Edgewood United Church

United Church of Christ

Strategic Plan

On January 12, 2003, Edgewood’s congregation commissioned the Strategic Planning Team to engage the congregation in answering these questions: Who are we?  Who is our neighbor? How is God calling us?  Specifically, the charge stated, “we commission you to guide the process of strategic planning. We offer our help and our enthusiasm. We offer our willingness to change and to grow and to learn. We commit to being open to this process of envisioning, with faith in our ability to become more like the church God calls us to be.”

From the outset, we recognized that the Strategic Planning Committee’s job was not to speak for the congregation, but to gather and focus the collective voice of Edgewood. Accordingly, the Strategic Planning Committee invited all of Edgewood to participate in seven congregational events, and published eleven articles in the Edgewood Exchange seeking member involvement and input.

We understand that at this time we do not have all the people involved that it will take to make this vision into a reality. Good communication, recruitment, education, and training will be necessary to bring these initiatives forward. It is essential that these initiatives include everyone at Edgewood; children, youth, new and long-term members.  However, over the course of this process, the committee has become extremely excited about Edgewood’s future. We believe the congregation will catch the committee’s excitement that we might together seek God and live out a call to better serve our members, engage in greater service to the world and be better stewards of the church’s resources.

As the committee listened to the congregation and gleaned information from the data in response to the questions before us, three major theme areas emerged.

Membership:  As a congregation we acknowledge the need to do a better job of welcoming newcomers, integrating them into the life and service of the church, maintaining contact and care of our current members, and dealing better with transitions in the lives our members.  The Strategic Planning Committee recommends several programs to address our weaknesses in these areas. The committee proposes establishing a new norm:  “Everyone at Edgewood has a job,”  i.e., all regular attendees, whether they are a formal member or a regular visitor, will be expected to take active responsibility for ministering and serving in the life of Edgewood in some particular way. Everyone is called by God to serve, thus everyone will be involved in the life of the church beyond attending Sunday services.

Mission:  As a congregation we want mission to be central to Edgewood’s identity and a focus of its ministry. In order to involve a greater percentage of the congregation in the mission life of the church, the Strategic Planning Committee recommends creating a structure to help Edgewood be engaged in a more thoroughly planned and structured program of mission work.  This focus would include creating a Calendar of Mission that will schedule mission projects three to five years in advance. The congregation will continue many of the short-term projects in which we are currently involved, and we will continue to respond as needs arise for advocacy and prophecy.  In addition, we will actively search out other longer-term projects, and plan annual mission trips which will alternate between local/US and international sites. Edgewood will also open new local partnerships with other congregations and programs identified by members as areas in which they would like to serve (e.g., Food Resource Bank, Neighborhood Resource Coordinator, work with international students).

Money:  As a congregation we desire to have our church on a firmer financial foundation. Concerns about the financial stability of the church were among the highest on the congregation’s list. The Strategic Planning Committee recommends creating a five-year financial plan as well as addressing the issues of endowment, building maintenance, fundraising and stewardship. Additionally, we need a more financially educated and in-touch congregation who can speak clearly about our financial situation.

In the report below, the committee has laid out a more detailed outline of our recommendations in all three of these areas.  We ask Council to present this plan to the congregation for consideration, a formal vote of acceptance, commitment, and follow-through.

 
Membership Vision: Five years into the future, when visitors walk in the door at Edgewood, they will be greeted warmly, and invited back. As they return, they will soon be invited into a conversation with an Integrator for the purpose of exploring the newcomers’ talents and interests, and helping the newcomers to identify where and how to connect with the life and work of Edgewood.  The newcomers will also be invited to appropriate social events and will join an “Edgewood Cluster.”

All Edgewood folks will belong to an “Edgewood Cluster” group, in which people pay extra attention to the well being of those in their cluster. These intentional groups will ensure that no member falls ill or experiences hardship without being noticed and checked on.  If members live alone, they will be invited to have a “buddy” to check in with on a regular basis.  If regular visitors or members reach a point of leaving Edgewood, they will have an informal exit interview with a time to share their thoughts about Edgewood.

