Joint
Needs Assessment Report
100
Mile House United Church
And
Cariboo
Presbytery
May
21st, 2008
JNA
Committee Members
Bill Robertson,
Chair
Jack Witty
Bernice Enns
Dennis Tupman
Gayle Dunsmuir
Cheryl Powell
Karin Graham
Rev. Jenny Carter, Presbytery Representative
The
Community
Although
our church is located in 100 Mile House, it serves the community of the South
Cariboo. For our purposes we define the South Cariboo and our area of service as
stretching from Green Lake (Mile 70) in the south to Kokanee Bay (Mile 122) in
the north and from Bridge Lake (50 km east of 100 Mile) to somewhere west toward
the Fraser River. Very roughly this amounts to 10,000 sq. kilometers with a year
round population of 20,000 and a summer population of 25,000.
The
population centers include 100 mile House, 108 Mile Ranch, Lac la Hache, Forest
Grove, Bridge Lake and 70 Mile House.
Congregants
come from anywhere within this area but regular church attendees tend to be
concentrated in the green Lake, 108 Mile Ranch and 100 Mile House areas.
There are
many people in the area who identify themselves with the United Church but
seldom take part in worship or other church activities. Nevertheless, they do
expect this church will be able to provide pastoral care or service when needed.
The
economy of the area is based on forestry, agriculture and tourism. At this time,
the economy is on shaky ground as the forest industry has been hit hard by the
pine beetle kill as well as poor export markets. Agriculture is being hit
equally hard by the lowest cattle prices in decades. The jury is still out on
what will happen with tourism with escalating prices for gasoline and diesel. In
total our economic picture is less than rosy. On the upside, real estate has
been selling well which means people are still moving to the area, bringing with
them some means of support.
On the
positive side, we live in a beautiful area with wonderful people who make the
South Cariboo a very desirable place to live.
Our
congregation is a vibrant community of faith, comprised of approximately 80
persons. While the majority of members are senior citizens, we have six families
with children who attend worship with a parent or grandparent.
As a
congregation we recently completed a “Spiritual Gifts Inventory”, and out of
20 respondents, we identified seventy-two spiritual gifts. Many of these
identified gifts are already being used in the work of the various
congregational teams, and people are feeling more empowered to engage the
ministry to which God has called them.
Several
years ago the 100 Mile House United Church switched to a Team approach to engage
in the ministry and work of the congregation. This allows congregation members
to be empowered to do the work that they are most passionate about. For the most
part this has worked well, although it has become clear in recent years that
some “fine tuning” of the governance structure is needed. The congregation
is currently involved in a process whereby identified “governance gaps” will
be rectified.
Currently
functioning Teams
are the following:
·
Trustees:
Who act as the legal entity of the congregation
to ensure correct use of property and funds.
·
Management Team:
Oversees the finances and the needs of the
physical building.
·
Emerging Spirit:
A combined group with pastoral leadership
and outreach as their primary concerns.
·
Worship Team:
Is entrusted with all matters concerning
worship, from greeting, Scripture reading, music and worship
leadership.
Music
Advisory Team:
This team works alongside of worship leadership to plan and implement
music program.
·
Kitchen Team:
Has oversight of the kitchen and its use.
·
Ministry and
Personnel: Acts as the liaison
between staff members as well as
staff and congregation. Currently, our only staff member is
the Office Administrator, Jane Duncan.
Identified
Areas to consider regarding our human resources are:
·
the aging
congregation and the natural decline in energy.
·
The decreasing
confidence to drive in the winter or at night.
·
The lack of
member within the middle age group.
Teams
under further development:
·
Pastoral Care and
Fellowship – This team is currently undergoing some restructuring and
determining their bounds of responsibility
Physical
Plant
The church
building contains a sanctuary that holds approximately 80 people comfortably, a
small quiet room with viewing and sound connection to the sanctuary, two
washrooms, offices for a minister and secretary, a kitchen, a multi-purpose room
with a full basement under it (for storage). The main floor of the building is
wheel chair accessible.
The
parking lot is paved, with a painted labyrinth. There are three designated
handicapped parking spaces.
During the
last 15 years, major remodeling and upgrading has been done to the building, so
that the present building is in good repair.
There is
no mortgage on this property.
