The Leadership subgroup is reviewing the historical record and documents to understand how decisions are reached by the church.  The first focus of the subgroup is to gather information from the church staff to gauge their perceptions of how the church leadership functions and what future leadership needs the congregation will have.
 

Information Received at July 15, 2012 Leadership Meeting

The objective of the congregational meeting on July 15, 2012 was to solicit input from the congregation about Leadership practices and expectations in our church. Three questions were the focal points for discussion. Following are summaries of the thoughts expressed most often for each question along with a listing of individual comments related directly or indirectly to the respective question. Also included is a list of comments which are not directly related to one of the three questions, but were important thoughts which will be considered as the Transition Team develops a Church Profile to be discussed at our next congregational meeting on August 19, 2012.

NOTE: Individual and additional comments can be viewed in the PDF copy of the Leadership summary document.

Question 1 - What is the role of the membership in moving FBC in a vibrant, growing serving and financially sound direction?
Summary:  Congregation needs to be more involved/ Learn what opportunities are and know how to plug into them/ Give our part financially/ Get involved in outreach (specifics are in the pdf summary document)/ Have more education regarding  beliefs, our theology, budget process, growth and service opportunities.

Question 2 - If you had an idea for something you were excited about, where would you go?
Summary:  Responses show a good number of people don’t have a clear understanding of how things work when someone has an idea.  The Pastoral Staff was most mentioned as the place to go with an idea followed by Deacons, (Chair mentioned by some specifically), Rosemary Kellam, Team Coordinators of specific area, a question and answer or suggestion box, to a group such as a SS Class so idea isn’t coming from one person or an established church coordinator or group.

Question 3 - Imagine the church having to make a difficult decision affecting its future.  Describe the process you believe would make for the best possible decision.
Summary:  By far the most suggested method was to engage the congregation in the discussion so the problem was understood fully, then make a decision.  Several mentioned that a staff person should initiate the investigation when made aware of it and then take it through committees, deacons and church.  Other comments added prayer, being open and honest and complete communication.  The remaining comments offer other suggestions to consider.