Effective Congregation Council Training

Effective Congregation Council Training

Serving on council should be the most rewarding and significant act of service a member ever gives to a congregation. With the landscape of congregation life in our state changing rapidly, with people having less discretionary time to serve in volunteer capacities, and with the need for our ministries to be effective, we have to invest in how our council operates and how it visions the future.

In-person Session #1—An Effective Council and Congregational Identity—January 27, 10 AM to 2 PM.

This first session is for all council members to attend. We will start with the purpose of the council and the role of members.  Guidance will be provided on how to have an effective meeting and some useful tools like consent agenda and online collaboration.  In order to be effective, a council needs to know its mission and core values and have a vision for what the future looks like because the congregation lives out its mission. This event will conclude with exercises to bring clarity to mission, vision and core values with homework to conclude this.  If you have recently adopted a new mission statement, you will get an opportunity to test it and tweak it if needed.

2 Zoom Sessions for pastors and executive Committee members—February  26—7 PM/April 8—7 PM.

These sessions will be to participate in reviews of council agendas and real-world adjustments to how we are conducting our business.  It takes time to make change. We will learn from each other and those willing for issues they are facing to be discussed among the group so that we can apply this across all churches. This is the value of being Synod (church together).  Finally, we will check in on how the mission clarity work is going.

In-person Session #2—Moving from mission clarity to action—April 20—10  AM to 2 PM

Once we know who we are and where we are going, a council has responsibility to lead the congregation into that future.  We do that by organizing behind goals, objectives, and tactics. We often get sidetracked by tactics (an example could be –let’s bring back Vacation Bible School, but we need to start with the goal—what goal does VBS help us attain).  We will focus on goal setting. This session will have dramatic outcomes for your congregation as you will leave with your goals being articulated and ideas as to how to organize around these goals.  As these goals begin to get implemented, you will move closer to our congregation’s vision becoming a reality.

Concluding Zoom Session with Council Presidents and Pastors—May 20, 7 PM

A final Zoom session will be held to discuss how the implementation of goals is happening across the congregation and if the changes for the council to focus more on these strategic goals is taking hold or if you are sliding back into ineffective habits.

Cost:

Congregations are asked to pay $600 each for the program, but for congregation for whom that is a burden, there is assistance available from the Synod Office (contact Ozzie Herlong at ovherlong@aol.com) .  In addition to the program, you will receive 15 copies of Abundance: Creating a Culture of Generosity by Mike Ward and lunch at the two live sessions.  You may be able to qualify each live session as Thrivent Action Team activities for education to receive $250 grants to help with your payment, but that is between you and Thrivent.