Life Together
 

I have delayed writing this column so that I could report to you the activities and plans from our board retreat on Saturday, January 22.

 

The Board voted to continue NOT having in-person worship services as long as the COVID numbers are as high as they are. They will review the health data every week and will move to in-person worship as soon as they deem it safe to do so.

 

One of the most important actions of the day was the approval of the Senior Minister Search Committee. The members will be: 

 

Jacob Cooper

Elmer Jackson

Jenny McClure

Nancy McMurry

Jan Scott

 

Join me in praying daily for these friends as they tackle the vital task of finding our next Senior Minister.

 

But most of our morning was spent doing some strategic planning. I wonder how you would have responded to these questions that we addressed:

 

1. What are we trying to accomplish for our members? (Purpose)

 

2. If we were to receive an award from our denomination five years from now, what would be said about our congregation? (Vision)

 

3. What do we do best that draws people to our church instead of another church? (Strengths)

 

4. What hinders us from being the best church in town? (Weaknesses)

 

5. What ministry opportunities in the community are we missing? (Opportunities)

 

6. What is happening externally that will adversely affect our church? (Threats)

 

We had lively discussions about all those questions before setting some goals and strategies to meet those goals. Many worthy goals were suggested, and after voting we selected these three as the top priority goals.

 

1. Tell our story better through authentic promotion

 

2. Explore additional outreach opportunities in our community

 

3. Provide more alternatives for weekday Bible studies, book studies, and fellowship opportunities

 

I appreciate the board members who gave up their Saturday morning for these important discussions and the seriousness with which they took the task. We had a very limited time for all these topics, and it will take some time for us to compile and process all our notes. But this discussion and goal-setting will have a big impact on the direction of the church over the next year.

 

Dr. Mickey Anders

Interim Sr. Minister