Gerry Tamburro (Chair of the Visioning Team) gave the following update on the work of the Visioning Team on Sunday, February 18:
The Visioning Team has completed our work which began last year. We started out knowing that BUMC is a Christ Centered Community. The team’s visioning work was done to complement Reverend Jennifer’s three year goals of:
- Laity Empowerment
- Leadership Development
- Creating a more hospitable congregation
- Creating a united vision for the future
- Exploring the next phase of ministry and mission
After seeking feedback from the congregation, and approval by Church Council, the BUMC vision statement will now be:
“Inviting All, Engaging Hearts and Minds, Serving Others with the Love of Christ”
The work of executing on this vision and strategy has already begun. Members of the visioning team have already met with and are helping:
- The Hospitality Committee with determining how we are more inviting and more hospitable. [INVITING]
- The Next Generation (age 18-35) team is already moving forward on the engaging initiative. [ENGAGING]
- We have new mission goals on one new local and one new global mission program in 2018 and a 10% increase in mission giving in 2019. The Church and Society Mission is already moving forward with plans to explore Social Justice issues. [SERVING]
In summary, we have a new vision statement and a strategic framework with 3 areas of focus. The key now is execution on the plan.
Gerry then thanked the other Visioning Team members:
- Reverend Jennifer
- Jack Scharf
- Pat Bodden
- Robin Bonner
- Christine Dombrowski
- Linda DeLukey
- Nicolas Schaber
- Greg Sydlowski
- Doug Parvin
- Don Schulz
