Wakarusa United Methodist Church

CONSULTATION REPORT

October 20, 2013

Introduction

We, the Fruitful Congregation Journey (FCJ) consultation team, would like to thank Rev. Ed Geleske, staff, lay leadership and congregation of Wakarusa United Methodist Church for the invitation to consult with this Body of Christ. The observations and prescriptions are the result of this team studying the following information: a) Wakarusa UMC's self-study document provided by its leaders, b) Wakarusa UMC's members completing the FCJ survey, c) The report from the Mystery Guest Worshippers provided by Faith Perceptions, d) Interviewswith the pastor, staff and ministry team leaders, e) a focus group with members of the congregation, f) a meeting with the Administrative 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 to help Wakarusa UMC to more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the community and the world.

Strengths

CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER

The members of Wakarusa UMC enjoy and depend on the care and support of the loving people of the congregation. One leader said the best thing about Wakarusa UMC was the "loving heart of the congregation." Another reported, "I lost a child at a young age, and my husband died just a few years ago, and through it all I always found love and support here." And, we heard many other heartfelt stories like this. It is obvious that the people hereenjoy the life-changing impact of God's love incarnate in the members' lives,and findprofound support and encouragement in times of need, especially expressed in the small group communities of the church.

FRIENDLINESS TO NEWCOMERS

Mystery guests were nearly unanimous in appreciation for the welcoming response of the congregation on Sunday morning at Wakarusa UMC. This organic expression of hospitalityto newcomers appears to bewarm, friendly, and genuine. Mystery guestsgave the church high marksfor a friendly atmosphere and heartfelt hospitality, especially following the worship services. In fact, 9 out of 12 mystery guests said if they were looking for a church they would probably return based on their welcoming experiences on Sunday mornings.

LEADERSHIP CORE READY TO LIVE OUT A GOD-SIZED VISION

It is clear that Wakarusa UMC not only has a strong group of veteran leaders, but the congregation has a younger leadership core that is ready to live out a God-sized vision. As the FCJ team visited with the leadership of the church, we discovered younger leaders who have a profound faith, a deep love for the church, and a hunger to see the church be more vital, effective, and outwardly focused. They are ready for a new vision and they are eager to be trusted to lead.

FINANCIAL STRENGTH

In the midst of uncertain and difficult economic times, the consultation team was pleasantly surprised to learn that Wakarusa UMC is enjoying strong financial support of its ministry. Certainly, this support is something to be highly valued as it allows the pastor, members, and staff to focus on things that matter: developing ministries and making a difference in people's lives instead of fundraising. The congregation is to be commended for faithfulness in stewardship, and the leadership, as well, for the responsible and faithful management of those financial gifts and resources.

MISSION WORK

Wakarusa UMC has a consistent history of concern, support, and giving to mission projects. This is illustrated by several mission initiatives in and beyond the local community. The congregation’s passion is also evident through the significant funds that are raised annually to support mission work through the "Sausage Sandwich" ministry. The consultation team also celebrates other expressions of mission, including: work teams to Redbird Mission, support of the area Habitat for Humanity, local school support, and the "Open Table," an exciting mission to restore and minister to people in poverty.

Concerns

LACK OF A UNIFYING VISION

Wakarusa UMC is a congregation that cares deeply about God and the community, and yet it appears to be a collection of groups where each has its own interests and priorities in the midst ofunderlying and unresolved conflict that hinders the mission . Like an orchestra of trained musicians where each section is playing different music, there is no widespread agreement or support about what God is asking the church to do now. This leads to confusion, frustration, mistrust and ineffective use of resources. Several leaders expressed a need for a clearer picture of where the church is headed.Therefore, we see a need for a commitment to a compelling vision that helps each group, committee, and leader find a place, understand roles, and move forward in unity.

NEED FOR AN IMPROVED SUNDAY MORNING EXPERIENCE

Leaders and members spoke about the importance of theSunday morning experience at Wakarusa UMC. However, they also shared concerns about timing, design, quality, and leadership of worship, as well as childcare and Sunday school ministries that need strengthening. Several persons commented about the lack of participation in Sunday school and small groups. There is considerable confusion around the purposeofoffering two worship services with different styles, and significant disconnect between “early service people” and “late service people.” There is a sense of grief that multiple services mean “we don’t know everyone or see the young people.” Several persons said, “The schedule doesn’t work.”

