Greetings,
As the first year of Faith UMC operating under the unified Leadership Board comes to a close, we wanted to update you on some of the Board’s accomplishments in its first year and lay out where the Board is headed in 2023. We want to keep you informed of what we are doing. Just as important, we want to renew our invitation for you to share your thoughts on where you see God calling Faith UMC to go in the future, with members of the Leadership Board.
Unsurprisingly, a good bit of the Board’s focus this year was in transitioning from the Church Council-with separate committees structure to the unified Board structure. This included setting the procedures for how the Board would operate as well as reviewing/creating policies in areas such as building use, finance and employee relations. This work is still underway but we have made good progress in laying the administrative foundation that Faith UMC will be able to use for years to come.
The Board did more than administrative functions. We took time to ask where we feel God is calling Faith UMC to go next. One of the outcomes of that conversation was a recognition that Faith UMC was not particularly welcoming of worshippers with small children. Specifically, we did not have a
space that allowed parents to take care of the needs of children while continuing to worship. Hopefully, you noticed that subsequent to the Board recognizing that need, the ante room at the back of the sanctuary was cleaned up and configured to allow parents to take a child there for feeding, diapering and such. This is a first step in ensuring that we create a welcoming environment where families want to come to worship God.
In the beginning of 2023, the Board will once again have a strategic conversation of where God is calling Faith UMC to go in the future. The basis for that conversation will be remembering that everything Faith UMC does should be in pursuit of our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We sincerely want to hear from you what God is telling you about the direction Faith UMC should head. We need your input, what God has laid on your hearts, to be faithful church leaders!!
This note has focused on the business of the Leadership Board and communicating those developments is important. But, just as we need to focus on the real meaning of Christmas rather than the trappings of the season, let me close by sharing how happy we are to share the hope and joy of the coming of the light of Christ into our world. We remain servants of Christ and servants of the church. We look forward to moving forward together as God calls us.
Peace and Joy,
Your Leadership Board