Congregational Assessment and Learning Experience Report. White Plains United Methodist Church Cary, NC

Transcription

1 Congregational Assessment and Learning Experience Report White Plains United Methodist Church Cary, NC Prepared by Rev. George Bullard, D.Min. Strategic Leadership Coach The Columbia Partnership 332 Valley Springs Road, Columbia, SC Voice: , Web Site: Blog: June 22, 2015 Edition

2 Congregational Assessment and Learning Experience Report for White Plains United Methodist Church Cary, NC Rev. George Bullard, D.Min. Strategic Leadership Coach The Columbia Partnership June 2015 Executive Summary This is the report of a Congregational Assessment and Learning Experience [CALE] conducted Friday through Monday, April 24-27, 2015 by George Bullard and a team of two observers shadowing him that weekend. The purpose was to engage White Plains in an assessment and learning experience it can use to address high priority spiritual and strategic issues. Three issues were identified for the CALE by the senior pastor and his Leadership Team (Chairs of Finance, SPRC, Trustees, Lay Leadership, and Church Council), and are discussed in this report. They are: Invitational Engagement, Discipleship Engagement, and Facilities. Invitational Engagement: How to be an invitational church matching the demographics of our community. Discipleship Engagement: We have the need to grow discipleship and volunteering with the church. Facilities: We have aging facilities requiring maintenance and money that is taking a growing percentage of our available funds. White Plains is a hopeful and enduring presence of Methodist Christians near the heart of Cary, NC. It has both a positive heritage and a promising future. Through the overall Spiritual Strategic Journey [SSJ] process White Plains could be repositioned for an exciting, vital, and vibrant future. The opportunities are great. Some of the challenges are equally as significant. Changing demographics are a challenge. A location that is no longer as beneficial as it once was. Church competition in Cary necessitates White Plains clearly focusing on captivating vision of its unique ministry. In terms of the life cycle and stages of congregational development, it perceives itself to be in the Empty Nest stage of its life. White Plains must stabilize its position on the life cycle so that it has a good, positive foundation with which to spiral forward with vitality and vibrancy. This stage of the life cycle means Management is driving and fueling the journey of the congregation, and June 22, 2015 Edition 1

3 Relationships are navigating and flavoring the journey. Vision is missing. Programs are working hard to achieve the successes of the past without knowing the Vision they are seeking to fulfill. The key opportunities of the Empty Nest stage are to revitalize Programs focused around an initial understanding of the Future Story of Ministry that will emerge out of the Strategic Season of the SSJ process, and then continually listen to the voice of God for the new Vision being cast within the congregation. The vitality and vibrancy self-rating of this congregation is above average at 64 out of 100. This above average score speaks to the vitality of the congregation, and its readiness to address the opportunities and challenges of the next phase of its life and ministry. Key elements of vitality are the recognition of the leadership of people of spiritual passion who can be part of a leadership community, the role of the people of pastoral leadership in moving the congregation forward, and the steady hand of the people of position within the congregation. It is important to note the current worship attendance is around 500. It takes an average attendance of 1100 for a congregation to offer high quality programs, ministries, and activities for all 16 identifiable age/stage groups from birth to death. Any congregation that has less than 1100 in attendance must make choices. That means that 95 percent of all congregations do not have the capacity to engage in high quality ministry with all 16 age/stage groups. White Plains must make choices. It cannot do all it wants to do, can think or dream about, or can get approval to do. Choices are tough. Without making tough choices White Plains will not achieve its potential. Signs of Health and Strength On Friday evening, April 24, 2015 approximately 150 people present were asked to name their personal top ten signs of increased health and strength in the life and ministry of the congregation during the past 12 months. They were then asked to turn to their table group and come up with a consensus top ten. Below is a compilation of the overall top ten listed in alphabetical order. It is important to remember that these are the perceptions of the people present and what they said, rather than an actual analysis of the areas mentioned. Perceived truthful information is often more powerful that factual truthful information. Subjective perception is our beginning point, but may not be our ending point. 1. Caring Ministry: WPUMC is a congregation perceived to be active in nurturing and caregiving to one another and to those outside the congregation. It appears we have an increased participation in care ministry. Warmth and care is felt around times of grief due to the death of a family member or close friend. Specific organized ministries mentioned were the Stephen Ministry and Cancer Companions. 2. Change: WPUMC has gone through a time of necessary change, and has been willing to make these changes. It has made hard decisions about budget, services, and staff. It has prayerfully made these changes and often with leadership and congregational consensus that while hard, these were necessary changes. White Plains is grateful for a flexible staff and lay leadership. The Sunday morning schedule changes to include a unified Sunday School have shown benefits that are pleasing. Therefore, White Plains enters this Spiritual Strategic Journey process already willing to make changes. June 22, 2015 Edition 2

