Transition Team Update
By Christopher Jacobson
We are almost finished with the Ministry Site Profile (MSP)! The MSP is a lengthy questionnaire that we are required to answer for the Grand Canyon Synod. We used the survey results to answer many of these questions as faithfully as we could. The MSP will be used by the Call Committee as they look for a new pastor (or pastoral team), and the MSP will be used by the Grand Canyon Synod office as it searches for the best pastor(s) for Faith Lutheran Church. This ensures that there is a good “match” between the new pastor and our church.
Thank you again to everyone who either filled out our survey, participated in the mission adult form or spoke on the phone to one of us. We believe that the Holy Spirit is working through each one of us as we go through this process.
This is a summary of these survey results:
For the question “What does Faith Lutheran Church mean to you?” The top four answers were:
Meaningful spiritual growth
A strong sense of community
High quality Lutheran liturgy and music
Warm acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community
For the question about what ministry focus and direction Faith needs to take, the top 4 answers were:
Outreach and growth for more diversity
Social ministry/social justice
Strong pastoral leadership
Bible story and prayer.
For the question on how to overcome Faith’s challenges, answers were much more conflicted. People were mostly supportive of the high quality of music at worship services, but many felt that changes were needed, such as playing more familiar songs, shortening parts of the liturgy, including broader styles of music, blending tradition with modern music, and reducing the volume of the organ. Many felt that the church needs to attract more younger people, including younger families. Many also expressed the need to raise more money for the church. People were conflicted about the Spanish ministry, with some expressing strong support, but many complaining about different aspects of it. Some expressed the need for more collaboration with other churches, while others expressed fears of such collaboration. Many were concerned about the burnout of many involved members or about huge losses in membership that we may face because of the pandemic.
These were the five most critical tasks that the respondents felt were required of our new pastor:
Preaching / Worship
Building a Sense of Community
Pastoral Care and Visitation
Multicultural Ministry
Administration
These were the most important gifts for ministry that respondents felt that our pastor needed the most:
Deal effectively with conflict
Appreciate cultural diversity in language and customs
Help people develop their spiritual life.
Be an effective communicator
Help people understand and act upon issues of social justice
Be able to share leadership and work in a team
If you have any questions, or would like to further discuss these results, please feel free to contact the church office, a member of Council, the Transition Team, Pastor Sarah Isakson, or Vicar Veronica Alvarez.