Thursday, October 11, 2007

OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEER MINISTRY @ THE FIRST PARISH IN PORTLAND

Key to Qualifications (from mild to “super spicy hot”)
no previous experience necessary/on-the-job orientation and training only (the “Buddy System.”)
* At least one initial training session, plus on-the-job mentoring.
** Multiple orientation/training sessions, plus on-going supervision & mentoring.
*** Significant initial training and on-going mentoring, plus regular consultation with the Minister.
**** Appointed by the Minister and confirmed by the Governing Board.
***** Elected by the members of the Congregation.

Sunday Mornings
Greeter(s)
Usher(s)
Verger*
Flowers & Chancel Decoration
Coffee Hour Host(s)
“Buttonmeister” (helps make permanent name tags)
“Gold Cup” Greeter(s)*
“Conversations with the Minister” coordinator

Religious Education Lead Teacher**
Religious Education Assistant*
Religious Education Substitute*
Religious Education Greeter

Worship Leader*
Chalice Lighter (traditionally a child)
Children’s Storyteller*
Choir Member**

Small Group Ministry Program
Covenant Group Convener
Affinity Group Convener
Covenant Group Facilitator**
Affinity Group Facilitator**
Life Long Learning Instructor**

“Para-Ministry”
“Care-Ring” Volunteer
“Care-Ring” Coordinator**
Faith in Action Volunteer
Faith in Action Coordinator**
Pastoral Care Associate***
Lay Chaplain****

Committee/Council Membership

(The Committee/Council system is at the heart of our congregation’s historical tradition of self-governance or “Congregational Polity.” Each Council is represented by a member of the Governing Board responsible for that particular area, and typically meets once a month to share information, make decisions, solve problems, and plan future activities. The specific Committees (as well as any ad hoc sub-committees, task-forces, or ministry teams) generally meet as needed in order to complete their respective tasks, and communicate more routinely by telephone or e-mail. In some instances the Council and the Committees are essentially the same entity, while in others the Committees effectively operate independently of their Council, and report back only as needed.)

Building Systems Council:
Building & Grounds Committee
Memorial Garden Trustees

[Communications Council:]
Public Relations
Website/Electronic Communications
Newsletter
Membership Directory
Denominational Affairs

Faith in Action Council:
(specific Committees/Coordinators vary by project)

Finance Council:
Finance Committee
Stewardship Team
Planned Giving Team
Special Fun(d)rasing Events

Lifelong Learning Council:
Library Committee
Children & Youth Religious Education (CYRE)
Adult Religious Growth & Learning (ARGL)

Membership Council:
Sunday Hospitality
Outreach & Newcomer Orientation
Social Activities
Caring Committee (the “Care-Ring”)

Worship Council:
Music Committee
Worship Committee

Governing Board/Leadership Team

Governing Board*****(Council Chairs plus Officers and three At-Large members)

Executive Committee*****(President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Clerk, one At-Large member. Minister & DRE, ex officio)

Nominating Committee/Path to Leadership Team***

Personnel Committee***

Committee on Ministry****

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

THE PATH TO MEMBERSHIP

OVERVIEW: Often when churches begin discussion ways to “grow” their membership, they allow themselves to be distracted by the numbers, and forget that numbers are merely a marker for measuring how successfully we are performing our core mission, which is transforming people’s lives for the better.

Perhaps a better way to think of growth is as an expression of our “ministry of hospitality.” Our church is like a feast, a banquet, a party to which everyone is invited, and it’s our responsibility as hosts to make certain that everybody feels safe and welcome, and that they are getting fed, meeting the other guests, can find what they need, and are basically having a good time.

Research shows that first-time visitors to a church typically follow a predictable “path” to eventual membership, and that growing churches tend to be aware of that path, and take steps to help newcomers move along it smoothly as they decide for themselves whether or not a participation in the life and community of a particular congregation is going to be part of their own spiritual journey. The world may well beat a path to our door in search of a better mousetrap, but it helps if there are at least signposts pointing the way, so that they don’t accidentally become lost in the woods.

Step One: Attraction (Invitation & Recruitment) - “Come on in, the water’s fine!”

• This is typically the most difficult element to control, and the most expensive to influence significantly. But there are a variety of ways in which we can work to raise our profile and enhance our reputation in the wider community, and this goal should be pursued in an intentional manner.

• Our central location is also a valuable asset that contributes significantly to our public visibility. Small things like the Wayside Pulpit and our Reader Board can do a lot to attract people’s attention and invite them through the front door.

• Our Website is likewise a very important vehicle for encouraging “seekers” to visit our church in person. A “FAQ for Visitors” is being developed, and will be added to our homepage as soon as it is ready.

• Far and away the most effective method for attracting newcomers to our church is “word of mouth” combined with a personal invitation from someone they know. Thus much of our work in “recruitment” is actually creating the kind of environment where people feel comfortable inviting their friends, and creating the kind of institutional culture where that sort of invitation becomes normal.

