Vision and Goals for Good Shepherd

Goals and Priorities for
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church

Goals for 2005

Goals for the next 5 years -- through 2010

And Goals for Beyond

As we continue to look at the future, there are 10 main areas we are targeting as priorities. Some of these are continuing priorities that were identified as part of our Re-Vision process:
1. Embracing the Discipleship Model for our Church
2. The Restructuring of the Session

3. Developing the Elders as Spiritual Leaders
4. Improving Communication
5. Building Nurturing Fellowship
6. Christian Education and Spiritual Growth
7. Facilities
8. Stewardship
9. The Worship of God

10. Openness to God’s Continual Leading

I. EMBRACING THE DISCIPLESHIP MODEL FOR OUR CHURCH

Good Shepherd is not looking for members -- nor are we out to save lost souls. We are going into all the world, making disciples. Becoming a disciple means not just accepting Christ as Savior, but as Lord. Becoming a disciple is not being a member of just a church, but a functioning member of Christ's body.

What is different in the Discipleship Model for our church?

Old model: “What can I get our of the church?”
New model: “What ministry can I give to our church?”

Old model: “About 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.”
New model: “We are the body of Christ, each member is important.”

Old model: “Everyone needs to join a committee.”
New model: “People don’t join churches to join committees, they join to do God’s work! Goodbye committees talking about working for the church, hello to Ministry Teams engaged in mission for the Lord.”

Old model: “Give to the church! You need to pledge and give money so we can meet the budget and pay the light bill.”
New model: “Give to God! Giving generously is a spiritual discipline.”

How will we accomplish the goal of becoming a Discipleship Church?

First: We will continually inform Disciples what is expected of them -- we have laid out Seven Marks of Discipleship. The pastors preached a series of sermons on these Marks when they were introduced in 2003. Each year, the preaching and educational ministry will highlight one or more of these Marks. The Seven Marks of Discipleship are

1. Pray daily

2. Worship weekly

3. Enjoy spiritual friendships

4. Read and study the Scriptures

5. Engage in service in and beyond the church

6. Share the Good News of the Gospel with others

7. Practice generosity with one’s time, talent and money.

Second: We will help each member find a ministry in the church. The Assimilation Team (or A Team) will seek to help find a place for person at Good Shepherd.

Third: We will turn our committees into TEAMS. While committees may meet and deliberate, our TEAMS will be groups where ministries of fellowship and action are the goals.

II. RESTRUCTURING THE SESSION

Elders at Good Shepherds had become "worker bees." They were good at doing all of the work of the church, but this model was robbing other members of participating in the life of the church's ministry -- and it was wearing out our elders. Through the Long Range Planning Committee, we are restructuring our Session. This is not simply a renaming of committees, it also involves developing the elders as spiritual leaders.

How will we accomplish these goals?

First: We will reduce the size of the Session so that each individual in the group will have a greater voice, and so much of the work will be done by disciples who are led and coached by the elders. (Update: The elders voted in 2005 not to reduce the size of the Session).

Second: We will reduce the number of Session committees from 15 to 4 teams and 2 committees. These bodies are explained more fully on another web page, which you can find by clicking here. These Teams include:

1. Communication and Resources Ministry Team
· Purpose: To facilitate communication and to use our resources. This means communicating to the church about church events and concerns and to the community about our church and administering the proper use and care of our property and funds, which are our resources.
· Staff contact: Facilities Manager
· Includes: Publicity, Advertising, Office assistance, Website Maintenance, Assimilation Team, In House Technology, Financial Management, Property Management, and Stewardship.

2. Discipleship and Fellowship Ministry Team
· Purpose: Helps us to grow in our discipleship in Christ and encourages our fellowship with one another
· Staff contact: Youth Director and Director of Christian Education
· Includes: Christian Education, Sunday School teachers and classes, Prayer groups, Small Groups, Men of Good Shepherd, Presbyterian Women, Women’s Enrichment Ministry, Special classes and educational events, Elder training, Youth and children’s ministries, SALT, Oasis, Edge, KUC, Confirmation Classes, Congregational dinners, Nursery Guild, Scouts, Mid-week services and fellowship, Senior Shepherds, and Family retreats.

3. Mission and Outreach Ministry Team
· Purpose: Helps create interest and opportunities for Mission and helps create interest and opportunities for outreach to others in need in our community and in our world.
· Staff contact: Associate Pastor
· Includes: Stephen Ministry, Hispanic Fellowship, Bread Ministry, Mission Trips (adult and youth), Choir tours, ESOL, Samaritan’s Purse, Habitat House, Clifton House, Calling Visitors, Greeters, Undershepherds, Prayer Chain, Hunger Walk, Preschool, Mothers Morning Out, Vacation Bible School, Lilburn Co-Op, Pastoral Care, Mission trips, Special offerings

4. Music and Worship Ministry Team
· Purpose: Oversees the ministry of worship in our church.
· Staff contact: Senior Pastor and Director of Music Ministry
· Includes: ushers, Lay Leaders, acolytes, use of flowers and art in worship, drama ministry, Sound, light and media use in worship, music, (bells, choirs, praise band, H2O Youth Band, Winds and Brass, etc), weddings, the Sacraments

III. DEVELOPING THE ELDERS AS SPIRITUAL LEADERS

We should not be ordaining men and women to cut the grass, clean the kitchen, arrange flowers in the Sanctuary, or organize ushers. These are important duties, but we have a church full of disciples who want to join in those tasks. Elders are ordained to be spiritual leaders -- to be coaches rather than the "worker bee."

