Sunday, November 30, we invite anyone and everyone who is interested to please come talk to us about how well we do or do not communicate at Follen Church.

Background

This fall, there are 9 committees looking at different aspects of governance as we try to pull together a new working model for Follen Church. The transparency group (Meg M., Jane S., Robin T., and Melinda N.) is charged with investigating how well we communicate within this complicated institution.

We have asked the big questions: Do people feel heard? How do we create connection? How can we increase our communication skills? How do people get information?

We’ve also looked at the practical nitty-gritty.

Here are some ideas that we had:

• Write a concise summary of all board meetings and post on the church website.
• Perhaps have a members-only & password-protected section of the church website.
• Have twice yearly gatherings of the whole congregation for Q&A between lay leaders, staff, and the community.
• Make name tags that show what current committees you are on or what special interests you have.
• Create a photo directory with 100% participation. Match those names and faces!

We have lots and lots more good ideas!

Next Steps

We’ve already interviewed staff and several lay leaders. The most important group that we need to hear from is the body of the church, the congregation: you.

We want to hear what works and what does not work. We want to hear your stories, your complaints, your successes, your good ideas.
Follen church is a big and complex institution —and keeping communication flowing in all directions is critically important to our health.

Please join us on Sunday, November 30. We promise to listen. Lay leaders, look for a survey about transparency issues coming soon.

Melinda, Meg, Jane, Robin