Praying, Planning and Raising the Roof

 

With the blessing of Session, a small team was called together in 2009 to study Alice Mann’s book Raising the Roof (http://www.alban.org/bookdetails.aspx?id=1004) and was asked to help engage the congregation in discovering where God might be calling LPC after 150 years of ministry in the Laurel Area. The goal of the Raising the Roof Team was to produce a concrete action plan to

 

1) increase the outreach and mission of LPC

2) increase worship attendance. 

 

Along with Amy Schacht and Dan Jessop, the committee was composed of Ray Boyer, Blair Turner, Julie Bertak, Dot Brownlie, Rob Monroe and Natalie Bailey. While some committee members had been part of LPC for all or most of their lives, others were relative newcomers. Each brought an important perspective to a process that looked to our 150-year history, our regional context, the needs of our congregation and community, and our own gifts and interests.

 

Together, the committee prayed, studied and researched. We talked with both long-time friends and people we barely knew in the congregation to learn about their experiences at LPC. We reached out to leaders in the Laurel area to better understand how LPC is seen in the community. We learned that LPC had literally rebuilt itself from fire at least twice. Together, we developed a plan for action to help grow LPC’s outreach and mission and to increase worship attendance. Session approved that plan in June 2010. Now it is up to everyone to help make the plan a reality.

 

 

RAISING THE ROOF ACTION PLAN

APPROVED BY SESSION 06/10  

 

  1. Partner with the Hispanic Church of God in mission, worship and fellowship
  2. Partner with the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for after school program 
  3. Develop intergenerational service projects that provide opportunities for all ages to work together
  4. Develop a master plan for the Narthex
  5. Provide training to the congregation enabling them to reach out to others who are searching for a new church home
  6. Re-establish Supper Clubs for fun and fellowship 
  7. Establish a Communications Committee, with a Chair and a budget, to develop detailed internal and external communications strategies.

 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION:  

 

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS:  “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship…Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  Acts 2:42-43

 

Long term possibilities:

·        Adult Education for the community

·        Offering our space for summer camp opportunities

·        Offer a private bi-lingual school for early elementary children as transition into the public school system

 

 

SERVICE:  "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."  Luke 12:48        

 

·        Offer opportunities inviting every person to serve outside the church at least 3 times/year.

·        Increase knowledge & participation in existing mission ministry opportunities

·        Be prepared to respond when the need arises: 

o       Three to four times a year a one-day or one-weekend local project,

o       Quick-response teams for disaster relief.   

o       Yearly mission trips 

·        Long-range opportunities:  Plan for a foreign work trip every three years 

 

 

 

HOSPITALITY TO THE STRANGER: Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love…” 3 John 1:5-6, 7

 

To prepare when the stranger comes to us, and to invite strangers to join us takes: 

·        Spatial Readiness:  Making sure that our space is aligned with our hospitality ministry. 

o       Sanctuary

o       Ushers 

o       Signage  

o       A staffed welcome desk inside the Narthex

·        Spiritual Readiness: Be ready to invite, welcome and incorporate others.

o       Find a place for everyone’s gifts

o       Deepen connections and relationships with newcomers and long-term members

o       Have “hosts” to welcome & guide newcomers

o       A new member campaign

o       Encourage LPC family to invite others to LPC events. 

 

FUN & FELLOWSHIP: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  I Cor 12:12

 

·        Group dinners and activities. 

·        Continue to support Youth

·        Hang an interactive Timeline of the church

·        Sports teams or events. 

·        Long-range opportunities: add a contemporary worship service to our regular traditional services

 

COMMUNICATION:   Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6

 

Internal Communication:

·        Establish a Communications Committee with budget

o       Adopt a universal LPC logo

o       Update the LPC color brochure.

o       Create a place and process to centralize and coordinate information. 

·        Make the LPC website http://www.laurelpresbyterian.org interactive, informative, updated for members AND searchers

·        Include a Moment for Mission highlighting a specific LPC ministry every week. 

·        Study resources to improve communication, like:  Healthy Disclosure: Solving Communication Quandaries in Congregations (2007) by Kibbie S. Ruth and Karen A. McClintock.

 

External Communications:

·        Evaluate LPC’s current advertising

o       Capitalize on our website

o       Explore new areas around Laurel where we might advertize, such as Maple Lawn, Beltsville, Greenbelt,

·        Use new types of media (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for promoting LPC.

 

 

God is calling us to Service.  Let all of us, of all ages, heed God’s call and put our faith into action through Service.