FUTURE DIRECTIONS WORKING GROUPUPDATE

North Kildonan United Church2011-05-29

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Scope & Authority:This working group was established by the Board of North Kildonan United Church (NKUC) as an ad hoc sub-committee.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS TEAM

Chair:Clayton Gording

Members:

Marvelle McPherson, Del Sexsmith, Ron Hutchinson, Gay Todd, Grant McMillan, Rev. Marc Whitehead, Dennis Deley

The working group has identified the following major tasks for the work:

Discern what God is calling NKUC to do over the next 10 years.

Develop an understanding of the demographics and needs of the geographic area(s) we serve.

Review the existing ministry, mission, vision, goals, plans, Constitution, committee structures, etc.

Develop/evolve a ‘dream’, vision, values and goals that align with what God is now calling NKUC to do, and the needs of the geographic areas we serve;

SCOPE OF EFFORT (cont’d)

Develop and document a ‘plan’ for the next 5 to 10 years that is consistent with the vision, value, goals, etc. Identify key resource requirements.

Review and develop/revise the Constitution and organization structure to align with the new plan.

Present revised vision, mission, goals, plans, Constitution, structures to the Board, Presbytery and Congregation, revise as necessary & obtain necessary approvals from key stakeholders.

PROGRESS TO DATE:

Reviewed existing data – Environics study Gathered data on 33 local area churches &

analyzed the data Preliminary work on establishing core

values

What we learned:

Environics - 2008

In 2005, The United Church of Canada commissioned a national polling firm,

Environics, to undertake research regarding the current composition of the membership of the church and compare this to statistical data

regarding communities across Canada.

Background to Environics:

Service Area & Local Market:

Religion:

Age of Maintainer:

Environics: Observations:

NKUC’s ‘Catchment Area’: 39,800 people (16,150 households) Predominant ‘declared religions’:

o Catholic (27%)o Mennonite (13%)o United Church (13%)o Lutheran (7%)o Anglican (7%)

16% of population declared ‘no religion’ in 2001 Census

Approximately 4200 people in area around NKUC have some identification with United Church of Canada.

Environics: Observations:

NKUC is a ‘destination church’ as opposed to a ‘community church’.

Bulk of members/adherents are located geographically close to the church – i.e.: most of congregation doesn’t travel across the city to come to our church.

Majority of the NKUC congregation is upscale, well-educated, professional families with kids of varying ages.

Also a significant proportion of active retirees, or ‘empty nesters’ that are further along in their lifestage.

Environics - Observations

Largest number of households in area match 3 of 4 clusters:

3,938 households of High Achieving Dual Income Households in Exurbia

1,225 households of Upper Middle Class Exurban Boomer Families 1,582 households of Upper Middle Class Suburban Households

Starting to Empty-Nest

A fourth cluster – Low Income Seniors in Urban High-rises comprises 3,822 households in the area – and is underrepresented at NKUC when compared to the service area.

Environics: Relevant Social Values

Social Value Description: Trend:• Desire to regularly escape the stress and responsibilities of everyday life.

Need for Escape

• In favour of a more informal & relaxed approach to life.• Living with a certain amount of disorder as an expression of oneself.

Rejection of Order

• Family takes precedence over other personal priorities. Primacy of Family

• Desire for frank, warm & spontaneous relations with people.• Need for communication & deep, affective exchanges with others.

Openness Toward Others

• Tendency to believe all environmental phenomena on earth are interrelated.

Global Ecological

Consciousness

Environics - Summary:

NKUC is an upper income middle class congregation dominated by married couples in the 45-plus zone who are happy together and have many more folks just like them in the area to become part of the “family.” Emerging Spirit folks are few and far away, and may not want to be part of the group. Seniors of modest means are many but do not seem to hear our call.

PROGRESS TO DATE:

Review of area churches – our ‘competition’

Approach:

Identified 33 churches in our immediate geographic area

Personally visited 7 local United Churches to gather info.

Reviewed websites and talked to members of congregations of 12 other area churches

What we learned: United Churches

Most offer ‘traditional’ service format – most with Powerpoint

Lots of ‘gray hair’ at worship services; very few kids or youth

Some have different organizational model Varying degrees of ‘welcoming’ – ‘very’ to ‘not’ Varying degrees of Outreach programming Most have similar ‘look & feel’ to NKUC

What we learned: Other Churches

Many ‘competing’ local area churches offering a ‘God product’ – mostly traditional types of worship services

Many have large facilities – sanctuaries, gyms, etc. Many have significant programming for youth, seniors,

congregation Most have pretty significant outreach programs Most other denominations less tolerant than UC on social

issues – acceptance of non-Christians; divorce, etc. Most focus on serving the needs of their own

congregations – not actively recruiting

Core Values

A significant part of developing a ‘plan’ for NKUC for next 5 to 10 years involves:

Discerning what God is calling us to do Understanding our ‘core values’ Defining/refining our ‘mission statement’ & ‘vision’

The Future Directions team has begun to look at defining core values

Core Values

Future Directions team top 5 core values: Family Relationships Fellowship Helping Caring

We need the congregation’s help to understand what God is calling NKUC to do; & to define NKUC’s core values, mission & vision. This will enable Future Directions to continue the planning process…

Where next?? June 18th…

Get together with members of congregation to: ‘Report out’ - what we’ve learned to date Brainstorm – ‘hopes & dreams’ for NKUC Distill the NKUC’s ‘core values’ – determine those we

want to ‘live’ Ministry audit - what God is calling us to do Test our current Mission & Vision & modify as

necessary

Why is June 18th important?

Share with the congregation what Future Directions has learned…

Professionally facilitated process to define NKUC congregation’s hopes, dreams & priorities & to provide the guidance to Future Directions to enable them continue their work on longer term plans for NKUC

Please come & share your thoughts & provide your input

Questions??