Strategic Plan Update 3 - We Might be Being Led (Keith Howard)

During the next two years we will

1. Welcoming, Hospitality and Community Formation

• develop and execute an intentional advertising plan that includes direct mail, the web site, Twitter and Facebook, the Oak Bay News and other media
• continue the development and provision of education and training events for the Hospitality Team
• continue the focused reading and conversation in the Hospitality Reading Group
• develop and test the Connection Card concept
• develop further the practice of intentional conversations by trained people with people new to the OBUC community to assist them in discovering their place within the community
• intentionally and regularly recognize the work of volunteers
  

2. Worship and Community Care

• work to continually improve the development and provision of extraordinary worship services that meet the spiritual needs of the congregation
• explore the implications of growth and an alternative worship service
  

3. Spiritual Formation

• develop further the gathering of new family parents
• continue to develop the Sunday School program with the welcoming of new children and increasing our capacity through leadership development
• develop, promote and deliver small group focused events, e.g. Enneagram, Hospitality Reading Group, “A Christianity Worth Believing” conversational group
• explore further the possibility of a Healing Ministry based in OBUC
• continue the development of Godly Play, VBS, the Sunday School and Pro-D day initiatives
  

4. Serving the world

• continue to explore and develop the WonderCafe concept
• continue to explore and develop partnerships as outlined in the Serving the World brochure
• continue to refine, resource and expand the work and partnerships fostered by the Thrift Shop and Annex
  

5. Managing our Resources

• develop and execute a two year Stewardship plan
• achieve greater Clarity in the Governance structure – clarify the decision-making process and communicate who talks to who about what; and how are particular resources allocated.
• develop a new model of property management that reflects the new realities facing volunteers, the (volunteer) property manager and the custodian
• hire a front office staff person
• continue to build our capacity on the web with new materials and updates
• complete the Donor Recognition Project
• develop a different reporting model that will allow those responsible for spending budget areas to manage their commitments against their budgets
• continue to develop and promote the Community Garden
• adjust our revenue and expenses so that we have a break even operating budget by 2013.

Strategic Plan Update 2 - Where We've Been (Keith Howard)

During the past two years there is much to celebrate. Here is a sample.

1. Welcoming, Hospitality and Community Formation

a. A more intentional advertising/marketing plan has begun that includes direct mail, a website, Twitter and Facebook, Oak Bay News and other media outlets

b. A team of positive people interested in the ministry of hospitality has assembled with an identified Hospitality Team and team leader

c. Three educational and training gatherings were held with those involved in the ministry of hospitality

d. A Newcomers’ breakfast was held

e. “Second Coming” and “September 11, 2011” events were joyous events that were both celebratory and outward focused

f. The Hospitality Reading Group formed and has covenanted to read and to meet monthly over the period of the next two years

g. Successful September 11th launch to the new year of 2011-2012.

2. Worship & Community

a. Vibrant, relevant worship with inspirational preaching, excellent music that often features world class musicians and artists and creative, appropriate ritual

b. An event planner has been identified (June Carver)

c. Responsive pastoral care – Joy Hunter, Gaye Sharpe, People of Outrageous Hope, the Prayer Group, occasional worship services at Oak Bay Lodge, hospital and home visitation

3. Spiritual Transformation

a. Attendance at Sunday School has significantly increased during the past two years

b. The Vacation Bible School team is alive and very well and conducted another very successful VBS during July 2011

c. A youth minister was hired and began her ministry January 2011

d. The library continues to keep current with timely additions and editions.

4. Serving the World

a. WonderCafe was started in conjunction with the Thrift Shop

b. The Thrift Shop and Annex continued their strong work, expanding their community partnerships

c. Partnerships were formed with Sportball, Alzheimer’s Arts Group and the Native Plant Society, as well as various other partnerships outlined in the Serving the World brochure.

d. ProD events were launched in 2010 and enrolment increases with each event, reaching our capacity in the September 19, 2011 session.

5. Managing our Resources

a. The “new” building was occupied

b. A very successful “Second Coming” service to celebrate the renewed sanctuary

c. Completion of the Godly Play room

d. Painting of the exterior trim

e. Start of the repointing the brick project

f. Start of the Garden Project

g. The purging and reorganization of the office and record-keeping files

h. A massive renovation of the financial records system and the institution of current accounting practice and software

i. The telephone and internet system were integrated (with the exception of the alarm) resulting in a significant saving annually.

j. The duplex painting is completed

k. The number of groups using our facility has increased

Strategic Plan Update 1 - Who we Are (Keith Howard)

At the September 20th meeting, the Board approved the circulation of this draft of the Strategic Plan to the congregation for response. I'll post it in three parts: Who We Are; Where We've Been and Where We Think We Might be Being Led. We will use multiple means to foster conversation and response. This blog is one so please respond with your comments.

