1. MYERS PARK BAPTIST CHURCH
Key Themes from Listening Circles
Board of Deacons Meeting
April 3, 2017

2. The essentials

3. The Covenant
We, the members of the Myers Park Baptist Church, are a people on a journey of faith. By God's grace we are experiencing God's love through Jesus Christ and the community of the faithful. We are discovering in this experience our freedom to become new creatures and our responsibility to be faithful stewards of our lives and of this world.
We will be open to all new light, strengthened by God and each other in our faith. We will sustain a critical examination of Scripture, belief and ritual as interpreters of God's active presence in the world. We will accept controversy as a reality of life together and an opportunity for growth toward maturity. We covenant to be a community of God's new creation and affirm that we are open to all and closed to none.
We covenant together to nurture this church as a community of faith and as an instrument for reconciliation in the world: by worship, by Christian education, by the dedication of our personal and material resources, and by all the other ways we express the significance of our lives with God and one another.
We covenant together to be priests celebrating God's presence in community and in the world, believing we are participants in God's kingdom on earth.

4. The Process Listening Circle facilitators trained: January 9th
Listening Circles launched: January 30th
Listening Circles concluded: February 20th
Total number of circles: 23

5. the themes

6. Goal 1: Faith

7. Goal 1 Themes Impressive support for change and boldness
Widespread desire for more small groups, including more structured Sunday school classes and Bible studies
Expand conversations, social events and dialogue opportunities among members and congregants
Emphasize MPBC as seekers and deepeners of faith; increase learning and growing through retreats, Awakening, small groups
Explore alternative worship services (times, locations, styles, music)
Focus on youth, children and families through both style and
content

8. Goal 1 Themes, continued
Desire for more book clubs, readings, videos, arts, literature and creative explorations of faith
Root members in the context of a larger global family of faith
Outstanding, challenging preaching and guest preachers/theologians
More silence, prayer, contemplation, meditation
Design some faith formation actions to be aligned and church-wide
Provide spiritual practices and tools for personal support and growth

9. Goal 2: internal church family

10. Goal 2 Themes
Proposed strategies were split between attracting new members and building internal community
Overwhelming focus on diversifying membership, with special focus on younger families, African-Americans and millennials
Partnerships
Active and curated recruitment
Increased diversity in staff, worship styles, perspectives
Programming specifically for diverse new groups (e.g., parents of young children)
Restructure new member engagement
Provide more support through staff and technology
Make it easier to be engaged
Mentors/buddies for Year One
Continued focus on small groups
Regular retreats
Build community through congregational exchanges, social activities and online interaction

11. Goal 2 Themes, continued Strengthen congregational care
Teams and technology
Staff and small groups
Teach hospitality as a skill, from first visit to lifetime membership
Welcome and respect a wide range of political, religious and philosophical perspectives to ensure all feel welcome
Build shared identity through history, branding, storytelling
Take groups through team-building exercises and work on social justice projects together
Create an online community

12. Goal 3: external community

13. Goal 3 Themes
Widespread desire to serve/advocate/minister to the community in partnerships with fellow churches, synagogues, mosques and nonprofits
Have fewer areas of outreach with deeper impact on each one
Focus on one or two outreach initiatives per year
An Awakening series focused on one issue per year
Operate with humility, with strong listening skills, and in partnership with those served
Be a “leading voice,” “a leader in this movement,” “out there in front,” “the loud and relentless voice for compassion and justice.”
Support for sermons that illuminate social/community problems and Christian responses
Ensure that compassion and justice are directed at those within
MPBC, as well

14. Goal 3 Themes, continued
Training members how to discern community needs and be active servants and social justice champions
Make it easier for members to engage in outreach
Technology
Personal invitations to specific events or projects
Support for retaining and expanding Room In The Inn
Increase dedicated staff support for outreach
Leverage the MPBC campus for outreach and social justice issues
Increase outreach funding to 10-15% of budget

15. Goal 4: sustainability

16. Goal 4 Themes
Universal agreement on need to grow membership and attract younger members
Invest in staff and technology to support this growth
Recurring theme of “if we make the church more vibrant, caring, energetic, focused on social justice issues…………the people and money will come”
Support for growing the endowment to cover the annual cost of facilities and maintenance
Desire to capture members’ talents and interests more effectively and manage volunteer efforts more efficiently
Support for allowing people to designate some portion of their pledge/gift to specific outreach projects
Generate additional income by leveraging the campus as a resource

17. Goal 4 Themes, continued
Ensure a commitment to transparency of costs, revenues and operations
Support the staff through living wages, growth opportunities and professional development
Define and communicate expectations around giving: What is expected of members?
Focus outreach dollars in larger amounts on fewer initiatives
Make membership growth everyone’s responsibility
Explore entirely new, creative options for church funding

18. discussion