Vital Church Initiative Implementation Team Assesses Progress

In April 2015, a team of Brighton First congregation members came together to oversee the implementation of the VCI Consultation prescriptions (see document link on this blog page), adopted by the congregation. After more than a year of consulting with church staff members and team leaders and meeting monthly, the Implementation Team assessed the church's progress at its August meeting.

The team was joined by Naomi Garcia, our church's "VCI Directive Coach". Garcia, a staff member for the West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church, asked two basic questions. First, how was the VCI Implementation Team and other church committees, boards and teams working together. She also asked how Implementation team members felt about progress in each area of the VCI prescriptions.

The team talked about progress and needed growth in the areas of hospitality, community outreach, worship, faith development, strategic planning, and leadership development. Brighton First opens a new worship service on September 11 and introduces new community outreach efforts in September and October. The Adult Faith Formation team introduces a new comprehensive program for disciple education and growth in September. The Administrative Board will adopt a 2-year strategic plan in September. The Hospitality Team is joining with many faithful volunteers to offer a warm welcome on Sunday mornings.

These combined efforts are moving Brighton First forward in its mission to help people Know God, Love God and Serve God. Ultimately, Brighton First is committed to making disciples for Jesus Christ.

There is, however, one challenging area of the Vital Church Initiative that is in its beginning stages. The alignment of church programs and ministries with the church's mission and vision will be the focal point of the VCI Implementation Team this fall. In order to use the church's resources most effectively, the congregation has agreed to an alignment of what we do with our purpose and our vision for the future. This means that some ministries and programs will continue, some will be modified and others will be celebrated and ended.

The authors of Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples, Thom Reiner and Eric Geiger, studied the difference between churches that are thriving and those that are anemic and struggling. They came to the conclusion that churches that carefully choose how they will accomplish their mission and avoid putting resources into programming that does not ultimately grow disciples for Jesus Christ, are more likely to thrive. Reiner and Geiger write, "Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom. Church leaders who have designed a simple biblical process to make disciples are effectively advancing the movement of the gospel. Simple churches are making a big impact."

While there are very good reasons to align our church's ministries and programs with our mission and vision, it will be a difficult task. The VCI Implementation team committed over 16 months ago to leading Brighton First through this process and they will continue to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in the months ahead.

Vital Church Initiative Implementation Team Assesses Progress

In April 2015, a team of Brighton First congregation members came together to oversee the implementation of the VCI Consultation prescriptions (see document link on this blog page), adopted by the congregation. After more than a year of consulting with church staff members and team leaders and meeting monthly, the Implementation Team assessed the church's progress at its August meeting.

The team was joined by Naomi Garcia, our church's "VCI Directive Coach". Garcia, a staff member for the West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church, asked two basic questions. First, how was the VCI Implementation Team and other church committees, boards and teams working together. She also asked how Implementation team members felt about progress in each area of the VCI prescriptions.

The team talked about progress and needed growth in the areas of hospitality, community outreach, worship, faith development, strategic planning, and leadership development. Brighton First opens a new worship service on September 11 and introduces new community outreach efforts in September and October. The Adult Faith Formation team introduces a new comprehensive program for disciple education and growth in September. The Administrative Board will adopt a 2-year strategic plan in September. The Hospitality Team is joining with many faithful volunteers to offer a warm welcome on Sunday mornings.

These combined efforts are moving Brighton First forward in its mission to help people Know God, Love God and Serve God. Ultimately, Brighton First is committed to making disciples for Jesus Christ.

There is, however, one challenging area of the Vital Church Initiative that is in its beginning stages. The alignment of church programs and ministries with the church's mission and vision will be the focal point of the VCI Implementation Team this fall. In order to use the church's resources most effectively, the congregation has agreed to an alignment of what we do with our purpose and our vision for the future. This means that some ministries and programs will continue, some will be modified and others will be celebrated and ended.

The authors of Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples, Thom Reiner and Eric Geiger, studied the difference between churches that are thriving and those that are anemic and struggling. They came to the conclusion that churches that carefully choose how they will accomplish their mission and avoid putting resources into programming that does not ultimately grow disciples for Jesus Christ, are more likely to thrive. Reiner and Geiger write, "Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom. Church leaders who have designed a simple biblical process to make disciples are effectively advancing the movement of the gospel. Simple churches are making a big impact."

While there are very good reasons to align our church's ministries and programs with our mission and vision, it will be a difficult task. The VCI Implementation team committed over 16 months ago to leading Brighton First through this process and they will continue to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in the months ahead.

Vital Church Initiative Implementation Team Reviews Past Year

T-shirts with Brighton First's mission
statement logo have just arrived!

The Vital Church Initiative (VCI) Implementation Team met on Wednesday, April 20. The team began their meeting with a point-by-point review of the consultation recommendations (see consultation report in PDF form at link on right side of this page). Brighton First's Church Conference voted to adopt the recommendations on April 19, 2015. The team began by celebrating what the congregation has been accomplished over the past year.

