He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (ESV)
Over the course of my career, the Lord has blessed me with many different opportunities, but all with a common focus – operations management. Whether managing plants for Campbell Soup or directing the Business and Leadership Department of Cairn University, for over 50 years, I have been working to help organizations improve their efficiency and effectiveness. I count the opportunity to help in this same area at Tenth – my church home for over 20 years – as a great blessing.
When I was asked to take on this new role, it was with the following job description in mind:
- Review Tenth’s mission, and establish goals to achieve the mission
- Work to improve communication with the staff, congregation, and other stakeholders
- Increase support for the parishes
- Oversee finances and the budgeting process
- Develop plans for technology, security, and training
- Supervise the staff and update the staff review process to include management by objectives
- And, of course, that “other duties as assigned”
In a nutshell, we want to be good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to us, by working to improve operational practices and processes at Tenth. By doing so, we safeguard the Mission, Vision, and Goals of the church.
Mission, Vision, Goals
Tenth’s mission has remained steadfast throughout its nearly 200 years. I would summarize our mission statement in four words: Worship (to God alone be the glory), Discipleship (growing as a follower of Christ), Outreach (proclaiming the Gospel to a lost world), and Community (supporting and nurturing each other).
To identify our goals, we have to ask ourselves if we are doing a good job of supporting our mission, and where and how could we do better.
So another question we’re wrestling with is, “What do we need to change to continue to accomplish our mission successfully in the future?” Our response to our changing world is important, and we will seek your input over the next several months.
Growth
As I drove to Tenth today, I passed by many other churches, which made me consider the reasons that I attend Tenth. Do I attend because of the great parking? Am I thrilled to dodge the occasional marathon or parade? Not really.
I attend because I feel at home here. It is the faithful preaching of the Word, growth in discipleship, opportunities for service and community that keep me here. The Bible School classes at Tenth are special. The music is uplifting. The people are friendly and warm. Those are some of the reasons I call Tenth home.
Think of the reasons why you attend Tenth. We need to know and appreciate what makes Tenth so distinctive and invite others to join us.
Communication, Communication, Communication
Recent surveys made it clear that we need to improve communications. As a result, the Session formed a Communications Committee and charged us to “fix it.”
In the last 3 months or so, we have focused on a few things:
- The website continues to be updated
- We started posting a summary of the monthly Session meetings to the blog
- Liam has been writing monthly letters to the congregation
- Tenth MidWeek, a weekly e-newsletter, sent out its first issue this past Wednesday.
If you did not receive a copy, we may not have your correct email address. Forward any updated contact information to Pattie Lee.
Organization
I have found it a pleasure to work with the dedicated staff here at Tenth. But Tenth may have the most complicated organizational structure I have ever seen. I’ve been a member for more than 20 years, and have served as an elder and trustee, but even I was unenlightened about who was responsible for what. It took a couple months before I was able to put together an organization chart. Eventually, we would like to provide some version of this chart to you so you’re better equipped to know who to contact about issues or problems.
Finally, let me conclude where I started by saying how blessed I am to be both working and worshipping at Tenth. I look forward in the days ahead to meeting more of you and learning about what you are doing personally to further God’s kingdom here at Tenth.