Future
maintenance needs:
·
Resealing of
parking lot
·
Painting inside
of church building
·
Flooring repair
·
Upgrading of
computers
The
members of 100 Mile House United Church are proud of the building and highly
value the fact that it is highly used by the wider community.
Congregational
Values and Needs
The
following is a compilation of congregational needs ands values as garnered by
the JNAC through personal contact and telephone conversations over the first few
months of 2008. The information collected appears in random order.
As a
congregation we value:
·
Ministry through
music
·
Pastoral care
ministry
·
Fellowship
opportunities
·
Inclusiveness
·
Mission focus
·
Able and willing
members who work hard toward meeting the needs of family
·
Community and the
congregation
·
Worship
·
Christian
education opportunities
·
Relevant
preaching
·
Effective
spiritual and temporal leadership
·
Sharing our
church building with the wider community
As a
congregation we need:
·
Christian
education opportunities
·
Effective music
ministry
·
Effective
governance structures
·
Spiritual
leader(s)
·
Inspired
leadership
·
Dynamic and
relevant preaching
·
A clear sense of
mission
·
Opportunities to
participate in life of the church
·
Fellowship
opportunities
·
A sense of
community
Joint
Needs Assessment Committee Recommendation
Preamble: As
the Joint Needs Assessment Committee (JNAC) met to discuss the ministry needs of
this congregation, several things became clear. First, and most importantly,
there is a strong desire to continue to live as a congregation within the United
Church of Canada. Second, the model of ministry currently operating here (full
time ordered minister) is no longer a financially viable model of ministry.
Third, the congregation has many gifted people who are very strong as well as
capable of engaging various ministry tasks when called upon to do so (e.g.
leading of worship, music, educational opportunities, offering of pastoral care
and preaching.)
Models: The
JNAC looked at various models of ministry that 100 Mile House might engage that
would prove life giving for the congregation, as well as being financially
viable. It should be noted that while finances are a concern here, the primary
determination of any recommendation made is based on what will provide effective
ministry and new life to this congregation. Among the various models discussed:
Settlement of Ordinand: The
JNAC discussed whether or not the congregation could become a settlement charge
for a newly ordained/commissioned minister. While the congregation would have a
lot to offer a new minister – especially in terms of learning experiences –
given the realities of the wider church, as well as our own, this option would
be difficult to put into effect. There is a shortage of ordinands (especially
ones willing to move to the Cariboo) and the financial realities of this
congregation make it difficult to guarantee the salary of a new minister for the
required 3 years.
Shared Ministry with Anglicans: The JNAC also discussed the option of becoming a shared ministry with
our Anglican neighbors. This would involve negotiating with the Diocese and
merging our two congregations. Given the importance, named by both the
congregation as well as the members of the JNAC, of maintaining a United Church
presence in 100 Mile House (especially in terms of theology, worship style, and
keeping our building) this option was not followed up on. It should be noted,
however, that this option remains open to the congregation if we decide to
pursue it at a later date.
Partnering in Ministry with United Church Neighbors: This model of ministry has generated a lot of
excitement within the JNA Committee. It would involve entering into an agreement
with a near by United Church whereby an ordered minister would be asked to
provide ministry assistance to the members of 100 Mile House United Church.
Skills Summary: The skills needed in this form of ministry would come in the
form of:
·
training of the
laity in the various ministry tasks, e.g. Worship leadership, preaching,
Christian education, pastoral care, etc.
·
tending to the
sacramental life of the congregation.
·
Certain oversight
duties
·
Facilitating the
smooth functioning of the governance system
The primary strength of this model is that it empowers the
laity in ministry. The JNAC views this as an opportunity for the congregation to
grow in all of the ways that are important: spiritually, numerically, and
financially.
While
an ordered minister would provide training and input where appropriate, it would
be the congregation working together that would provide effective and life
giving ministry. Given the gifts, strengths and skills possessed by members of
this congregation, this model is a viable option. Clearly we (in 100 Mile House
United Church) have all that we need to engage this model of ministry. As it
stands now, a lot of “volunteer” hours are taken up with fund raising –
the JNAC is excited to note the possibilities for ministry that might happen if
the overwhelming need to fundraise was not a part of congregational life – and
that individual members were given the opportunity to engage tasks that were
more affirming and life giving.
Recommendation:
It is the recommendation of the JNAC that 100 Mile House
United Church adopt the “partnering in ministry with neighboring United
Church” model of ministry.