Step Two: First Impressions - “Getting Your Feet Wet”

• This is VERY IMPORTANT! Although First Parish feels like a second home to many of us, visiting an unfamiliar church for the first time can be a very intimidating experience. Likewise, most first-time visitors to a church make up their minds within five minutes whether or not they will return a second time.

• Visitors and Members alike are warmly welcomed by a Greeter from the Membership Committee as they arrive in the Vestibule. Current Members are reminded to wear their name tags; visitors are invited to make a nametag, and also to sign our guest register or fill out a visitors card at the Greeters Table. The Ushers continue to distribute Orders of Service and the Sunday Bulletin (which now contains information specifically of interest to newcomers) as they have in the past.

• Visitors are explicitly welcomed to our church by the Worship Leader, and invited to coffee hour following the service. In the coffee hour, a “Newcomers/Welcome Table” containing information about First Parish and Unitarian Universalism is staffed by representatives of the Membership Committee. “Gold Cup Greeters” circulate through the coffee hour, introducing themselves to people they don’t recognize (something as simple as “Hi! I don’t think we’ve met before”), and personally welcoming them to the church.

• Follow -up postcards from the Greeters-on-duty are addressed and sent that same day to each first-time visitor. The names of these visitors are also reported to the office for inclusion in our “Prospective New Members” database.

Step Three: Returning to Explore - “Wading Right In”

• In addition to the postcard, a Welcoming Letter from the Minister is sent to each first time visitor, once again welcoming them to the church and inviting them to participate as they choose in a variety of activities designed specifically for newcomers (see below).

• If the visitor has indicated specific areas of interest on their visitors card, these are followed up separately by the appropriate volunteer in charge of that activity.

• “Permanent” nametags are made for each visitor, in order that we might more easily track those who return for a second time, and also so that each second time visitor finds something “belonging” to them waiting for them if and when they return.

• Approximately one Sunday per month there is a “Welcoming Conversation with the Minister,” where Newcomers have an opportunity to ask their questions about UU & FP in a semi-structured environment.

• As needed, a three-session “New UU” class is offered for individuals who are specifically interested in becoming members of the church.

Step Four: Commitment - “Taking the Plunge” (officially becoming a “Formal” Member of First Parish).

• Following completion of the New UU class, individuals are personally invited to become members of First Parish.

• Those who wish to become members sign the membership book, and are formally welcomed into Membership at a brief ceremony during the Sunday Morning worship service

• It’s important to recognize that the decision to become a member of a church is a very personal thing, and that some individuals will choose NOT to affiliate officially with the church, but will still participate actively in many of our programs and ministries. This is OK.

• SHORT CUT FOR “EXPERIENCED” UUs. Some individuals will arrive at First Parish already familiar with Unitarian Universalism, and perhaps having already been a member of another UU congregation. These individuals will be told that they are welcome to participate in the classes if they like, but may also simply join the church by privately signing the book after a conversation with the minister.

Step Five: Discipleship - “Going Deeper” (Making Your Membership Work for You)

• As part of their New Member orientation, each new member will be encouraged to find both some sort of program, activity, or “fellowship circle” which enhances their own spiritual life, and also to find some sort of volunteer opportunity which supports the larger mission and ministry of the church (see below). “One hand for the boat, and one hand for yourself.”

• It is important that a “catalog” of potential activities be visible and accessible to new members. Potential Fellowship Circles include participation in a covenant group or other Small Group Ministry, membership in the choir, enrollment in a life-long learning class, or participation in any one of the dozens of activities which take place here every year.

• The underlying goal here is not only to deepen and enrich the quality of each new member’s faith experience. We are also attempting to integrate them into our larger community in a meaningful and fulfilling way. A good benchmark for this process is the formula “Six friends in Six months.”

Step Six: Vocation - “Being Sent” by finding a personal ministry that supports the larger Mission and Ministry of the Church.

• Often there is a great deal of overlap between “Going Deeper” and “Being Sent.” But it would be a mistake to assume that every committee is a “fellowship circle,” or that volunteer work alone is enough to deepen someone’s faith experience in a meaningful way

• At the same time, it is important that new members (and long time members as well) recognize that their contributions large or small are important and appreciated, and that they are (to continue the nautical metaphor) valued members of the crew and not just passengers along for the ride.

• A membership/volunteer coordinator should work with the nominating committee to try to find a meaningful job for every person in the church. It can be large or small, it should be self-selected if possible, it needs to contribute in a recognizable way to the work of the church as a whole, and it needs to be recognized and publicly acknowledged as well. Simply committing to attend services regularly (and, of course, to greet the people sitting around you and sing the hymns enthusiastically) qualifies as a “meaningful job,” provided it is done in a meaningful and committed way.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

OCTOBER MINISTER'S REPORT

Congratulations on an excellent Retreat! -- lots of energy, positive focus and direction...now we just need to keep moving forward and Realize Our Vision, trusting that we will be able to solve problems and overcome whatever obstacles we may encounter as they arise.

