By Pastor Rick (October 2019)
That’s a line made famous by the TV game show “Family Feud.” But we’re going to borrow it for a little while this fall.
Last spring I introduced four goals for our congregation that I had discerned after listening to our members for a couple of years. In brief, they are:
- Be bigger (reach more people) and smaller (support deeper faith formation)
- Pay off the mortgage within five years to increase SOTV ministry support in our church and community
- Increase benevolent giving to organizations helping people in need by 10%
- Ministry in times of transition (examples include birth of a child, becoming empty nesters, unexpected loss)
This fall we will be expanding this listening initiative through a survey, which will be available both online and in a paper version during the first two weeks of October. We will also have several focus groups throughout the month. We want to make sure we are on the right track, discover what is most important, and begin to discern how we might best work together to achieve our goals. What are you thinking?
What do you feel connected to here? How is SOTV home for you? What motivates you to support our ministry?
What we discover will influence and shape our ministry for years to come, so your input is crucial. We will, of course, be reporting our findings to the congregation as we analyze all of the data.
In the meantime, we will continue to Worship, Learn, Connect, and Care in many and various ways. I hope you will take some time to read about what we were able to accomplish together this past fiscal year in the Benevolence, Finance, and Stewardship sections of the October 2019 newsletter.
God calls us to do something. Together, we do a lot. And I’d like to think we’re still just getting started.
Should you have any questions or concerns along the way, please feel free to contact me, one of the other pastors, council members, or other members of the staff.
