Prep for April Meeting

Since the last SGI meeting there's been a lot of progress on many fronts including the building of a welcome packet, real concrete plans for the church's participation in community pride day events, our teaching church applications are submitted and pending, and our team has written a couple of items for the Sunday church news insert. I think things are going very very well.

For the next meeting, it's my hope that the team can continue to work to find the best way to measure our progress and that we continue to stay motivated and energized about the work of each subcommittee over the next couple of months. These two goals will remain constant over the life of the SGI Team.

Spiritually, it's better to act, to do and go! where the energy of our ministry takes us than to get too too focused on management-like measurement tools that many folk find draining. That being said, we want to think of this like a 2 year marathon. I'm a swimmer (at least in my head) and I think in terms of the 500m event and I know that even that mid- to short-length event is about breathing, about flip turns, about the economy of each stroke. To shave off even 1 minute from your time is an amazing accomplishment and takes the ability of the swimmer and the coach to refine a bunch of little painful details. Each of us are swimmers and coaches all at the same time, and so we're learning to step by step how to be more and more "strategic" about our ministries.

OK. Point made. ROCK ON OPEN DOOR!

And We're Off....

The SGI Team met today after worship. The team focused on finding out what exactly the work of the committee will be, what it means to be on the SGI Team, and how we can support the existing ministries of the congregation. Our group is looking for the right balance between guiding the actualizing of a visionary dream and the practicalities of success, measuring our progress, and communicating our needs and experiences.

It is clear the congregation is organizing itself for more directed activity, as suggested by the Board’s actions to assemble the administrative tools to coordinate the multiple activities of the church. The Board shared with the SGI Team the liaisons from the Board to the congregation. We are continuing to name and respond to calendar coordination and other information sharing activities. The SGI Team is grateful for the efforts of the Board to respond to these questions and we are prayerfully considering how we can conduct ourselves to support those efforts.

If you or someone you know is interested in the subcommittees’ efforts, please continue to read on. The team, indeed the congregation, will very much need your support in many ways, but especially please keep those beautiful Open Door-prayers coming.

Accomplishments (by subcommittee):
Following Up With Guests – we have plans for welcome pins and guest packets. This group has introduced itself in the newsletter.

Increased Visibility – we are discussing Pride day events as they relate to solidifying our presence in communities outside Boyds. This is only one of many different “theaters” of action for this group, which hopes its ministry will reach inside and outside Boyds. Also, this group has introduced itself in the newsletter.

Empowering Lay People – In addition to praying for the upcoming P.A.C.E project, the team has made significant contacts with other UFMCC ministers in the region to make this a dynamic element of our strategic growth.

Teaching Church – Rev. Rob submitted our application. He is preparing to attend pastor training in Pittsburgh during the Regional conference. Kevin is making calls to Open Door friends and members involved in the past in Open Door’s teaching church responsibilities.

Facility Planning and Development – Continuing to contact friends and members interested in fund raising efforts. Also, the subcommittee is exploring granting sources.


In the Future The Team Will (by subcommittee):
Following Up With Guests-- the subcommittee will share the details of their process for measuring their outreach to guests.

Increased Visibility – This subcommittee will talk to specific people who have offered their assistance or expressed interest in staffing Pride event activities for Open Door.

Empowering Lay People – look for their introduction in next week’s church bulletin.

Teaching Church – Members of this working group will be in prayer for the next stage of the project, which might mean interviewing future professional minister’s as candidates for working with Open Door.

Facility Planning & Development – This subcommittee is continuing to prayerfully consider what it can do to give Open Door better physical resources need to maintain and grow (in all ways) the congregation.