tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456670233907291804.post6070535763464069406..comments2023-12-13T20:36:12.188-05:00Comments on Can you hear the birds sing?: three questionsCan you hear the birds sing?http://www.blogger.com/profile/13426825328047099300noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456670233907291804.post-17226079797943225432016-09-28T16:09:44.774-04:002016-09-28T16:09:44.774-04:00Jeff-I hope CCFUMC is still working at being "...Jeff-I hope CCFUMC is still working at being "permission giving", and "bottoms up". We grew out of a church council and congregation that tended to be very controlling. We changed the council to "compass" to set broad direction for our church. We set up areas of responsibility for the Discipleship process - Invite, Connect, Grow, Serve, and Worship activities and let staff and lay leaders co-chair each area. These folks then made up Compass (along with Finance, Trustees, Staff/Parish). This leadership team then tried to measure requests for new initiatives against the church mission... Lay Leaders in each area were encouraged to recruit others to work in their respective areas. We wanted the congregation to be able to suggest new initiatives and "own them" by working with like-minded people. We actually had 3 year goals set by a mix of leadership and congregants at an off-site Vision casting event. Finance tried to be an enabler, not a road block. The work teams had freedom to choose how to make it happen. It kept us focused and we met most of the goals. We haven't any new goals for almost 3 years. If you want to chat more on this, let me know...DanAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16925686059636328539noreply@blogger.com