Robinson Memorial Presbyterian Church

Mission Study Report to Session
March 17, 2009

Introduction

The session authorized a mission study in the spring of 2008 at Pastor Tracie’s suggestion.  David Johnson, our presbytery executive, met with us several times at the beginning.  Once we were well launched, we determined to deal with the congregation in small groups and use a simple bible study to elicit suggestions based on what people thought God was calling our congregation to be and do.

Forty-four members and friends participated in small groups and furnished ideas.  Twenty-six members and friends specifically declined to participate in the small group meetings.  An additional group of about a dozen could not find a time when they could come.  Some people from the last two groups participated in the update done in church on Sunday, March 15th.  We covered many sheets of newsprint with post-its of suggestions for making Robinson a more perfect church.  Not surprisingly, not all the suggestions were the same or went in the same direction.  Mostly they were not contradictory, but in a few areas they were exact opposites, necessitating the quick update survey to establish a clearer direction.

What does the church these suggestions form look like?  Our take is that it has a wide variety of people, types of music, and mission/outreach activities.  It is a busy, cheerful, God-centered place.  Not everyone is doing the same thing, but everyone is appreciating what the others are doing.  It is organized, but not rigid, with room for new ideas and projects.  It enjoys both its heritage and looking to the future.  It can drop or change things that do not work in the present, but tries not to hurt people in the process.  This makes it move a bit more slowly than it could, but it also keeps everyone connected to the church.

Major Themes

Communication came up in nearly every area.  People wanted to have better and more frequent financial reports to the congregation.  They wanted to know what the deacons were collecting for each month.  They wanted to be reminded when Church Lite met and to advertise it beyond the congregation.  Many members are not aware that we need a new roof or why that is so.  Those were just some of the suggestions involving communication.  We can not communicate with just people we know or our own group, even if it is easier.  We may think we are communicating, but we are not getting through as well as we need to.

Music seems to be very important to the congregation.  There were some twenty-five different suggestions in the area of music.  They were so scattered that most of the update dealt with music.  Fortunately that did clarify things a bit.  The results here show that people want more music: more variety of styles; more variety of instruments; more solos, duets, and special groups in addition to the choir.  They also want an active bell choir.  Unfortunately, most of them do not want to play in it.

Younger people were more interested in the website and did not seem to read all the information in the bulletin or newsletter.  They want to be told what is going on and to have it re-enforced  electronically, not in print.  They are looking for more mission opportunities, particularly hands-on, local projects.  They want a clearer understanding of finances and year-long, integrated stewardship information.

Older people are most concerned about member care.  They strongly support the work of the deacons, but feel that they do not really know what is going on.  They want to see growth in numbers, particularly among teens and young families.  Some of their desires, like and active youth group, seem a bit out of touch with what is going on right now.  Taking care of the building is also high on their list of priorities.  They identify much more closely with the building and do not want to lose that identity.

All groups like the current pastor.  Many in every age group are very fond of Tracie’s more informal style of preaching and worship leadership.

Using the Data

We are supplying the raw data in two forms.  The first form is a grid that Turissa devised to help us see how things are related to each other and how much weight each suggestion carries.  Turissa will walk us through that form.  The second form is a simple list of all the suggestions in each committee’s area of responsibility with an indication of how many groups suggested it and how many people voted for it as a priority.  These lists go to the committee chairpersons to use with their committees.

We will also give you an example or two of how you can easily begin to use the data to make changes in your committee’s work that reflect the desires of the congregation.  “Low-hanging fruit”  is a term for the ideas that are easiest to implement because they do not require large expenditures of time, money, or person-power.  Doing the “low-hanging fruit” first generates energy and enthusiasm and lets the congregation know that they have been heard.  We can not stop with just the easy things, however.  We will need to address the hard, expensive things, too.  In some cases, we will need to explain to the congregation why we can not do something, even if it looks like a really good idea.  It may be too costly; it may be too time consuming; it may require people than we have.  But whatever we decide we need to inform the congregation, not just leave them in the dark and hope they will forget.  They won’t forget and one of the big themes was communication.  We are going to have to work on that.

Submitted by Mission Study Team of Turissa Campbell, Jonathan Edwards and Mary Browne