Cross of Hope Church

Congregational Meeting

November 8, 2009

Strategic Initiatives Report

Youth Initiative

The Youth Initiative Group includes Council Liaisons Aaron Gin and Doug Perry with members Kevin and Deney Perkins. Lynn Kymes and Richard Hielkema.  Richard is leading the youth activities as part of his role as Director of the Youth and Families Ministry.  Discussions with numerous people developed the W³ concept for Wednesday nights to serve youth and include their family members and all members of Cross of Hope and includes an invitation to those members who normally eat alone--come eat dinner with a group and stay to be involved in adult education opportunities.  The Council Liaison’s asked Richard to respond to the following questions; his answers are in bold:

How are the numbers for W³ and are you happy with them? 

            There has been a leveling of people for the dinner time at W³of about 65, we see a growth in numbers after the dinner for activities such as choir and of the MHY and SHY age kids. 

Are we drawing kids to Wednesday nights that we might not otherwise?

            By the end of the evening we have a large portion (around 30) of kids ages K-5 that may not have been there without the addition of K-2 to the evening.

How are SHY numbers?

            The past three W³bible studies have had an average of 7-8 SHY kids. I would say this is up considerably from last year at this time.

As for near term goals, how can the Council and the congregation help your efforts?

            Keep the prayers coming and have ears open for improvements in our W³ program.

 Also, there has been concern in the past about keeping good records of TNT lesson plans, etc. How are you guys handling this for W³?

            The curriculum for ages K-5 was ordered by Lynda Michalk and is in great shape for years to come. Attendance at this time is just now beginning to be kept for those ages and I can report on that in a few weeks. The curriculum for ages 6-12 is up to the teacher of the confirmation class and the SHY class-Pastor Dale may have a better idea of this, but I do not at this point. Attendance records are kept for the confirmation students. 

Other information from Richard about Youth activities and W³:  Cheri Ashe, the W³ Director, has stepped down as director.  She had everything up and rolling so the other leaders are doing a great job of keeping everything going.  Bryan Swecker, who is the Dinner Dean, handles things that come up on a weekly basis and does this well; please thank him when you see him.

SHY and MHY seem to be going well; members of both groups will be attending a concert this coming week and that will be our first "outing" this year so I hope they enjoy it. SHY will also be doing a movie night on Saturday, November 14th.

Becca Aldredge, Michael Sylvester and Colton Jones have taken over the Sunday morning Children and Youth Worshiptime and have even named it the "Bomb-Diggety Bible Bunch". They are seeking to build interest and attendance for this so it will become a worship experience and not just a place for children ages 5-18 to be while their parents are in a Bible study.  Please encouragefamilies to bring their children to this great Sunday morning Bible study and worship time designed just for them. These three young adults really have a heart for children--get your kids involved!  Sunday mornings will not be the same for you and them!

Richard Hielkema, Director

Youth and Family Ministries

Prayer Initiative

Members of initiative group - Kay Hendrickson, Jan Paris, Jan Anderson, Jon Grice

Council Liaisons:  Jon Grice,Mike Hughes, Carolyn Bye 

Current Initiatives -

1)  increased focus on prayer chain

2)   Wednesday night prayer group and study with focused prayer

3) Sunday morning prayer group and study with focused prayer

4) Sharing Prayers of the Church with prayer group members

Possible Short Term Plans (Next 6 months)

1) Prayer buddies - pray for one member of the church

2) Prayer services

3) Utilizing web site to manage prayer chain

Adult Education Initiative

Council Liaisons Bill Wooten and Connie Orbinati report that the Adult Education classes made available as a part of the W³ program on Wednesday evenings and the Sunday morning Bible study classes have added opportunities for adults and drawn several more participants.  That seems to be giving the initiative a good start-up.  Bill and Connie will seek to gather volunteers again in January and look at short-term and long term opportunities and discuss those with the Council.  They ask anyone who participated in the original development of ideas to please join them and let others know that new ideas and volunteers are most welcome to work with this initiative.

Communications Initiative

Council Liaisons for this Initiative are Brian Hipple and Rick Orona.  Brian has lead the improvement of the Cross of Hope Website with assistance from the webmaster Craig Schimmel and the whole IT team and Erin Heiklema.  There is now a Members Only access to a portion of the Website where members who have obtained an authorization may sign in and view the Member Director, Staff Directory, Council Meeting Minutes, Congregational Minutes, Spiritual Gifts, Financial Reports and Audit Reports.  Forms for Building Use and other activities are available on-line and may be submitted electronically.  If you have not visited the website, please take a look.

Working on the website has taken most of the time available for Brian and the IT team; Rick and Brian will seek to gather volunteers again after the first of January to work on other communication concerns identified in the original list.  Sign up to help.  And, give Brian and his team a huge thank you for the new website.

Service Initiative

Council Liaisons Connie Orbinati and Aaron Gin report that they are still in the initial development stage with this initiative and will be calling volunteers and seeking new ideas early in the new year.  Their first meeting would be a good forum to ask for volunteers to join us. Aaron noes that our first order of business will probably be just to understand the current situation as far as different service groups and efforts at COH. Then, do some brainstorming for  ways in which we could improve. Maybe it makes sense to have a service coordinator. Or maybe try to find ways in which we could encourage synergy between service efforts. Or maybe our short term goals might simply be to encourage participation in various service groups. One way may be to work through individual Koinonia groups - I know our Koinonia has loved an occasional trip to Roadrunner Food Bank. It's a great way to bond with other members of the group!  Watch for their first meeting in January.

Finance and Stewardship Initiative

Council Liaisons Jon Grice, Bill Wooten, and Carolyn Bye report that this group, too, is still in the initial development stage and will began a strong effort after the beginning of the new year.  The upcoming annual Stewardship event in March-April will be addressed as well as other short-term and long-term opportunities and needs.  Volunteers are needed. 

Logistics Initiative

Council Liaisons Steve Weiss, Leof Strand and Mike Hughes report that they have developed an initial “Strategic Goals, Objectives and Strategies Plan”  and an “Action Plan” based on the information for the initial planning session information gathered when Consultant Rich Nelson met with the congregation.  They are seeking additional volunteers and will meet with the Council soon to discuss their plans.  At this time, their planning addresses the building plan, facilities maintenance, and increased use of the Spiritual Gifts and Time and Talents databases to involve the congregation in care of the building.

Please remember, members of Cross of Hope, these Initiatives grew out of your ideas and concerns expressed at the Vision and Missionsession held in the Spring with Rich Nelson.  They will become fully implemented only with your participation - please join the initiative where God is leading you to participate.