4 3. Children s Ministry: White Plains has positive things going on in its ministry to children. At the current time it is perceived that it has an increasing number of new babies born in the church family, an increased attendance by children, and good staff and lay leadership. Vacation Bible School appears to be a growing summer program that is always packed and has increased community participation. 4. Christian Education Sunday School and Discipleship: There exists vibrancy in adult Sunday School classes, and a growth in Bible studies and small groups with increased participation. The unified Sunday School has helped with the perception of increased involvement and enthusiasm for discipleship growth. The women s WINGS group is a good emphasis. 5. Finances: With adjustments made in the past year or two, there is greater satisfaction around church finances. It is important that White Plains paid their full apportionment to their denomination during The financial giving appears to be increasing. Some perceive White Plains is now fully funding its budget. 6. Missions Including Community Ministry and Outreach: White Plains has many areas of involvement in missions beyond its community, plus ministry and outreach within its community context. Among the most frequently mentioned were the food pantry, Church on the Street, Appalachian Service Project, Haiti Lighthouse Lands, and the Hispanic congregation. These are areas of great activity, involvement, and affirmation. 7. Music Ministry: White Plains has excellent, vibrant, and what appears to be growth in numbers in its music ministry. The new organ is great, as are the Praise Team and the various choirs and special music groups. White Plains seems to have an increasing quality of music at both services. 8. Staff: White Plains has excellent, dedicated, able, flexible, enthusiastic, hardworking, and adaptable staff. They have filled in the gaps when we needed to RightSize the staff. We are excited about our new contemporary worship leader. 9. Worship: White Plains has two good-to-great worship services on Sunday mornings. There appears to be good worship planning with planned sermon series, good preaching, good use of technology, and a revitalized spirit. The united fifth Sunday worship service is a highlight. 10. Youth Ministry: The youth ministry is strong. Some of its good characteristics are the youth involvement in church, Discovery, Sunday School, youth mentoring, youth speaking with great depth, and adult participation. Special Note: While these top ten signs of increase health and strength in the past 12 months are intentionally listed in alphabetical order to show a broad-base of perceived strengths with which the congregation can move forward, one area should be noted for special emphasis. Things related to missions, community ministry and outreach were mentioned more than twice as often as the next closest category. This is perceived to be a strong theme for the congregation off of which it can build additional capacities. June 22, 2015 Edition 3

5 Congregational Issues for Generative Dialogue At a gathering of approximately 150 people on Friday night, ten congregational issues for generative dialogue were presented, and each person present was asked to evaluate them on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being high. They were suggesting the presence and strength of these issues in the congregation at the current time. The following are the ten listed in order of affirmation by those present as to how true these issues are of White Plains at the current time. It is important to remember that these are the perceptions of the people present and what they said, rather than an actual analysis of the areas mentioned. High o People of Passion People with positive passion about the future of the congregation toward which God is leading it. o People of Pastoral Leadership Key pastoral leadership of the congregation. o People of Position Key elected leadership within the congregation. Medium o Programmatic Emphases The programs, ministries, and activities of the congregation. o Accountable Management The governance systems, the staff and lay leadership, the finances, and the facilities. o Relationship Experiences The relationships with God, one another, and the community context. Focus is on the disciplemaking processes of the congregation. o Visionary Leadership The clarity of vision within the congregation, and the broad ownership of that vision among leadership. Low o Communication and Conflict The ability of the congregation to dialogue in a positive manner around opportunities and challenges it faces without causing unnecessary conflict. o Contextual Relevance How closely the congregation identifies with its community context or the affinity groups to which God is sending it, and how closely it reflects these demographics in the life and ministry of the congregation. o Church Growth Are the efforts of the congregation resulting in numerical growth in the congregation? The total vitality score for White Plains was 64 out of a possible 100. This above average score speaks to the vitality of the congregation, and its readiness to address the opportunities and challenges of the next phase of its life and ministry. This is a healthy vitality score that should allow the congregation to dialogue around many of the opportunities and challenges it faces in search of God s leadership and positive forward actions. This is in spite of the lower ranking of June 22, 2015 Edition 4

