About Us...
VISION TEAM -- scroll down...
St. Paul is a growing urban congregation of faithful people of all ages who love the
God - Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer of All, and love their neighbor.
Our staff is here to serve you:
Our Senior Minister is
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Anne Zimmer
Office Administrator
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Joan Allen
Certified Lay Minister Contemporary Worship Leader
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Rick Tallarigo
Music Director
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Jim Maybury
Building Maintenance
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ST. PAUL VISION TEAM
APRIL 2017
IT IS NOW TIME to start our VISION TEAM here at St. Paul UCC, where we will be doing this very same kind
of work; and as we do so, we will be keeping THESE guiding statements in mind!
To this end, the SPUCC Executive Team has empowered me to begin
recruiting members for a new Vision Team. We may eventually take a different
name (e.g., the “Flip My Church” Team, the “Inside Out” Team, etc.), but the
GOAL will be to lead the whole
congregation though the process of DISCERNING GOD’S FUTURE for our church.
And, this is a good time to remind you—it’s not “Pastor Barry’s vision” we are
seeking…nor yours, nor our church Council’s vision…not any other vision except
GOD’S!
WHAT will this new team be doing? HOW
will it work? WHO will be on it? HOW LONG will this process take? I’ll be
sharing as much information as possible about all this, in every way
possible, in the weeks and months ahead…in The Epistle, in weekly
bulletins, on Facebook, and here on our church’s website I
can only briefly touch on each of these questions—all good questions!for the moment...
WHAT and HOW: internal and external demographic studies
(who’s HERE, who’s “out there” for us to minister to, and what are they looking
for? With WHOM do we share God’s “extravagant welcome” and seek to love as our
neighbor?); organizing small groups and focus groups in the church AND the
community; leading the clarifying of our CORE values; engaging in a multi-week
PRAYER focus and journaling experiencefor the whole church (that means
every member!); special emphasis on Vision
and Mission (“Spiritual DNA”) in
worship and preaching; “faith sharing moments (knowns as “testimonies” in days
gone by!) in worship; a consensus process to AFFIRM God’s new vision for us,
when we get all this done and added together. It all BEGINS with a new
“St Paul Timeline” that will be starting in the next few weeks…watch for
details…
HOW LONG: that depends on how quickly the Vision Team
can be recruited, trained, refine our process, and begin its work; once it
does, we’re looking at a minimum of six to nine months—but again, this
depends entirely on the cooperation and commitment of the congregation to
take part in all the pieces along the way. The higher your commitment and
involvement, the quicker the process will move!
WHO: four or five willing volunteers! We are looking for some very
specific people, who are…
- Dedicated to prayer and growing spiritually, and
are known for their rich faith life;
- know and love the congregation;
- are respected by more than one facet
(faction?) of the congregation;
- are deeply committed to confidentiality;
- are positive and have a commitment to
consensus (i.e., they have no particular agenda or personal statement to make;
- will commit the TIME and ENERGY it takes for
this process;
- are willing (with plenty of help!) to address
the congregation and help lead small or large group meetings (as facilitators
only, not as “experts”).
We will be seeking, ideally—- at least one: Process-oriented person who can
coordinate fine details;
- at least one: Communicator who can accurately
and effectively disseminate information;
- at least one: Numbers person who can crunch
numbers/help interpret data; and...
- at least one: Prayer Warrior who can activate
a team of pray-ers.
- This team will be hand-picked by me,
and each interested person will meet with me individually before being
confirmed as a VT member; it just has to be this way, since this is such a
specialized (and crucial) “appointment”!
Do you think YOU might be one of these
people?
If so, I want you…and JESUS WANTS YOU!
Get in touch with me....Let’s TALK!
