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Overview of Transition Period ~
On June 16th of 2009, the Transition Team began its work. In the initial phase the following ground rules were established by which the team would work:
- Pay attention during the process
- No game playing; don’t say one thing here and something else in other places
- Respect differences
- Pray
- Be open-minded
- All pink elephants put on the table
Initial discussions involved the following items:
- Look at communication issues in the church
- Look at forming an active church council
- Look at external linkages
- Begin working with the congregation to identify who Calvary is a as a church
- “Involve the church in everything”
- Listen to congregation don’t tell them what to think
- The transition team is not to push its own agenda
- Listen for the will of God
- Spiritual model for growth not the secular business model for growth
On the weekend of July 24th-25th, the team participated in a retreat at the Hollifield Leadership Center located on Lake Hickory. The team discussed and accomplished the following:
- Transition Team Covenant (click to view)
- Update from the Transition Team to congregation (click to view)
- Mission and Vision of the Transition Team (Ephesians 4:12-13)
- Everything comes from God alone
- The group began outlining each members spiritual gifts and continued that process throughout the heritage period
Heritage Period (August, September, October)
Heritage would be identifying our values and rich heritage while healing from past hurts.
Planning Calvary’s “Blessed” Celebration was begun and the following items were discussed:
- Timeline-Remembrance Stones
- October 18th (2009) date set
- Tent setup with singers
- Video recorded of Calvary memories
- Spiritual Heritage Artifacts
- Interviews and Music
- Bulletin (click links below to view)
Summary of Heritage Period-
This was a period the transition team learned to function as a “team” with each person taking on responsibilities. The team was trained in how to listen and remain neutral when talking with the congregation. The team began working together and implemented the project to celebrate the “spiritual heritage” of Calvary Baptist Church. This included a celebration of our past, present and future as well as identifying stumbling blocks along the way. Many folks were able to share their memories of the church as well as their hopes for its future. It was determined that the church has a rich spiritual heritage heavily invested in Sunday School and mission work as well as many other areas. It was evident that God has been with Calvary Baptist Church since its inception and has a tremendous relationship with the people of Calvary.
This heritage period allowed the church to celebrate its past and begin to understand its identity which moved the transition period into The Mission Period
The Mission Period (November, December, January)
Goal of Mission Period:
To establish the identity and future mission of Calvary Baptist Church.
The transition team began reflecting on what the congregation shared and uncovered during the Heritage Period. This allowed the team to begin to compile patterns, trends that were emerging from the transition period. Some of those patterns were ways the church had dealt with conflict, that the church was mission minded and focused on doing God’s will.
The transition team began developing “The Round Table” format with direction from the Pastor to ensure that throughout the rest of the transition period we would continually have input from the congregation. This was coupled with a communication plan that was developed of meeting with individuals when needed, communicating during announcement time on Sunday mornings, writings in the bulletin (each week) and the Herald (each month). The team met with Sunday School classes to inform them of the transition process and met with them throughout the year to listen to their concerns and questions.
The mission period began helping the congregation identify who they are as a church and the direction God wanted them to go.
During this period the team realized there were emerging conflicts and the Pastor began training with the team and congregation on “healthy conflict resolution”. There was discussion on how the church had previously dealt with conflict and how it needed to begin dealing with conflict now.
Next steps emerging during December:
- The church was struggling with how it makes decisions
- Discussions needed of church size and various traits
- PowerPoint presentation on church dynamics
- Family church
- Pastoral church
- Program church
- Resource church
January-
- Discussion of extending covenant
- Biblical Conflict Resolution continued to be discussed
- Set up congregational meetings to discuss visioning
- Deacon Team Ministry discussed
- Discussion of whether the pastor had fulfilled his obligations so far. The recommendation from the committee was that the pastor had indeed fulfilled his obligations so far and that the team recommended to extend the covenant for a year with a search committee to be formed in six months.
- Round Tables occurred to develop a church vision
- Church Vision established
Summary of Mission Period-
Mission Statement
We strive to glorify God by being a Christ-centered, caring church through missions, ministry, worship and discipleship.
Leadership Period (End of January, February, March)
Goal of Leadership Period:
To discuss characteristics and design of various leadership models and provide direction on future leadership of Calvary.
- Training occurred on leadership
- Lay leadership
- Professional staffing needs
- Healthy open-decision making
- Creating opportunity for celebrating everyone’s spiritual gifts
- Recognizing power and control of decision
- Healthy conflict management tools
- Traits identified for leadership (click to view)
- Sub-teams established to study the areas of
- Organizational Design
- Leadership Development
- Team Ministry vs. Committee based
- Professional Staff Design
Each sub-team met and researched various designs and reported back to the church at round table discussions.
Summary of Leadership Period-
The church came to consensus on being a congregational led church and outlined its characteristics of leadership (outlined in presentations). The consensus was that the church would continue to support the deacon team ministry and see if it was successful. Committees vs. Teams would be discussed again in a year. Recommendations were made concerning staff and are included in the presentation.
Connections Period (April, May, June)
The church had presentations from the Southern Baptist Convention, The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the local Director of Missions. The church voted to remain dually aligned with both organizations.
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