6 Communication and Conflict among the ten congregational issues for generative dialogue. This likely speaks to the numerous challenges the congregation has dealt with during the past two years where it has effectively addressed needed changes, yet with some emotional and spiritual costs. The strongest foundation for moving into the future revolves around the people issues of People of Passion, People of Pastoral Leadership, and People of Positon. For White Plains it is all about people. The challenge in this is if the congregation is truly in the process of moving forward from the Empty Nest stage, trust in leaders of various types will be an important part of the foundation for moving forward. Especially with the perceived strength of the People of Passion, the Lead Team of 30 people for the SSJ process will be a very important group among whom to build deep ownership of the process plus its outcomes and impacts. The perception that Contextual Relevance and Church Growth are low speaks to both the lack of vision and the lack of effective connecting with the changing Cary context. That is part of the new relationships that need to be cultivated. The Life Cycle and Stages of Congregational Development At a gathering of more than 150 people on Friday night, 143 people provided their opinion as to which stage of the life cycle the congregation is in at the current time. The results were: 83 chose Empty Nest, 31 chose Maturity, 28 chose Retirement and 1 chose Old Age. With almost 60 percent choosing Empty Nest, this is a clear and convincing starting point for the forward journey of the congregation. General Thoughts about Empty Nest: Empty Nest is the stage in a congregation s life when Management is driving and fueling the journey of the congregation, and Relationships are navigating and flavoring the journey. Vision is missing. Programs are working hard to achieve the successes of the past without knowing the Vision they are seeking to fulfill. The key opportunities of the Empty Nest stage are to revitalize Programs focused around an initial understanding of the Future Story of Ministry that will emerge out of the Strategic Season of the SSJ process, and then continually listen to the voice of God for the new Vision being cast within the congregation. The theme for the next steps in Empty Nest is Revitalization. This initially involves looking for low hanging fruit which involves ways that Management can be diminished in any places where it might be controlling rather than empowering, and discovering a place where incremental transitions and changes can be made in how programs, ministries, and activities are being carried out. In the not too distant future an audit of all programs, ministries, and activities of the congregation needs to be conducted to determine their effectiveness at producing positive and empowering outputs, impacts, capacity building, and sustainability in keeping with early understandings of the next steps for the congregation. It could take 18 to 36 months for the Empty Nest stage to spiral forward to a new Adolescence stage of the life cycle. By that time a Future Story of Ministry will be in place and Vision and Management should be switching places in terms of who is driving the congregational journey and who is supporting the congregational journey. June 22, 2015 Edition 5

7 Observations from the People in Focus Group Interviews About 60 people were in the focus group interviews during the weekend experience. While this is not a scientific sampling, it is generally a reliable sample for many congregations, and it does represent the involved people who could be counted on to connect with the focus groups. It is an important subjective picture of active congregational participants. They painted an interesting picture that can impact the ministry focus of White Plains. 1. Age: Only about 30 percent were under 50 years old, and about 70 percent were 50 or more years old. Digging deeper, only 13 percent were under 40 years old. This reinforces the belief that the congregation needs to continue to invest in the spiritual and life stage needs of young to median adult families/households to increase the numbers and deepen the percentage that are active within the congregation. 2. Length of Participation in White Plains: Just fewer than 30 percent of the people have been connected with White Plains for 10 years or less. Just over 70 percent have been connected for 11 years or more. Digging deeper, 24 percent have been connected for five years or less. This is good and healthy. 50 percent have been connected for 21 years or more. This is more than would be hoped. A healthy pattern is when half of the active congregation has been connected for 15 years or less. Your mid-point is at 20 years. 3. Length of Participation in Any Church: Nineteen percent of the people have been connected with any church during their life for 30 years or less. 81 percent have been connected with any church for 31 years or more. Once more than 50 percent of the active adults in a congregation has been attending church for 31 or more year that church is a churched culture congregation. This could be a significant challenge for White Plains. Strategic Insight: White Plains primarily reaches people from a churched culture. It does not tend to attract heads of households that lack significant church attendance patterns. Therefore, addressing the needs of prechristians and the unchurched is like speaking a foreign language to vast majority of the active congregation. Without unlearning and relearning plus significant effort to reach prechristians, unchurched, underchurched, and dechurched persons, the future members of White Plains will primarily be people already in the churched culture, and likely with some Methodist experience. If this is the case then no significant progress will be made in connecting with and engaging the emerging Cary context in a Christ-centered, faith-based relationship. 4. Drive Time on Sunday Morning: 80 percent of the people drive 20 minutes or less to get to church on Sundays. Only 45 percent drive ten minutes or less which means there is not a heavy concentration of active participants from the neighborhoods less than five miles from the church. A certain number of these people lived closer in the past. It is necessary for White Plains to relearn its context. 5. Attraction to White Plains: People are primarily attracted to White Plains because of its location, the fact that it is Methodist, or that they have family and friends already in the church. People stay once they come because they are drawn into a friendly atmosphere, the quality of worship, the preaching, relationships that develop with staff or laity, and the music. June 22, 2015 Edition 6

