Transition Team is Listening
We are listening.
Seven MPBC members (nominated by you) came together in May to undertake this intentional interim process. The Transition Team will prompt the congregation’s work to clarify our collective identity in order to understand what we need in a senior minister. Rev. Dr. Layne Smith will be our coach, but it is you, the congregation, who will determine this process of church transition. You are the leaders - through your participation and your input across the five focus points that Layne laid out last week: Heritage, Mission, Leadership, Connections, and Future.
What the Transition Team is:
- conveners
- listeners
- gatherers
- synthesizers
- reporters
Our team’s role, as Layne explained last week, is to “create space and opportunities [for members] to listen to each other as you listen for what God may want to do in your future.” We will listen, synthesize, and reflect back to you what we hear in a series of Congregational Conversations. These will revolve around the five focus points above. We also will be available for individual conversations around church time on Sundays — look for our Transition Team name tags! AND, we have an email account - - that will happily receive your input all week long.
Member feedback that we collect will be reported back to you in summary form, with recommendations being a possible outcome… but another possibility may be more questions! Any need for decisions will be passed on to the Deacons and put through the normal procedures.
What the Transition Team is NOT:
- decision-makers about the future of the church
- implementers of tangible acts of “progress”
- a senior minister search committee
- mind readers
- sprinters (This may feel like a marathon!)
What to expect:
Our Heritage focus point allows us to learn from our past. We heard many enlightening comments* in our Congregational Conversation last month, and some major themes are emerging — these will be shared with you over the coming Sundays, both during worship service and in The Weekly emails. (Are you reading The Weekly emails?? We will be prompting further reflection via that platform, so please review those each week! That is our best way to include members who are unable to attend on Sundays.)
The next step comes on August 10th, when we will build on these Heritage themes in a second Congregational Conversation. Mark this in your calendars and plan to join us. (There will be lunch after worship.) Beyond that, we hope to host at least four further Conversations by January, to take us through the focus points. Those dates are being finalized according to the church calendar, but we’re aiming to convene every 4-6 weeks. We may need some flexibility to alter plans as insights are received; more events may be added!
We must be careful in our approach, to make sure we get this process RIGHT. Your engagement throughout is just as critical to the success of our Transition, and the timing to get through the steps adequately. So let us lay out what we expect of you, for now…
*Your Homework:
- If you have further input related to those three key Heritage questions we discussed on June 22nd — or haven’t yet offered your perspective — email to contribute to this important focus point. We will be collecting input for the next week (through July 12th).
- Please review the church’s Strategic Plan, which came from a significant period of discernment and is fundamental to what we are doing together in the coming months.
- You are invited to return to the “Telling Our Stories” Series of conversations about our history together, from the 80th anniversary year.
- Help complete the MPBC Heritage posters hanging around Heaton Hall. What highlights would you include for the years 2020-2024? Use the sticky notes provided at the Hall and add to the blank posters set out for each year. (If you cannot do so in person, you can email us your suggested highlights.) We aim to have these last posters complete for August 10th.
Thank you for your trust and participation. We look forward to hearing from you!
Your Transition Team:
Robin Buck, Carla Hines, Ryan LaPrade, Tammie Lesesne, Mary Miller, Tucker Pearsall, Sam Slack