So What Did We Learn?
Our Study Committee did a wonderful job this summer preparing a report to meet the requirements of The Book of Discipline for our future construction. Anna Dunnwald, Kristy Flack, Dave Jandik, Dan Whitaker, Kathy Wickham, and I presented the Study Committee Report to the Leadership Board and Staff this fall and together discussed Salem’s strengths and weaknesses. All of this information will be shared with the Charge Conference in order to authorize the building project and elect a Building Committee at the beginning of 2012. They will work with an architect to develop preliminary plans. Salem has nearly $500,000 from the buyout. This is good seed money. Salem will need a capital campaign to raise money for construction and will most likely need to build in phases.
Near the end of the Study Committee/Leadership Board/Staff conversation, the questions was asked, “So, what did we learn tonight?” It was a great question. In many ways, there were no big surprises. We know that Salem lacks physical space and needs to build. We know the neighborhoods around Salem need Salem to be the church, showing the world what it means to be the world God intended in creation. Still, we learned much about ourselves and our community (the entire report can be downloaded from the website).
Space is a major issue for the congregation. We currently have less than one-fourth of the square feet we had in the downtown building. Now that Salem is growing again and reaching new people, our attendance and participation is increasing. The facilities we created to make our initial move to this new location need to be enlarged in order to continue growing and have enough space for ministry. While we always need to consider the ways space can be used in the community (in coffee houses, restaurants, schools, members’ homes, the mall, etc.) most congregations in our culture seek to establish a physical presence and a place to gather together for worship, edification, fellowship, and service.
Salem needs significantly more space in the narthex (entrance/lobby including informal seating areas), sanctuary, fellowship hall, kitchen, storage, classrooms, nursery, meeting rooms, offices, hallways, and restrooms. It is likely that more parking is needed too. Again, taking over the 4000 square foot building from New Creation UMC and adding the two portable buildings helped Salem begin in this new location. Now more space is needed.
Our location has homes all around it, but it is also in the midst of a large commercial area with Target, Walmart, Westdale Mall, restaurants, a car dealer, banks, and so on. With our location and 8.4 acres, we have the opportunity to create a physical presence that could become an anchor and a witness for Jesus in the neighborhood. It could also bring beauty. The look of a traditional church building, for instance, with a steeple or bell tower would be clearly identified as a church. Moreover, ringing Salem’s bell once again would be a wonderful witness in the neighborhood.
Salem’s facility also could be used in external, missional ways by hosting community ministries and having showers and sleeping areas to host mission trips that come to Cedar Rapids to work in flood recovery or other ministries.
Since we exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will transform the world, then we need to work on bringing Salem/shalom (peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being, health, joy, beauty, salvation) to those around us. Therefore, in addition to traditional ministries, Salem must focus on the whole person by considering ministries such as a:
There are serious needs in the community. Marriages, families, and kids are struggling and dealing with broken homes and lack of shalom in their lives. There is a great deal of financial debt and even foreclosures and bankruptcies. People are losing jobs and struggling to live hand to mouth. There are numerous health problems and education problems. Our community needs the church to show them what it means to be the world God intended in creation. Salem has an opportunity live out its name.
There are a lot of people for Salem to reach. Currently, Salem has 305 members and an average attendance of 190. Salem’s attendance is growing and there is tremendous potential. The population in the 3-mile radius surrounding Salem is 43,094 (4,271 within a 1-mile radius) and growing. There are very few congregations given this population density. How many people can we reach? If Salem reached 10% of the population, that would be 4,300 (3-mile radius) or 430 (1-mile radius). If we extrapolate the number of people already reached in this decade (28), then we would reach another 112 persons in the next eight years. If we follow the general advice to “double your double” then we would reach a little less than 800.
Some of us would be more comfortable with 250-350 in the congregation. Some of us would have no problem with 800. For others that would be way too big. We are called to plant and water. God provides the growth. One of the healthiest things a congregation can do is multiply. Therefore, Salem should consider starting a new faith community on the Blairs Ferry land. The point is, “the harvest is plentiful.” Still, the goal is not simply bigger numbers. The goal is disciples transforming the world. The community needs more churches to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
At the end of the Study Committee/Leadership Board/Staff conversation, we determined that Salem’s three greatest strengths are our warm welcoming of others, our mission focus, and our teaching. Salem’s three most significant weaknesses are lack of space, lack of youth and youth ministries, and lack of outreach (i.e. hands on mission work transforming the world). The three changes we would like to see happen are a building project, the development of outreach (hands on mission work), and more people engaged fully in the life of the church.
The leaders affirmed we want this congregation to grow and noted our growth should not be simply to add members but to make disciples of Jesus Christ in order to transform the world. The leaders also affirmed a willingness to make the difficult decisions required for change and growth and noted that change is hard, especially when it changes something that you prefer or that is important to you.
