Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Congregational Discovery Team
            Realizing that there are significant issues we need to address as a congregation if we are to be a vital, growing body of believers as we pass our hundredth birthday, the Church Board initiated a year-long discernment process. Starting in March 2008, a called-out team is studying the Bible, our tradition, our congregation, our surrounding community, trends in congregational life and society, and other areas, under the guidance of an outside consultant. This team meets monthly, and will involve others in the congregation as we go. We want this process to be as transparent as possible. This team will not be making secret decisions. One of the gifts we sought in calling these persons was their ability to communicate with (and be listened to by) others, passing on what we discover concerning our vision and mission as a congregation. As we go, we will post on this page as much of our research, in documents and minutes, as possible, so you might feel a part of the process.
  

Leadership

Stan Dueck
a consultant from our denomination
Congregational Life Team - 1
 

Team members
            Jeff Wolf (facilitator), Sharon Kagarise (secretary), Ron Webb, Gail Hanna (secretary), Jeannie Schwartz, Pastor Pete, and Sue Ellen Wheatley (alternate)
 

Upcoming Meetings

April 30 - Wednesday, 7pm at the church
May 28 - Wednesday, 7pm at the church
June 19 - Thursday, 7pm at the church
  

Documents for Study
    - New Tasks for the New Congregation: Reflections on Congregational Studies, by Jeff Woods
          FYI - In 1996, Pastor Pete preached a series of sermons based upon Wood's then recent book: Congregational Megatrends. Below are the 7 megatrends Woods identified and Pete's 8 sermons on them.
#1 - Introduction
                  - "The times, they are a-changing" (9/1/96)
#2 - From Mass Evangelism to Relational Evangelism
                  - "You are God's Letter to Others" (9/8/96)
#3 - From Tribal Education to Immigrant Education
                  - "One Person at a Time" (9/15/96)
#4 - From Surrogate Missions to Hands-on Missions
                  - "Where is Ninevah?" (9/22/96)
#5 - From Reasonable Spirituality to Mysterious Spirituality
                  - "Letting Down our Nets" (10/6/96)
#6 - From Official Leadership to Gifted Leadership
                  - "From Official to Gifted Leadership" (9/29/96)
#7 - From Segmented Programming to Holographic Programming
                  - "Seeing the Big Picture" (10/13/96)
#8 - From Secondary Planning to Primary Planning
                  - "Lighting the Match" (10/20/96)
    - Congregational Statistics 1990-2007 (membership & worship, love feast & Sunday School attendance)
    - Chart of Average Worship & Sunday School Attendance 1961-2007
                          (you need Microsoft Excel to open this file;
                                  if you don't have it on your computer, download free viewer)
 
  

Minutes of our meetings

March 26, 2008

April 30, 2008
 
 

Previous Process

1994 Dream Team Report

1994 Dream Team Vision & Dreams passed by Council

1983 Renewal and Growth Program
 
 

Historical Background

The Long Green Valley Story (our brochure, written for our 2003 Homecoming)

Long Green Valley (from a 1936 district history book)
 
 

Long Green Valley CoB website