Grace Abounding! 1 In the Fall of 2013 the Long-Range Planning Ministry Team of the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church led a process of listening to our growing congregation, both to aid us in evaluating our current plans and strategies, and to invite dreams and visions of what our future together could be. As we planned for this, we were aided and influenced by the book, Memories, Hopes, and Conversations, written by Mark Branson and published by the Alban Institute. Branson outlines what he terms Holy Conversations with church members, that can draw forth life-giving memories and dreams, calling this process Appreciative Inquiry. To quote from the Alban description, Appreciative Inquiry... assumes that all organizations have significant life forces, and these forces are available in stories and imaginations. Further, by bringing these resources into the organization s conversations and planning, major changes can be implemented. In other words, by discovering the best and most valuable narratives and qualities of an organization, participants can construct a new way that has the most important links to the past and the most hopeful images of the future. To begin this process, our Team used the three introductory questions suggested by Branson: 1) Remembering your entire experience at our church, when were you the most alive, most motivated and excited about your involvement? What made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe what you felt. 2) What do you value most about our church? What activities or ingredients or ways of life are most important? What are the best features of this church? 3) Make three wishes for the future of the church! We asked these questions both in live group sessions and in questionnaires distributed to church members. Church groups that were surveyed included our Session and Ministry Teams, Sunday School Gathering participants, Youth groups and leaders, the Presbyterian Women, our choir and music leaders, our Logos facilitators, new members, the Men s Group, and members who are Givens Highland Farms residents. We received more than 200 responses from the congregation, and were overwhelmed by both their spirit and content. These responses indeed became Holy Conversations that could perhaps best be described as an outpouring of love letters to Black Mountain Presbyterian Church! As we received these precious responses we had the feeling of standing on holy ground as folks shared their heart-felt love and appreciation for what this body of Christ has meant to them. No one could remain unmoved in reading these responses! Folks told us in no uncertain terms that they deeply appreciate a church which: 1. Enables us, through powerful corporate worship, to hear God s word in preaching and music, and to thank God in return. 2. Enfolds us in a welcoming and loving family community of openness, trust, and mutual appreciation. 3. Strengthens, motivates, and enables us to then go out in service to God s hurting world. For each of the questions, the responses were sorted into five broad thematic areas which 1 Quoted from a response
emerged from the responses: C. Mission/Service E. Children/Youth Question 1: Remembering your entire experience at our church, when were you the most alive, most motivated and excited about your involvement? What made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe what you felt. Worship is where many find their inspiration and strength. Excellent preaching, teaching, and music combine to make what many define as an incredible experience. The involvement of lay leaders, especially the youth, is seen as a way for members to serve and to deepen their own faith. There is appreciation of the many individuals in our church who share their talents and wisdom when called upon. Those involved in planning the early service enjoy a strong sense of openness and collaboration among all involved. They appreciate the freedom to be creative. The contribution of the whole staff to the Sunday morning experience, as well as to the rest of the life of the congregation, is described as noticeable and outstanding. There is wide-spread appreciation for our teaching elders and choir director. They work together to create an inspiring and spirit-filled service each Sunday. Feelings about Sunday morning were defined by words such as stimulating, challenging, deeply moving, spirit filled, uplifting, humbling. Example: Like many others, I find Sunday morning worship creatively fresh and exciting. The preaching touches my life profoundly and the singing is extremely uplifting. They both go a long way in renewing my faith. Reports from the new members who responded are positive. They felt welcomed, loved, and happy to be a part of a caring congregation. They enjoyed a chance to get acquainted with shepherds and to discover ways to serve the church. They were excited about a new beginning. Those involved in the new member training found their energy to be both refreshing and exciting. Serving God through the church can be a positive experience for all through many activities whether washing dishes or working on special projects. Our church offers opportunities for service with rewards for those who receive and those who give. Example: Washing dishes builds relationships!
