The last congregational huddle was March 2020, a week before COVID arrived in Minnesota and forced us to close our doors for 15 months. This time, the dinner will be held outside (look for the big tent) to follow CDC guidelines, and will include keynote speaker Pastor Blair Anderson. (Yep, the same Pastor Blair who facilitated our first Strategic Plan.) And, like the past Huddles, there will be entertainment. (Cheers for the choir singing again!)These teams will meet every two to four weeks to learn from various speakers and brainstorm ideas for the future. They will also meet monthly with the pastors to update them. Their final recommendations will be presented to the congregation in April/May 2022.
Remfert enjoys seeing new sides of people. “I’m always amazed to see the hidden skill sets that people have. We just have to let them use them. I hear people and think, ‘I didn’t know you knew how to do that!’ That’s how we make progress.”
Strat Plan 2.0 a close cousin to 1.0
CYF Team Lead Jay Schoenebeck feels the Strategic Plan 2.0 is strongly connected to the first. “I don’t consider them separate. A lot of those stakeholders who were involved in the 1.0 Plan came up with successful initiatives we are currently using,” he says. “We have to look at the good things that came from this Digital Reformation. All the changes that came like remote learning, Zooming for meetings. Outside factors influence how we do things. This is a natural time to look at ministries and make sure they align.”
Facilities Team Lead Jackie Lee feels it will be crucial to work with the other teams. “It’s not only the building [that is our focus] but I think that it’ll be important for us to listen to the other Strategic 2.0 teams, such as the Worship and CYF teams. They may have ideas that will require us to circle back on our thoughts.”
Lee is interested in determining how the Facilities Team can support the mission of the church. “I’m most excited how we as a facilities team can go back to the Vision, Mission and Values statement that was completed for the Vision 2020 and see exactly how facilities lie in helping live out that vision. Because if you read the Vision, Mission and Values statement there is no direct mention of facilities, but it is intertwined in all of them.”
“Being a welcoming church to ALL, no matter what, is very important to me,” says Welcome Team Lead Jamie Sticha. Her process: “We will meet to ground ourselves in the Mission / Vision / Values, honor the Strategic Plan 1.0, interview people who represent what it means to be welcoming and come up with a few recommendations for the church to consider.”
Chair Pat Remfert is excited about this process. “This is fun work! This is not figuring out how to close the church! This is figuring out how to do the Vision 2020. If we skip a generation, we’re done. It’s up to us to make sure we have the energy to ‘share God’s love to all people from one generation to the next.’”
Here are a few questions we’ve been getting:
How are we funding this?
In July, we announced we received the reKindle Congregational Development Program grant of $15,000 from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Will I be asked to volunteer?
Only if you want to. “We really try to work hard at being open, transparent. We’re trying to engage as many people in the congregation as we could to understand their skill sets. Get their ideas.” says Remfert. But volunteering will be voluntary, not “voluntold.”
Why should I come to the Huddle?
“Information helps us make informed decisions,” says Remfert. And Donna, Hospitality Coordinator, will be cooking.
