, interviews with leaders, focus groups and the mystery guest report. Regular attenders described their church as a nurturing, loving and caring family. The friendliness of the congregation was affirmed by a mystery guest who stated, “The overall hospitality of the church was good. There was a great atmosphere. I felt very welcomed and part of the group. Many people greeted me, introduced themselves and shook my hand. It made me expect a good service. I am generally uncomfortable around large groups of strangers, but here I didn't feel that way.”

2. COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The consultation team was impressed with the church’s outreach to the community. We celebrate with you the outreach through (1) the Buddy Bags that provides food for 100 children weekly, (2) the Fellowship Diner that serves 70-100 people monthly (3) the Kids for Christ program that reaches 30 children weekly and (4) the support group for persons with depression. The church is currently exploring other outreach ministries to the community. In addition to church ministries, the individual members of this church serve in a variety of positions with community service organizations.

3. PASTORALLEADERSHIP OF THE CHURCH

One church member described Pastor Dave Marty as, “a breath of fresh air.” He has brought renewed hope to the congregation that had been in a downward spiral. His excellent preaching was mentioned repeatedly in the on-line survey and the mystery guest worshiper report as one of the top strengths of the congregation. He has reenergized the laity who share his passion to embrace the vision God has for the church. Pastor Dave was also affirmed for being, “creative, artistic, personable, capable, smart, funny and talented.” In addition, Dave’s wife Mary is deeply appreciated for her many heart-felt contributions to the ministries of this church.

CONCERNS

1. LACK OF A CLEAR, SHARED VISION FOR THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Some persons know the mission of the church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ of the transformation of the world.” However, no one could state the vision of the church that indicates how specifically God has called this church to make new disciples and transform the world.

There are many programs and activities, some focused inward and some focused outward, but with no clear, shared vision, the programming and activities of the church are not well- coordinated and aligned with the mission of making new disciples.

2. ABSENCE OF AN INTENTIONAL FAITH DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The first step in the intentional faith development process is hospitality. While the congregation does a good job of greeting first-time guests, the church does not have a defined system to assist guests to become disciples of Jesus and/or members of Christ’s church.

Additionally, the church does not have a strategy for helping all persons in the life of the congregation to continue to grow spiritually in their relationship with Jesus. There is no process to enable persons-new or long-time members-to discern where they are on their spiritual journey and what step(s) they could take to move them forward in their spiritual journey.

3. FEW YOUNG FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN AND AGING CONGREGATION

In the church’s written work, interviews with leaders, two focus groups, and the Wednesday evening workshop, the number one concern was the lack of children, youth, and young families in the life of the church. The corollary to this is the concern about the church being an aging congregation. The Consultation Team concurs with these self-identified concerns and lifts them up as major issues for the church to address. While many persons talked about the lack of children, youth and young families, no one could articulate a deliberate plan to reverse the decline of children, youth and young families.

MINISTRY ACTION PLAN

1. DISCERN A CLEAR, SHARED 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 affirm its adoption of 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 of prayer and forgiveness to become focused and unified around Christ’s mission and vision for the church. This will help the congregation to be more spiritually prepared for the vision the Lord has for the future of this congregation. The worship service will be led by the FCJ Prayer Coordinator or someone she designates and will be conducted by October 31, 2014.

The coach will conduct two coordinated workshops on Core Values and Vision for the congregation by November 26, 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 three to five persons who will lead the process to define the values and discern the vision. The values and vision will be presented to the Administrative Council for discussion and adoption by February 28, 2015 and then presented to the congregation.

Upon adopting the new core values and 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 faithful to the mission and vision will be dissolved; 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 review must be completed by August 31, 2015. All future ministries must demonstrate how they will be aligned to the mission and vision and have a plan for fruitful ministry.

2. DEVELOP AN INTENTI0NAL FAITH DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will put together a team of five people on or before November 30, 2014 to create a plan of spiritual development for those within the congregation as well as those served by the congregation. Just as every person within the church needs to grow in their commitment to Jesus Christ, the church must find ways to invite those whom they serve to grow spiritually. The purpose will be to help each person discover where they are on their spiritual journey and assist them in moving forward to a deeper spirituality in their lives. In order to accomplish this:

  • the coach will lead a Hospitality Workshop by January 31, 2015 to help the team develop an intentional plan to connect and follow through with new people.
  • the team will develop a class for newcomers and/or new believers that helps them to understand the basics of the faith, determine if they want to be baptized and/or join the church and to help them see their need for ongoing spiritual development.
  • the team will develop a strategy for engaging mature believers in mentoring relationships with newcomers and those who are younger in the faith, so that every person is continually engaged in spiritual development.

The intentional faith development process will be adopted by the Administrative Council and implemented in the life of Rockville First UMC by September 30, 2015.

3. STRENGTHENING MINISTRY WITH CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS

The Pastor, in consultation with the coach, will appoint a team by November 30, 2014 to evaluate and assess the ministries with children and parents. The team will include leaders, workers and parent representatives in this ministry area. This team will use as a consultant, Jen Hudson, who has demonstrated effectiveness in working with children and their parents.

The team will develop a plan for this ministry that will include the following components:

1) recognize and affirm areas of strength to build upon

2) visit and study other churches similar to their size with cutting edge, growing and

effective ministry with children and their parents

3) study the MissionInsite demographics related to children and young families

4) develop a strategy to reach children and young families in the Rockville

community

5) identify and recruit a team of volunteers to lead this ministry

The team will develop the strategy for this ministry by May 31, 2015, which will provide time to organize for implementation by August 1, 2015. Once this has been accomplished, a new team focused on youth will follow the same five-point plan to develop a viable ministry with youth.

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.

Jack Hartman, Lead Consultant

Kirk Freeman, Consultant

Sheila Wilimitis, Consultant

Town Hall Meeting Dates (at the church):

September 9, Tuesday, 6:00 pm

September 10, Wednesday, 1:00 pm

September 14, Sunday, 11:30 am

Church Conference Date (at the church):

Sunday, September 28, 11:30 am

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