Fruitful Congregation Journey Consultation Report Smith Valley United Methodist Church March 17, 2013 Introduction We, the consultation team, would like to thank Pastor Matt Swisher, the lay leadership and the congregation of the Smith Valley United Methodist Church (Smith Valley UMC) for the invitation to consult with your church as part of the Fruitful Congregation Journey. The observations and prescriptions in this report are the result of the consultation team studying the following information: a) Smith Valley UMC s self-study document provided by its leaders, b) interviews with the pastor, staff, and lay leadership, c) a focus group with members of the congregation, d) a focus group with the Administrative Council, e) a MissionInsite demographic report of the area s population, f) congregational survey, g) input from the Faith Perceptions Mystery Guest Worshipper report, and h) input from Saturday s leadership workshop. It was a great joy to work with a congregation that openly cooperated with us and provided all the information we requested. The consultation team s prayer is that God will use this assessment experience and consultation report so that Smith Valley UMC will more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of its community and the world. Strengths Smith Valley UMC s greatest strengths are as follows: 1. Friendly and Welcoming Congregation The consultation team enjoyed hearing personal stories of sincere friendliness, camaraderie and welcoming. Mystery guest worshippers also experienced a genuineness of being welcomed when visiting Smith Valley UMC. 2. No Debt The people of Smith Valley UMC have done a wonderful job of providing ministry in the valley without current debt. The recent $400,000 Welcome Center is an example of money following vision. As one church leader put it, when the idea for a new Welcome Center was presented money appeared. 3. Community Demographics Smith Valley UMC is strategically located in an area in which the average age is 37 within a 5- mile radius of the church building. Although, Old Smith Valley Road is not a main thoroughfare, population demographics, household incomes and density suggest that Smith Valley UMC s target audience is abundant and proximate. 4. Open, Accepting, Tolerant The people of Smith Valley UMC exhibit a loving attitude and caring service towards the people of its community. People are loved, helped, and served who adopt non-traditional lifestyles, family structures and situations. Smith Valley UMC offers a non-judgmental support community that could facilitate and encourage outreach efforts and growth. 5. Facilities and Parking From its original 1927 structure through two major additions, the Smith Valley UMC building is in excellent condition with underutilized space. There is ample paved parking, a covered entry area to the new Welcome Center and the church s park used for church supported community events like Ultimate Frisbee and Carnival.
Concerns Smith Valley UMC s greatest concerns are as follows: 1. Lack of Clear, Shared Vision While Smith Valley UMC has a current mission statement, the mission of the United Methodist Church is To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and the world. There is no clear, shared vision that defines how the church will accomplish its stated mission. Without a clear vision, the church is currently unable to effectively mobilize its resources (finances, paid and unpaid personnel, facilities, etc.) to accomplish its mission. This lack of clear vision often results in confusion and conflict. 2. No Discernible Discipleship Pathway There is no clear system to grow disciples of Jesus Christ at Smith Valley UMC. While attempts have been made to connect newcomers, there are no steps and pathways to move people of all ages from seekers to fully devoted and authentic followers of Jesus Christ. There must be an established (and well communicated) process of how a person: 1. begins and grows in a relationship with Jesus Christ and the church, 2. grows in their knowledge of the Christian faith, 3. becomes connected to other believers for support and accountability, and 4. becomes active in service to others for the purpose of sharing the gospel. There was no evidence of a communications effort that brings all of these elements together. 3. Stewardship That Doesn t Support Ministry The church struggles with having enough financial resources to fulfill its ministries. There has been inadequate discussion of giving as a spiritual discipline. The consultation team found a culture of fear and scarcity surrounding the church s finances. The church must build a culture of faith in God s provision and joyful generosity to replace the attitude that says we can only do the ministries we can afford. 4. No Apparent Leadership Development While the church has a number of experienced leaders, there is no intentional process or pathway to develop the next generation of leaders, leaving current servants in the leader for life syndrome. Additionally, there is no evaluation tool to measure leadership effectiveness. Pastoral leadership must step up to shepherding the congregation. The current leadership is not well known to the congregation and is not as accessible as it should be. The pastor, staff (paid and unpaid), and Ad Council leadership must work together to address these concerns. 5. Uncoordinated Worship The overall worship experience was considered only average by those grading it for content, driven by lower scores for coordination. The factors driving this evaluation include insufficient planning and practice, dead spaces, excessive length of music and media not in harmony with the scriptures and the message. Prescriptions
In order to address the above concerns, Smith Valley UMC must implement the following prescriptions: 1. Clear, Shared Vision The congregation understands when this consultation report is accepted, should that be the case, that it will adopt the mission of the United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The congregation will have a day of prayer, forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing for not fully reaching the mission field. This will allow the membership to be fully prepared for the Lord s vision for the future. This service will be led by a person provided by Church Development and be conducted by May 19, 2013. Additionally; a) The coach will conduct a Day of Visioning for the congregation. The purpose of this day is to dream of how God might want to work through the congregation both individually and collectively to reach the surrounding community. This will occur by June 15, 2013. Following the Day of Visioning, the Pastor, in conjunction with the coach and the leadership of the church, will create a vision statement. This statement will be presented to the congregation by July 7, 2013. b) The Pastor and coach will select a development tool, such as Creating a Culture of Teamwork workshop, based on Patrick Lencioni s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, to help raise the Lay Leadership s effectiveness in working together dealing with conflict in open healthy ways, and engendering trust, cooperation, and healthy communication. This will be completed by September 30, 2013. c) Every ministry in the congregation must demonstrate how it will accomplish the vision statement. To that end, the leaders will conduct a vision and ministry audit. Any ministries not focused on the vision will be given a year to adapt in order to fit the vision statement, or be dissolved. This audit must be completed by February 15, 2014. 