Serve Council Updates Ministry Focus

Written By Parish Epiphany

Eleven members of the Serve Council met on Saturday, October 9 to plan the ministries in which to engage over the next 18 months.  The workday lasted from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 2:30 p.m.  Morning devotion included prayers that reflect the concerns of the Serve Council, including our parish, our country, social justice, the hungry and homeless, education, right use of our gifts, and guidance in our work with the community. 

Our first task of the day was to list the outreach ministries in which we engaged over the past 3 to 5 years.  Twenty-two ministries were identified and listed on separate blank sheets and attached to the wall.  Each of these ministries was placed under one of the categories of Hunger, Children & Education, Shelter, Emergency Response, Immigration/Refugees, Social Justice/Advocacy, Animals, or Creation Care.  At that point, the group began combining categories and re-aligning the ministries. 

With the recently published Parish Vision Statement as our guide, each member of the group “voted” on the ministries each believed fulfill the Vision statement and God’s plan for our parish.  We went through 2 iterations of the voting process.  The following categories and ministries were ultimately chosen:

Children & Education

  • Thew Elementary School (Carol Dalton & Andrea Stewart)

  • Christmas Adopt-a-Family (June Crane & Karen Ford)

  • Back-to-School Backpack and/or Supplies Drive (TBD)

Hunger & Shelter

  • Matthew’s Crossing (June Crane & Karen Ford)

  • Habitat for Humanity (Aaron VanBriesen)

  • I-Help (TCAA) (Sharli Schaitberger)

Immigration/Refugees

  • Refugee Ministries, such as Cruzando Fronteras (TBD)

Social Justice/Advocacy

  • Valley Interfaith Group (Sharli Schaitberger)

Each attendee then made a commitment to coordinate or actively assist with one or more of the ministries by signing their name at the bottom of the sheet on which the ministry was listed.  Groups met by ministry and began the task of identifying and planning the necessary steps to affect the desired outcome using the 90-Day Micro-Strategy.  The groups will continue to meet and refine the ministry strategies. 

The last task of the day was a discussion regarding meetings of individual ministry groups and the Serve Council as a whole.  Attendees agreed the ministry groups will meet individually to complete the Micro-Strategy plans.  Each group will determine the dates and methods for their meetings.  They will provide the Serve Council with an update on ministries at least quarterly.   The Serve Council will meet as a whole the second Tuesday of the month via Zoom on a quarterly basis beginning November 9. 

Parish Epiphany