The Mission
To be a vibrant, growing, inclusive &intergenerational Christian church that

• Reaches out, Welcomes with genuine hospitality and Helps people find their place in the Oak Bay United Church community
• Transforms lives through caring support, spiritual development and the opportunity to serve
• Serves God and the world effectively through the intentional use of our gifts and resources.

We seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ who are

• Connected with God, with each other and with the world
• Passionate/Compassionate about our individual and congregational life as we share God’s work in the world
• Grateful for our lives, the resources and gifts we have been given and our call to serve
• Open to discover new things about ourselves and God
• Joyful in our community life and service in the world
• Relevant and Effective making a real difference in the lives of individuals, our community and the world

The core practices that sustain us include

• Worship through inspirational preaching, quality music and excellent, creative ritual
• Individual and community growth through prayer, the study of Scripture, focused conversation about things that matter, and the practices of generosity, radical hospitality and Christian community
• Service to one another and the world

We organize our work in five areas

1. Welcoming, Hospitality and Community Formation
2. Worship and Community Care
3. Spiritual Formation
4. Serving the world
5. Managing our Resources

HRG 1.9 But what if we don't want to?! (Keith Howard)

9. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

This quote might summarize the first 107 pages.

“All of this presents an amazing opportunity for the church to become the most relevant, most vibrant, most vital element of people’s lives – both to the young and the old. But to pull that off, we need to radically shift our thinking from believing that success means being a safe place for people to catch up and be together for an hour or two on Sunday and maybe hear an entertaining message, to recognizing that we are, first and foremost, a movement of people called to a dangerous mission.”

What is there in us that might resist this being true?

HRG 1.8 Is Comfort really our prime value? (Keith Howard)

8. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

On page 75ff Gibbons takes a run at the Theology of Comfort (Comfortology). Is this primarily a US affliction or does it have anything to do with the Oak Bay United culture?

HRG 1.7 How will we know when we are successful? (Keith Howard)

7. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

Gibbons says that one of the key changes for the church involves a change in the criteria we use to describe “success.” NOT to be unkind, but two previous powerful criteria that we used for a long time were the number of people who attend worship and the budget givings. Gibbons suggest some new criteria (p. 62 and 93).

What do you think are the prime criteria we use at OBUC?

HRG 1.6 Is it really that urgent? (Keith Howard)

6. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

Throughout the book runs a deep sense of urgency. Take this quote (p. 36)

“The church has an amazing opportunity to become what God is hoping we will become. It’ll take the resculpting of our organizations and corporate culture, the incubation of new art forms, new languages and expressions, new symbols, flexible ways of being organized and led, and even a fuller explanation of what we know as the gospel ... We need creative forms, methods, and practices for sharing the truth we love and believe in that will work in the new world and with a new generation. We need fresh counterintuitive ways of leading – in practice and in philosophy.”

Do you think that sense of urgency is warranted?

HRG 1.5 Do younger generations want to make a difference? (Keith Howard)

5. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

Think of someone you know who is under the age of 35.
Gibbons describes younger generations as being passionately concerned to make a positive difference in the world.

Would you say that is true of the young people you know?

HRG 1.4 What should we be known for? (Keith Howard)

4. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

“I believe that today God is calling us in the church to become a different kind of movement, known for our kisses of compassion rather than our condemnations.” (p. 32)

If you had the power to make it happen, what kinds of things should Oak Bay United be known for?

HRG 1.3 Do people really want anything more? (Keith Howard)

3. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

“...what many people around the world see is a version of Christianity created in our own cultural image, a Christianity with diminishing power and influence and filled with a lot of pride, self-centeredness, and wrongheaded metrics. Being part of the Western cultural machine, churches tend to gravitate towards the gods of pragmatism, materialism, and consumerism.... The global village is longing for something deeper.” (p. 22)

Do you think this is true?

HRG 1.2 Three Cultures (Keith Howard)

2. Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

Do you find Gibbons’ description of the three cultures helpful (p. 39)?

“First culture is the dominant homogeneous culture you live in. First culture tends to be more preservation-oriented, but that doesn’t mean people don’t take great risks....Second culture is the culture of those who aren’t quite comfortable with the first culture and often react to the first culture’s ways ...Third culture is being able to live in both first and second culture and even adopt an entirely different culture.” (See also, p. 93)

Hospitality Reading Group Session 1 Question 1 (HRG 1.1) (Keith Howard)

Based on study of Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish.

One of the fundamental convictions in this book is that the church is now immersed in a world that is undergoing some profound changes. One way to view the place of the church in this changing world is to use the language of culture, where culture refers not to ethnic origin but to a complex of language, customs and beliefs.

