Together We Have Expanded
Congregational Life in So Many Meaningful Ways
In this section: Small Groups/Faith Formation, Membership, Worship, Pastoral Care, Justice, and Young Adults
The revitalization of small group ministry was one clear mandate when I was hired. By my 2nd year, we had 200 participants in small groups; by the 3rd year, there were 400.
Just as importantly, we are beginning to infuse the core values of small group ministry into all of our "groups." As I wrote in my materials for my call to associate, I believe our best way forward is not to "have" small groups, but to be a church of small groups. In 2014, with the retirement of the Director of Adult Enrichment, the Board asked Eleanor Van Deusen and I to take on the tasks of adult faith formation. We formed an advisory steering committee and set an initial plan to expand and re-focus our adult program, especially focusing on Unitarian Universalist faith formation and spiritual practices, as well as a greater integration of religious education across the lifespan. The response to Adult RE offerings this past year has been phenomenal. Most classes saw enrollment of 40 or more, and justice-based workshops were highly attended and led to concrete action. Spiritual Practices allowed newcomers a low-pressure way to enter the church, and our new theme-based ministry began the process of connecting all generations and ministries. This year, we will build on our successes, as well as learn from our challenges. We will do even more to integrate faith formation into all facets of congregational life - as religious educator Maria Harris said, "The congregation is the curriculum." |
|
My first real "meeting" with Foothills was in the Fall of 2011 - when I shared a webinar call with Kay Hood and Marc Salkin, along with several other UUs from across the country. We were learning how to create a lay pastoral care program. I was there for my then-congregation, and Kay and Marc were there for Foothills.
When I was hired a year later, the timing still wasn't right to initiate a lay pastoral care program. Finally, in my first summer, we started experimenting with different ways to meet the vast pastoral care needs. That set a great foundation so that by the following summer we moved into a fuller lay partnership with ease and created a real plan for lay associates. Marc, Kay and I met with the pastoral care team at Plymouth UCC whose program is called "Parish Visitors" with an emphasis on "visiting" other members in the congregation. Marc liked this and we went for it! The Caring Committee convened a sub task force, and by the end of the year, we launched our Parish Visitors. Just a year later, our program is running so well - lay Visitors are meeting with in the range of 30 members and friends in a given month, and are providing critical support to me and to the whole community. Over this summer I led a renewal training and we began our second year. I look forward to continuing to grow and minister with this incredible group of lay leaders. In the meantime, especially in the last 18 months, I have grown in relationship and awareness of the pastoral concerns of people's lives. When I describe on Sunday how life is a "tangled blessing," I am often speaking right from the stories I heard the prior week - all so mixed up with great joy and grief, beauty and terror. It has been my honor to walk with this community and be present with you, and I am grateful for the trust you all have placed in me. I don't take it lightly. I know it must have been hard to trust someone new, and I am grateful for the ways this congregation has opened its heart and lives. |
With FFH and ESL Tutoring already in full swing, I arrived to a congregation active in serving its greater community. I also arrived to leaders hungry for a greater sense of ministerial partnership in establishing focus, strategic planning and integration across the congregation for that service.
Over the past three years, I have met regularly with the leaders in social change. We have planned and created programs to help our congregation gain clarity and focus on our justice efforts. A Beloved Community workshop led to a regular practice of small group reflection circles, and these circles in turn inspired a workshop on the forces that keep people trapped in poverty. This workshop in turn resulted in our latest social change ministry, One Village One Family where we are companioning 5 homeless families as they move towards permanent housing, and we are likely about to add a sixth. Through these conversations, I realized that the energy and passion for this congregation lived primarily in the areas of economic inequality (especially in housing and health care), immigration, and environmental justice. As a result, I have worked with Eleanor to align our lifespan religious education programming to focus on engaging these areas, and our Sunday worship services highlight ways to engage and have a real impact in these concerns. I have also worked with lay leaders to revitalize our environmental justice ministry, which has always felt like a good fit for our congregation. This ministry is finally taking off as evidenced in their recent partnership in our Start-Up Festival. Over the past three years, we have made some progress on the congregation's often-stated desire for Foothills to have a greater impact on and visibility in Northern Colorado-specific issues. With this in mind, I have been writing more articles to the Coloradoan to raise Foothills' profile in the community, and I recently helped to lead the first Northern Colorado Pride Interfaith Worship service. We are a reliable resource for Rep. Jared Polis on issues of immigration, and between Faith Family Hospitality and the new Villages, we are having a meaningful impact on families experiencing homelessness in Fort Collins. Additionally, our recent collaboration with the Abysinnian Church for the prayer vigil offers a good beginning for our witness to issues of racial justice, and our emerging climate justice ministries should guide us in being more present to ongoing questions of sustainability in our community. |
Young Adults & Campus Ministry |
I came to Foothills with a passion for Young Adult ministry, especially after my work at the UU Church of Boulder focused on young adult and campus ministry. However, the congregation's priorities did not align with this passion until this last church year when the Board agreed to double the hours for the young adult coordinator position to 8 hours per week.
This staff increase was critical since I was not able to personally devote my time to giving this important ministry the attention it needs. I worked with Eleanor to form a hiring committee and we selected Chris Sharp for the position. We have since clarified the job description to focus on the goal of transforming our whole congregation to be more welcoming for all ages - rather than simply creating a young adult "group." Chris, student leader Kelly Conner and I also hosted a table at last year's "CSU faith and belief fair," where we had a lot of great conversation and connection with incoming students. Last spring, we fully kicked off a revitalized campus ministry effort where we established the foundation for a successful CSU program.
This year, we advocated for additional hours for young adult ministry, and as a result, we were able to split the role into two positions, and hire Kelly as our campus ministry specialist with Chris continuing in a focus on young adults who are not students. As the senior minister, I would strengthen this and the entirety of our approach to young adult ministry, as it continues to be important not just for our future church, but for the vital church of today.
This staff increase was critical since I was not able to personally devote my time to giving this important ministry the attention it needs. I worked with Eleanor to form a hiring committee and we selected Chris Sharp for the position. We have since clarified the job description to focus on the goal of transforming our whole congregation to be more welcoming for all ages - rather than simply creating a young adult "group." Chris, student leader Kelly Conner and I also hosted a table at last year's "CSU faith and belief fair," where we had a lot of great conversation and connection with incoming students. Last spring, we fully kicked off a revitalized campus ministry effort where we established the foundation for a successful CSU program.
This year, we advocated for additional hours for young adult ministry, and as a result, we were able to split the role into two positions, and hire Kelly as our campus ministry specialist with Chris continuing in a focus on young adults who are not students. As the senior minister, I would strengthen this and the entirety of our approach to young adult ministry, as it continues to be important not just for our future church, but for the vital church of today.