The elders of Good Shepherd have had a tradition of being “hands-on workers”. For example, the elder who chaired Building and Grounds Committee was often responsible for the whole work of that committee. The result is that we often burn out faithful elders. We want to move from elders who do all of the work, toward elders who lead. We want more involvement among our members, while avoiding overwhelming any single person.

How do we accomplish this? What does it mean to be a spiritual leader?

Let’s take our cue from the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church, USA (G-6.0304). This section of the Book of Order gives us a list of duties that reflect what it means for an elder to be a spiritual leader:

1. “Encourage the people in the worship and service of God”
· All elders should be faithful in their commitment to worship God weekly.
· Elders should call and visit those who have been recently absent from worship.

2. “Equip the people and renew them for their tasks within the church and for their mission in the world”
· Elders should not be trying to do all the work of the church, but should be helping church members find their ministry, give them the training and tools they need, and provide leadership and encouragement to the members of the Body of Christ.

3. “Visit and comfort and care for the people with special attention to the poor, the sick, the lonely and those who are oppressed.”
· We have now developed a Covenant Partners program in which each member of the congregation is assigned an elder. Elders will be encouraged to call, write or visit the people in their care (birthdays, when they are sick or absent, or in crisis)
· We encourage our members to invite elders and pastors into their homes in time of sickness for Prayer and Laying on of Hands.

4. “Informing the Session and the pastor of those persons and structures which need special attention.”
· As part of caring for and calling upon those who are under their care, elders will be keeping the pastors informed of any special needs.

5. “Assisting in worship”
· While it is not necessary to be an elder in order to assist in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, it has been and will continue to be our custom to use only elders for the serving of the Sacrament.
· Elders are now encouraged to take the Sacrament of the Lord's Table into homes and hospitals. (To learn more about "Extended Communion" click here).
· Elders will not be the only ones who assist as Lay Leaders, but we do encourage all of our elders to participate in this program.

IV. IMPROVE COMMUNICATION

One of the initiatives identified by the Re-Vision process was the improvement of communications in our church. We often hear people in our church say, "We need better communication."

How will we improve communications?

First: The church officers and staff will be more intentional proclaiming.

• This means we are making more frequent use of newspapers and press releases.
• The Senior Pastor has initiated an email chain, called the ChurchENews. (To subscribe, simply send an email to ChurchENews@aol.com).
• The Senior Pastor introduced our church's first Blog, or Internet Journal, in 2004 as a way of reporting on the Haiti Mission Trip. Now almost all of our mission trips have these blogs.
• We are putting our bulletin and newsletter online.
• In some cases, we weren’t doing new and different things in communicating, but simply trying to improve the bulletin, newsletter and other tools more effectively.

Second: We call on each person to listen. We are beginning to understand that some of those who say we need more communication have not been listening. Communication is a two way street and we all need to do what we can to improve both sides of the information highways.

V. BUILD NURTURING RELATIONSHIPS

One of the initiatives identified by the Re-Vision process we did in 2002 was the building up of nurturing relationships.

How will we build these nurturing relationships?

We want to have more fun! More picnics and dinners. Going to sporting events together. Increasing the number of Small Groups

The use of the A-Team is crucial in building nurturing relationships! Ministry Teams should call on the A-Team in helping involve all of our members in the life and work of our church.

VI. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH

One of the initiatives identified by the Re-Vision process was an emphasis on Christian Education and Spiritual Growth.

In recent years, the attendance in Sunday School has been dropping from our high of 491 students in 1997 (compared to 328 in 2003). We need to increase attendance in Sunday School and provide options for other educational and spiritual events, such as our Wednesday evening programs.

When we think about spiritual growth, we need to think beyond ourselves to the spiritual growth of those in our community. Who are the unchurched? What can we do to introduce Jesus Christ to them? Good Shepherd usually receives 60 to 80 new members per year, until recent years when the increases dropped to 15-20 per year. This is already improving – as of October we have received 44 new members in 2004. We need to continue to reach out and bring new members into our church.

How will we enhance Christian Education and promote spiritual growth?

