by Rev. Dr. John Morehouse
I am completing my third year of developmental ministry with you. This year has seen some real growth. We are growing in numbers, institutional maturity, and spiritual depth. As you will see throughout this Annual Report, we are engaging with one another in deep and abiding ways. As our current political dystopia deepens, we are seeing a jump in attendance and social outreach. As important, there have been improvements in our staffing and financing. We are excited to welcome our new Social Justice Director, Rev. Lisa Schilansky, who will join us in July. Your gifts have been truly sustaining. I want to thank our amazing staff and our leadership for their dedication to our mission of transforming lives.
I want to especially thank our outgoing Board President Barbara Colton. Barbara has given her all to this transformation, from chairing the Search Committee that brought me here, to adapting our leadership structure to a shared ministry model, and spearheading structural changes within our systems. And, not least, she has been the driving force behind our building improvements. Much of what has happened in the past three years has been due to Barbara’s energy and service. Please join me in saying thank you for her leadership.
For my report let me return briefly to the five developmental goals that are guiding our ministry together:
Shared Ministry. We have adopted a shared ministry that is collaborative. All important decisions are made by the board and me, with input from other lay leaders and the staff. There are very few surprises, and the decisions are widely vetted and understood. Our staff operates in this same model, and most staff decisions are made jointly after open discussions. This has been far and away our most successful achievement in the past three years. Yvette McDonnell, as our Congregational Life Coordinator, has broadened our caring ministry in ways outlined elsewhere in this report. Our music ministry is reaching more people and different ages and connecting us with other musical communities.
Improving Our Growth Systems. This goal has been largely achieved over this past year. Thanks to the new Congregational Engagement Team led by Deirdre Gordon, we have systematically improved the path to membership from greeting on a Sunday to engaging our newest members in small group ministries and other opportunities. Bill D’Agostino, our Communications Manager, is a master of creative outreach on social media, which is how many of our visitors find their way to us. Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt, Director of Learning & Family Ministries, and I offered two Starting Point classes this past year that encouraged newcomers to get to know each other and make the commitment to joining the congregation. Roughly 23 new members came on board this year from these classes. Our total membership of adults is now solidly over 520. We are once again a large church.
Fostering a Culture of Inclusion. Religion is changing. Fewer younger people find their spiritual needs being met in congregational life. How we connect spiritually is also changing. In this past year we have been experimenting with different worship styles and music, including more multigenerational worship experiences. This has helped to attract more families with children. We also have made an intentional effort to welcome marginalized communities into our building and support gatherings of marginalized communities outside our walls. Our congregation is not just the people who show up on a Sunday; they are also those in our surrounding community who need to find us. I see us continuing to strive toward this goal.
Improving Generational Transitions. Thanks in part to the move toward more inclusive music and multigenerational worship, we are seeing an increase in the number of families attending our church. Dawn Star, her staff, and her volunteers are doing an excellent job welcoming these families in and engaging them with one another and at other times other than Sunday. Generational shifts most often occur when people see others about their age. It takes a “critical mass” of similar ages for the generational transitions to take hold over the long haul. The board and I will be offering leadership development in the coming years with a special emphasis on training a younger generation to lead us into the future.
Growing our Public Presence. We made significant progress this year in large part because we were investing so much energy in social justice. Rev. Lisa Schilansky will continue this work into the future. Of course, given the assault on civic freedoms and the many marginalized communities that are now at risk, we will also be responding to other calls to action; from reproductive justice, to immigrants’ support, to support for queer communities. As we do this work, it is imperative to me that we work with and follow those organizations that are already doing the work and who are often led by those most impacted by injustice. Only with steady persistence and effort will we improve our public presence in the community.
In my remaining time with you I will be focusing on strengthening these achievements and adding new goals in consultation with the board. This will include fostering a culture of generosity and gratitude as well as looking for new ways to improve our stewardship. I am honored to serve you.
Respectfully submitted,
Rev. Dr. John Morehouse