We want to align our efforts with the congregation’s passion. When Pastor Rick came here nearly 3 years ago, he spent a lot of time listening to the values and priorities of the congregation to get to know us better and set goals that help us use our gifts together to serve God in our church and community. Click here to learn more about the goals. So, while we don’t want to bother people too often, we thought it was time to intentionally listen to the congregation: to confirm we understand the congregation’s priorities and see if we’re missing anything; to help staff prioritize their time and energy; and to use our financial gifts well.

We want to take action! The last survey we did – the CAT survey in 2014 – helped leaders to both hear what the congregation thought, and to take action. For example, we heard that people wanted more of the congregation involved with leadership. The staff leaders responded by creating the leadership teams that exist today, which now have over 60 people actively involved in leadership here. Besides leadership, we learned about perspectives on care ministry, serving the community, and giving that still guide our discussions today.

Ministry in time of transition. There are some life transitions that may happen in a linear fashion: we are born, we go to school, we graduate, we get married, we have kids, we become empty nesters, we retire. Other life transitions happen out of the blue: unexpected job change, illness, death, divorce. Sometimes transitions can be exciting, while other times they are devastating. Regardless, big changes often make us question things that we didn’t question before. As a church community, we want to be there with and for each other. Focus groups will help us identify gap areas, and potential strategies for addressing them.

Pay off mortgage in 5 years. After building the original church in 1984, we have added on multiple times. With each addition, we have increased our ministry, and also our debt. At its highest, we had a mortgage just over $7 million, with the intention that we would pay off through gifts to the building fund and through capital campaigns. With about a year left in our current campaign, our current mortgage is about $2 million. Focus groups will help us dream about ways we can reallocate our money when our mortgage is done to be more impactful in ministry.

Be bigger and smaller. Being “bigger” means helping more people hear the Good News – that Jesus Christ…. Being “smaller” means we aren’t just a big, anonymous group of people. We need personal relationships and Christian community, supporting us in our questions and struggles, ultimately encouraging deeper personal faith. Focus groups will help us consider ways to better connect with our surrounding community in invitation and service, and identify ideas for enabling small-group connections.

Increase benevolent giving by 10% in 3 years. Last year, we budgeted $95,000 to support people in need through partner organizations in our community. Many people also choose to give to various organizations through SOTV. In this current capital campaign, we also allocate 5% of our capital fund allocations toward outreach. In total, we gave $260,000 in benevolence last year. Focus groups will help us align additional giving with congregational priorities.

We’d like to hear it! Please contact Kari Slotten by email or call her at 952.985.7356.