8 Hopes and Dreams for the Future of White Plains Four hopes and dreams for the future of White Plains rose to the top as to frequency of mention during the focus group interviews: 1. Twentysomethings and Thirtysomethings: We need to discover multiple ways to more deeply connect with household or families headed by people in their 20s and 30s. These include singles never married, singles again, couples without children, and couples with children. We need to be invitational to them, open to their needs, opening up to them leadership roles, and helping them connect with significant spiritual formation and missional engagement. 2. Numerical Growth: We need to engage in activities that will enable us to grow numerically to have the capacity to offer the programs, ministries, and activities needed within our congregational family and in the community. 3. Community Ministry and Outreach: We need to continue, strengthen, and broaden our involvements in our community context that address the real needs of real people in real time. This is one of our strengths that needs to be enhanced. 4. Diversity: We need to be open to and proactive about greater diversity of various types. We need more age diversity and to address the perspectives of various age generations within our congregation. We need to be more open to different cultures and the changing demographics of our context. One way to immediately exhibit this is through a deeper relationship with the Luz del Pueblo congregation. 5. Other Hopes and Dreams: A few others were mentioned multiple times that support these top four, but they were mentioned somewhat less: a. Fellowship: We need a deeper relationship with one another, a more active fellowship among various groups and demographics, and a greater sense of excitement about the future of the church. b. Spiritual Formation: We need a deeper focus on spiritual formation and discipleship growth as Christians. c. Leadership Commitment: We need additional commitment to leadership roles and active participation in the mission and activities of our church. d. Vision: We need a clear vision as to where we are headed and then to align our priorities to fulfill this vision. June 22, 2015 Edition 7

9 Challenges to Realize these Hopes and Dreams Five challenges to realizing the hopes and dreams for the future of White Plains rose to the top as to frequency of mention during the focus group interviews: 1. Twentysomethings and Thirtysomethings: As great a hope and dream this is, there is also a concern that this will be a significant challenge. Does White Plains have what it takes to be successful in inviting twentysomethings and thirtysomethings to connect deeply with the congregation? Is the congregation willing to make the transitions and changes necessary for this effort to be successful? How does the congregation show it cares about the real needs of other generations while reaching this generation? Will the preschool, children, and youth programs be sufficient to address the needs of the dependents in these households? 2. Facilities: It is obvious that the current facilities need to be retrofitted for future ministry success and significance. This upgrading includes the need to expand and improve both the inside and the outside of the facilities, and expand the on-site parking. Can the congregation tackle these issues in a timely way without overburdening itself financially? 3. Openness to Change: The congregation has been through a lot of change over the past several years. Can it maintain its openness to transition and change as more efforts will be needed to address both the opportunities and challenges of the future? How much transition and change is the congregation willing to empower, to accept, and to handle spiritually and emotionally? 4. Commitment: To address the age focus, the facilities, and the various transitions and changes a deeper level of commitment to the journey of the congregation by a larger percentage of the congregation will be needed. Is the willing to commit there? Is the staff willing to delegate and empower more to the laity if they step up to lead a larger percentage of the transitions and changes? 5. Finances: It is a reality that the future will be financially costly. Does the generosity gene throughout the congregation have enough capacity to address the needed finances? If not, what needs to happen to develop the generosity gene to a greater extent? What are the multiple streams of financial resources the congregation needs to embrace? June 22, 2015 Edition 8

