Father Jonathan and Tim McCourt continued the education process today for the Vision Alignment committee. It's a little overwhelming. Grace Church keeps a lot of balls in the air – thanks in no small part to you.
In addition to our paid staff whose names I could not write down fast enough, there is a large unpaid community of workers. I wouldn't dare try to list everyone for fear of forgetting someone important. Let's just say Grace has an army working to keep us all engaged. It is estimated that 20% of us attending Grace Church also do work in some form for it. Keep in mind that everything you take for granted at Grace has a person behind it. The church bulletin, the flowers, the clean floors, the sound system, the music – everything you see and a lot of things you don't.
We discussed at some length what it takes to become a member of Grace Church. There are churches that require classes and interviews. These processes can be discouraging as an invitation to join is not a foregone conclusion. Grace has open arms. Grace doesn't set up barriers to membership. That loving attitude feels very christian to me. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I drive 50 minutes to church each week.
Our internet presence is very important. The services on YouTube are used by more than just our members who can't make it on any given Sunday. A surprising number of new people are finding Grace through the internet and later showing up in person. Sunday viewership on YouTube hovers around 100 people. This is how the world works now. I am again impressed at how our church has moved forward with the times to both increase and enhance membership.
I'm so happy that Grace embraced this technology because my bible study classes on Zoom helped me walk through the front (side) door.
All of this information sharing is to help the committee figure out how to move forward in outreach to the community. We need to understand where and who we are before we can make new strides. Still fascinating and very impressive. Our clergy, paid and unpaid staff will need our collective assistance to ensure that Grace Church thrives.
Meg Spurlock