2. Discipleship Pathway The Pastor, in consultation with the coach, will put together a team of 3-5 lay leaders with at least one associated with the Ultimate Frisbee program and one from the Carnival on or before May 15, 2013, to create a clear discipleship path for moving people from where they are on their spiritual journey to becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. The discipleship path will be designed for everyone, whether a nonbeliever or one who is maturing in their faith. This discipleship path will represent a lifelong process. The Team will discern a faith development plan within a Wesleyan model that encourages all persons: to begin, and grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ, to grow in their knowledge of the Christian faith through Bible studying, to connect with other believers for support and accountability, and to be in service to others for the purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ. Additionally, the Pastor in consultation with the coach will provide a training process to create the necessary opportunities (i.e. small groups, classes, Sunday school, mission
trips, etc.) for entry onto the discipleship path. This new process will be adopted and implemented in the life of Smith Valley UMC at all ministry levels (children, youth and adults) by September 15, 2013. As a beginning step of the implementation process using Ultimate Frisbee and Carnival events as target audiences: Develop lists of attendees within 10 days of the event or ongoing Create a system of following up with attendees as lists are developed o Determine other uses of the list (congregational care, nurturing, etc.) Establish a goal to connect 20 participants to the worship experience 10 from Ultimate Frisbee and 10 from Carnival by December 31, 2013 (also a part of Prescription 5). Start one new small group comprised of new attendees by December 31, 2013 3. Stewardship The Pastor will contact and enlist the assistance of Kent Millard, the Indiana Conference Director of Generosity and Gratitude on or before June 15, 2013. The Pastor, in consultation with the coach, will put a plan together for a fall program to help the church practice extravagant generosity by August 15, 2013. This plan will use the Consecration Model to help people of all ages embrace the joy and privilege of tithing as a means of helping to grow God s kingdom. This plan will conclude with a Consecration Sunday experience led by Kent Millard or a person of his choosing, on or before November 17, 2013. The congregation will be invited to indicate what they plan to give to God in 2014. This plan will also include classes for the church and surrounding community on financial literacy through offering a faith-based financial workshop such as Good $ense or Financial Peace University to the congregation and community, beginning by January 15, 2014. The pastor will complete an effectiveness study (based on participant feedback including both congregation and community participants) due eight weeks after the completion of the workshop. This study will help determine future activities. 4. Leadership Development In order to develop the next generation of leaders, the Pastor, in consultation with the coach, will identify at least five potential leaders who are confirmed, up to age 40 by September 1, 2013. They will be asked to commit to participating in the leadership development system. This system may include the following: Shared learning through guided study of books and teachings, Spiritual-gift and personality profile inventories, The regular practice of spiritual disciplines for example prayer, retreats, tithing, regular worship attendance, service and mission, The use of regular goal-setting in alignment with mission and vision, holding one another accountable to achievement of the goals, The practice of having apprentice leaders or co-chairs. This system will be facilitated by the pastor and adopted and instituted by the Church Council and staff by December 1, 2013. 5. Worship
The senior pastor and coach will establish a worship planning design team led by the pastor. A person provided by Church Development will assist this team in developing worship experiences to best reach the target audiences. This team will study the Faith Perceptions and MissionInsite reports and implement any necessary changes. This will be completed by September 15, 2013. As a beginning step: Develop an intentional hospitality program that will track and connect all new persons to the ministry and include internal and external communications, such as technology, signage, digital and social media by July 1, 2013. o Replace directional road signs by December 31, 2013 o Install audio/visual system in the Welcome Center by December 31, 2013 o Restart community movie night and/or an additional worship experience in the Welcome Center by December 31, 2013 Establish a goal to connect 20 participants to the worship experience 10 from Ultimate Frisbee and 10 from Carnival by December 31, 2013. Evaluate results and develop 2014 community connection plan by March 1, 2014. Conclusion We, the consultation team, want to thank you for the opportunity to serve your congregation in this manner. Our prayers and hope for your congregation are that God will use this process to help you implement your mission more effectively, utilize your compelling vision through a developed plan, and thereby make an eternal difference in the Smith Valley UMC and the world for the Glory of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Helpful resources in this process include Ultimately Responsible by Sue Nilson Kibbey, and the book Winning on Purpose by John Kaiser. In addition there is a Leadership Development training conducted by Sue Nilson Kibbey on Saturday, April 20, 2013, in New Albany, Indiana. Consultation Team Members Sharon Washington, lead consultant Gary Eberhart, consultant Mark Eutsler, consultant Helene Foust, consultant Town Hall Meeting Dates: Tuesday, March 26, 7:00 p.m. Sunday, April 14, 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, 4:30 p.m. Church Conference Date: April 28, 2013 (immediately following worship)