So hospitality – and perhaps all ministries – now becomes an intercultural or cross cultural enterprise.

For example, the interactions of those born before 1948 with those born after 1980 are not just conversations between younger and older but between members of different cultures.

Do you think this is true?

To the extent that it may be true, what are some of the implications for us at Oak Bay United?

Intercultural hospitality (Keith Howard)

Ran across this article on the intercultural nature of hospitality.
It is focused on the U.S. but, as always, our question is: What can we
at Oak Bay United learn from this?

http://www.faithandleadership.com/qa/soong-chan-rah-freeing-the-captive-church?

What is Reasonable to Expect of People (Keith Howard)

The Faith Communities Today research project has released a new report probing factors that influence church participation. In many ways, their conclusions are very familiar. The two leading obstacles are school and sports activities and conflict with work schedules.

The observation I found most helpful was made by Lovett H. Weems Jr. in this week’s Lewis Center For Church Leadership Update e-newsletter. He draws attention to the distinction Gil Rendle makes between problems and conditions. “Our normal inclination is to see everything as a problem that we can fix.  Sometimes we face a new context that is not a problem susceptible to our repair but rather a new condition we must engage.”

Clearly many of the things we in the church tend to define as obstacles to getting the church back to what it should be – as defined by our youth – are more accurately termed conditions, part of a new reality.

Hospitality in the Business Sector (Keith Howard)

One of the books of which I have long been fond is Susan Scott's Fierce Conversations. Her company, Fierce Communications, has put out a  SHORT white paper on the role of good conversations/relationships viewed from the business sector. I think there is lots to learn here for the church. Turning Conversations in a Driving Force for Growth and Success.
These quotes from Business leaders struck me.
Fierce President and COO Halley Bock puts it this way: “If you improve conversations, you
improve relationships, which has a positive impact on key areas … including the bottom line.”

Starbucks’ Schultz has said his company is not in the coffee business, but in the people
business serving coffee, and he built the company and its success squarely on his belief in
the power of engaged employees.

“People directly affect the quality of products and services our customers receive,” Schultz wrote. “People will determine the ultimate success of Starbucks. Products are inert. You
have to hire great people [and] celebrate their passions and their skills, and give them the
freedom to do their jobs right.”

Six spots remain in Hospitality Reading Group (Keith Howard)

Hospitality has always been something of a struggle for me. The roots of this unease lie in my personality type and family practice but nonetheless it remains true. During my five years working with the Emerging Spirit team it became increasingly obvious that hospitality needs to be one of, if not THE, pre-eminent practice of the church, including our congregation, in this time. It was one of those “I know someone (else) who should hear this sermon (but I’d prefer not to)” moments.

The theological rationale for a ministry of hospitality is straightforward. God reaches out to us and connects with us and we are called to the same rhythm. At a deeper level, our conception of God, as Christians, is of God as Trinity which means we envision God as three persons yet one. Part of what this means is that relationships lie at the very core of who we understand God to be. Abundant life, godly life, resides in relationships.

Strategically, for the church as an organization, this could not be happier since, the larger culture now is all about relationships. Businesses no longer seek clients but partners; and for those under the age of 45 relationships are the axle around which their lives whirl.
In terms of the mission of the church, we should be rejoicing since part of who we are/called to be lines up with the current cultural environment.

For me, wrestling with the biblical meaning of hospitality has involved letting go of some things while accepting some others.

Hospitality DOES NOT equal friendliness. It may include this but radical hospitality, in the Biblical sense, involves more than being pleasant or non-offensive. Christian hospitality means seeing the other in a different way. This often involves some conversion on our part individually and as a community to not see “new people” as a customer, fresh meat, fuel to keep the church machinery running or perhaps even as visitor to “our” house.
Hospitality is not only the task of extroverts. When I have a role and a script it is much easier and it has gotten easier with practice but, in my core, I am not a person who seeks out crowds. A party for me could be up to five people! Nevertheless I am not excused from the call to Christian hospitality.

During the next couple of years a group of us have committed to increasing our understanding of the Christian concept and practice of radical hospitality. On the third Sunday of each month the Hospitality Reading Group shall meet for a couple of hours to pursue conversation sparked by our reading.

The original goal was for 12 conversation partners; six spots remain so speak to Gaye or I if you are interested in one of the remaining six places.

The initial book we are reading is Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a third-culture Church. Zondervan Carr Books (Jan 26 2009). Those who do not get a spot among the group of 12 or who can not make the meeting time are welcome to read along and comment through the Oak Bay blog. As we read along, I will try and post comments, questions and wonderings that emerge.