Pathfinder Implementation Committee
As you know, the Pathfinder Committee spent this summer examining our church life and structure, and discerning recommendations for moving forward as a congregation. Their final report produced a comprehensive list of recommended actions. Church Council subsequently approved these recommendations with a few modifications (read the final recommendations). The Pathfinder Implementation Committee (“PIC”) was formed with the charge to carry out the Pathfinder recommendations approved by Council. The PIC is divided into four teams focused on different tasks. Here is what those work groups have been doing for the past few weeks:
The Congregational Life Team is tasked with building fellowship and coordinating the creation of a behavioral covenant for our community. So far, they have discussed and reviewed other churches’ behavioral covenants, and learned a lot from two committees who’ve been through similar processes. The team received a lot of wonderful feedback from Chalk Talk activities at the Men’s Retreat (November 9) and in worship (November 10), when they asked the congregation: What does it look like to ‘follow, even imperfectly, the way of Jesus in personal involvement with each other’? The team will be hosting another opportunity to connect, socialize, and dig into our shared values in December, with a Cookie Swap and Chalk Talk 2.0! They will share an update on progress at the January Congregational Meeting, including a summary of what they’ve learned so far and a plan to collaborate with the church consultant/interim and the entire congregation to finalize the behavioral covenant.
The Bylaws/Policy Workgroup met to review general concerns and approaches for their work. They created a document that lists all the various concerns or challenges we’ve encountered with specific bylaws or policies, then ranked them by how big a concern members felt that particular item is. The hope is to share this with a consultant or interim to provide a clearer picture of some of the challenges we’ve experienced and explore where we might consider revisions. The group is not proposing any changes at this time. The group will collaborate with Rev. Nayiri Karijian from the Florida Conference and any future consultant/interim to refine bylaws/policies with their expert support.
The Grievance Process Revisions committee has completed a proposed draft of a revised policy. The revisions will be considered for adoption by the full Church Council as part of the agenda for the November 20, 2024 meeting.
The Church Consultant Team was charged with receiving proposals for church consultants to assist the congregation and potentially an interim minister with multiple issues, including addressing congregational conflict; assessing church bylaws and governance; and other needs identified in the Pathfinder report. The group reviewed proposals from several consulting groups. The solicitations were capped at $20,000, to be paid from non-budget sources including Endowment funds, a grant from the Florida Conference, and donations. The group conducted interviews with three groups, and received feedback from references. The team unanimously recommended that the church explore initiating a contract with Convergence consulting. A motion was approved at the November Church Council meeting to bring the Convergence consultant to UCG for a weekend in January at a cost of $3,000 out of the budgeted total. The visit will give the congregation the opportunity to interact with the consultant in workshops, meetings, and in worship, so that a final vote on hiring can be conducted at the winter Congregational Meeting.
The PIC is coordinated by Tim Martin. If you have any questions about the work of the committee, don’t hesitate to contact him at tamartin@ufl.edu.