Smart Goals

The prophet Isaiah says, “New things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:9)

Here we are in 2020, a New Year, a year of clarity in vision. I am excited for what the year ahead brings for our church and community. After a wonderful Day of Visioning where nearly 40 members and leaders attended, we were able to begin to identify our SHAPE of ministry at Cornerstone Community Church. Each participant took an inventory of their Spiritual Gifts, Heart/Passions, Abilities, Personalities, and Experiences to help identify who we are as Christ’s beloved. As individuals we are the church collectively, thus it is important to identify who we are in ministry as individuals first. And we discovered that we have our sights to become more authentically Christ-centered and welcoming, by increasing our bible knowledge, living fully into being multiethnic, and radically hospitable to all people.

In an effort to achieve our goals and develop the strategy of engagement, I surveyed our work from the day of visioning and our responses to the questions asked and created proposed SMART goals with objectives so we can begin to envision what we are doing and how we will achieve it within a timely manner. Often times we can have hopes and dreams for what we would like to happen but have a difficult time getting started and making those hopes and dreams a reality. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

These are the proposed SMART goals that will be discussed at the Church Council for approval.

By December 2020 we want to be a more Christcentered Church.

By December 2020 we will be a multiethnic church where all our members feel their culture and ethnic background is celebrated and welcomed.

By December 2020, we will be a radically hospitable and welcoming Christ-centered community church.

• We will organize and implement the John Wesley Class system, where our members will be placed in a small group of no more than 12 persons, to keep members informed, connected, and supported through their Christian development and journey.
• We will develop and implement new members recruitment and classes, by September 2020, so that those seeking membership understand their role as members of Cornerstone.
• We will develop and implement a discipleship track, by September 2020, where all members are welcomed to attend classes and workshops to mature in the faith and Christian walk.
• Lay leadership training will be implemented by March 2020, beginning with the Resource Ministries of the Nominations and Leadership Development committee, Pastor Parish Relations Committee, the Board of Trustees, and the Finance committee.

This looks like a lot, but with the help of the membership and the leaders we can achieve these things. Remember these are just goals and provide for us a map to set our direction and our focus. If you would like to be present for further discussion and approval of these plans please feel free to join us at the next Church Council meeting. All can attend, but the vote will be left to the Council members. If you have questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact myself or your Lay Leaders, Pat Bobwich or Amy Silvester. Please continue to pray for our church and your ministry at Cornerstone. May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you all.

Sincerely,

Rev. Elizabeth C. Abel