Discernment Phase

The first phase of exploration is called discernment. The primary goal of discernment as a congregation is to prayerfully consider what God has called us to do and be in the world. It is a time for us to dream big and take time to develop a vision for the future of St. Christopher’s ministry. During discernment, our primary goal as a congregation was to prayerfully consider what God is calling us to do and be in the world. Now was a time for us to dream big and take time to develop a vision for the future of St. Christopher’s ministry.

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In early March 2017, our ECF consultant trained parish members to conduct small group sessions. From March to August of 2017, you were asked to join a discernment meeting to share your voice. Together we held 11 discernment meetings in both English and Spanish as well conducting many phone calls to those otherwise unable to participate. Over 100 members participated. Of those, 75% primarily attend the 9am service on Sunday and 25% primarily attend the 11:15am Spanish service on Sunday. With an average Sunday attendance of 125, that is a very strong rate of involvement! The Campaign for Tomorrow Committee analyzed 22+ pages of consolidated discernment meeting notes and met by phone with Sarah Leach, our ECF consultant. Thank you to all who facilitated, took notes, answered questions, and offered your voices!

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After prayerful consideration, the vestry took ECF’s recommendation to spend time engaging in strategic thinking to sharpen our focus. Vestry met every other week as it developed a strategic plan for St. Christopher’s incorporating prior strategic planning from 2008 and 2015 as well as heavily relying on the discernment input from 2017. Watch the wall space just inside Middleton where information will be posted as this process proceeds.

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December 10, 2017 vestry conducted a forum between services to involve everyone in understanding the strategic plan. At the annual meeting in January 2018, members were asked to help prioritize the potential capital projects in light of the strategic plan.

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Feasibility Phase

In March 2018, vestry and finance met together to discuss where we are with the capital campaign. The Finance Committee recommended that vestry continue into the second phase, feasibility study, where the congregation will be surveyed about household support for the campaign. Vestry voted to proceed. The vestry and finance committees have been developing a “case statement” to articulate to the congregation a complete description of the goals of the proposed plans in the campaign. In early November, members will participate via either a phone call with the ECF consultant or an electronic or mail survey. The consultant will compile and analyze the results and report back to the vestry as to whether the campaign has the support need to proceed successfully, will suggest a realistic and attainable goal, and indicate the level of support for each project. 92% of ECF clients meet or exceed the recommended goal.

 

Ask Phase

Our ECF Capital Campaign consultant, who has come to know the unique culture of our congregation, will assist us with recruiting, training, and coaching our team through the final steps of the campaign to ask members of the contribution to pledge their support.

 

Pray and participate!

You will be hearing much more about our capital campaign in the months to come! Let us prayerfully consider together what our future holds for God’s works in Sun City and beyond.

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If you have any questions, please contact Jane Cooley or Mona Guarino.