Senior Minister Seach Committee
Transitional Activity Reports Are In!!! February 12, 2007
Part of the effort leading up to the creation of a Senior Search Committee and the eventually calling of a new Senior Minister has been to gather feedback from our Church members and friends. We held a series of small discussion Cottage meetings, gathered data through a "Long Range Planning Survey" and joined for an evening of recollection at the Congregational History Gathering Event.
Well, the results and feedback from all three sources are now available to us.
Background…
Cottage Meetings
A series of meetings in the homes of members were held in September and October. All the meeting participants discussed the same questions given out in advance:
If First Church were to ___________ I would run out and tell my best friend(s) "You've got to come and see what's going on at my church."
If First Church were to __________ I would leave the church.
Other than preaching good sermons, that two most important things I think we need in a Senior Minister are:_____________
Assuming the following is true: "When the pastor thrives, the congregation thrives and when the congregation thrives the pastor thrives" I could __________ to ensure that the pastor thrives.
Members of the Transition Team working with Paul Goodman were Jane Wilson, Alison McVeigh, Keith Myers, Tootie Brodlieb, Carole Rumpf and David Hein. They facilitated each meeting, recorded and helped to summarize what was shared.
Congregational History Gathering Event Members were invited to join together on a Monday night in December to help fill out things they remembered in the history of the congregation. All the information was placed on a timeline (which is still on display in Lund Hall.) A lively discussion was held about patterns of congregational behavior, possible cause/effect relationship in events, etc.
Long Range Planning Surveys In October, nearly 200 surveys were mailed to members of the church who had made a Faith Commitment in 2006. Nearly 110 were distributed to those who had attended one of the Cottage meetings as they left the meeting. Then, a random sampling of the remaining members of the First Congregational Church was conducted and an additional 75 surveys were distributed. Thus, a total of 375 surveys were distributed to our membership.
168 surveys were completed, returned, and used in the analysis; nearly 45% return rate. This response rate confirms that we have an active membership who is dedicated to the future of our Church.
These returned surveys were then sent to the Hartford Seminary's Institute for Religion Research where they were summarized. This summary has been completed and is now available to us.
What we have…
All the reports mentioned below are available for your review and printing (if you want a printed copy).
The Cottage Meeting Report and the Congregational History Gathering Report summarize those two events.
The results of the Long Range Planning Survey are very detailed containing much data. They are summarized in the informational guide and two accompanying reports (one that reports that data and the second that records comments allowed at the end of the survey about the church and the survey itself.). Please read all of these as they contain valuable information about how to understand the results, the data and the narratives written at the ends of each survey. These 3 reports are:
Interpreting Your Church's Inventory: This 8 page document is a series of notes that will help you understand the data, the summaries, and the comments that will appear in the two summary reports. You should look over these notes before you tackle the summary reports, just to get an idea of what you will "see" and how to review the information. If, as you are reviewing the reports, you have questions come back to this document.
Ridgefield Church Member Survey: This report, 25 pages in length, summarizes the responses to the many questions that were contained in the Member Survey. The survey results are grouped by various activities, functions, and purposes of our Church. For example groupings include "Size and Condition of Facilities" and "Functions of the Senior Minister". It is important to note that the Hartford Seminary simply gathered and summarized our responses; they did not interpret the responses or draw any conclusions. That is up to the Church to do.
Comments from Questionnaires: This report, 5 pages in length, is a listing of all the comments that respondents wrote on the Survey. The information is as the respondent wrote the comments about church life and/or the survey itself. Information that might identify the respondent has been edited by the reporting company.
What Next and How Can We Use this Information?
Folks have wondered what will be done with the reports. There is nothing secret about these reports. Compiling and condensing is not an attempt to hide or disguise information. It's solely for the purpose of eliminating redundant and/or obscure/irrelevant information and creating a more useful and understandable document.
The primary purpose for all the meetings and surveys is to gather information to help inform the Senior Pastor Search Committee. This information will help guide and direct this Team as they begin the search for a new Senior Minister. For example, the Congregation was asked to provide feedback about the tasks that could be carried out by a Senior Minister. The answer to the question "What is the least important task in which the Senior Minister should participate?" is answered in the responses.
Additionally, Boards and Committees will find this information useful as they determine future vision for their ministry. For example, how important are fellowship events and small groups? The answers are in the data.
The Summary Report from the Cottage Meetings, the two portions of the Long Range Planning Survey and the All the reports will be available to the congregation, primarily by accessing these reports from our web site. The Church Survey indicates, at least for the respondents, 80% use the web at home or at the office several times a week. However, if you want a copy of any of the reports and can't print it from the web site (or don't have access to the internet), there will be copies available at the church for your reading. Due to the length of the reports (50 pages total) we can not give away copies. But there will be copies for folks to sign out and return so that they will be available to everyone.
Finally, if you would like to discuss the implications of all of this, we will have a series of gatherings to discuss the findings and the "conclusions" made in the reports. We will also share other ways to understand the information and the possible implications. And, of course, comments could always be directed to the Council members, Pastors, Transition team or Search Committee members.
And thank you everyone who participated in one, two or all three of these significant opportunities to help First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Ridgefield to discern how best to move into the future.