Step Forward

It’s Time to Step Forward Together!

Who do we want to be when we grow up?

The Step Forward Task Force has been laying the groundwork for an answer to that question.

Beginning last fall, the task force has been meeting with all Session-led standing committees and the deacons to determine how our congregation and our procedures have changed since the pandemic began. What did we do differently as a result of the pandemic? Of those changes, which were useful to continue going forward and which have served their purpose and can now be abandoned? And if you haven’t been involved in those conversations, here’s your chance.

June 11 will bring about a Step Forward Together event immediately following the Sunday service. Kicking off with a meal, we then will break into small groups to talk amongst ourselves about what changes have impacted us and what changes we might like to see moving forward. A streaming event will also be held on Thursday, June 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. Anybody registering for the online event will have a pizza delivered to their home, so everybody who participates will get to enjoy a dinner together!

After the meetings, every member of our church family will receive a SurveyMonkey email survey. That way, each of us has at least two opportunities to voice our opinions about the changes. The SurveyMonkey tool will offer a chance to throw out ideas you may not be comfortable bringing up in a group setting.

The Step Forward Task Force will compile the information collected in a report to Session in the fall. Although the task force will make some recommendations to Session, it won’t actually implement changes – implementation of ideas is beyond the scope of the task force and within the purview of Session.

Some long-term members who remember the Discover, Dream, Do initiative from 2009 have asked whether Step Forward is the same kind of exercise. It is not. Step Forward is operational in nature, not aspirational. But determining what functions work best for us may help us in the near future as we explore who we want to be going forward in the coming years.

Step Forward Task Force members are Dorothy Driskell, Peg Duffy, Jen Henson, Gary Hinzman, Mary Lee Jones, Elizabeth Moes, and Sherri Monteith.