ALL CHURCH PLANNING DAY DOCUMENTATION Our Planning Day was held at the church on Sunday, January 11th, 2:30pm until 5:30pm. Using a process called The Nominal Group Method for identifying what program ministries should be emphasized at our church over the next two years, participants moved through the following steps: STEP ONE: Listing Ideas Each person worked in silence and independently to list on paper six to ten ideas as to what program ministries should be emphasized in the life of our church during the next two years. They were asked to reflect on the ideas shared from the Parsonage Gatherings held last Fall, and the various program areas of our denomination. STEP TWO: Round Robin Recording Of Each Person's List Of Ideas One idea from each person at a time was shared and listed on newsprint for all to see. Ideas were not necessarily repeated, unless in the judgement of the person sharing, the idea contained a different emphasis or variation. The round robin continued until individual lists were exhausted. There was no discussion of the items in this step. List Of Items Generated 1. Promote an awareness of areas in community that we can help in. 2. Strengthen Christian education program so there is a class for everyone. 3. Mission emphasis, what can WE do? 4. Having lots of activities for whole family to come to. 5. More emphasis on ecumenical activities. 6. Comprehensive plan of member care: inactive, visitors, newcomers. 7. Establish prayer chain. 8. Celebrate care of people in their role. 9. Short term workshops in areas of need and interest. 10. New approach/education on financial stewardship. 11. Evangelism to fit OUR church. 12. Make our church more visible. 13. Youth groups. 14. Training of leaders and teachers. 15. Explore possibilities of ecumenical single adult ministries. 16. Resource/resource retrieval skills 17. Continue worship` services that relate Bible to today's issues. 18. Varied worship services, all participating. 19. Continue Friendship Circle. 20. Church history classes. 21. Focus on family ministry needs with family structures. 22. Marriage enrichment workshops. 23. Interpret growth that is happening in our church. 24. Getting adults involved as leaders of youth groups. 25. Involve more people in leadership roles. 26. More and varied musical activities. 27. Hymn sing. 28. Continue communication through newsletters and other mailings. 29. Add Missions and Social Concerns committees to Church Board. 30. Training in spiritual activity. 31. Develop a study of our denomination. 32. Outreach as a group to the community. 33. To help persons in our community with financial difficulty. 34. Providing workshops for congregation by members of church. 35. Develop covenant discipleship groups. 36. A structure for getting to know singles and couples. 37. Continue women's group emphasis. 38. Getting our families involved. 39. Continue children sermons and presence of children in worship. 40. Continue 5th Sunday gatherings. 41. Sanctuary for persons in exile. 42. Even involvement of male/female. 43. Involving congregation, each one a job. 44. Develop lay leadership in other areas than already existing ones. 45. Get more male involvement, especially as teachers. 46. Systematic way of contacting students at local college. 47. Continue/strengthen lay speakers 48. Inclusive language for people and God in songs, litanies, prayers, and scripture. 49. Reactivate men's group with leadership and monthly meetings. 50. Survival skills and approaches. 51. Start a Christian pre-school. 52. Continue growth of choir. 53. Encourage attendance at "unusual" events. 54. Involving youth and children in choirs. 55. Annual all church spiritual growth retreat. STEP THREE: Serial Discussion For Clarification Once all ideas were listed on newsprint, time was taken to go back and discuss each idea. The purpose in this step was to clarify the meaning of each item. Participants were free to express varying points of view of items and their relative importance. A few minutes was spent on each item. STEP FOUR: Preliminary Vote On Item Importance (part A) Each person was given five 3x5 cards. The instructions were that each participant select the five most important items from the list of 55; placing the number of the item in the upper left hand corner of the card, and in the center of the card, a word or a phrase that identifies the item. Time was given for all to complete this step. STEP FIVE: Preliminary Vote On Item Importance (part B) After all complete the above step, participants were asked to rank order each of their five cards. 5= most important card of the five; 1= least important card of the five, etc. This rank ordering became the preliminary vote. All cards were collected and a preliminary vote was recorded on newsprint for all to see. Preliminary Vote Tally (5= high; 1= low) Item Number Rank Order Scores 1 4-4 2 3-3-4 3 5-3 4 3-4 5 1 6 5-5-1-4-4 7 1-1-2-1 8 - 9 2-1-4 10 2-3 11 2-5-5-5-3 12 2 13 5 14 3 15 1 16 - 17 3-5-3 18 - 19 - 20 5-2-3-3-2-2-3 21 3-4-3 22 4 23 - 24 4-4-2-5-4-4-2 25 2 26 1 27 - 28 4 29 5-3-1-2 30 1-4-5 31 - 32 - 33 5 34 2 35 4-5 36 1-1-5 37 - 38 5-3 39 5 40 - 41 - 42 3-1-4 43 2-5-1-2 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 1 48 1 49 - 50 - 51 - 52 - 53 - 54 2 55 3-1-4-2-2-1 STEP SIX: Discussion Of Preliminary Vote In this step, the group examined the posted voting patterns to see if there were any inconsistencies, surprises, differences, etc., for gaining insight and fresh perspective on the issues. Time was given for people to make any comments desired. STEP SEVEN: Final Vote After discussion of the preliminary vote, participants were asked to list on a 3x5 card the five most important items from our list of 55. This was to be based on insights gained from all discussions thus far, including one's personal perspective on what needs to be emphasized in the area of program ministries during the next two years. The cards were then gathered and a tally was made of the final vote. Below are those items that got votes: Final Vote Tally Item Number Rank Order Scores Final Vote 1 4-4 2 2 3-3-4 1 3 5-3 2 4 3-4 - 5 1 1 6 5-5-1-4-4 12 7 1-1-2-1 3 8 - - 9 2-1-4 3 10 2-3 - 11 2-5-5-5-3 12 12 2 - 13 5 - 14 3 1 15 1 - 16 - 1 17 3-5-3 1 18 - - 19 - - 20 5-2-3-3-2-2-3 9 21 3-4-3 4 22 4 - 23 - - 24 4-4-2-5-4-4-2 7 25 2 - 26 1 1 27 - - 28 4 1 29 5-3-1-2 3 30 1-4-5 1 31 - - 32 - - 33 5 - 34 2 - 35 4-5 2 36 1-1-5 2 37 - - 38 5-3 - 39 5 1 40 - - 41 - - 42 3-1-4 3 43 2-5-1-2 4 44 - - 45 - - 46 - - 47 1 - 48 1 - 49 - - 50 - - 51 - - 52 - - 53 - - 54 2 - 55 3-1-4-2-2-1 10 By means of this tally of votes, there was a consensus in the group that the following are suggested emphasis areas of program ministries at our church over the next two years: Summary Of Two Year Emphasis ++ Comprehensive plan of member care, including inactives, visitors, newcomers ++ Develop evangelism to fit our church ++ Spiritual growth retreats ++ Denominational history, theology and polity classes ++ Adult leaders for youth groups Several of the participants volunteered to meet again on Sunday afternoon, January 18th to continue this planning process to develop specific implementation strategies for each the areas identified above. Based on: "Nominal Group Process" in Group Techniques For Program Planning Scott, Foresman & Co