INADEQUTE AND POORLY IDENTIFIED DISCIPLESHIP PLAN

People at Wakarusa UMC are clearly passionate about their faith in Christ, love for the church, and commitment to the community. However, we did not discover a clear plan for the intentional development of disciples of Jesus Christ. What experiences and classes at Wakarusa UMC will help people grow and mature as followers of Jesus Christ? We heard members repeatedly speak of the need for spiritual nurture and more intentional ministries for the development of disciples.

NEED FOR AN INTENTIONAL OUTREACH TO CHILDREN AND YOUTH

The current ministries with children and youth seem to be connecting with a very small and diminishing number of participants. Many leaders we met with expressed concern about improving the quality and impact of these ministries and noted that currently there are nomid-week or summer opportunities for these age-groups. Mystery Guests reported confusion about the location of the Sunday morning opportunities for children and youth, and concerns about the location of the nursery and the lack of a check-in process. One said: "Due to the nursery location, I would not be comfortable with my child participating in the events offered." Without intentional, effective, safe, and inspiring ministries for children and youth, Wakarusa UMC will struggle to reach families with children.

LACK OF INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN

When asked, "How are leaders developed and decisions made at Wakarusa UMC?" the consultation team discovered that there is no intentional plan to develop and deploy persons for ministry. One member said, "I have said 'yes' to a leadership role, but I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not sure what is expected. We need some training and guidance." Several other members observed, "We spend too much time in committee meetings and not enough time in ministries." Without an intentionalsystem to identify, recruit, train, mentor and launch new leaders, the mission will suffer.

Prescriptions

In order to address the above concerns, Wakarusa UMC must implement the following prescriptions:

MISSION AND VISION

The consultation team applauds this congregation for taking the first step by adopting the mission statement of The United Methodist Church which is, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” The United Methodist Church and the Fruitful Congregation Journey is grounded in this mission.

The congregation will have a service of prayer and forgivenessto become focused and unified in mission, and begin to seek unity in the spirit of Jesus Christ. This will begin a healing process and help the membership to be more spiritually prepared for the Lord’s vision for the future. This will be led by Catherine Turcotte or someone she provides, in consultation with Pastor Ed by January 29, 2014.

The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will plan a conflict management process with an outside consultant for church leadership. This process will focus on getting at the heart of lingering conflict so that the congregation will let go of the past, learn to have productive conflict, and be prepared to embrace a new and exciting future. This process will be concluded by June 30, 2014.

The coach will conduct a Values Workshop for the congregation by March 15, 2014. The purpose of this workshop is to help the congregation define the values that will guide future decisions and ministries.

Also, the coach will conduct a Visioning workshop for the congregation. The purpose of this workshop is to begin to dream of how God might work through the congregation, both individually and collectively, to reach the surrounding community. This workshop will occur by May 30, 2014. Following the Visioning workshop, the pastor, in consultation with the coach and the leadership of the church, will create a vision which will guide the ministries of the church. This vision will be presented to the Administrative Council for discussion and adoption by July 30, 2014 The vision will be presented to the congregation by August 15, 2014.

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 audit of all existing ministries to evaluate ministries for their faithfulnessand fruitfulnessto the mission and vision. Any ministries not faithful and fruitful will be given up to one year to rectify and align. 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 audit must be completed by January 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.

DEVELOP A STRATEGY FOR THE SUNDAY MORNING EXPERIENCE

Wakarusa UMC needs to develop a Sunday morning schedule and a strategic plan to reach population groups, providing high quality worship in multiple styles, encouraging fellowship time and hospitality, and supporting Sunday school/small group/faith development time. To this end the pastor in consultation with the coach will establish a Sunday Morning Planning Team by September 15, 2014 to oversee the improvement of the Sunday experience.

