Healthy Church Recap
What we have accomplished and what is next:
The Healthy Church Survey was completed earlier this summer by 46 congregants, which was a great foundation for understanding our next steps. Then, the Healthy Church Retreat on August 17 was attended by 28 Congregants who had a chance to see the results of the survey and discuss what they mean for Connections Church. Conversations flowed freely in small table groups as we talked through the survey and how we could use the survey results to discern changes and new opportunities!
Rev. Carl Kammeraad coached us through this process and was impressed to see that of the 14 areas surveyed, Connections scored 4.0 or more (out of 5.0) in 8 areas. The remaining 6 scored above 3.0. Overall, this indicated that we are not an unhealthy church — we do have a lot of strengths along with our weaknesses. We sensed that those who attended the retreat were encouraged.
If you were not able to attend the retreat and are interested in the results of the survey, please reach out to Tim Reicher (Tim@myconnections.church) or Jayne Tien (Jayne@myconnections.church) for a copy.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
The retreat gave us a chance to discuss the survey results of strengths and weaknesses and ways we see God may be calling us to act on them.
When the retreat group was asked to give one word to describe our church, the list was interesting and very positive: authentic, Bible based, broken/messy, caring, diverse, egalitarian, evolving, friendly, genuine, grounded in faith, healing, home, loving, non-judgmental, respectful, tenacious, trying, unique.
Going Forward:
Some comments shared during the last few months have been “Here we go again, another survey that won’t go anywhere.” “Nothing will change.” That sentiment has been heard and we want to encourage you to come alongside leadership and help in not repeating this trend.
As the survey showed that we really are not an unhealthy church, this means we already are doing many of the things that you expressed that would make us better. Change or next steps will not happen in a week or a month but will take time and energy that will require participation. Over the next weeks and months, we will make every effort to expose our strengths and ways to continue them, as well as expose our weaknesses and propose remedies. Coach Carl will continue to advise us as we engage in these callings and become a more effective church.
Once again, we thank you for taking the survey and participating in our Healthy Church Retreat. We ask that you join us in praying for our church and for your participation in our next steps.
We are Connections Church: Connecting with one another, connecting with God.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Tim Reicher, Chair, Healthy Church Team
Jayne Tien, Co-chair, Healthy Church Team