10 Counsel Regarding the Issues Identified for the CALE Process Three strategic issues were identified for the CALE and are discussed in this report. They were: Facilities, Invitational Engagement, and Discipleship Engagement. Invitational Engagement: Presenting Issue How to be an invitational church matching the demographics of our community. Response: Contextual Relevance was ranked ninth out of the ten congregational issues for generative dialogue. This means that it is perceived that White Plains is unclear about to whom God is sending it. It has not clearly identified its current target groups or affinity groups on whom to focus its ministry. It does not know the demographics of its community context at a deep level. Its leadership is less and less living in its community context. This is not an unusual situation for many congregations. At the same time it is one that must be effectively addressed to deal with the issue of invitational engagement. It does not involve an overnight fix. It is at least a medium-range effort taking 18 to 36 months to reposition the congregation. Making this a priority is consistent with the overall input received during the CALE where there was a desire to focus on twentysomethings and thirtysomethings, and yet a realization that this is also a challenge which will be difficult to address. It is also consistent with the desire to move forward. While White Plains has experienced a loss of members and regular attendees in recent years, and while this creates a sense of loss for many people, a focus on seeking to reactivate people who have left will require greater effort than many people perceive. Also, the track record in thousands of congregations of a lack of success in reactivating former members tells us this is not a good investment of limited resources. It will not help White Plains move forward into the future God has for it. It will involve multiple types of efforts. A few are listed here to begin a dialogue. 1. Demographics: It is necessary to obtain scientifically accurate demographic research reports from multiple sources. A beginning point is the MissionInsite material that can be obtained through your denomination. But, you do not need to stop there. You should also obtain local, regional, and state demographic reports, and similar reports from other sources. Interviews should be conducted with multiple knowledgeable people who can provide the soft data and an interpretation of the data. These would include government officials, school officials, neighborhood/community organization officers, chamber of commerce staff, real estate agents/brokers, and other similar sources. 2. Guests/Visitors: People who live within a five-mile radius of the church facilities who have visited the church during the past 12-months need to be interviewed to discover what they were looking for in a church, and what they did or did not find of White Plains that fit what they were seeking. Learn from them what you are and are not doing to connect with them. June 22, 2015 Edition 9

11 3. Decision Point: To whom is God sending us as a congregation? With a clear understanding of the demographics of the community and the expectations of guests/visitors, White Plains will have a very important decision to make. Are these the people to whom God is sending us? If so, how do we need to change our functioning to have the best quality and most effective invitational engagement? 4. Community Engagement: White Plains must engage the community context first in the community and not in the church. This sounds simple, but it is difficult to accomplish. Think not in terms of how people from the community context can be attracted to and involved in the programs, ministries, and activities of White Plains. Think rather how the church can be attracted to and involved in the real needs of real people in real time in the community context. The first, second, and probably third encounter with people needs to be in the community context. Once relationships have been established then it would be possible to invite them to come to something at the church facilities. They must be motivated to move deeper into relationship with God in community with White Plains before they will come in significant numbers to the church facilities. If the programs and location you offer was appealing to them, they would already be here. Just as in the congregational issues ranking the three people groups within the church were ranked the highest, the people in your community context likely want a relationship with people rather than with programs. 5. Luz del Pueblo: A complimenting invitation engagement is the passion to include Luz del Pueblo in this issue. What is the dimension of passion for helping this community as one part of our congregational family to be more invitational? How can we create a synergy of efforts focused on the Hispanic community throughout our community context and beyond? Discipleship Engagement: Presenting Issue We have the need to grow discipleship and volunteering with the church. Response: A radical difference exists between the program of discipleship and the process of disciplemaking. Leading edge congregations shifted away from the program of discipleship to the process of disciplemaking beginning in the 1970s. The vast majority of Protestant congregations have not yet made the shift. The first response is that White Plains needs to reconceptualize the issue of disciplemaking as a multiple year process and discipleship as a series of programs. People who are engaged in a meaningful and significant disciplemaking process connect more deeply and stay connected longer with a church. Discipleship engagement must start with a clear understanding of the characteristics of a mature Christian disciple. What does one look like? What does one believe? What does one do? Again, the vast majority of Protestant congregations cannot define what a mature Christian disciple looks like. Can White Plains? If you cannot define the characteristics of a mature Christian disciple, then how will you know when people are making progress toward becoming one? Do you want more June 22, 2015 Edition 10