This is a partial list:

• Hosted a goal setting workshop and a worship workshop.
• Sent church leaders to various workshops.
• Wrote and adopted vision and mission statements based on our core values.
• Improved communication of VCI progress with Pastor Sherry's blog
• Began work on a mission alignment audit that will be completed this summer
• Reconfigured staff positions to accomplish vision
• Staff completed study and workshop covering "The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team" and have more training planned.
• Hired worship consultant Rev. Cathy Townley
• Made adjustments in worship preparation and leadership to create spiritually moving and transforming worship in all worship services.
• Hired worship leader Mike Tooman to develop a new band-led worship service for 11:00 Sunday mornings, with preparation through the summer and the launch of the service in October 2016.
• Created a Worship Design Team to guide all aspects of worship.
• Created a Hospitality Taskforce led by Larry Job that wrote a plan for hospitality.
• Created a Hospitality Team, led by Olivia Karaska, and implemented intentional improvements in Sunday morning hospitality.
• Created a Discipleship Team, led by Karen Wagg, to create and implement a discipleship program. 
• Hired Director of Discipleship Bob Fuchs to support and guide development of intentional discipleship program
• Completed an all church study and worship series "Just Walk Across the Room"
• Preparing to launch worship series "The Art of Neighboring" worship series in May.
• Introduced a Spiritual Gifts Inventory created by Rev. Loretta Job to the congregation. Over 100 people have completed the inventory and shared the results. The inventory will be used with new members and attendees. Results of the inventory have been entered into a database.

Even with these many significant actions toward vitality, the VCI Implementation Team knows there is still much to do. Critical tasks left to be done include planning and implementing

ongoing leadership training, creating a strategic plan for the church, launching a new worship service and offering significant community outreach events. The VCI Implementation team is committed to seeing these tasks completed within the next year.

If you have questions, please talk to a member of the team: Bob Fuchs, Karen Wagg, Dan Welton, John Phillips, Kris Phillips, Sue Urban, Chris Attarian, or Sherry Parker-Lewis.

Please keep the VCI process in prayer. Through the work accomplished and the ministry to come we are committed to knowing, loving and serving God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Vital Church Initiative Implementation Team Reviews Past Year

T-shirts with Brighton First's mission
statement logo have just arrived!

The Vital Church Initiative (VCI) Implementation Team met on Wednesday, April 20. The team began their meeting with a point-by-point review of the consultation recommendations (see consultation report in PDF form at link on right side of this page). Brighton First's Church Conference voted to adopt the recommendations on April 19, 2015. The team began by celebrating what the congregation has been accomplished over the past year.

This is a partial list:

• Hosted a goal setting workshop and a worship workshop.
• Sent church leaders to various workshops.
• Wrote and adopted vision and mission statements based on our core values.
• Improved communication of VCI progress with Pastor Sherry's blog
• Began work on a mission alignment audit that will be completed this summer
• Reconfigured staff positions to accomplish vision
• Staff completed study and workshop covering "The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team" and have more training planned.
• Hired worship consultant Rev. Cathy Townley
• Made adjustments in worship preparation and leadership to create spiritually moving and transforming worship in all worship services.
• Hired worship leader Mike Tooman to develop a new band-led worship service for 11:00 Sunday mornings, with preparation through the summer and the launch of the service in October 2016.
• Created a Worship Design Team to guide all aspects of worship.
• Created a Hospitality Taskforce led by Larry Job that wrote a plan for hospitality.
• Created a Hospitality Team, led by Olivia Karaska, and implemented intentional improvements in Sunday morning hospitality.
• Created a Discipleship Team, led by Karen Wagg, to create and implement a discipleship program. 
• Hired Director of Discipleship Bob Fuchs to support and guide development of intentional discipleship program
• Completed an all church study and worship series "Just Walk Across the Room"
• Preparing to launch worship series "The Art of Neighboring" worship series in May.
• Introduced a Spiritual Gifts Inventory created by Rev. Loretta Job to the congregation. Over 100 people have completed the inventory and shared the results. The inventory will be used with new members and attendees. Results of the inventory have been entered into a database.

Even with these many significant actions toward vitality, the VCI Implementation Team knows there is still much to do. Critical tasks left to be done include planning and implementing

ongoing leadership training, creating a strategic plan for the church, launching a new worship service and offering significant community outreach events. The VCI Implementation team is committed to seeing these tasks completed within the next year.

If you have questions, please talk to a member of the team: Bob Fuchs, Karen Wagg, Dan Welton, John Phillips, Kris Phillips, Sue Urban, Chris Attarian, or Sherry Parker-Lewis.

Please keep the VCI process in prayer. Through the work accomplished and the ministry to come we are committed to knowing, loving and serving God in the name of Jesus Christ.