Church Growth and Discipleship

Church Growth and Discipleship: Maintenance to Mission

 

 

Issue:  We embody mixed feelings about growing St. Mark’s, both numerically and spiritually.  It sounds good, but many feel growth will change the character of our parish.  We are not sure whether we should grow because of a Gospel mandate or a need for more pledging households to balance our budget.  Many parishioners cannot name a family that has joined in the last year, and we do not understand why many newcomers seem to fade away before rooting themselves in parish life.  We are just beginning to reflect upon our parish culture and whether we attract or put off newcomers. 

 

Goal:  We need to deepen the culture and roots of the parish so that we draw people in and transform them in an exciting and dynamic atmosphere that fosters natural growth.

 

 

What do “Maintenance” and “Mission” mean?

 

 

Maintenance                      

 

·      Preserve what we have, with some improvement

 

·      Minister to the faithful

 

·      Focus on internal matters; church members

 

·      Self-contained faith; disconnected from others

 

 

Mission

 

·      Seek dynamic change; make disciples; miraculous expectation

 

·      Make new disciples; new members; seek glorious transformation

 

·      Outward focus; community

 

·      Live your faith and articulate the vision of life transformed

 

 

 Topics for Discussion

 

1)    What do we mean by “deepen the culture and roots of the parish” and how do we create a “dynamic atmosphere”?  How does that foster “natural growth”?

 

2)    Church growth means transforming existing members into stakeholders as well as increasing the total number of members.

 

3)    How do we strengthen the commitment of existing members and turn them into stakeholders? 

 

4)    How do we break down real or perceived barriers to participation and leadership in existing groups?

 

5)    Are we not satisfied with the size of our parish as it is?  Why must we grow the number of members?

 

6)    Are there specific program changes that should be made to promote church growth?  What are our current strengths and weaknesses?

 

7)    What can be done to identify and retain newcomers?

 

8)    What is “discipleship” and how does it create a more exciting parish?

 

9)    How can our personal experiences in becoming stakeholders be transformed into vehicles for getting others involved?

 

10)                      Should we have a more formal marketing program with a professional public relations person to express our identity to the community?

 

 

 

Active Small Groups at St. Mark’s

 

Altar Guild

Book Group

Ushers

St. Audrey’s Guild

St. Francis

The Flower Committee

Outreach Commission

Buildings and Grounds

Community Life Commission

Pastoral Care Committee

Finance/Development Committee

St. Mark’s Experiment

Ministers of Communion

Lectors

Christmas Caroling

Newcomers Committee

Choir

Sunday School Teachers

Stewardship Committee

EYC Parent Committee

EYC

Affiliated with St. Mark’s Nursery School

Men’s Retreat

Men’s Breakfast Group

Tea on Tuesdays

Food Bank Volunteer

Camp Hand-in-Hand

Supper Club

Bible Study

Yoga

Bookstore

May Fair Volunteer