The journey of faith is an adventure! This is a wonderful time to be a part of Salem.
Near the end of the Study Committee/Leadership Board/Staff conversation, the questions was asked, “So, what did we learn tonight?” It was a great question. In many ways, there were no big surprises. We know that Salem lacks physical space and needs to build. We know the neighborhoods around Salem need Salem to be the church, showing the world what it means to be the world God intended in creation. Still, we learned much about ourselves and our community (the entire report can be downloaded from the website).
Space is a major issue for the congregation. We currently have less than one-fourth of the square feet we had in the downtown building. Now that Salem is growing again and reaching new people, our attendance and participation is increasing. The facilities we created to make our initial move to this new location need to be enlarged in order to continue growing and have enough space for ministry. While we always need to consider the ways space can be used in the community (in coffee houses, restaurants, schools, members’ homes, the mall, etc.) most congregations in our culture seek to establish a physical presence and a place to gather together for worship, edification, fellowship, and service.
Salem needs significantly more space in the narthex (entrance/lobby including informal seating areas), sanctuary, fellowship hall, kitchen, storage, classrooms, nursery, meeting rooms, offices, hallways, and restrooms. It is likely that more parking is needed too. Again, taking over the 4000 square foot building from New Creation UMC and adding the two portable buildings helped Salem begin in this new location. Now more space is needed.
Our location has homes all around it, but it is also in the midst of a large commercial area with Target, Walmart, Westdale Mall, restaurants, a car dealer, banks, and so on. With our location and 8.4 acres, we have the opportunity to create a physical presence that could become an anchor and a witness for Jesus in the neighborhood. It could also bring beauty. The look of a traditional church building, for instance, with a steeple or bell tower would be clearly identified as a church. Moreover, ringing Salem’s bell once again would be a wonderful witness in the neighborhood.
Salem’s facility also could be used in external, missional ways by hosting community ministries and having showers and sleeping areas to host mission trips that come to Cedar Rapids to work in flood recovery or other ministries.
Since we exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will transform the world, then we need to work on bringing Salem/shalom (peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being, health, joy, beauty, salvation) to those around us. Therefore, in addition to traditional ministries, Salem must focus on the whole person by considering ministries such as a:
- park/playground area – a safe place for families and children to play and have fun;
- gymnasium/fitness area – open not only for the congregation but for the people of the neighborhood;
- coffee house type area and other meeting areas with Wi-Fi – invite people to come and work in a nice, quiet environment;
- preschool – there are many young families in the community.
There are serious needs in the community. Marriages, families, and kids are struggling and dealing with broken homes and lack of shalom in their lives. There is a great deal of financial debt and even foreclosures and bankruptcies. People are losing jobs and struggling to live hand to mouth. There are numerous health problems and education problems. Our community needs the church to show them what it means to be the world God intended in creation. Salem has an opportunity live out its name.
There are a lot of people for Salem to reach. Currently, Salem has 305 members and an average attendance of 190. Salem’s attendance is growing and there is tremendous potential. The population in the 3-mile radius surrounding Salem is 43,094 (4,271 within a 1-mile radius) and growing. There are very few congregations given this population density. How many people can we reach? If Salem reached 10% of the population, that would be 4,300 (3-mile radius) or 430 (1-mile radius). If we extrapolate the number of people already reached in this decade (28), then we would reach another 112 persons in the next eight years. If we follow the general advice to “double your double” then we would reach a little less than 800.
Some of us would be more comfortable with 250-350 in the congregation. Some of us would have no problem with 800. For others that would be way too big. We are called to plant and water. God provides the growth. One of the healthiest things a congregation can do is multiply. Therefore, Salem should consider starting a new faith community on the Blairs Ferry land. The point is, “the harvest is plentiful.” Still, the goal is not simply bigger numbers. The goal is disciples transforming the world. The community needs more churches to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
At the end of the Study Committee/Leadership Board/Staff conversation, we determined that Salem’s three greatest strengths are our warm welcoming of others, our mission focus, and our teaching. Salem’s three most significant weaknesses are lack of space, lack of youth and youth ministries, and lack of outreach (i.e. hands on mission work transforming the world). The three changes we would like to see happen are a building project, the development of outreach (hands on mission work), and more people engaged fully in the life of the church.
The leaders affirmed we want this congregation to grow and noted our growth should not be simply to add members but to make disciples of Jesus Christ in order to transform the world. The leaders also affirmed a willingness to make the difficult decisions required for change and growth and noted that change is hard, especially when it changes something that you prefer or that is important to you.
The journey of faith is an adventure! This is a wonderful time to be a part of Salem.
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