Parkminster Evolving

In the fall of 2011, we embarked on a process of looking at who we are and what God’s calling us to be and do as a community of faith at Parkminster. Our exploration and discernment has taken us on a journey in which we have looked at ourselves through a variety of lenses. Over 100 people have participated in at least one of the congregational gatherings during which we have discussed Parkminster in the context of these various lenses. It is important to note that no one lens holds all the answers and we hope that by using a variety of lenses, we will find some common themes and ideas that will help us focus our mission and vision development work.

Part of the reason for doing this (but not the sole reason) is that as we better define our mission and vision our Joint Needs Assessment Committee will then be able to assess our ministerial needs in support of the mission and vision. In addition it will allow us to establish goals and objectives and better align our efforts as a community of faith.

There has been a lot of material reviewed and discussed and we hope that using the website as a repository for all of the information will allow those who haven’t been able to participate in the gatherings a chance to review the material. Below you will see listed each of the lenses, and within each section you will find the material that was reviewed and the ideas and thoughts generated by those attending each gathering.

In addition to the material from all the gatherings you will also find a summary done by Rev. Rob Dalgleish (EDGE) who has facilitated most of our gatherings. Rob has offered his observations, feedback and ideas based on his participation in the gatherings.

Overview of the Process

This describes with a diagram the process we are in the midst of as we work to redefine our mission and vision by understanding who we are and what God is calling us to be and do.

Lens #1 – Environics – October 1, 2011

The Environics Congregational report is a practical tool to help congregations develop and implement mission strategy by providing demographic and social value trend data to help you better understand your congregation and its broader community.

1. Environics User Guide - The Environics User Guide will help you understand the structure of the Environics report and how to interpret the results.
2. Environics Analytics Service Area Report – This report provides specific information about Parkminster.
3. Environics Discussion feedback - This report includes the observations and information gathered from those who participated in this congregational gathering. The ideas discussed are brainstorming thoughts and a result of areas of focus that the participants felt moved to be involved with in the context of this lens.

Lens #2 – Change in the World around us – November 6, 2011

Rev. Rob Dalgleish ( Executive Director of EDGE, United Church of Canada) reviewed in a congregational gathering the 8 major shifts in the post modern world and those in attendance brainstormed areas of focus and projects that could better prepare Parkminster in this post modern context.

1. Eight Shifts For Ministry in God – This document identifies 8 major shifts in the world and how that can affect our ministry in the future.
2. Shifts Discussion feedback – This report includes the observations and information gathering from those who participate in this congregational gathering. It includes ideas that resonated with people from the material presented and a brainstorming of areas of focus in the context of this lens.

Lens #3 – Natural Church Development (NCD) – December 4, 2011

The Natural Church Development approach allows congregations to assess how they are positioned for long term sustainability and growth. The 3 areas of focus in this assessment are service, fellowship and faith. Overall through a survey completed by 30 members of the congregation, the strengths and weaknesses are identified by using 24 themes that are summarized into the 3 areas of focus. The objective is to identify our ‘minimum factor’ which is where we need to focus in order to ensure better balance in the 3 focus areas and enhance our potential for long term sustainability and growth.

1. NCD Parkminster Summary – December 2011 -In this report we have pulled out the key information for Parkminster from all of the reports/guides that were provided to us as an executive summary. You will note on the first chart that our area of weakness is in faith and particularly in the area of passionate spirituality. Subsequent charts break down our areas of strength and weakness ( very strong in pastoral care, teamwork and self-awareness, and weakest in inspiration, prayer, and hope). As you look further at this detail you will see the specific questions were that were used to contribute to the ratings of each of the themes. Some would say that the questions sound more evangelical than what is representative in the United Church, however those responding to the survey were encouraged to interpret those questions in the context of the United Church rather than focussing on the specific words.
2. NCD Summary Guide - This guide provides an overview of the results and introduces the concept of the minimum factor. Within the focus area of faith our Minimum factor is passionate spirituality. Using the NCD approach suggests that if we work on improving our passionate spritiuality, then that will bring us better balance and a greater potential for long term sustainability and growth.
3. NCD Story Guide – This guide looks at our 3 strongest and 3 weakest themes, ie areas that come more naturally to us and those that come less naturally to us and identifies variation by question within each theme as a way to help us focus our discernment.
4. NCD Status Guide – This guide looks at the 8 Quality Characteristics and our assessment on associated questions. It also identifies by question, the top 10 and the lowest 10 and describes a process through which we could go to continue to work on the areas identified.
5. NCD Strategy Guide – This guide describes how to develop a cycle of growth for our church. As this is just one lens that we are using at Parkminster we are taking the information from the survey and looking at it in context with information from other lenses and so are not using this specific process.
6. NCD Discussion feedback – This report includes observations and information gathered in small groups from those who attended the congregational gathering.

