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The Staff Parish Relations Committee is pleased to be able to share significant progress made over the past year.
In 2024, the hard-working Dream Team set out a new framework intended to “inspire meaningful action, encourage thoughtful discernment, and serve as a living document that shapes our ministries for years to come.” The Team wrote: “Dreams alone are not enough—they must be paired with action, commitment, and a shared purpose,” and invited Committees, ministry teams, and staff “to take the next step by developing measurable short- and long-term goals that align with our reaffirmed Values and Guiding Questions.”
The Dream Team identified eight priorities, driven by the reaffirmed values and carried out through our various areas of ministry. Most of the priorities identified in the Dreams Report relate in part to the SPRC’s work. In particular, the SPRC’s most direct calls to action were (1) Developing a New Priority Focus on Youth, Children/Families, (2) Growing and Engaging the Congregation, and (3) Addressing Expectations and Dependence on Paid Staff.
In the months following the Report the SPRC, in conjunction with the Senior Minister, undertook a fresh top-to-bottom look at our entire pastoral and lay staffing structure to rethink how it could best be aligned for progress in achieving the Dream priorities. In the background was an understanding, from work of the Finance Committee and Sustainability Task Force, that resources are limited. Additionally, rather than overlap planning work being done by the Community Outreach Center, the SPRC did not include COC staffing in its analysis.
The SPRC developed a complete staff reconfiguration plan to better align people resources with the stated Dream priorities. The general outline of the reconfiguration plan was reviewed with the Governing Board in late Spring and the final detailed plan was formally approved by the Board in September. In connection with the reconfiguration, new positions were created, some positions were eliminated, and revised job descriptions were developed for most existing positions, all within budget parameters. Included among others are an expanded full-time Director of Children and Family Ministries, and reconfigured positions for Director of Nurture and Discipleship, Director of Operations, Operations Manager, and Director of Music Ministry. Job descriptions were approved by the SPRC in September.
To keep focus on the future, the reconfiguration analysis was done without consideration of existing positions or the persons currently filling them. However, when we took the next step of comparing our current staff with the reconfigured structure, we were delighted to find that each current member of our staff fit well within the new framework, and each has been offered a position at least equivalent or better than the one they currently hold. We are truly blessed to have such a talented and hard-working staff. We are excited about the impact toward achievement of our Dreams that each of them will make in the newly aligned positions.
Our work to achieve the Dream vision must continue. To be clear, the job descriptions for each member of our already hard-working staff require more than they can alone fulfill. They will need to prioritize, and their complete success is dependent, in part, on support from volunteers and teams. Each of us in the congregation must do everything in our power to help fill that gap.
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