This team will do the following:

  • Review the current Sunday schedule, worship experiences, fellowship opportunities, and Christian education groups, and make a report to the Administrative Council by September 15, 2014.
  • Identify and utilize resource persons, as needed, to review the current worship experience and outline keys to improvements that will:
  • Help the congregation live out its vision in making disciples of Jesus Christ and reaching identified population groups by examining the following areas:

a. SCHEDULEDevelop a schedule by January 1, 2015 that will enable Wakarusa UMC to live out its vision in providing inspiring worship that effectively speaks to people, welcomes new guests, and encourages small group/ Sunday school opportunities;

b. WORSHIP Engage the pastor and Theme Team in training experiences (either workshops or in work with a consultant) that further develops a proactive worship planning model, strengthens preaching and worship communication for consistency and connects all aspects of worship in an effective, consistent, and transforming way for all worship services by January 1, 2015.

c. HOSPITALITY Establish a Radical Hospitality Team of 3-5 persons to manage the development, recruitment, and deployment of a team of ministry partners who intentionally express hospitality and welcome newcomers on Sunday morning, as well as connecting those newcomers to next step ministries on theDiscipleship Path. This team will attend or host a Radical Hospitality Workshopby February 15, 2014 to develop new methodologies and plans for greeters, ushers, parking lot ministers, and a process for the registration of guests.This team will be generated out of the workshop.

DISCIPLESHIP PATHWAY

The pastor, in consultation with the coach, will develop a Discipleship Pathway Team of at least three people by June 15, 2015. The team will create a clear discipleship pathway to help people move toward becoming fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ. To that end, the pastor, in consultation with the coach, will provide a Discipleship Pathway workshop for the congregation by July 30, 2015to give direction to the Discipleship Pathway team.

The discipleship pathway will be a lifelong process designed for everyone, including new believers as well as disciples maturing in their faith. The discipleship pathway will align with the mission and vision and encourage all persons to:

  • connect and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ,
  • be transformed by studying the Bible and the Christian faith,
  • connect with other believers for prayer, support and accountability, and
  • be in service to others for the purpose of the mission to make disciples to transform the world.

This team will complete its work by September 1, 2015.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH MINISTRY

In order to develop inspiring, relevant ministries with children and youth, the pastor, coach and education chairperson will create a Ministry Team to work with Heather Olson-Bunnell () and Helene Foust (), Associate Director of Student Ministries - Indiana Conference, by May 1, 2014.

The team will develop a plan for this ministry that will include the following components: 1) Evaluate all the current programming and location of these programs to determine their effectiveness in reaching their target audience; 2) Explore the possibility of hiring a part-time Children’s Ministry Director; 3) Identify and recruit a volunteer or team of volunteers to lead the Youth Ministry; 4) Develop a strategy to expand the number of participants involved in current ministries; 5) Evaluate the existing Safe Sanctuaries Policy and its utilization; 6) Visit three congregations of equal or larger size to evaluate their effective ministries; 7) Address childcare needs of younger adults participating in the life of the church; and 8) Align all Children’s and Youth ministries to the discipleship pathwayby July 30, 2015.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Wakarusa UMC will develop a Leadership Development Team to create a comprehensive and intentional plan to develop and deploy leaders for the mission and vision of the church for all age-level ministries. This team will be appointed by the pastor in consultation with the coach by August 1, 2015. This plan will include the following three areas:

a. Leadership development and training which will include:

  • Regular training and leadership opportunities for lay ministry leaders;
  • Participating in the Accountability Leadership workshop led by the coach;
  • The practice of mentoring others through the use of apprentice leaders or co-chairs;
  • The rotating off of chairpersons and committee members; and
  • Spiritual gift, personality profile inventories, and strengths resources;

b. Alignment of all staff and leaders’ roles with the mission and vision according to prescription one above;

c. Leadership and staff practices:

  • The regular practice of spiritual disciplines—for example, prayer, retreats, tithing,

regular worship attendance, service, mission and demonstration of the “Fruit of the Spirit; "

  • The use of goal-setting and strategic planning, as well as accountability for the goals
  • Developing leadership covenants;
  • Implementation of regular staff meetings;
  • Documented policies and procedures on how decisions are made; and
  • Fruit-based job descriptions and regular evaluations of all paid and unpaid leadership positions.

This comprehensive plan will be completed by October 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 prayer and hope for your congregation is that God will bless this process to help your church become more effective and fruitful. May God give you courage and strength as you move forward on this journey.

Steve Clouse, Lead Consultant; Herb Buwalda, Consultant; Dick Rinearson, Coach; Heather-Olson-Bunnell, Consultant; Mark Fenstermacher, Consultant

Town Hall Meeting Dates:

Sunday, November 3, 2013, 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 21, 2013, 7:00 p.m.

Monday, December 2, 2013, 6:30 p.m.

Church Conference Date:

Sunday, December 8, 2013, 9:30 a.m.