The Strategic Planning Team recommends the following Membership initiatives.  The Congregational Life Team would oversee most of these initiatives, which will require bringing in new team members, creating Ad Hoc task teams and delegating work as needed.

1. Establish a fool-proof structure to make sure every visitor is welcomed.
• Create a guest book system where visitors can sign in and be invited to social and service events: Purchase and “install” guest book,  and design follow up system
• Create packets of information to hand out to new folks and a system to follow in getting packets into visitor’s hands: create packets and follow up system
• Start placing “In This Hour” inserts (worship interpretation series explaining parts of the liturgy) in bulletin: decide when to start, how often, etc

2. Integrate new members/friends into the life and service of the church
• Create an Integrator Program to interview new members, determine people they should meet, the talents they can contribute, and jobs that would be a good match for their skills and interests. Design a referral and tracking system to help new people find their ministry at Edgewood.  Educate the congregation about the program.
• Recreate jobs bank for Integrator use. Include 3-6month short term projects from Teams
• Begin keeping official record books for baptism, joining in membership, weddings, funerals
• Create ritual for signing record books for new members
• Offer and encourage fellowship opportunities: we affirm the newcomer dinners as a particularly good current example that should be continued

3. Maintain healthy involvement of our current members
• Have Integrators canvas existing members
• Create an Edgewood Cluster system to keep members in touch with each other  Organize congregation into clusters with a system for adding/deleting members
  Recruit a coordinator for each cluster who will introduce new folks to the group
  Coordinate occasional cluster events (potluck, cookout ,etc)
• Create “buddy system” for people living alone

4. Document and celebrate transitions
• Create a system for exit interviews for those who leave us
• Make sure all important transitions are acknowledged and celebrated (moving, graduation, marriage, divorce, retirement).

5. Make service a norm: “God calls everyone. If you attend Edgewood, you have a ministry, a  job”
• Include worship moments from those serving in the church
• Create improved communication system with comprehensive jobs bank, and dedicated Bulletin board, web site and email on how to get involved with easily identified entry points
• Create a tracking system for new and long-term members to be sure everyone can find a place to contribute

Mission Vision: In five years this congregation will be continually renewed and excited by its mission work. We will be connected both with our neighborhood and with local, national and international ministries. Mission will be a core focus of our ministry. Newcomers walking in the door will immediately see how we are serving the community and the world, how we are advocating for peace and justice, and how we are speaking out on public issues that demand Christian witness.  Newcomers and those already attending will easily see how to get involved themselves.

The Strategic Planning Team recommends the following Mission initiatives.  The Outreach/Mission Team would oversee many of these initiatives, which will require restructuring how mission is planned, appointing small task forces and delegating the work as needed.

1. Establish an annual facilitated congregational planning event to review and renew a Calendar of Mission for 3-5 years ahead. The event will:
• Create a Calendar of mission including “mission of the month” projects as well as major projects 3-5 years ahead
• Plan a mixed program of short, medium and long term projects with both ongoing and one time events
• Ensure that some events involve our bodies in action: i.e., building relationships, not just writing checks
• Appoint/nominate 2 people to co-chair each project and define a plan of publicizing, recruitment and timelines as needed
• Encourage the development of relationships with other congregations for the purpose of doing mission work together (ex. dialogue with St. Stephens, VISION Program of the Michigan Conference)
  
2. Create an ongoing program of annual mission trips, alternating between local/US and international sites
• Select sites at least 12-18 mos. ahead  
• Nominate/appoint 2 persons to co-chair each trip at least 12-18 mos. in advance
• Create an education program to go with each trip
• Provide feedback to help involve those who do not go on the trip (sell “shares”, forum, slides, celebration etc)
• Lift up the learning/doing/experience in worship (hymns from that area etc)
• Consider keeping a relationship with area thru sponsorship, ongoing financial commitment, letter writing etc.
• Work with Edgewood’s missionary contacts if possible for trips to their regions
  
