Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Congregational Discernment Team
            Realizing that there are significant issues we need to address as a congregation if we are to be a vital, growing body of believers as we pass our hundredth birthday, the Church Board initiated a year-long discernment process. Starting in March 2008, a called-out team is studying our tradition, our congregation, our surrounding community, trends in congregational life and society, and other areas, under the guidance of an outside consultant. This team meets monthly, and will involve others in the congregation as we go. We want this process to be as transparent as possible. This team will not be making secret decisions. One of the gifts we sought in calling these persons was their ability to communicate with (and be listened to by) others, passing on what we discover concerning our vision and mission as a congregation. As we go, we will post on this page as much of our research, in documents and minutes, as possible, so you might feel a part of the process.

Leadership

Stan Dueck
a consultant from our denomination
Congregational Life Team - 1

Team members
            Jeff Wolf (facilitator), Sharon Kagarise (secretary), Ron Webb, Gail Hanna (secretary), Jeannie Schwartz, Pastor Pete, and Sue Ellen Wheatley (alternate)

Documents for Study
    - New Tasks for the New Congregation: Reflections on Congregational Studies, by Jeff Woods
          FYI - In 1996, Pastor Pete preached a series of sermons based upon Woods then recent book: Congregational Megatrends. Below are the 7 megatrends Woods identified and Pete's 8 sermons on them. Note, the sermons did not always fully coincide with the particular megatrend (especially #6), but used them as launching points.
#1 - Introduction
                  - "The times, they are a-changing" (9/1/96)
#2 - From Mass Evangelism to Relational Evangelism
                  - "You are God's Letter to Others" (9/8/96)
#3 - From Tribal Education to Immigrant Education
                  - "One Person at a Time" (9/15/96)
#4 - From Surrogate Missions to Hands-on Missions
                  - "Where is Ninevah?" (9/22/96)
#5 - From Reasonable Spirituality to Mysterious Spirituality
                  - "From Official to Gifted Leadership" (9/29/96)
#6 - From Official Leadership to Gifted Leadership
                  - "Letting Down our Nets" (10/6/96)
#7 - From Segmented Programming to Holographic Programming
                  - "Seeing the Big Picture" (10/13/96)
#8 - From Secondary Planning to Primary Planning
                  - "Lighting the Match" (10/20/96)
 
 

Minutes of our meetings

March 26, 2008
 
 

Previous Process

1994 Dream Team Report

1994 Dream Team Vision & Dreams passed by Council
 

Long Green Valley CoB website