C. Mission/Service Opportunities to serve others are seen as a blessing. Members feel called to hands-on involvement in a wide variety of service projects. Mission work evokes feelings of humbleness and satisfaction. Example: Guatemala [Mission Trip I felt] very humble and blessed! Education is an integral part of our church, and students as well as teachers are energized on Sunday morning, at the Logos program, Bible studies, recreation, Communicant s class, new member classes, the preschool, and special programs. Our teaching elders, youth workers, preschool personnel, and lay leaders are seen as vital to our education program. Example: I have felt excited and have learned a great deal from the speakers in the Biblical Perspectives class. I have been especially appreciative of those persons who were willing to share their personal life journeys with us. E. Children/Youth Our youth are energetic and involved. They enjoy activities such as youth camping trips, retreats, music, service, Logos, and worship. They thirst for relationships and a safe place to share their thoughts and feelings. They like belonging to a community of believers. Example: Getting away from our lives and coming to places like Lake Lure with everyone in the Youth Group makes me feel a sense of security, belonging, and open-mindedness. To me, the best moments are opportunities to open up to my peers and talk about personal concerns. For some, Youth Group is the only time that can happen. Question 2: What do you value most about our church? What activities or ingredients or ways of life are most important? What are the best features of this church? As might be expected, the morning worship services are an important part of our church. Words used to describe our morning worship services are inspiring, meaningful, intentional, thought-provoking and welcoming. Parishioners commented on the high quality of the sermons and music. They like the options provided by the two different services with a variety of music and worship styles and the participation of lay people, especially the youth. Mention was made of the challenges that have been boldly addressed by our teaching elders. We are defining ourselves as an open and accepting congregation. We welcome everyone.
Example: Meaningful, intentional thought-provoking and welcoming Sunday morning service. Open and accepting congregation. There is, in a time of division and even animosity within and between faith communities, this church seems to rise above that kind of mind-set and ugliness. Those who love the church responded with positive experiences about being a part of the church family. They feel spiritually fed, accepted, and nurtured by our welcoming congregation and our incredible, spirit-filled staff. Our openness to change is recognized and appreciated by many and all seem to enjoy and encourage the involvement of our young families and children in the life and leadership of our church. Example: The thing that I value most about our church is the friendship and love that the people share. There is a sincere caring among our people you really have to run fast to avoid it! C. Mission/Service Both local and global missions are top priorities of our church. We are blessed to have staff that provide bold leadership for our outreach efforts with good communication and shared leadership among all ages. This shared leadership is visible not only in missions, but also in worship and stewardship. The inclusive character of the membership and the affirmation of diversity were also recognized by this group. Example: I think our best features are our openness: our willingness to extend our arms and our love to enfold everyone regardless of their life style and their beliefs. I also think that we do a terrific job of creating a warm space for children and youth in a Christ-centered, nourishing environment. Our participation in mission to others both locally and overseas is one of our top priorities. Our church is blessed with extraordinary educators both among our staff and congregation. Each educational opportunity is appreciated whether it is Sunday school, a Bible study, our two worship services, small groups, or special events. Our Weekday school is a significant outreach of our church and its success is again due to many dedicated and talented individuals. Example: The opportunity to engage contemporary issues from the perspective of faith the Biblical Perspectives Class is best at doing this in my experience.
