The Administrative Board of Brighton First has adopted a two-year strategic plan. In this blog, I offer the details of the first goal of the plan, to "create a culture of invitation and welcome."
The first step in creating the strategic plan for Brighton First, was to identify a condition that is keeping Brighton First from fulfilling its mission. The Strategic Plan Task Force developed this "diagnosis": A growing proportion of the population has no
affiliation with any faith or church. We cannot make disciples for Jesus Christ
from this part of the population by waiting for them to visit us. We must
find a way to overcome their negative impressions and reach them outside of our
four walls, making the church relevant to them.
The task force named this guiding policy for achieving the goal of creating a culture of invitation and welcome: The Brighton First congregation is called to
make itself a visible, positive, and
relevant part of the community of Brighton, and its members are called by
God to enter into relational ministry outside the walls of the church
What follows is a list of actions created to achieve the goal:
1. Form a Communications Team by October 1,
2016. The Team will assist Brighton First in becoming a visible part of the
community of Brighton, giving the church an inviting, positive public voice.
a.
The Communications Team will review current
publications, the website, logos, tagline, and news release strategy and create
a coherent Public Relations Strategy/Communications Plan. The Communications
Team will consult with Mark Doyle, Detroit Annual Conference Communications
Director in this assessment and plan development.
b.
The Public Relations Strategy/Communications Plan will
contain goals and metrics to measure attainment of those goals.
c.
The Communications Team will report its strategy to the
Administrative board no later than November 8, 2016.
d.
The Communications Team will outline the strategy in a
written report to the Church Conference
in mid-November.
e.
The
Communications Team will help and support other groups as necessary to maintain
a consistent, positive voice in church publications and public communications.
f.
The church website, included in the strategy above,
will be redesigned by March 2017 at the direction of the Communications Team
and informed by the Public Relations Strategy/Communications Plan. The Finance
Committee will budget for website redevelopment in 2017. ($3,000 - $5,000).
Continuing maintenance of the website will also be fully funded.
g.
The Communications Team, with representatives from the
Hospitality Team, the Trustees, the church staff, the youth group and
non-church attenders from the community, will conduct an annual audit each
August, examining all church publications and church signage, with the
intention of eliminating “insider” language, confusing acronyms, etc. The
results and recommendations of the annual audit will be presented to the
Administrative Board by the Communications Team by October each year.
2. The Board of Trustees will review all
interior and exterior signage by December 2016 and adjust as needed to provide
a consistent, excellent welcome for all visitors by March 2017.
3. The Hospitality Team will
schedule greeter, parking lot greeter and usher positions for every worship
service, every Sunday by December 2016.
4. In order to sustain its Sunday
morning hospitality efforts, the Hospitality Team will develop a budget to be
presented to the Finance Committee by October 1, 2016 and be funded in the 2017
budget.
5. All Children’s Ministries and
Youth Ministries will include in their annual curriculum, grade level
appropriate goals for practicing invitation and welcome in the life of the
church. This will be in place by May 2017.
6. The Children’s Ministry Sunday school program
will be relocated to one central area in the church building (nursery – 6th
grade). This will provide a single welcoming space for children and their
parents, increase safety for children and allow parents to drop off and pick up
all children at one location. The planning for consolidation will begin by
September 2016. Trustees and the Children’s Ministries Team will work together
to plan the stages for the relocation, including room improvements and
furnishings. The Trustees and Children’s Ministries Team will work with the
Finance Committee to fund these improvements.
The new designated Children’s Area will be fully renovated and equipped
by August 2017.
7. The Administrative Board will
appoint a task force from its membership to review small groups, boards,
committees and ministry team practices of hospitality and welcome annually and
the results of these practices. The first short-term task force will be established no later than
December 2016. This first review will be conducted in February 2017.
8. The Hospitality Team, the Adult Faith
Formation Team, and the Children’s Ministry Team will each consult with the
Director of First Steps Preschool on ways to invite and include preschool
families in worship and church programming, leading toward preschool families
choosing Brighton First as their church home. Team plans for connection with
First Steps Preschool families must be in place by December 2016. Based on
goals set by each group, an annual review of these ministries will be included
in teams’ annual reports to Church Conference (November) beginning in 2017.
9. In order to create a modern, comfortable
public space for worship attenders and guests throughout the week, the Trustees
will collaborate with the Hospitality Team to redesign, remodel and furnish a
space within the building. The plan will
be completed by December 2017. The Trustees, in partnership with the Finance
Committee will determine how this project will be funded by March of 2018, and
the renovated space will be ready for use by June of 2018.
10. Worship leadership will
intentionally work to strengthen the church’s culture of invitation in worship.
Parishioners will tell stories of inviting others or being invited to church at
least 6 times per year beginning in October 2016. The senior pastor will
be responsible for this. There will be
at least one worship series per year devoted to the practice of invitation.
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