Lens #4 – Identity Survey – Spring 2011

In the spring of 2011 the United Church of Canada (UCC) conducted an on-line survey ( with a mail in option) the purpose of which was to obtain a picture of the identity and vision of the people of the UCC and to gather insights to assist in the planning and processes of the 41st General Council. Parkminster was fortunate to be one of 223 pastoral charges included in the survey and 118 members/adherents from Parkminster responded. With that phenomenal response from our congregation, we were able to receive results for all the survey questions for Parkminster specifically in addition to the UCC.

1. Identity Survey – While we haven’t had a congregational gathering to discuss these results specifically, the leadership team has looked at the findings. There are many aspects of these results that correlate with observations made through some of the other lenses. The attributes of a Church you would like to be a Part Of on p 33,34 is particularly interesting in comparison to the UCC.

Lens #5 – Church Size – January 15, 2012

Rev. Fred Montieth, the Executive Secretary for Hamilton Conference facilitated a congregational gathering to discuss the various models for congregational life based on the size of the congregation. Once the models were understood we discussed what that means to Parkminster and where Parkminster fits. Fred talked about the importance of thinking about this from three perspectives: my desire, our desire and God’s desire for us. It was clear that Parkminster is on the cusp between a Pastoral Church and a Program Church and that this makes it very difficult for our paid accountable staff to meet the expectations within the congregation. Fred indicated that the transition from Pastoral to Program is a very difficult one to make, however encouraged us to discern which type of church we wanted to be. This is especially important in preparation for discerning our ministerial needs as the skills and focus for ministers is very different depending on the model.

1. Four Models of Church Size – This document explains the characteristics and type of ministry of each of the 4 Church models.
2. Sizing up the Congregation – This document illustrates based on weekly attendance numbers where each model is most appropriate. Parkminster with an average 5 years attendance of 150 and weekly attendance growing in the past 4 months is clearly entering the transition zone between a Pastoral Church and a Program Church.
3. Church Size Discussion Feedback - This document summarizes the feedback from the small group discussion in which we examined where people thought Parkminster was within the models and what the implications were for our staff.

Observations and Feedback from Rev. Rob Dalgleish ( EDGE) - January 2012

Rob Dalgleish has worked with us through the fall and facilitated most of our congregational gatherings, as such, the coordinating committee ( Jeanne Foster, Jim Bowman, Rev. Keith Hagerman and Laura Muirhead) asked Rob to provide his observations and feedback based on his experience with Parkminster.

1. Parkminster Report - the coordinating committee has met with Rob to discuss his report and will be integrating some of his ideas in the process as we move forward.

Congregational Gathering - Feb 26, 2012, 11:30 - 2:30

Our next congregational gathering will be held after the worship service on Feb 26. Lunch will be provided (free will offering gratefully accepted) and child care will be available. Rev. Rob Dalgleish will facilitate this session as we:

1. continue to explore the implications for Parkminster of the church size models and
2. look at some of the work that has been done by the coordinating committee to pull together all the information and feedback that we have been gathering over the past 6 months. To this end, we have started by drafting a possible new statement of vision for Parkminster. This is a rough draft but we thought that we would put it out so that people can ponder it over the next couple of weeks.

We are inspired as a community of faith,
to individually and collectively, make a difference
in the world God has entrusted to us,
as we grow deeper into the Mystery
in whom we live and move and have our being.

What we have learned through the gatherings is that there are many different ideas and ways that we can make a difference and there are small pockets of people rallying around these different ideas. We have also learned that what differentiates us from a service club is the spiritual way in which we approach our service and that our spiritual journey is an important part each step of the way. This is just some of the background that went into the development of this draft vision statement.