3. Highlight mission in our midst
• Lift up mission work in 1-2 worship services a year with frequent/weekly mission updates on other Sundays
• Maintain consistent, current publicity about what is coming up and how to get involved (Bulletin boards, web site, email etc., to ensure easy entry, and update opportunities with Integrators)

The Strategic Planning Team focused mostly on creating a structure to help Edgewood become engaged in more focused mission work that will involve a greater percentage of the congregation and generate greater excitement for God’s calling.  Our first concern is the way in which we do mission.

However, we also looked at what the congregation said it was interested in and the ways we would like to serve as a body. Thus, we also recommend that in putting together our mission program Edgewood strongly consider these mission possibilities:

1. Foods Resource Bank—This project involves pairing with another congregation to serve global hunger concerns. It involves our bodies, not just our checkbooks and builds ecumenical relationships between urban and rural churches. It offers a physical and spiritual relationship that also is seasonal and thus could work well with the calendar of mission schedule.
2. Neighborhood Resource Coordinator/Community Relations Coalition—This program addresses our desire to seek out our neighbor and engage in healing the disintegration of our neighborhood.
3. International Students—Edgewood folks are extremely interested in serving the students of our community in some way. The International students are not well served right now, we have the particular gifts and unique talents to meet this community in a meaningful way, and the size of the population is one in which we could make a discernable difference.
4. Habitat, Jimmy Carter Building Blitz--The first mission trip could be scheduled to participate in Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity Building Blitz, which is scheduled to take place in Detroit and Benton Harbor in the summer of 2005.

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Money Vision:  In five years Edgewood’s financial situation will have been transformed in five important ways.
• We will have diversified our income base. Both the number of pledging units an the average pledge per unit will be up significantly over current levels, even after adjustment for inflation.
• We will have developed and will already be following a comprehensive financial plan to make sure the necessary money is always available for long term maintenance of building, grounds and equipment. Neglected maintenance will not force us into a capital funds campaign.
• We will have established plans and policies for an endowment fund. These will be so well constructed that they inspire the confidence and trust of large donors.
• The congregation in general will have a much better understanding of the church budget and the financial challenges involved in all that we do. Financial matters will no longer threaten to become a divisive issue.
• The congregation in general will have a much more accurate view of our level of outreach and mission activity, both as an actual amount and as a percentage of the annual budget.

The Strategic Planning Committee recommends the following Money initiatives. The Finance Team would oversee many of these initiatives which will require creating ad hoc teams and delegating tasks as needed.

1. Commission a team to develop a comprehensive long-term financial plan for Edgewood including:
• Short term and long term financial goals
• Exploration and identification of diversified funding sources, including fundraisers/church enterprises and newly-enabled government funding of faith-based initiatives.
• Identification of the best way to establish a long term capital maintenance plan/fund
 (This team should complete its work and report its findings in time to inform the Fall ’05  Stewardship Campaign)

2. Appoint a team to develop a new approach to the annual stewardship campaign.
• “Inspired Generosity” and other institutionally developed programs should be considered
• This team should also seriously consider the possibility of establishing a norm of tithing among Edgewood members

3. Appoint a team to complete the work that has already been done toward the establishment of a  general endowment for Edgewood using national resources as needed.

4. Create and conduct finance education sessions for the congregation. Potential topics would  include:
• All aspects of Edgewood’s internal financial operations
• Edgewood’s financial operations relative to other UCC congregations
• Edgewood’s financial operations relative to other mainline Protestant denominations
The Strategic Planning Committee has included with this report a proposed timeline for carrying out the initiatives and programs. The Edgewood United Church Council will be ultimately responsible for implementing the program over the life of the timeline, and for regularly assessing progress towards the goals in the Strategic Plan.