12 mature Christian disciples to serve the needs of White Plains? Or, do you want more mature Christian disciples because you see that as God s mission for White Plains? The disciplemaking process can be illustrated as a linear continuum or an organic circle with multiple entry points that include the following signposts: Christ, Congregation, Community, Calling, and Commission/Commandment. Christ is about having a Christ-centered relationship with the Triune God. Congregation is about connecting with a congregational expression as a primary, ongoing relationship in life. Community is about full assimilation into the congregational community as a place of meaning spiritual experiences and deep friendships with others in the community. Calling is about spiritual formation and leadership development plus understanding how to apply spiritual gifts, life skills, and personality preferences to fulfill God s mission in general, and the vision God has for White Plains specifically. Commission/Commandment is about engaging missionally in God s world out of a personal and congregational community understanding of Calling. Parallel to this framework or system is the need for White Plains to move to become a higher expectation congregation in terms of the commitment of people to the spiritual and strategic journey of the congregation. Needed now are a minimum of 150 people who have all four of the following characteristics. Ultimately 200 people will need these commitments. 1. Church Attendance: Presence in the core weekly worship, discipleship, and fellowship activities of the congregation a minimum 36 Sundays per year. 2. Disciplemaking Process: Involvement in an ongoing disciplemaking process as opposed to simply being connected with a Sunday School class, other small group, or periodic teaching/learning experiences. 3. Relationships: Deep involvement in and relationship within the congregational community. They can count a minimum of six households among the laity they could call on in an emergency and these people would gladly respond. 4. Role: An ongoing leadership role in a congregation s programs, processes, ministries, or activities that helps fulfill the mission and vision of the congregation. This is as opposed to an episodic involvement in some events or projects. A goal in this is to achieve the status as a laity empowered congregation where the staff serve the role of mentors and coaches. The laity do the ministry and the staff are the cheerleaders. White Plains will never hire enough staff to do the work of the church, nor should this be the aim. Facilities: Presenting Issue We have aging facilities requiring maintenance. The cost of the needed maintenance is taking a growing percentage of our available funds. Response: Even a casual tour of your facilities indicates the need for a significant amount of retrofitting of space to make it an asset for the future ministry of White Plains. Architectural designs that seemed reasonable when the facilities were planned and June 22, 2015 Edition 11

13 constructed now do not meet the needs of a 21 st century congregation. And it shows. Currently our facilities are a stumbling block to forward progress. White Plains needs to address both the structural condition of its facilities and the creation of a more appealing physical environment that enhances the value of the programs, ministries, and activities offered in the facilities. Newer, younger people will expect a more appealing physical environment. Maintenance issues and upgrading have been delayed to the point that numerous issues must be addressed. Factors that would be typical of an aging facility are crying out to be addressed. They cannot be addressed all at once. It is a multiple year and multiple phase project. It will take a very significant financial investment that must be handled without the raising of money for capital expenses being too significant of a priority for the life and ministry of the congregation. More strategic issues surrounding Vision and Relationships must have the highest priority. Planning for the retrofitting of your facilities cannot be done based on bringing your facilities up to current day standards and program needs. Rather, out of your Spiritual Strategic Journey process White Plains must make an informed prediction of what type and quality of facilities will be needed 30 years from now. While this is impossible to know with great accuracy, every reasonable effort must be made to anticipate the architectural design, structural integrity, use flexibility, quality space, worshipful space, user friendly space, easy maintenance space, technology capacities, storage, and appearance beauty needed a generation into the future. Beyond this the church should also consider the capital equipment and routine major replacements such as roofs and HVAC systems that will be required over the next 30 years to have a full understanding of long-term facilities costs. This will not be a small financial figure. However, any delay in doing this will increase this figure. Without a master architectural plan of the future needs on this site it is possible the church may remodel, upgrade, retrofit space in a manner in which it would have to be redone within five to ten years. A master plan approach will allow the church to make the best use of its dollars over the long-term. Obviously flexibility and multi-use of space should be a hallmark of any master plan redesign. With whatever is done, stay away from things considered to be value engineering if and when they result in systems, structures, and design features that are cheaper in the short-term and more expensive in the long-term. Structural space added or retrofitted must fit the Future Story of Ministry that will emerge out of the Spiritual Strategic Journey process. The order of addressing future issues is strategy first, staffing both paid and volunteer second, and structure or facilities issues third. At the same time some of the structural issues cannot wait until the first two are figured out. They must be addressed sooner. But they must be addressed in a way that will not preclude what needs to happen out of the Future Story of Ministry. June 22, 2015 Edition 12

14 While it may seem crazy or to be a bridge too far, the question at least needs to be raised as to whether or not the current facilities in the current location will adequately address the long-term future of White Plains. An extensive architectural/facilities analysis needs to be begun soon so White Plains will know what it is dealing with as it looks 30 years into the future. June 22, 2015 Edition 13