E. Children/Youth Those who recognize the value of nurturing our children and youth are passionate about programs that educate and prepare our next generation of spiritual leaders. We value our children s ministry from our successful weekday school to our senior high programs. Mention was made of programs that have made a difference in the lives of children like Logos, youth groups with their dedicated leaders, and Sunday morning experiences. In addition to providing a Christ-centered experience for preschoolers, it was noted that families often find their way into our congregation via the weekday school. We have created a welcoming, accepting, nurturing, and safe environment for our diverse group of children and youth. Even though we have growing pains, we have managed to maintain a close relationship with the youth. Their involvement in worship and other leadership opportunities is appreciated and encouraged. Maybe the best compliment was that our church is a great place in which to grow up. Example: It s a great church to grow up in! Question 3: Make three wishes for the future of the church! There is a wish that we ensure that measures are in place to encourage retention of our highly effective personnel and consider the addition of a Visiting Pastor to share the pastoral care duties. Investigate additions and modifications of our worship services to broaden our appeal to a diverse congregation. This includes, but is not limited to, alternative forms of worship, healing services, prayer service with time for meditation and reflection, services designed to train our youngest worshipers, additional intergenerational activities, and experiences intended to unify our congregation that is often divided by different services. Our dynamic music program is recognized and appreciated. Ways to increase that ministry include an expanded children and youth involvement in both the choirs and bell choir. Example: A bi-weekly service with a strong emphasis on simplicity, silence, group recitation of psalms, prayer. Perhaps a liturgy used by a monastic order could be helpful. Since the church is growing quickly, one wish is to increase relationship building opportunities through intergenerational fellowship and recreation. Take steps to ensure that the church has established programs that support a congregation that is growing in diversity. Ensure that support groups are in place for young families,
women, men, children, and youth. Since Presbyterians love to eat and important fellowship happens around the table, some wish that we could expand and upgrade our kitchen. There was a suggestion that there be a password protected directory on the church website with photos and addresses. Example: Having more occasions that bring together the total membership (from both Services) children, youth and older adults. C. Mission/Service There was a wish to expand our local missions and opportunities for family missions in cooperation with existing organizations including other churches. This might include a program to help the un- or under-employed find jobs, a financial ministry, a Day Shelter on Sunday afternoons, helping hands to single parents or the elderly, a tutoring center, mentoring of at-risk kids, sports sponsorship, parenting classes, support classes or pastoral counseling for those who have suffered loss or other life challenges, a singles ministry, a Parish Nurse program, and visible participation in local events such as Festivals. Some dream of expanding the Church House by adding additional floors or even a complete new building to better serve our expanding congregation. There are wishes for a family life center with a big new modern kitchen. Along with the dream, there is a wish for a Master Site Plan that includes ways to incorporate more energy-aware, green measures. There is a hope that we objectively evaluate each of the church s programs with reliable and valid data as we find creative and practical ways to deal with our growth. We are reminded that we must move forward with emphasis on the stewardship of financial/property investments/holdings/estates. Example: Community presence that role models faith tutoring center, sports sponsor, mentoring, childcare for single parents. Wishes for education include an expanded weekday school to serve full-time working parents. Since our school is considered by many to be excellent, it is hoped that the school could share best practices with other day school programs. Hope was expressed for continued youth programming at high levels with increased funding for worthwhile experiences, trips, etc. for all. A dream was expressed for a huge endowment to help fund operations, not just special projects. There is a desire to have more opportunities for our very talented congregation to share
talents. For example, we have authors who could share their writings, outstanding leaders for small-group inter-generational Bible Studies or classes/discussion on topics important to specific age groups (i.e. Young adult: finances, marriage/relationships; older adults: retirement planning, elder care. We could sponsor special events to provide education about topics of special interest such as emerging theology or other faiths. There is a wish to strengthen the young adult ministries and to be a teaching congregation with a program for interns. A desire was expressed to partner with Montreat Presbyterian Church to develop and promote a blue ribbon lecture series shared between our two churches with follow-up conferences at Montreat Conference Center. Example: Use our strong Weekday School program as a teaching tool for other churches we are a shining light for early childhood education spread the word! E. Children/Youth Conclusion: Wishes from and for our young people included services, opportunities, facilities, and recreation. There was mention of a Saturday Youth Study Hall similar to the one at Morganton PC, a youth choir, a Mt. Mitchell Prayer Hike, strengthened inter-generational connections with forums for parents to discuss parenting issues, a Parents Night Out, and a cool hang-out space designed for our youth. Example: Have parent support meetings where parents can discuss, with other parents, current issues they are having with youth; or a Parents Night Out. One of the charges given to our Long-Range Planning Team in conducting this Listening process was to answer the key question: Does the congregation think we are headed in the right direction? So it is our joy to convey these heart-felt responses that speak an overwhelming Yes! to this question. We are moved and deeply grateful to have been a part of these Holy Conversations with God s people at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church! Long-Range Planning Ministry Team (2013) Kevin Brandon Kriste Little Kitty Fouche Maggie Ray Beverly Highland Skip Stansell Wilson Jumper John Walker Staff: Rev. Shannon Kershner