Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions so far. Please keep them coming! I will share these posts with our VP (1st time position for her as well). We have had one meeting to present and gather feedback on our ministry goals for the future with a PowerPoint presentation and round-table discussions. Then we mailed all of the information on the parsonage vote and the building-related documents and drawings to the members, and in the bulletin and during announcement time we've solicited questions/comments from members. After our meeting on the parsonage vote this April, I think I'll recommend to council the idea of soliciting questions by email and holding some post-service "congregation conversations" with small groups during the coffee hour. The vote on the building project will be in May. Any other ideas about how to handle amendments to the Council's proposed motion during the meetings, or how to handle people who want to submit a total new and differently worded motion?
Thanks for the challenge - I'm a new elder and am always looking to learn how to respond with wisdom and maturity myself. Now I see that I should turn my focus also to cheering members on "to rise to the challenges before us with Christ-love." That is a quote to pass on to my small group friends and Christian email buddies.
Posted in: What are best practices for conducting a Congregational Meeting dealing with controversial issues?
Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions so far. Please keep them coming! I will share these posts with our VP (1st time position for her as well). We have had one meeting to present and gather feedback on our ministry goals for the future with a PowerPoint presentation and round-table discussions. Then we mailed all of the information on the parsonage vote and the building-related documents and drawings to the members, and in the bulletin and during announcement time we've solicited questions/comments from members. After our meeting on the parsonage vote this April, I think I'll recommend to council the idea of soliciting questions by email and holding some post-service "congregation conversations" with small groups during the coffee hour. The vote on the building project will be in May. Any other ideas about how to handle amendments to the Council's proposed motion during the meetings, or how to handle people who want to submit a total new and differently worded motion?
Posted in: Christian Maturity & the Call of the Elder
Thanks for the challenge - I'm a new elder and am always looking to learn how to respond with wisdom and maturity myself. Now I see that I should turn my focus also to cheering members on "to rise to the challenges before us with Christ-love." That is a quote to pass on to my small group friends and Christian email buddies.