Two Underlying, On-going Tasks (to accompany our three major goals)

1) I would like for us to take some time this year to examine our core processes (the things we do routinely all the time) in order to make them as simple and routine as possible. I would like every council/committee to try to develop some explicit Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs in the lingo), along with some basic volunteer job descriptions, that are transparent, consistently repeatable, and can be easily taught to others. This is essential to expanding our volunteer pool as the tasks themselves expand, and begin to outgrow the capacity of our current volunteers to handle in their spare time.

2) I also hope that we can all take some time to look beyond the “day-to-day” in order to learn a little of the theory behind what we are doing, so that when the time comes we are not only knowledgeable about what we do and how to do it, but WHY we do it in the first place. This is part of the essential task of Leadership Development -- so that as we are successful and grow our organization, our current leadership team will be able to function as “leaders of leaders” rather than simply trying to do more and more themselves.


Organizational Structure

There was some interest expressed at the Retreat in revisiting our organizational structure. I personally think this is a little premature, and would instead encourage us to think of ourselves as three informal teams (or maybe “ensembles”) - the Membership Team, the Stewardship Team, and the Outreach Team - which can come together in different combinations (or line-ups) depending on the specific task/goal. (I have also prepared a draft document “Volunteer Ministry Opportunities at First Parish” which reflects MY current understanding of what our organizational structure should look like from the perspective of a potential new volunteer if everything were operating just the way Frances intended it to. Please look this over since I’m going to need your help to flesh it out).


Pilot Projects

I also hope we can begin to work on some “pilot projects” in order to begin to expand our program in several key areas. These are NOT necessarily things I think our current leadership team should simply add to their portfolios (although obviously you are going to want to be involved early on in their formation); rather, all of these people will need to be recruited, trained and supported within the existing “council” structure.

[M] -- expand our SGM program: more Covenant Groups, new Affinity Groups, classes and workshops (coordinated with LLL Council?)

[M] – schedule and organize potlucks, other informal social gatherings -- start an on-going Circle Supper program?

[S] -- Planned Giving (coordinated with the Trustees?)

[S] -- An annual Signature “Fun(d)raiser” -- do we want to start with a “Midwinter Luau for the Loo?” Overall fundraising goal probably needs to be about $12-15k ($8k for the operating budget; another $4-7k for handicapped bathrooms and other accessibility modifications). But it also needs to be a “fun,” high-spirited event that generates lots of enthusiasm and good energy. (Possible Chairs/Organizers?)

[O] -- Faith in Action team...inventory of existing projects; creation of additional “short-ramp” hands-on Faith-in-Action opportunities. (Betsy/Artha/others?)

[O] -- “The Greater Portland Community Forum @ First Parish” -- a “convener of significant conversations” on a timely, time-to-time basis in order to improve the quality of communication, mutual understanding, and community life among Portland’s diverse citizenry. (Bill D & friends)


Other potential emerging priority areas:

• Music outreach in the form of additional public concerts, etc. [Chip?]

• Our Children’s Religious Education program...esp hiring a new director.

• And, of course, our Sunday Worship Service....more guest speakers, special music/musicians, etc.

• Not to mention getting the word out that all this is happening.

Monday, October 1, 2007

THE ECLECTIC CLERIC - "Let’s Connect!”

It’s that time of year again – the season of our Annual Budget Drive. It happens every year, like clockwork. Because that’s what “annual” means. And we do indeed have a budget to make.

I was talking the other day with a friend of mine (not a churchgoer himself) about how we pay the bills around here.

“But a pledge...” he said, “that’s basically just a promise, right?”

“That’s right,” I said.

“It must take a lot of faith to run an organization as complex as a church on what amounts to a handful of promises…”

“Yes, it does,” I replied. “But fortunately, that’s the business that we’re in….”

The truth of the matter is that our Stewardship Campaign is always about a lot more than mere money. That’s the bottom line beyond the bottom line. The term “stewardship” itself reflects the important understanding that “church” is a gift that we give to one another, and that THIS church is a legacy which we have received from our spiritual ancestors, and hold in trust for our spiritual descendents.

And in the meantime, we are charged with the responsibility of balancing that delicate equation of Worth, Wealth, and Value in order to fulfill our generation’s own generous contribution to the on-going ministry of this faith community to the larger community.

Stewardship is ultimately about both Mission and Vision. “Mission” is simply a fancy way of describing the meaning and purpose of our lives – what we do in order to leave the world a better place than we found it. And Vision is our sense of what the world might look like if we take our Mission seriously, and are successful.

But the word I really like is “campaign.” Campaign means literally “to take the field.” And that’s what this time of year is really all about. Do we sit on the sidelines warming the bench? Or do we get into the game and make a difference, knowing that we are all part of the same team, working together to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves as a congregation?

That’s why this season is always so exciting. Because the opening tip-off is just around the corner……….twj