Update on the First Church Forward Strategic Planning Work Group
In 2021, the congregation set forth its mission, vision and areas of focus to guide our work for the years 2022 – 2025. (This plan is visible on the church’s website.) Now in 2026, it is appropriate to revisit what we have accomplished, to celebrate where we are today, and to discern what God is calling us to do and to be as we move forward.
We are also at a point with our financial resources where we need to align our spending with our income. The draft 2026 budget projects a sizeable deficit. We can’t continue with deficit spending if we want to be around for another 170+ years.
When the Church Council and Administrative Board approved the 2026 budget in December, they gave Barbara, as chair of the Church Council, and Jim, as chair of the Administrative Board, with the guidance of Rev. Elizabeth, the authority to create a working group comprised of members of the congregation who, in concert with our interim pastor, would be tasked with:
- reviewing the mission, vision, and areas of focus that were developed for 2021 to 2025,
- looking forward to 2026 through 2029 and setting new priorities,
- aligning the church’s spending with those priorities,
- so that the church will reach a balanced budget in 2027.
Earlier this month, we asked the congregation to nominate First Church members to participate in what we are calling First Church Forward – a strategic planning process. We were thrilled to receive 29 nominations for the 6 available spots on this working group. We then had the difficult task of selecting the participants for the working group from this list of possibilities. Our focus was to create a group that represented as many aspects as possible of diversity at First Church. The members of the working group are:
Teresa Canady Dan Gustafson Sony Purba
Claire Gebben Peter Jabin Chris Russell
This working group will meet twice a month from March through May. In June the results from their work will then be shared with the Church Council, Administrative Board, and the congregation. Along the way, some of you may be asked for information or feedback on the task force’s work as we look toward the future of our beloved First Church,
We welcome your questions, ideas, and input. Most important, we depend on your prayers of support as we embark on this critical, holy, exciting (and somewhat daunting) process.
Barbara Moreland Jim Schone
Chair, Church Council Chair, Administrative Board