• The value of Sunday School needs to be continually lifted up by our staff and elders.
• We want our Sunday School attendance to increase.
• We are looking to hire a Director of Christian Education in the next few years (Update: We hired Leslee Kirkconnell as our DCE in 2006).
• We are going to learn how to identify visitors and respond to them, encouraging them to return to Good Shepherd.
• We are going to find ways to invite people, especially the unchurched, to come to Good Shepherd.

The Re-Vision process identified the Preschool Education program as one of the initiatives, calling on the church to “explore the possibility of expanding our preschool program.

The leaders of our Preschool will be looking closely at the needs and opportunities of our community. What has changed? What are the needs? How can our preschool change to meet these needs? Between 2005 and 2008, we hope to identify and begin to implement changes in our programs that will meet the changing needs of our community, while continuing to offer the excellent programs we currently provide.

VII. FACILITIES

Caring for a facility that is beginning to show some signs of aging was one of the initiatives identified by the Re-Vision process. There was also a goal to build a Family Life Center.

In 2006, we hope to implement an Enhancement Campaign that will raise between $300,000 and $400,000 for the purposes of:

1. Sanctuary improvements, including improved sound and media
2. Improving and enhancing Fellowship Hall so we can have a pleasant social hall for gatherings.

3. Purchase of two mini-buses to replace aging vans.

4. Overall improvement on all buildings and grounds

We will also hire a part-time Facilities Manager to help us care for and maintain our facilities. (Update: Steve Bowden was hired in 2005 as our Facilities Manager).

In 2011, as we "burn the mortage" for the Sanctuary we should kick off the next building phase: the construction of a Family Life Center. Planning for this program should begin in mid to late 2008.

VII. STEWARDSHIP

One of the initiatives identified in the Re-Vision process was the need to strengthen and increase our commitment to stewardship.

There are some things that will be happening in the near future that will have a positive effect on our financial ministry. We have three loans and they will all be paid off in the near future:

• October 2005, we pay off the consolidated loan (land, rental house, vans) freeing up $1,250 per month.
• October 2006, we pay off the loan on the Well, which frees up $1,200 per month.
• In 2011 we pay off our largest debt, a loan on the sanctuary.

Beyond that, however, we want to challenge our members to be more generous in their giving, because generosity is one of the marks of discipleship.

Our total contributions hit a high at $749,172 in 2001. Contributions have been declining since. Much of this is due to the economy and the high unemployment/under employment rate in our community.

Giving per member was at $895 in 2003, which was the lowest since 1998. This is below the national average for Presbyterians, which is $966.86. And yet, the income in our community is 28% higher than the national average. The rest of the nation is going through the same economic situation as we are, which indicates we need to challenge our members to be more generous in their giving. (Update: In 2004, the per member giving had increased to $1,083, and was out-pacing the national average for Presbyterians).

How will we strengthen our stewardship program?

• The Enhancement Campaign will encourage our members to be generous in giving to the improvements of our church.
• We are going to be very intentional about our annual Stewardship progrram.
• We want to create a wills-emphasis ministry at Good Shepherd

IX. CONTINUING TO GROW IN WORSHIP

Worship is one of the things we do well at Good Shepherd. This was clearly stated in the Re-Vision process. We need to continue to be open to new worship experiences. Mid-week worship and perhaps a new style of worship (contemporary, Taize, or emerging worship) are being considered.

X. OPENNESS TO GOD’S CONTINUAL LEADING

Good Shepherd does a lot of ministry and mission. There are many programs we do with excellence. We want to continue the great work we do in worship, missions, youth ministry, and the many other ministries that are not mentioned in the previous nine areas. Not mentioning these as specifics in our goals and visions for the future does not mean we will ignore these areas. We will continue to place priorities on these ministries and be attentive to the Spirit of God as He leads us in ways we might not yet envision.

Addendum - January, 2006
Staff Issues and an Emphasis on Evangelism

Good Shepherd continues to be guided by the 2002/2003 ReVision process and the goals that were stated in the 2004 statement described above.

We continue to focus on the goals that have already been stated. One area of growth we have added is that of staffing. In 2005 we said farewell to long-time Associate Pastor Will Dietrich, and long-time Youth Directors Linda Snyder and Beth Rothermel. The Session took this as an opportunity to do a detailed study of our staffing needs. Guided by our goals listed above, and adding a stated emphasis on evangelism, elders agreed to:

• Redesign the job description for a new Associate Pastor, focusing on evangelism and the nurturing of personal pastoral care.
• The hiring of a Director of Christian Education to help us develop an improved ministry of education for all ages, focusing significantly on the ministry to children (Goals 4, 5 and 6 from the previous document). Leslee Kirkconnell is joining our staff as our new DCE.
• The hiring of a new Youth Director who will renew and energize our youth programs. (Goals 5 and 6). As of January, 2006, we continue to seek a new Youth Director.
• The hiring of a Facilities Manager who will help us care for and maintain our facilities (Goal 7). Steve Bowden joined our staff in 2005 as our Facilities Manager.